[thefatman]

ok here is another small progress report for ya on the new stand.

over the weekend i got the entire stand itself done. yesterday i got the framing for the cabinet structure done. and got started on the canopy frame.

this morning i finally finished the canopy framing. and now i'm gonna start adding some of the skin, at least on the canaopy. i'm gonna wait to skin everything until i get the plumbing done, so i wont have to worry about the skin and/or doors being in may way during the plumbing phase.

only one minor setback yesterday, my drill died and i had to run to lowes and get a new one. that also helped cut into my budget on the buying of skin this week, but overall was a good thing, making me wait till after plumbing.

so anyway, here are a few more pics, now i'm headed back out to the world of drills and saws!

 

[thefatman]

and here is the canopy framing.

ya know, somehow, the tank just doesnt look quite so big anymore but it will once it goes into the bedroom on a 6 1/2 foot wall

 

[binylee]

Looks good....
How is your woodmanship rating? 10 is best.

 

[Reedman]

Looking good Jay! Patience my friend, it will all come together in time.

Did you make it out of Lowes with only the drill you went to get? I can never seem to do that.

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Looks good....
How is your woodmanship rating? 10 is best.

Jay's a master of wood.....

Perhaps we should modify his old nick to Mr. Woody...

 

[Geoff]

how much deeper is the stand than the tank itself?

G~

 

[Newfiemom]

Good job so far! I really like the way everything is shaping up. I am trying to decide how I want to do things, so I am using you as my guinea pig.

Keep those pics coming!

 

[hooked]

Jay, the stand is looking great. I look forward to pics with skin on it :beer:

 

[Jeremy1973]

Wow..mighty impressive Jay! I can't wait to see the whole thing done..that is gonna look sweet! What kind of wood are you using? Gonna stain it?

 

[thefatman]

geoff, the stand is a 180 gallon footprint 72x24 (planned ahead) but the 75 is only 48x18

biny.. i would rate my woodsmanship probably around a 6 or 7. i'm real good at coming up with ideas, and putting it all together etc.. but my cutting sucks. i cant make a straight cut to save my life! i had HD cut all the wood for the stand, to my specs. for the cabinet and canopy i cut them myself.

as a result the canopy is like 11 3/4 high in one corner, 11 5/8 in another and proably 12 in another actually it's not quite that bad, but if yo uget real close you can see that the cabinet and canopy arent perfectly square. but thats ok, they arent supporting the weight of the tank. besides, that's what the skin and trim is for, to hide the mistakes :funny:

reedman, yeah i ran in got a dril land ran right back out. only because i wanted to get back to the stand construction. if not for that, i would have left with all my plumbing

jeremy, the stand i used premium grade 2x4's and 3/4" plywood. for the cabinet and canopy i used 2x2's and 1/2" plywood.

for the skin, i'm not sure what i'm going to do yet. i'm crossed between using 1/8" plywood and then staining it, or painting it. or going with something else like a laminate similar to what grazhopr used. i still havent decided, and probably wont until the time comes to put it on.

i'd like to go with paint and make it match the room, or go sort of modern look with it, as all my other stands are stained. but i'm not sure, because i want the tank and fuge to be the main focus, not the stand. i want the stand to compliment the tanks. we'll see. it's 50/50 right now.

ok, back to the garage with me

 

[NewReefer]

Looking good there Jay!
Man you waste no time in building it huh!
I can't wait to see the plumbing on that thing, leave it all open you you can show us your pics in detail.

 

[ReefDave]

Hey Jay,
The more I think about your idea to have the stand ready for your 75, the more I consider changing my plans to do the same. If there is a time to do it its now, before I order the lumber.

Here is my only concern, like you , my current tank won't fit a 24" deep footprint (my 60 g is 36" wide and 18 from front to back. My concern is the back right hand corner of the tank, there is nothing directly holding that corner up, "ie its not on or even close to a post". Are you worried about that corner of the tank sagging as you fill up the tank? Is there anything extra under that corner that I am not seeing? Or is the 3/4" strong enough to counter that? Sorry for all the questions.

Not trying to add any worry to your plan, just trying to make myself comfortable as I am very close to scraping my 5" idea and stretching it out another 12". This would give me the clearance under the tank that I really want to plumb everything.

Thanks,
Dave

BTW, if my wife asks why I didn't get the lawn mowed today, I am blaming you. Those two snail threads were quite a read.

 

[beach bum]

Jay that is very nice. Well done. I drew up plans like that once but never had the drive to actually do it! (cinder blocks are so much easier )

On another note, it is good of you to post progress pics like these - everybody loves to see them and more importantly learn from them, it should help someone in the future, I'm sure of it.

cheers,
bb

[EDIT] - dude! I just noticed you have almost 1200 posts! Holy crap, you don't mind if I cop a resentment once you've passed me by, do ya?

 

[thefatman]

lol i guess this makes post number 1200 and to think i jsut joined trt in february !!! i gotta start keeping my trap shut once in a while lol

yeha i like posting the progress for a numebr of reasons. it helps others see how easy it really is to move along on a failry big project, and it's get some critisism and advice in thier just in case i overlooked something. i've never been one to assume that i thought of everything, or that my plan is the best. so it's nice to get tips i might not have thought of.

on that note.. .dave:

yeah the stand is a full 6" larger than the tank going to the back. i'm not worried about sag, though because i have an extra support under where the edge of the tank is. plus, the 3/4" ply is pretty strong. and i have everything together with 2 1/2" screws and liquid nails. i'll snap a shot of the underside of the main shelf later today.

however, on my 55 stands, that were built to accomodate a 75, the stand is 21" and the tank is only 13" i didnt bother putting in the extra brace. did two stands like that, and they both held up just fine.

dont worry abotu the questions, heads up. that's why i post the progress

glad to hear i've inspired ya!!

more pics later!! back to the garage with me

 

[ReefDave]

Thanks,
I don't think it will be a problem for me, since my tank is exactly 1/2 the length of a 72, there will be a beam right under the right hand end and a post/leg/support (take your pick) just 6" behind it, so im leaning more and more towards the 72"er. Mainly cause I can say to the wife. "well, a new one wouldn't actually be any "BIGGER" it will take up the same amount of space. I think that might be my favorite part of it!

Dave

 

[Prismaco]

Nice Jay....


-Paul

 

[thefatman]

ok more progress to report

here is the skin on the canopy

 

[thefatman]

and the holes cut in the canopy. i was going to have the whole front of the canopy open, but then it wouldnt have matched right with the base after i put doors on. so i decided to have doors on the canopy in the front. the openings are 29" by 7" so they should work fine, as they are bigger than my current doors.

 

[thefatman]

dave here is a shot of the bracing i put under the back left corner of the tank. it goes at a 45 deg angle from the left beam to the back beam and crosses under the back edge of the tank. btw: the tank is 6" from the edge of the stand, but when you factor in the 2x4 underneath in the back, it's really only 4" from the back, plus the cross beam is there, so i dont anticipate any problems, as i didnt even put that there on the 55g oversized stands.

 

[thefatman]

in this shot, the beam on the left is centered on the stand, for tie in support for the stand, as well as additional weight support for the tank. the beam on the right is directly under the right edge of the tank. i figured with both of those in place, there was no need for an angled beam in this spot.