The Ultimate Eight Foot Softie Reef

[InsaneClownFish]

Marc, where can I find 10' pieces of formica and 10' spans of plywood. My local home depot only has 8' plywood sheets. Local Lumbar yard? Isn't 10' Formica pricey?

Thanks for the heads up on the MDF, I had a feeling there was some reason I shouldn't use it just from looking at it. I also did take not that it chips easily.

Yes, the blue dow foam is a must. You forgettin my last tank was acrylic? I'm going to do a nice lil 3/4, or 1" step trim around it using that white composite trim stuff I've seen locally.

 

[melev]

10' formica may have to be a custom order, and would arrive in a large diameter roll. 10' lumber is harder to come by, but a real lumber yard (where trusses are built and trucked out) would have it.

If that isn't an option, two boards side by side would probably be fine if you have a joist right at the seam. You can even get fancy if you purchase tongue & groove lumber, but usually that is chip-board, used for flooring and roof decking. Not a very pretty smooth surface, but will give you an interesting pattern once painted.

 

[melev]

Just posting one more to help increase my post count.

 

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13574600#post13574600 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Just posting one more to help increase my post count.

As if...

The stand is a beast, nice warm fuzzies all over.

You can usually get 4 x 10' and 5 x 10' sheets of 3/4" ply at a good lumberyard, spendy compared to 4 x 8' because they are not quite the commodity item but available nonetheless.

If you want 10' Formica, it's been my experience that you have to buy a 5 x 12' sheet but maybe that's because I wanted 5 x 10' sheets so had to buy the 5 x 12' to get the width. Ask at the same lumberyard.

HTH,
James

 

[loosbrew]

I've special ordered 4' (or 5'?) x 12' formica from home depot before. They say it takes 2-3 weeks to come in but we lucked out and had to wait only 10 days or so. This was also a not very common pattern so I'm sure they have some standards in stock. It was around 110 for the rolled piece.

The tank is looking great!

Luis

 

[FL.Joe]

i just tagged along, this is a great build so far

 

[AB-Bug]

cool project

 

[InsaneClownFish]

James, thanks for stoppin in!

Thanks for all the plywood and formica related suggestions, and welcome to those who have jumped on board

I decided to use put Travertine tiles around the tank with some nice stone trim, and I'm going to border it with white molding. The uneven stone reminds me of a sandy shore.

I used a sheet of 3/4" sanded pine in 8'. Unfortunately, this left a good few inches where the tank would overlap. I decided it wasn't satisfactory with the two 14" cuts to "float so much.
So I built a brace that would serve two functions- provide more support for the end of the tank while providing an extra point for the plywood to be screwed into and eliminate any dip.

I'm not entirely happy at how the plywood flushes up. Anyone thing the 1/20ish of an inch along that seem will be an issue? Or will the self leveling foam eat that up? How much does self leveling foam compensate for?

I'm going to sand it out and try to get it as smooth as possible.
As you can see from the pics, I started filling holes with wood putty. I found whole unused gallons of the blue paint the previous owners used, so I think I'm going to paint the whole facade.

I finished up the bottom inside paneling, and I'm going to line the area around where the sump will be with silicone. More than a few people have expressed concern because of the carpet, so this should help with any errant moisture.

The hell with the tank, I have a tanning bed... :smokin:

 

[melev]

:lol: @ the tanning bed comment.

The tiny inconsistency between two boards will be fine. Just get it as smooth as you can, and let the foam take care of the rest.

The tile will add a nice touch to the surface. That will go around the entire tank, right?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Yup, basically what you see in the picture will cover the entire left side. The trim molding will go along the entire front, and there will only be room for the 4x4 tiles on the right. Those were the last three pieces of that particular shade of stone trim in stock, so I'll hit another store or wait till they get them back in. This leaves approximately 1.5 inches along the back of the tank that will just show either, painted surface, or exposed foam. The stone trim pieces are a bit pricey, so I don't think I'm going to add them to the back. I'm going to play it by ear, if I don't like the way it looks I can always add them.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Palatial skies.....

 

[melev]

<i>In the event of an earthquake, please proceed to the basement immediately. Take cover in a solid structure, such as the Palatial Skies construct. Remember, planning ahead is planning for your safety...</i>

 

[magellan007]

love the progress, insaneclown! I can't wait to see it with water in it! what are your aquascaping plans? Towers, arches, islands, etc.?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

In the event of an earthquake, please proceed to the basement immediately. Take cover in a solid structure, such as the Palatial Skies construct. Remember, planning ahead is planning for your safety...

