Step-by-Step 29g Setup (Pics included)

[Mtown]

Wat up Everybody

I'm new to this whole hobby about saltwater tanks. It is quite interesting and seems to beat having any other pet. I hope to enjoy it for the coming years.

I plan on setting up a 29 gallon (30" x12" x18") FOWLR tank, however I might lean closer to a reef. I bought the tank and right now the stand is being made.

I'll appreciate any forms of advice and feedback Thank you

Well that is it for now. Wish me luck!

[Mtown]

Here is some framing pics of the stand. I used 2x4 spruce wood with 3" wood screws. I might have overkilled it by adding double layers of 2x4s for each corner verticals.

[lpkirby]

Welcome, And we look forward to your progress..

[Mtown]

I'm almost done everything needed before staining the stand.

I covered the frame all around including the top and bottom with 1/4" standard cheap plywood. I bought a 4x8 size sheet and asked home depot to cut it for me. It wasn't the best wood to use to cover but it got the job done.

I also nailed in 1/2" x 3" trimming for the top and bottom. I'm planning on adding corner mouldings for each of the 4 vertical corners.

I am having problems with the door and hinges. As you can see in the pics, one door is perfectly installed, however when I install the other door it doesn't align and close properly like the its partner.

[AVALover5498]

Nice job!



-Chris-

[Mtown]

Thanks Chris

[Mtown]

The canopy will be 16" in height and will be a folding design which means that the front half of the canopy can be lifted open. This will allow flexible access to the tank in which to do weekly partial water changes and feeding the fish.

I have began drawing out the plan for the canopy but was wondering if anyone could provide any suggestions to alter and make it better

[The Saltwater Kid]

If you're going to store any of your equipment like pumps, sumps etc. you might want to leave the back of your stand open so the hoses can come up into your tank :-).

[AVALover5498]

Yeah i would definantly leave the back of the stand open IMO. On Marc's site, Here's the link. ( http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1204/evans_canopy.html ) Is a good page on how to build a 29G canopy that was made for Evan's tank. I used the same plans to build mine. The front lifts off for easy access. It's really great.


-Chris-

[Mtown]

This isnt going to be a sump setup. The cabinet was made because I needed a stand and also to store things such as fish food. I already knew why people build stands with open backs. I have no intentions of installing plumbing, pumps, etc. leading from the cabinet to the tank.

Oh yeah and thanks for the link ava

[Joshua1023]

What are you making your doors from?

[Mtown]

Originally posted by Joshua1023
What are you making your doors from?

MDG type wood

[Mtown]

I'm planning on painting the top & bottom surface with white primer along with the trimming. The rest will be stained. I'm still having trouble aligning the doors. I returned my cheap hinges and will be buying more better ones for my doors. By the way my doors are MDF type wood (not MDG my mistake). I heard that MDF wood cannot not be stained as good as other wood, but I'm going for it anyways.

I ended up pulling out the inside floor of the stand. I wanted to try fitting the doors slightly more inside in which forced me to rip out the floor. The door solution did not work at all and it ended up to cost me a nice flat surface inside the stand.

[Mtown]

Here is a pic of my 29g and a 10g beside it which I will be using as a quarantine tank.

[msuzuki126]

Nice 29, I love the look of black silicone.

[AVALover5498]

Where did you buy the 29 from?



-Chris-

[rkizer06140]

looking good so far,nice!!

[Mtown]

Originally posted by AVALover5498
Where did you buy the 29 from?



-Chris-

I got it from bigals. They had 'okay' deals

[AVALover5498]

It looks like mine. I love the black silicone so i bought mine from Petsmart. I can't wait to see this thing set up! Good luck!



-Chris-

[hawaiian_boi]

nice stand. that has got to be the most sturdiest stand i have ever seen for a 29 gallon

[Mtown]

Here is an update on my stand. It's not the best of DIY stands you'll see but for me it'll get the job done. It looks like I spent about 70$ on this which I didn't really expect and want.

Anyways this is how it will look before I begin cleaning, sanding and staining to my prefered colour.

I don't know what I'm going to do with the 'already primed white trimming' because the paint expert at home depot told me that you can't stain on top of primed wood, although I already knew that and bought primed trimming anyways. This has to be one of my mistakes in this project.

[Mtown]

A few pics of 29g tank on top of stand. There are 1/2" of gap between tank and trimmings on both sides. I guess that's the consequence of precision safety.









10g tank inside. Would have been quite the sump setup

[Mtown]

I was wondering if I should get the 29g drilled to create a overflow system. Would it be worth it since I have a 10G that I can use as a sump. I'm planning on a skimmer-less setup.

Advice/opinions would be appreciated Thanks

[NanoGurl]

Overflows are nice bc they add extra volume of water, easier to add good flow with less equipment showing, and you can setup a fuge for nitrite/nitrate control and what not.. but it really depends on what you're going for.. i didn't do a sump/fuge on my 54 but i know it would have been better to do so

[Peter Eichler]

Originally posted by Mtown
I was wondering if I should get the 29g drilled to create a overflow system. Would it be worth it since I have a 10G that I can use as a sump. I'm planning on a skimmer-less setup.

Advice/opinions would be appreciated Thanks

Yes, and because it's fairly thin glass you can do it yourself. You should be able to find DIY instructions in this forum. If I were you I'd just get a HOB overflow though.

I gotta ad, simply because I'm really opinionated and and like to let my opinions be known The hardware on the stand doesn't work with the simple lines of the stand.