R2R - Bottyfish 60 gallon rimless

[Bottyfish]

Spent a lot of time measuring and remeasuring...

The middle pieces were adhoc sizing as 2x4's are really 1.5x3.5 and wood isn't as straight as I would want it to be. Took me longer as I had to use a lot of clamps to hold things in place.

I needed to make sure that the stand will not be longer than the wall where I will be putting it and stick out in the doorway. ;Shifty

Also needed to consider the paneling I will be using to skin the stand.

 

[Bottyfish]

And... this is all I managed to get completed today for the stand. ;Walkingdead

Tomorrow is another day!

But so far, I think its good start. Quick initial level test pass...

 

[Bottyfish]

Huge thunderstorms in my area this afternoon. So I didn't want to go to the hardware store and have my wood panels soaked trying to put it in my car.

I'll have to see later on tonight if it clears up.

I guess I'll have to work on some other stuff today. Will post some updates later.

 

[Bottyfish]

Alright the storm had gone and I was able to get my panels. Ill resume stand work tomorrow...

In the meantime I was able to complete my LED Stand that I will be using. I mentioned in my intro that I will be using two Hydra Twenty Six HDs to light my tank... When I do my Hydra post, I'll share why.

But for now... here is how I did my DIY light stand. I chose to go DIY because I was unable to find a stand that met my requirements.

My requirements were the following:

• Single rail that will be attached to the tank stand (not the type that hangs off the edge of my tank, not a fan)
• The rail must be able to be attached to the length side of the tank
• The two lights will be attached together via an extension that attaches to the rail
• The lights do not have to be able to rotate but they must be lengthwise parallel to the tanks length
• The light height should be able to be adjusted easily
• I don't want to spend more than 250$ ;Hilarious

When looking around, the stands that AI made for the hydra 26 only mounted one light each.
Didn't want to hang anything and hated how most of the solutions required you to mount the stand rail onto the tank itself.
There were some third party solutions but they too didn't have what I wanted and were really expensive to ship.

I decided to make my own.

When mounted it will look like this concept.

1. I picked up the 6" AI ext rail that was the original style for the AI Sol/Vega/Hydras and confirmed it fits the Hydra HDs. This will make the two Hydras be about 5 inches apart and enough space on the left and right. (~aprox 4-5 inches)
2. From there I cut a slit in the middle of it to fit a 80/20 T Aluminum rail .75".
3. Drilled two holes, (you'll see in the pics I mis-calculated the first hole and was too lazy to fix it but it still works for what I need it to do) *pro tip, put tape on the aluminum so the drill bit doesn't slip around.
4. I will attach the .75 to a 1.5T via a corner connector.
5. The 1.5T will run down the stand and be controlled by a rail stopper
6. They didn't have black for the .75" rail and said it would be a month for it to be in stock... So ill just spray paint some primer and black paint Not too worried about it coming off, I wont be touching it much once its mounted.

 

[Bottyfish]

Alright,

Made a lot of progress with the stand. ;Happy;Joyful

I removed the top middle support beam in favor of two beams evenly spaced out. This was to accommodate my light led stand as it will come down the top right behind the tank.

Also added some zinc corner "L" shape to help with supporting the front to 2x4's where my stand door will be.

Picked up some panels cut to size at the hardware store for me. I went with 1/2" panels and some 1/2" molding which will be raised above the base of the stand to go around the bottom inch of my tank.

 

[Bottyfish]

Primed.

 

[Bottyfish]

First coat applied...
Black flat.

I must say while painting the black over the primer, it totally relaxed me and was almost therapeutic for that little OCD I have. ;Doctor

Second coat will be applied today.

 

[BoneXriffic]

Awesome work on that stand. I look forward to the progress!

 

[Bottyfish]

Awesome work on that stand. I look forward to the progress!

Thanks!

There will be some updates today. Had a busy day with the kids and swimming classes etc.

 

[Bottyfish]

I will be trying to achieve the red and white theme within my stand and so I got some spray paint and sprayed the grill of my 120mm fans red. The base was painted white.

Also cut some holes on the back of the stand for electrical and the fans. One fan will be pulling air out and the other will be drawing air in.

 

[Bottyfish]

I also got some ideas from other stands I've seen and decided to make a shelf within my stand.
My 8 switch power bar will rest under the shelf.

The face of the shelf will house my controllers (e.g. the Vortech pump) and future I am thinking about getting an Apex Jr.

Spent some time taking apart the power bar to paint it white.

 

[Bottyfish]

Here is what the stand looks like now...

Its almost complete, but I will do the plumbing first before adding the final rack that my doser will rest on above the left fan.
Ill add the cabinet door when I move it in my house so its easier to carry. ;Woot

 

[Bottyfish]

Today I was able to lug that stand into the house with the help of my brother. He's young and still has good metabolism so he did most of the heavy lifting ;Hilarious...

We put the tank onto the stand to see if it was level and prayed that my measurements were accurate and my cuts precise ;Nailbiting.

Thankfully it worked out

If you're reading this, Thanks Bro! ;Woot

 

[Bottyfish]

 

[Bottyfish]

So in Toronto and even Canada, I've had real trouble finding red PVC schedule 40 pipes. We seem to only have white and I've seen green in my hardware stores. The closest I could find was acrylic and any search results were either US stores or didn't want to deal with small purchases.

I've seen some members paint their PVCs but not sure I want to go that route as I worry that in the future, the paint may flake off or wear off easily when I am cleaning salt creep etc.

My research has got me wanting to experiment with Methyl Ethyl Ketone and fuel dye to try and dye my pipes red. The result will be similar to purple primer for PVC except it should turn out red.
I'll share my experiences with that but waiting for some of the materials to deliver.

 

[Bottyfish]

Put in the GFCI...

 

[Bottyfish]

Had to look around for the best hinge solution for my door.
Ending up going with a hidden hinge overlay option but the kind that didn't require a mortise...

Did a prototype mockup first as I wanted to make sure the 1/8 inch I was planning on leaving would still allow the door to open.

The proof of concept also allowed me to discover the screws that came with the hinges would punch a hole through the 1/2" panel. Good test... ;Joyful

Based on the size and weight of the door, the manufacturer suggests 3 hinges. I bought 5 but installed 4.

 

[Bottyfish]

Door on...

 

[Bao]

Looking good.
What kind of fishes or corals will you be keeping in there?

 

[Bottyfish]

Looking good.
What kind of fishes or corals will you be keeping in there?

Thanks for the support.

I would like to house a mixed reef. As for fish, I was considering a predator tank and still am. But most likely will have a community fish tank.