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Merv's new 40 gallon build

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Sup peeps.


Not an upgrade, but rather an auxiliary tank away from my custom 60X20X20 tank in Galloway.

This one's gonna have sand I think, but I still have to come to terms with it.

The plan so far:
-Custom stand to elevate the tank a minimum of 30 inches, no canopy
-Marineland 45 gallon cube (pending with or without corner overflow) OR a 40 breeder, drilled
-Sump pending (trying to find one that will fit under the stand)
-single 250 watt halide (maybe 175)
-in the summer, an inline chiller
-all SPS (what else?!?!)
-school of anthias and a wrasse or two
-SSB (ugh)



This is gonna be a long drawn out build, but I will try my best to document as much as I can with photos of course :)

If anyone has had any experience with the marineland cubes, I would appreciate it.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Looking forward to the build, the progress shots and the beauty of it, Merv. Welcome back to the dark side. LOL!
 
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mnat said:
I would be careful with the 250w pendant. I am not a big fan of mine over the 30g cube which is 20 inches deep.
Click to expand...

Reason I'm going with the 250 watter is so I can share bulbs between tanks. I will have access to my other tank since I'm the only one authorized to do water changes, lol. I plan on having the light elevated at least 20 inches from the water's surface. But then again, I just may end up with a 175 after all.



Phyl said:
Looking forward to the build, the progress shots and the beauty of it, Merv. Welcome back to the dark side. LOL!
Click to expand...
I think sand would complement this tank, especially since it's gonna have some softies in it, and I would be able to peer down into it cuz of the open top. Nothing like looking through to the bottom of the stand with barebottom ya know!


I'm still completely torn between going RR or non-RR. I'm definitely going skimmerless on this one, and I'm gonna approach it like the true Berlin system of years past with super strong lighting, liverock as filtration and Kalkwasser as the top off. I'm defaulting to Reef-ready for ease of plumbing to the chiller I will eventually need to get when it gets warmer. The apt we are renting in Philadelphia DOES NOT have central air. In the summertime, we have to eventually get window AC's to cool the place down. I will have to get a chiller way before then.


Can anyone recommend a chiller for a tank between 45-65 gallons?
 
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Here starts the preliminary picture taking documenting the build.

It's gonna go in the corner of the living room. I share the house with 2 other people and my girl so I had to get the OK of the other two. At this point, my girl lets me do whatever as long as it's within reason and keeps me occupied :) (she's sitting next to me, lol)


The couch needs to be cleaned, and the place is a mess. . . he he he. The couch isn't mine, it's one of the roomies' or the landlord's;who knows. The tank will be mine (insert evil laugh here- mwaa haa haa)


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Another angle looking from the main door into the house.

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mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
So you went from thinking about a 30 cube, to a 40 breeder, to a 45 marineland, and now thinking up to a 65 g? I love this hobby.
 
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still thinking about the tank size.

I will be going to Homedepot tomorrow to get some plywood to get my butt rolling. I should be receiving the 250w halide sometime wednesday from a fellow member.....

I will try and decide tomorrow what size tank I'll be going with...
 
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I'm back from Home Depot (whew, what a drive through ice lined streets!)

Spent just over $100 including tax

1 Piece of 4x8 18mm Birch plywood (it looks to be almost 3/4") $39.95. I had the guy cut the wood vertically 30 by 48 inches, then ripped another cut at 26 inches (by 48), and another one at 26 inches (by 48), leaving 14 inches as extra. I then had him cut the first piece into Two pieces of 24x30. I wanted to do minimal cutting since it's a little tough to work outdoors with all the snow and ice on the ground. The place I'm staying in has no garage.

2 pieces of thinner plywood they call it handy-panel, 2'x4' which I'll probably be using as doors $14.83/each. I got the same wood type to match.

