ylchick's 29 Gallon seahorse tank

[YLChik]

ME too Vince!!!!!!!!! How do you keep your horse tank cool? Do you run a chiller or fans or just keep your house unreasonably cool and tell the wife and kids it's to save money when you know it's just to keep the horses happy I am hoping we can keep it down by running a fan across the sump. The house is usually around 72 and I'm using 4 24w t5's to light it ( Thanks Whiskey)

Is building the canopy at like 7-8 inches ok for those lights?

[Wiskey]

I've found that for my softie tank I prefer to have the bulbs 6 inches off the water. When my tank was more of an SPS tank I prefered to have them a bit lower.

You should have plenty of room with that hight. Are you building the hood so the top hinges up and swings the lights out of the way?

Whiskey

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

I've found that for my softie tank I prefer to have the bulbs 6 inches off the water. When my tank was more of an SPS tank I prefered to have them a bit lower.

You should have plenty of room with that hight. Are you building the hood so the top hinges up and swings the lights out of the way?

Whiskey

That is the plan, a piano hinge in the middle with one set of lights on one side adn one set on the other side of the hinge... so if it were open the tank is lit adn so would the ceiling/ room if that makes sense I need to look at some more designs before I settle but this one seems to make the most sense....

[Wiskey]

Sounds good I have all my hoods hinged in the back with a string from the lid to the base, this way the whole lighting fixture and top swing away giving me total access to the tank.

Whiskey

[Wiskey]

Oh, I don't normally use piano hinge though, due to it's cost around here, normally I just use a couple of small brass hinges.

Whiskey

[YLChik]

Today has been... fun?! Ben helped a lot more today, mitercuts and huge piece of plywood through the saw scared me a bit
But lots of nail gun, jigsaw, caulking and sanding is what I have been doing today.
Here's what we did
1. Added the rest of the braec to the top of the tank
2. added bottom platform of piewood
3. added bead board to enclose stand
4. made doors ( ok making doors as I type)
5. caulked screw holes with Dynaflex 230 latex sealent on all the screws and seams - (screws were exterior grade)
6. added shelves and side door for storage
7. added trim and routered the openings

MAN this stand is heavy, it is safe to say it is overbuilt - like any good project should be.
But I did learn to run a nice bead of caulk so if my tub needs it I can fix it and won't worry about it.

It's been a fun day, I am cold and tired and really wish I could have gotten to painting, but it looks like that will have to wait.

Paint will be as follows
1. exterior oil based primer - Behr
2. porch and floor exterior latex - Behr (was told it is made for outdoor applications with the easy clean up of latex... we'll see i guess)
3. latex glazed finish - Behr ( for the fellas that don't know what this is it's a faux finish like on your walls)


The folks at home depot seem to think this will seal the wood - I talked to like 3 people until I had someone confident of what they were saying.

Here are the pics from today...

[Wiskey]

You did a great job with that Amy! everything looks like it fits together very well. You even took the time to fill the gaps between the bottom panel and the 2X4 supports, impressive.

Whiskey

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

You did a great job with that Amy! everything looks like it fits together very well. You even took the time to fill the gaps between the bottom panel and the 2X4 supports, impressive.

Whiskey

thanks Whiskey!

[YLChik]

well here is coat one and two of the primer and I went the extra mile and caulked all the seams...

[tabwyo]

Wow... you're handier than I am.

[Casey]

Darn sweet I say

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by tabwyo

Wow... you're handier than I am.

AWE shucks!! I wouldn't have been this handy this quick with out the hubby!

[YLChik]

thanks tab and casey!!

[Tim224DT]

Looks good!

Tim

[crvz]

Impessive! I'm looking forward to more pictures!

Chris