270g Starphire build thread (pic intensive) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter morty
- Start date
They were sort of a fly-by-my-pants-seat design -- I can take closer pics that show how they work when I get a chance! The top step doesn't stick 'out' as much as I'd like, but that was sort of a limitation of how high the cabinet doors are.
Having seen this setup in person, I can tell you all that Morty is being quite modest. This is an incredible, well thought and planned design. It certainly is a fantastic system, and when appreciated in person you will get an idea of just how effectively he maximized the use of space and made for a great design including lots of redundancy and clever features (Like the steps)
Truly well done!
Truly well done!
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Thanks for the nice comments! 
Yes I took some time thinking a lot of things out, but there was also no shoratge of trial and error, trips to local HW store, HD, Indelco, Grainger, and a $#it load of naughty words spoken. There are also a few points of the design that I would still change and could be tough to deal with if worse comes to worst, but hopefully those bridges don't get crossed! Thanks again for the kind words and of course I welcome any other feedback/suggestions!
Yes I took some time thinking a lot of things out, but there was also no shoratge of trial and error, trips to local HW store, HD, Indelco, Grainger, and a $#it load of naughty words spoken. There are also a few points of the design that I would still change and could be tough to deal with if worse comes to worst, but hopefully those bridges don't get crossed! Thanks again for the kind words and of course I welcome any other feedback/suggestions!
Let me know if you plan to sell the house :dance:
..........well ..... Awesome. :nuts:
I gtg rethink my tank setup:WalkingSmiley: will about three month planning be enuf time? :bow:
..........well ..... Awesome. :nuts:
I gtg rethink my tank setup:WalkingSmiley: will about three month planning be enuf time? :bow:
storrisch
Senior Member
:eek2: looks good morty....you definately played it down last time we talked about your tank.
:eek2: :biggthumpup:
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
- Messages
- 1,037
man that is impressive , bravo !
Ly
Senior Member
Incredible
Unbelievable! :eek2:
So Morty when is the meeting at your place? lol
It's too bad you had to cut so many corners and not do things right. Oh well..
... kidding of course. Extremely impressive. After looking through all those pictures all I could think of is the amount of time and planning that must have gone in to that. Now that's devotion. It appears that it might have cost more to do than a 55g AGA from Petco
Kevin W.
... kidding of course. Extremely impressive. After looking through all those pictures all I could think of is the amount of time and planning that must have gone in to that. Now that's devotion. It appears that it might have cost more to do than a 55g AGA from Petco
Kevin W.
Look Amazing! Great Job! Can't wait to see the tank in full action.
Would love to have a meeting, but it should probably wait until it grows out some.. At this point it would just look like a bunch of lit up rocks!
The majority of the planning of the tank was about making maintenance easy to do, and being able to access pretty much all parts for repair or service. There's some places where this didn't always work out. For example, if I ever needed to get at the bottom of the center overflow, I have to remove the two CL lines that go over it in order to reach down inside it. (But the SU valves help with that.) And if I ever needed to remove the sump, The entire CL would have to be removed, including the bulkhead that feeds the CL pump. This would be a tricky and messy procedure (but I have thought about how it could be done without draining the tank!)
The sloping canopy design was partly aesthetic -- sometimes I think a huge canopy can overwhelm an aquarium, but I also thought that the openings being 'over' the tank would make working in it a little easier. So another part of the strategy was about being able to change things without too much hassle.
The majority of the planning of the tank was about making maintenance easy to do, and being able to access pretty much all parts for repair or service. There's some places where this didn't always work out. For example, if I ever needed to get at the bottom of the center overflow, I have to remove the two CL lines that go over it in order to reach down inside it. (But the SU valves help with that.) And if I ever needed to remove the sump, The entire CL would have to be removed, including the bulkhead that feeds the CL pump. This would be a tricky and messy procedure (but I have thought about how it could be done without draining the tank!)
The sloping canopy design was partly aesthetic -- sometimes I think a huge canopy can overwhelm an aquarium, but I also thought that the openings being 'over' the tank would make working in it a little easier. So another part of the strategy was about being able to change things without too much hassle.
Boker420
Senior Member
Very nice set-up. This puts mine to shame. I wish I had a better knowledge of woodworking. Your stand and canopy are very impressive. I personally love the fold out steps. I made a step type thing to get into my tank but it's heavy and clumsy.
Here is a little more detail about the fold out steps. I didn't really follow any set of plans, I just sort of had an idea what I wanted for overall height off the floor and then tweaked my measurements until everything fit on paper.:idea: I also used a drawing program that helped with the measurements.
This shows them removed, from their underside. I used 2x4s for the stringers but I had to reduce their width somewhat. The planks are 5/4 deck boards. Where possible, I used pressure treated wood and stainless hardware, but I used a 1-1/4 hardwood dowel for the pivot. You can see the difference between the top and bottom step.
These are the left receptacles for the pivot dowel (for the right side steps), they are attached to a 2x6 that supports the center of the tank.
This shows the right receptacles. They're slotted so I can remove the steps. I realized later I probably could've gone with a straight vertical slot, but I had already made the pieces.
The bottom step folds out first -- it's legs are similar to the top step regarding how they hinge on the stainless bolts. The bottom of the top step's legs have a peg that sticks out of them, and it goes into a mating hole drilled in the bottom step. This helps keep the legs locked in place when their folded out. (The bottom step has no way for its legs to lock into place, I just have to rely on them sinking into the carpet to hold them there.:lookaround: ) The cross brace between the legs is there mainly to make it easier to lock the legs into place. It lets them pivot as one. If I was to make the steps over again I would have put this brace higher, so my toe doesn't butt into it when climbing the steps.
When folded up, the top step rests against the block towards the top of this pic. Its center of gravity keeps it there when vertical.
And the bottom step's center of gravity keeps the bottom step against the top one when it's folded. The steps use around 8" front to back when folded up.
This shows them removed, from their underside. I used 2x4s for the stringers but I had to reduce their width somewhat. The planks are 5/4 deck boards. Where possible, I used pressure treated wood and stainless hardware, but I used a 1-1/4 hardwood dowel for the pivot. You can see the difference between the top and bottom step.
These are the left receptacles for the pivot dowel (for the right side steps), they are attached to a 2x6 that supports the center of the tank.
This shows the right receptacles. They're slotted so I can remove the steps. I realized later I probably could've gone with a straight vertical slot, but I had already made the pieces.
The bottom step folds out first -- it's legs are similar to the top step regarding how they hinge on the stainless bolts. The bottom of the top step's legs have a peg that sticks out of them, and it goes into a mating hole drilled in the bottom step. This helps keep the legs locked in place when their folded out. (The bottom step has no way for its legs to lock into place, I just have to rely on them sinking into the carpet to hold them there.:lookaround: ) The cross brace between the legs is there mainly to make it easier to lock the legs into place. It lets them pivot as one. If I was to make the steps over again I would have put this brace higher, so my toe doesn't butt into it when climbing the steps.
When folded up, the top step rests against the block towards the top of this pic. Its center of gravity keeps it there when vertical.
And the bottom step's center of gravity keeps the bottom step against the top one when it's folded. The steps use around 8" front to back when folded up.