sweet build!!!!
~200G First Time Reef Adventure ~350 total
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- Thread starter WillKatt
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Steelerfan747
Valuable Member
By the way I truly envy you and all those out there lucky enough to have a separate sump room. Those that have always had this luxury will never realize the obstacles that the rest of us face. Well enough venting, love your set up. Good luck with it
Salty_Wolverine
New Member
I wish my house was set up to allow a build like this......maynbe ther next house will be bought with my tank setup more in mind
Electrobes
Valuable Member
My goodness, no lie you are a fantastic builder and tank guy. I am really looking forward to more of this, great job! 
OP
OP
WillKatt
Active Member
Thanks again for all the kind words, it really makes me feel good and is very encouraging! I can only hope that once its up and running I can actually grow something in it other than algae.:squigglemouth:
Here is a little more progress, Not much though. I started getting the main piece of the stand erected. I made it just tall or narrow enough to fit through the garage door going into the house at 31.3/4" tall. The door jam is 32" wide with the door off the hinges. The top piece of the stand that will stack atop the base will make up the other 8" of height and have the additional cross members along the top for support.
I used 90deg welding magnets and corner clamps to hold everything in place while I lined it all up then just tack welded the whole thing together before making the final welds.
Here is a little more progress, Not much though. I started getting the main piece of the stand erected. I made it just tall or narrow enough to fit through the garage door going into the house at 31.3/4" tall. The door jam is 32" wide with the door off the hinges. The top piece of the stand that will stack atop the base will make up the other 8" of height and have the additional cross members along the top for support.
I used 90deg welding magnets and corner clamps to hold everything in place while I lined it all up then just tack welded the whole thing together before making the final welds.
OP
OP
WillKatt
Active Member
On another front I have also started building my adjustable light rack. I found this unit on line and thought I could modify it to fit my needs. The foot print however is 4'x4' which it too large to fit in the cabinetry above the tank so some pretty serious modification is going to take place. But at the end I should have a unit that I can easily hoist out of the way for cleaning and maintenance as well as adjusting the height of the lights. For now I'm going to leave it manually operated but if I can find a motor i can integrate I will definitely go that route.
Right now I'm planning on going with 6 Radions but to be honest when I look at the tanks in the world that truly blow my mind they are almost always using a combination of MH, VHO, and led so who knows the jury is still out on the lights I will ultimately go with but this should be able to accommodate anything and should make for lots of mounting options
HeavyLift Storage Platform-PHL-1R at The Home Depot
I had to lay out the pieces to see what needs to be cut and where would be the best places to make the modifications.
I found I was going to have to cut off the cables rollers as well and slide them up to properly line up with the hanging points on the rack.
I have a ways to go yet but once its all done Ill take it to get sand blasted and powder coated. The paint that was on it is cheap and easily chips away not to mention the welding will burn allot of it off anyway and I just don't want any rusting.
Right now I'm planning on going with 6 Radions but to be honest when I look at the tanks in the world that truly blow my mind they are almost always using a combination of MH, VHO, and led so who knows the jury is still out on the lights I will ultimately go with but this should be able to accommodate anything and should make for lots of mounting options
HeavyLift Storage Platform-PHL-1R at The Home Depot
I had to lay out the pieces to see what needs to be cut and where would be the best places to make the modifications.
I found I was going to have to cut off the cables rollers as well and slide them up to properly line up with the hanging points on the rack.
I have a ways to go yet but once its all done Ill take it to get sand blasted and powder coated. The paint that was on it is cheap and easily chips away not to mention the welding will burn allot of it off anyway and I just don't want any rusting.
I have enjoyed reading this build and am very impressed with every word of it. Keep up the great work!!! Can't wait to read more and see more pics!!!
revhtree
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That adjustable rack will be very cool and convenient!
Sweet build, looks like you did a ton of planning!
OP
OP
WillKatt
Active Member
Wow! I really appreciate all the positive feedback. Thanks so much!
I have a question maybe some of you can help with. I plan on running carbon and GFO. I have been contemplating which way to go on the reactors. I really like the idea of the BRS jumbo reactors. They just seem like they would be the easiest to change out the media. I hate changing the media on my two little fishes reactor. I have read very mixed reviews with the BRS reactors so I'm not sure. I think I have it narrowed down to either the BRS jumbo or the new media reactors that reef octopus has.