5 pieces of 1"x2"x6' No.2 Pine, to be used as internal bracing for "just in cases" (you'll see) $1.92/each

1 little container of Minwax "espresso" stain $4.45

1 little container of Minwax gloss poly $5.98

1 caulk gun (since I forgot mine in Galloway) $1.97

1 sanding sponge fine/medium(I forgot all my sandpaper too!) $5.47

1 circular saw blade since mine is worn $5.98

I already have nails and drywall screws which is what I mainly use.

I have all the stuff downstairs, I'm building the stand in reverse starting with the plywood first, and then the bracing. The plywood is strong enough to hold the weight of the tank, but I'm adding the braces internally as a just in case. I'm sure you guys have seen the stands that you can buy from stores, they use nothing but knotty pine or pressboard... I prefer to err on the side of caution...

Pics later, I gotta go build this thing!




By the way, I decided to go with the 45 cube.

I am now deciding on whether I should buy the cube and then drill it, or just buy it Reef Ready........
 
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wow. this is almost a record for me!

I'm 90% done building the stand- All it needs now is the top (I'm gonna wait until I get the tank to cut it to size), some hole patching, then stain.

I got done at 4pm, it took just a little bit over 2 hours.... Here's the build pictures step by step:

The pre-cut wood and changing out my old blade:
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checking the measurements.... NOTE: Home Depot is not liable for crooked cuts.... 'tis a good thing I bought a new blade. I ended up trimming the pieces of plywood to 23.5 inches X 30 inches high. They weren't exactly square and one piece was larger than the other!

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This is how much I had to trim off to make the two 30 x 24's even. It ended up being 30 x 23.5. No biggie...

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I cut one of the thinner ply down to size from 24 inches x 48 inches to 24 x 30 and used that as the "front"
Using a good amount of glue, I glued that piece to the newly trimmed pieces oictured above making something like a 3 sided box. I used 1.5 inch drywall screws and sunk them in.

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Here's how the three pieces and the top of the stand looks like... I was pre-measuring the top piece, but decided to cut it later when I got the tank to make sure I didn't cut too much

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Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I love a good build thread. And Merv makes some of the best. Looking forward to the progress pics on this one for SURE! Thanks for the progress pics!
 
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Phyl said:
I love a good build thread. And Merv makes some of the best. Looking forward to the progress pics on this one for SURE! Thanks for the progress pics!
Click to expand...

thanks Phil- I hope the DIY'ers get some build inspiration from this... I miss seeing fish and coral and hearing the gurgling noises a tank makes, lol. It's soothing IMO
 
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Test fitting the bottom piece (base) to the 3 sides of the stand
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I installed the bottom piece next, but this is how I managed to "fit" the base without getting glue all over the board. I nailed a nail (uh..redundant?) on one corner, used a piece of wood to chock up one end, slathered some good ole Liquid nails and then used screws to hold them in place. This only works if your pieces of wood are SQUARE!

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Next is the "extra" support for just in cases.. Plus, it looks so industrial! Use lots of glue and strategically embed the screws without splintering the wood please!
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The cross bracing...
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and now, cutting the door opening :D

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then I did some minor sanding to get rid of the jagged splinters and placed it in the proposed resting place.... UGH, good thing these couches are leaving soon, my girl's old room mate is finally taking them out!
Sucks we now have to buy a new couch but at least it'll be less grungy

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Another shot of the bracing inside the stand. I will probably add one more set of uprights towards the front so I can attach hinges for the door. I was thinking smoked glass so it will have a nice modern touch, but wood is cheaper.... I'll decide later!

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And finally, a shot with the top placed just on top of the stand. It will be attached later after I get the tank. It's probably gonna be two to three weeks before I order the tank, I still have to worry about a sump, an RO system, and a return pump...

Can anyone direct me to the money tree? My GPS can't seem to locate it. It keeps saying "searching for satellite signal"


The little pieces of wood are trim samples, I don't know if I'll be using trim on this, but trim always make stand look nice....mmmmmmmmmm.

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Just bought a solenoid valve on ebay....$35 shipped to my door!

More on that later.... I'm lookin to join this group buy...
 
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