I'm liking the red and white pvc. I recently left menards and drove to home depot just because I knew they had valves with red handles. The wife gave me a look like I was crazy. In the end I got a nod that it looked nice having the matching red instead of blue. Anyway, it is looking really nice!
Phil's 120g Reef Build (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter totoro001
- Start date
Thanks! I'm doing red for the water going from the tank -> the sump, and blue for water going from the sump -> tank. Totally unnecessary, but I thought it added a little something extra. The gray gate valves with red handles match pretty decently.
Thanks! Though the white parts that are currently visible won't be visible when I'm done. I just painted the stand/shell white because it was cheap and it'd add some water resistance. I've still got to build the front facia, the hood (which I'm currently working on), and some cabinets to go on either side of it, and those will all be stained.
Absolutely, pocket hole jigs come in SUPER handy!
Thanks for all the comments guys! Tonight I got the shell of the hood/canopy built, and fitted to the tank, and the hinge put into place so it'll open and close. Tomorrow evening I'm going to reinforce it a bit more, and then prime and paint the INSIDE of it the same white as the stand. After I get a couple coats of primer on them, I'll test my stains on some scrap wood and decide what stain to use for the facia/hood/cabinets, and what stain to use for the accent trim pieces. Also I can hopefully drain the tank, get it into the house, and get it leveled tomorrow night so when I finish my aquascaping/cutting up my dry rock, I can start cycling things!
I'm super excited this is all coming together finally!
Progress was made tonight! So last night I got the shell of the canopy built. Tonight I strengthened it a bit and decided on a stain/poly combo. I also had some help in moving the stand+tank+sump into the house and leveling them all so they're ready for water! Tomorrow I'm going to strengthen the hood a little more so it stays square (I only used 1/2" ply so it's a little floppy) when it's on the tank, then I'll prime and paint the inside white, and sand/stain/trim/sand/stain/poly the outside. While that's drying I'll work on the aquascaping as I'd like to get that all in the tank along with the sand so I can fill it up with water and start cycling.
So, the other day after the load testing was completed we moved the tank into the house and got it leveled and all ready for water. I also started on the canopy. Today I got the structure of the canopy completed so tomorrow I'll start primping and painting the inside, then stain and poly the outside 
I'm hoping in a week I can start cycling!
I'm hoping in a week I can start cycling!
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Allllright so a bit more progress made tonight. It's not super exciting, but it was necessary. I got the inside of the canopy primed and ready for paint tomorrow. I also cut the canopy down by 3/4" as I forgot I was going to run trim around the bottom of it to give it a more finished look. I also think we decided on stains for everything so after the paint dries, I can start to stain. While the paint is drying tomorrow, I will start on aquascaping and preparing 50ish gallons of salt water.
Progress for the night! I got the trim pieces on the front portion of the canopy, and got the accent piece cut out and stained. I feel like this is all taking forever, but in the meantime I've got my RODI unit working overtime. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a good bit of RODI water so I can start making some salt water, and when the glue on my aquascaping dries, I can start cycling the tank.
Tonight's work has been done. I got 2 coats of poly on the canopy, 60ish gallons of saltwater into the display, as well as sand and dry rock in the tank. I am a little upset with myself in that I forgot to re-rinse off the first piece of rock I put in the tank as it had a ton of saw dust on it from being in the garage while I was working on building things, buuut I'll pick up a filter sock or something to get it all out once I have enough water to turn on the return-pump.
As a side note, the pumps in the tank are only there temporarily. I have higher flow pumps that'll go in later. I just wanted to keep the water moving.
As a side note, the pumps in the tank are only there temporarily. I have higher flow pumps that'll go in later. I just wanted to keep the water moving.
No new pics tonight as nothing really looks all that different. I picked up a pressure gauge for my RODI unit and found out that I was only operating at 40PSI at the RO membrain, so I added a booster pump and now I'm at nearly 100PSI. Things are running much more smoothly there. I sanded my canopy with 200grit and applied a (hopefully) last coat of poly. I HATE sanding before the final coat as it makes things look like crap and you're always afraid that it'll never look good again, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Other than that I got another bag of sand, dropped that into the tank, and then added SeaChem's stability in to start cycling and growing some bacteria. By tomorrow night I should have another 60g of fresh water, then by Thursday evening that should be salt water. I'll keep you all posted!
