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#1
11/25/2007, 07:22 PM
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Sneak peak
So I am not quite ready to start a build thread...though I am building. Here is the stand and the beginnings of a tank...I punched up the size a bit. The exterior dimensions of the tank are 55x40x28H.
The stand is 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/8 wall and 1.5 x 3 x 1/8 wall, the tank has a 2 x 2 x 1/8 wall angle iron frame, the bottom, sides and back are plywood, epoxy and fiberglass, the front will be 1/2" starphire  
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#3
11/25/2007, 08:32 PM
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Sweet!!! Can't wait to see it all up and running!
__________________
~~Dave~~ ______________________________________________________________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime." -An old chinese proverb |
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#5
11/25/2007, 09:01 PM
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I am so pumped to watch this develop. Can I ask who made your stand? Are you going to form the tank inside the stand?
This reminds me of my 17' 1973 wellcraft cc that I gutted to the shell and rebuilt 2 years ago. If you are looking for great epoxy, there's a guy on ebay from CA that I got some great stuff from at a great price, or there's LBI in Groton with nearly as good stuff. It's really important to get non "blushing" epoxy. Are you going to mix fiberglass matt and cloth in the tank? |
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#7
11/26/2007, 05:56 AM
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i too think this is a great beginning! is that the stand it's going on? is this a through the wall application? |
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#8
11/26/2007, 06:52 AM
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i've been waiting for this thread! this bad boy is gonna be sweet!!!
what type of plywood are you using? i found that the "CT Wood Group" carries 3/4" Baltic Beech. its incredibly strong ply wood. far superior to most other cabinet grade ply woods. 14 ply's!!! the bad part is that its $94 a sheet.
__________________
CTARS Vice President. |
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#9
11/26/2007, 07:23 AM
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Yeah CT wood Group has lots of nice wood. I go there all the time to get wood for my guitar builds. Can't hurt to check em out. They have some nice lacewood and a bunch of nice varieties of mapels that will be really nice for the cabinetry and detailing you may do later on.
__________________
Beware of the fish people, they are the true enemy. - Frank Zappa |
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#10
11/26/2007, 07:47 AM
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A couple friends and I built the stand. Not too shabby for my first time welding! They are old pro's though, so I am confident that it will hold up (read: had them do the critical welds). I got the steel up at Sullivan Metals in Holyoke, MA. I really debated the angle iron frame, its not really necessary, but, since we were welding anyway, and it only cost about $40 for the angle, what the heck!
I am using the West System Epoxy. I got it from James Town Distributors in RI. From what I have read, the west system is a bit more viscous than some of the other, less expensive epoxies out there, so it requires fewer coats. And with free shipping...it really does work out to be a similar price.... I am using good ol 7 ply 3/4" plywood available at the local big box stores. If I was building a larger tank, like fudge or dsandfort, I would definitely drop some cash on better quality lumber. I'll be laying up some 6oz fiberglass cloth for strength. Yes, the tank will be in-wall. The tank frame is actually backward on the stand right now. About half way down the back of the tank is a piece of angle turned out to help support the external overflow. The stand will be completely open from the back and sides which will give me awesome access. The side of the stand with 3 legs will go against the wall. Progress is going to be fairly slow...I got much less done last week than I was hoping, so I have pretty much thrown my schedule out the door. It will be done when its done... |
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#11
11/26/2007, 07:51 AM
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what are you thinking for lighting on this bad boy
 i will def be watching this as i would like to someday build a big tank like this ive wanted one ever since i saw your 210!!! and def taking your time as i know this thing is going to be sweet!! and then some!
__________________
~RICH~ |
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#12
11/26/2007, 08:08 AM
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Right now I am leaning toward a single 400 watt MH (probably XM10K for great PAR) in a full size lumenarc or lumenmax reflector, on a light mover, with a couple of VHO actinics.
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#14
11/26/2007, 08:27 AM
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nice... yea i have seen some of the light mover setups in person and it is def a nice to say the least, it is almost like cloud cover in the areas that dont have direct lighting over them...
__________________
~RICH~ |
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#15
11/26/2007, 08:38 AM
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HAHAHA I used to work in one of those "big box stores"....
I really like it when the MH on my 210 are going off. They are on individual timmers, which are off just a bit, so one always stays on about a minute longer, it looks really cool to me to have the actinics lighting up the whole tank and just a single Mh on. Of course I need coverage for the entire tank unless I pile all the corals at one end. The lighting goal is to be efficient while providing the coals with what they need. I was to put light on the corals, not on the sides of the tank. I like a nice clean look, so I plan to keep everything away from the sides by 6" or so... Just think....I'll be going from 3x250W MH and 2x160VHO (1070 watts total) to 1x400W Mh and 2x110w VHO (620 watts total)...42% savings on lighting... |
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#16
11/26/2007, 10:14 AM
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wow! that stand looks like it could hold a truck. One question - do you have to shim that 1/8" angle iron thickness between the piece of plywood on the bottom of the tank and the plywood on the stand, or will it not make a difference?
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#17
11/26/2007, 10:26 AM
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And to think..I almost went with 1/4" wall material...
I made a 1/8 x 2" rabbit on the plywood for the bottom to accept the frame. If my router was set up well, it should sit flush! I also eased the edges and took a bit of material off the corners. This was easier than trying to grind the entire weld down. |
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#19
11/26/2007, 12:54 PM
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Actually, I finished, but realized that I didnt take any pics, so I took the whole thing apart and started again, LOL
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#20
11/26/2007, 03:03 PM
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__________________
~RICH~ |
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#21
11/26/2007, 03:23 PM
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(Tank looks great so far.)
__________________
-- Steve |
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#22
11/26/2007, 03:45 PM
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uh oh.....I'll have a talk with the wifey tonight...she's not gonna be happy about this..gonna be difficult now that the little one is approaching 12 lbs...!
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