:lol:

magellan007- Thanks! Check out the first page of this thread and you can get an idea of what I have in mind for the aquascaping. More islands I would say.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I finished up the trim work tonight. I left the tile on the left side to see what it would look like. The upper left corner could use a little more work.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

The stand saga continues. I painted the entire underneath layer of plywood, and I found some anti-mildew/moisture resistant acrylic bathroom paint, also left by the previous owners, that I used to paint the bottom of the stand.

I also began siliconing along the edges of the inside bottom.

I decided to scrap the wainscott idea because of the practicality of implementing the design, but also because I really wanted to use 3 removable panels for the front. I thought of using the wainscott as such, but it might have looked tacky.

I decided to use 1/4" Birch panels and spray them with a stone effect paint. I picked out a color as close to the travertine as possible, and it matches very well. I am so pleased with the end result. All four removable panels look like brushed sand. I used industrial strength, white velcro to secure the panels, so I can now access the underneath of the stand from any of the panels.

How'd I do?

Completely off topic, but I came upstairs from working on the stand and found my baby boy sprawled across the couch.

"Daddy if you didn't want me on the couch you shouldn't have bought one that matches me so well."

 

[melev]

It is coming along nicely. I'm concerned the 1/4" material will warp due to humidity issues or just because. You could create a 4-sided frame and glue it to the backside so it inserts through the opening. Simple 1x2s would do the job, plus they would make it easier to insert them squarely each time, provided you know which door is which.

 

[jnb]

forgive me re ground fault prot. but you guys got me thinking and appreantly I am a fool as I have no such protection - I am looking to them and have a question - would auto reset be a acceptable option in our applications?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13562796#post13562796 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InsaneClownFish

Here's a picture of the GFCI powerstrips I'll be using:

[/B]

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Marc, I thought of doing the same thing, but to be honest I had no idea how to implement it. Well actually, I did, but my tired mind came up with a bunch of ways that were WAY more complicated than what you explained clearly in a few words. :spin2:

Here's an excerpt from what I just wrote in the CTARS forum responding to similar concerns from a fellow reefer:

This stand may be an ongoing work in progress. I know about the upper left corner. Unfortunately, I didn't have a miter saw handy. We just moved into our new house, and since I owned a condo before I only had smaller tools. Once again, because I didn't have immediate access to certain specialty tools, or the means to buys anything "extra" at the moment; I was limited by these factors coupled with time constraints.

Remember, Jas let me know AFTER the day went by that he was supposed to deliver my stand that he would not be able to build it for me. The tank will ship tomorrow or Thursday, but James had initially told me it could have shipped as early as Monday- so I only had days to complete this.

Sufficed to say I'll get to that corner Thankfully, the main way one would enter the room makes it less noticeable. I also tried to reuse as many materials as possible to keep costs down and limit work for myself- once again the time crunch. I reused some of the molding from the wall because it had already been cut to length. You can blame the contractors the previous owners hired for that one.

The ideas you have for the panels are great, but once again I'm limited by time and tools. If I get more ambitious once we're a bit more settled in the new house I'll work on them. This solution looks nice in person and was cheap. The panels are only $4. each so they are easily replaced.

I also had the idea of building frames and using frosted glass for each opening. Once again I'm limited by my lack of tools and time. I called a local frame shop to get an idea for just the frames and the cost was ridiculous.

jnb- If you're talking about an outlet reset switch, then yes, that is actually a GFCI. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt. It will kill the circuit if there is anomalous voltage or stray current detected. I'm not familiar with a separate electrical device called an "auto reset." Hopefully others here can inform you further.

 

[jnb]

I was studying some other brands and some of them reset automatically after the ground fault trips =- lets see I have my hands ion the tank , something goes wrong, it trips the gfci before I die, I jerk my hand back, it resets, I stumble and put my hands in again - I don't know, its apparently an option on some of them and thought I should ask


jnb- If you're talking about an outlet reset switch, then yes, that is actually a GFCI. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt. It will kill the circuit if there is anomalous voltage or stray current detected. I'm not familiar with a separate electrical device called an "auto reset." Hopefully others here can inform you further. [/B][/QUOTE]