Don't flood the house with all the water you are producing now.
Stain color looks good on the canopy. Are you doing doors or a large removable panel for the stand?
Stain color looks good on the canopy. Are you doing doors or a large removable panel for the stand?
Thanks Eric! I'm actually terrified that I will forget the RO system is running and it will flood so I check it often.
I'm pretty pleased with the stain. At first I didn't like it but after I got the poly on it I changed my tune
I plan to do doors in the front and cabinets along side of the tank in the long run (read: spring/summer 2015), however once I get the canopy done my plan is to just make some sort of front fascia to hold me over and at least keep my puppy out of the sump until I can finish everything. It'll probably look a little crappy, but it'll function.I like the color of stain you chose. Is that an Alfa Romeo next to the canopy?
Thanks Riley! And you're not too far off. That's my 'spring' project; A 1972 Datsun 510 (which used to compete with the old Alfa's and BMW 2002's).
I knew if I was wrong I'd be close. That will be super cool when it's finished! - The tank will be too - deep tanks are great.
I'm pretty pumped for that too! The only thing I miss about living in Vegas was that I had 2 2000 sq ft warehouses I used for auto/project work and having to consolidate that into one 1.75 car garage has been difficult, buuuut I've got the motor and interior out of the 510. Once I strip a couple more things out I'll be ready to strip and re-finish the interior, before starting on the motor. That's a thread for another forum however.. haha
While there was progress made tonight, there wasn't a TON I could do since technically the poly is still curing and I really shouldn't do much until it's cured for 48 hours. I did however take the front part of the canopy and slap it on the tank.
I think it looked pretty awesome! I had to sand down the trim on the bottom to make it flush with the plywood as it fit a little too snugly before, but after sanding I think it'll fit great.
I also got the plumbing completed in the rear part of the canopy and 4 little pieces of wood primed and painted, which I will use to mount the plumbing to the canopy itself. Tomorrow on my way home from work I'll stop by 'the depot' and pick up 4 PVC hangers, then get all that stuff hung, and the front and back halves of the canopy connected via piano hinge again, then get it all back on the tank!
I've also got about 60g of saltwater in the tank (as you can see) and another 60g that'll be ready tomorrow. That should fill the tank and overflow a little into the sump. I'll whip up 30g more that should be ready by Friday or Saturday and that'll top off the sump, at which point I can get the pumps running and everything going the way it should be!
I've also started dosing the tank with SeaChem Stability (starter bacteria). I've used the product in the past and I was very pleased with the results, so I'm hoping in 2 weeks I should be ready for SOME sort of livestock.
I think it looked pretty awesome! I had to sand down the trim on the bottom to make it flush with the plywood as it fit a little too snugly before, but after sanding I think it'll fit great.
I also got the plumbing completed in the rear part of the canopy and 4 little pieces of wood primed and painted, which I will use to mount the plumbing to the canopy itself. Tomorrow on my way home from work I'll stop by 'the depot' and pick up 4 PVC hangers, then get all that stuff hung, and the front and back halves of the canopy connected via piano hinge again, then get it all back on the tank!
I've also got about 60g of saltwater in the tank (as you can see) and another 60g that'll be ready tomorrow. That should fill the tank and overflow a little into the sump. I'll whip up 30g more that should be ready by Friday or Saturday and that'll top off the sump, at which point I can get the pumps running and everything going the way it should be!
I've also started dosing the tank with SeaChem Stability (starter bacteria). I've used the product in the past and I was very pleased with the results, so I'm hoping in 2 weeks I should be ready for SOME sort of livestock.
So we got the canopy officially done (I think.. I might add more vents to it, but we'll see). It's plumbed, lights mounted and on (obviously) and all ready to go! Added the other 60g of saltwater to the tank and more SeaChem Stability. Making one more batch (30g) of saltwater, and one batch of fresh water. That 30g should top off the salt water and the other 30g of fresh will be top off water for the evaporated water. Yayyy progress
Looking great!