simple 156 reef build

[crvz]

I finished the stand and got the lights mounted in the canopy. I think I'm going to have to raise the lights an inch or two. That will take a little effort, but it's ok. This week I'm going to start painting and staining. I still have to rebuild the doors, but that's low on the priorities right now.

What's the general concensus on bulb height for T5s? Right now they're at 4", and I think I want to move them up to 6" for better tank access. How's that?

[Pbrown3701]

wow. IT looks really good. You could use some of those hydraulic pistons to support the top when fully open. That would give you both stability and make it easy to use....not to mention it would look ka

[lbear]

I am working on my new 150 gal tank and am building a aluminum frame for 8 T5 bulbs retro similar to yours. I plan to install a simple pulley system which allows me to raise the aluminum frame several inches when accessing the tank.

Where do you mount your ballast?

[crvz]

Originally posted by lbear
I am working on my new 150 gal tank and am building a aluminum frame for 8 T5 bulbs retro similar to yours. I plan to install a simple pulley system which allows me to raise the aluminum frame several inches when accessing the tank.

Where do you mount your ballast?

My ballasts are pretty large (Icecap 660), so they will go in the stand with the rest of the electrical equipment. I had to purchase an extension to the wiring harness, but I think it will make for a better end product.

[crvz]

Originally posted by Pbrown3701
wow. IT looks really good. You could use some of those hydraulic pistons to support the top when fully open. That would give you both stability and make it easy to use....not to mention it would look ka

Do you have a link for some good hydraulic pistons? I searched around quite a bit, but I never found anything that I thought would work well in this application (a good amount of weight followed by quite a humid environment).

[Pbrown3701]

I don't have a link - I've just seen some others use them. The humidity is an issue but i'm not sure how much of a concern.

Maybe call a place that sells truck bed covers and ask if they sell replacements?

ALso, you want to be sure they are oiless so there's no chance that they leak oil into the tank.

[crvz]

I may check out the auto parts store sometime this week, they seem to be relatively reasonably priced online (~$25 each for replacement "hood shocks" used on cars). Either that or just take them off my wife's car... it's not like she ever looks under the hood.

[crvz]

So the oak is just bolted to the pine... we got a little creative as I want to be able to remove the oak without breaking down the tank, so we didnt put any bolts along the bottom. Not a big deal on the front, but that meant there was no where to put bolts on the sides. Here's how we solved that problem.



It's just an extra piece of wood that we used to bolt to. The holes in the pine were overdrilled so that the bolts can slide back and forth... however they were left tight in the oak. This allows the oak to float as needed for swelling or shrinking. I also broke down the stand and canopy to prep for painting and staining. hopefully that begins tonight.

[jwinn]

nice

[crvz]

And painted. I used sherwin williams water based primer and paint, one coat of each with some caulk in between. I think that'll do.



Staining should commence in the near term.

[crvz]

Stain complete. Next comes polyurethane.

[crvz]

The stand is done. The canopy needs a little more poly, but it shouldnt take too long. Here are a couple shots.

[crvz]

I mounted some lights, for anyone who's reading along with me (I think I can hear some crickets!). Here's an image.



The lights are a little more than 6" off the water, and I think this will work well. I have eight 54w overdriven T5 bulbs. Anyone have other thoughts?

Also, for those that don't want to paint their tanks. I called a local sign store and ordered a full sheet of black coroplast ($18 for a 4'x8' sheet, so cheaper for smaller I imagine). It's a 4mm thick honeycombed plastic material, that, oddly enough, is used for signs. I plan on velcroing it to the tank behind the overflows, and this way I can remove it if ever I want to (or switch the color). The big perk of this is that my tank is in a corner of sorts, so having this stiff material should make it easier to reapply if need be. You can see I've got it on the tank in this picture.

[crvz]

I also spent a little time fitting the sump and messing with electrical. The sump fits in fine, with plenty of space. It slides in the side openings, so I'll be able to remove it for big cleaning/maintenance ops down the road.



And then the electrical. Half of it will be on GFCI (the blue box) for lights, heaters, etc, and the other half will be on straight power (the DJ switch boxes) for pumps and other relatively benign hardware. I wanted to isolate the GFCI stuff from the pumps just in case it tripped, it wouldnt kill all my water flow. This will all be run on a single 20A circuit, but all my hardware adds up to a max of 14A (and thats with the heaters on at the same time as the lights, which isnt really credible here in Houston... max running amperage will likely be under 12A).

[conefree]

Just found your thread. Looking great, keep up the good work and updates.

[Sink Colin Sink]

I just found this too. I'll be tagging along!

Everything looks realllly good by the way.

[Pbrown3701]

Sorry for the seeming lack of interest....I've been traveling like a mad man.

It's looking really good. When do you think you'll begin water testing?

[crvz]

Originally posted by Pbrown3701
It's looking really good. When do you think you'll begin water testing?

Define "water test". Do you mean, "when are you going to put it in place, fill it with water, and just assume it doesnt leak"? Next week sometime.

I wouldnt think they'd let madmen travel, but you probably know better than I. Did you get out of the country?

[Pbrown3701]

Well...not this most recent slew of trips (unless you count Canada out of the country - i know I don't since we own them). All domestic travel for the last 5 straight weeks except for a 1 week stay over in Vancouver.

I typically travel overseas for work about once every couple of months.

[crvz]

Originally posted by conefree
Just found your thread. Looking great, keep up the good work and updates.

Originally posted by Sink Colin Sink
I just found this too. I'll be tagging along!

Everything looks realllly good by the way.

Thanks! Glad to have you along, hopefully you'll be entertained.

[crvz]

I finished the canopy. I feel it came out quite well.

[Sink Colin Sink]

I like it! Looks good.

[Pbrown3701]

Wow bud, looks great!

btw, nice wheels

[Pbrown3701]

...out of curiosity, how much does it weight with all of that Oak?

[crvz]

Originally posted by Pbrown3701
...out of curiosity, how much does it weight with all of that Oak?

Well, I was able to put the canopy up on the tank by myself, but it was pretty stupid to do so. I'd probably put it in the 60-70lb range, but that may be excessive. I'm not that strong.

The stand is a 2 person move, though. Probably around 150 lbs or so.