Here are links to both.
JUMBO BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor - English
Reef Octopus Media Filter 3.5" OCT-MF1000 - Media Reactors & Filter Bags - Bulk Aquarium Carbon & GFO - PRODUCTS - English
Any thoughts?
I have a question maybe some of you can help with. I plan on running carbon and GFO. I have been contemplating which way to go on the reactors. I really like the idea of the BRS jumbo reactors. They just seem like they would be the easiest to change out the media. I hate changing the media on my two little fishes reactor. I have read very mixed reviews with the BRS reactors so I'm not sure. I think I have it narrowed down to either the BRS jumbo or the new media reactors that reef octopus has.
Here are links to both.
JUMBO BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor - English
Reef Octopus Media Filter 3.5" OCT-MF1000 - Media Reactors & Filter Bags - Bulk Aquarium Carbon & GFO - PRODUCTS - English
Any thoughts?
OP
OP
WillKatt
Active Member
So I had to take a break for a couple weeks to finish up some projects on my wife's honey-do list but was back at this weekend. Unfortunately the last time I used my welder I didn't shut off the gas and almost all of it leaked out.:tsk: This is the second time I have done this maybe this time I wont forget.
Anyway I did have enough gas left to get a little more work done on the DT stand but no where near finished. To recap, the dimensions I wanted for the stands height combined with the width of the tank was going to make it too big to get into my house unless I built it in two pieces. Originally I had planned on pretty much just making two segments like cutting the stand in half horizontally so that the top piece was about the same height as the bottom but then realized that this was going to create an access problem. By keeping the two pieces the same size I would only be leaving a couple 15"x23" holes to climb through for plumbing and other maintenance down the road. It's probably possible that I could fit through that crawling on my belly but I'm a fairly large guy at 6',3" and 200lbs and that just didn't sound very pleasant.
So I ended up making the top piece what I call the "deck" only 7" in total height so that access under the tank would be much easier. Unfortunately I did wind up with not what I would call a design flaw but more of an oversight. I had always pretty much figured I would surround the steel frame with a 2"x4" wood frame as I figured this would be easier to mount my finish panels to. It never really occurred to me that magnets in the finished panels would just be so much simpler. So what you will see is that I built the "deck" to accommodate the offset of the 1.5" thickness of a standard 2"x4". Oh well! not redoing in now. lol :squigglemouth:
I still have some cross members to install for additional bracing, mounting tabs etc. to put on but I'll need to get my welding gas filled first. I am really contemplating building in drawers in the two slots on the front of the deck but this adds another layer of complexity and I'd really like to just keep things simple and get this done.
What do you guys think should I add some drawers to house things like tongs, feeders, dry foods, turkey baster, what have you? If I do this I may also install a small refrigerator under the stand as well for food. Thoughts?
Anyway I did have enough gas left to get a little more work done on the DT stand but no where near finished. To recap, the dimensions I wanted for the stands height combined with the width of the tank was going to make it too big to get into my house unless I built it in two pieces. Originally I had planned on pretty much just making two segments like cutting the stand in half horizontally so that the top piece was about the same height as the bottom but then realized that this was going to create an access problem. By keeping the two pieces the same size I would only be leaving a couple 15"x23" holes to climb through for plumbing and other maintenance down the road. It's probably possible that I could fit through that crawling on my belly but I'm a fairly large guy at 6',3" and 200lbs and that just didn't sound very pleasant.
So I ended up making the top piece what I call the "deck" only 7" in total height so that access under the tank would be much easier. Unfortunately I did wind up with not what I would call a design flaw but more of an oversight. I had always pretty much figured I would surround the steel frame with a 2"x4" wood frame as I figured this would be easier to mount my finish panels to. It never really occurred to me that magnets in the finished panels would just be so much simpler. So what you will see is that I built the "deck" to accommodate the offset of the 1.5" thickness of a standard 2"x4". Oh well! not redoing in now. lol :squigglemouth:
I still have some cross members to install for additional bracing, mounting tabs etc. to put on but I'll need to get my welding gas filled first. I am really contemplating building in drawers in the two slots on the front of the deck but this adds another layer of complexity and I'd really like to just keep things simple and get this done.
What do you guys think should I add some drawers to house things like tongs, feeders, dry foods, turkey baster, what have you? If I do this I may also install a small refrigerator under the stand as well for food. Thoughts?
