Project 58!! (Image intense)

[Scooterman]

Did I say Awesome? I meant AWESOME WOW, Nick I can only dream one day I can build like you have.

[TDEVIL]

Originally posted by Maxx
Holy Schnikes Jay!!!! Thats some flow!!!! I forget exactly what I had guesstimated my flow rates through the tank to be, but if I remember correctly it was around 17-18 times per hour between the closed loop and return pump.
Nick

lol, i actuall bought 2 more pumps the other day, only added 1 to the tank, the actual GPH is more than that, but with the closed loop plumbing i just guesstimated it @ 4000gph
there is a mag 18 (closed loop) and 3 800gph pumps and a 1200gph pump on the skimmer (didnt count that) and 2 250gph pwr heads behind the rock work


your light box looks great, i need to get my sump plumbed in and then i get to start on my lighting

i like the way you left it open on the top, but i am trying to figure out how i can incorperate the raisong and lowering part to my tank, will have to think about that, thanks for throwing that one in there

Jay

[Maxx]

Okay here is the light box skinned and stained......things I discovered w/ this....
It wouldve have been smarter to spend money here and buy the 1/2 inch birch plywood instead of using the 3/4 inch that I had on hand. The 1/2 would have been lighter and wouldnt have required me to rethink how I was going to hang this....
Anyway, the plywood w/ all the nails is what I used to elevate pieces of wood while drying them from staining and/or sealing. The wood just rested on the screws and I was able to use a fan to dry things more quickly. A large portion of my time was spent staining and sealing....about 24 hours or more between coats. Although some of that was due to work etc intruding in on what time I had to get this accomplished. sadly I dont have Melev's super human abilities to go w/out sleep for days on end in order to accomplish my goals. But someday I will discover his secret and then I too will be able to work through the night and sleep once a month!



Here you can see how the back is open initially. I thought about leaving it like that, but thought it looked tacky, so I played around later and came up with a way to get this done....


Nick

[Maxx]

Scott,
thanks for the kind words...however to be fair it looks much better since the camera is crappy and doesnt show all the goofy lil things I did wrong. The frame of the stand is rock solid and level. The skin has lots of lil imprefections that I have learned to hide as best I can, but I really would have benefitted from a table saw...just didnt have $500 for the one I wanted. I dont know a darm thing about woodworking, but I REALLY want to learn. And I have always preferred to buy something I can grow into and utilize more as my skills develop rather than buy something to get me through....
Nick

[sharks]

Outstanding! It's about time....er I mean you must be happy.
Looks awesome to me.
Where is the closed loop info? How do you like the OM unit?
And please please please more pics of the inhabitants!
Congrats bro

[Maxx]

Sharks, as of today Sept 1st, 2004, the tank has no inhabitants save some dust bunnies in the garage where I'm working on the plumbing and plan to finish that up here shortly in order to wet test it out there. That way if anything leaks, only my motorcycle tires get wet as opposed the basement flooding and my girlfriend being annoyed w/ me.
One of the major goals of posting all of this up now is so that I can get a lil nudge every now and then to finish this when I have free time as opposed sitting down and goofing off...I'm by nature a lazy person...lol
Okay here is a close up of the gap in the back of the light box
you can see that this needs to filled if I'm going to attach anything her to dress this up abit. Also note the dribbles from the stain on the top strap. There are several of these throught the project, I was just able to cover them up everywhere. These happened when I was in a rush and just slopped the stain or seal on heavy and didnt ake time to ensure that any dribbles got wiped off by the brush or sponge before drying in place...

Nick

[Maxx]

Here is the exact same spot, with a spacer in place. These spacers were just pieces of scrap wood I had lying around from trimming off excess plywood that had been previously stained....more proof that savng scraps is good while woodworking!



Nick

[Maxx]

here it is as a full shot...you can see that the frame of the lightbox is flush w/ the spacer which will allow me to add more skin to the back and dress it up a bit....

Nick

[fidojoe]

Looks great Nick! I can't wait to see more pics

[Craig Manoukian]

Hey, nice job Giapetto! You are a master crafsman Nick!

[Maxx]

Thanks FidoJoe, and Craig....I wish I was a mastercraftsman...heck I'd be ahppy if it looked like I knew what I was doing, but truth be told, I'm wingin' alot of this....
Okay, So the last three pics were of the lightbox w/ the top facing the camera, the opening facing away from the camera, (this is to orient anyone who might be confused by rambling explanations etc), and i was in the process of filling the gap in the back for aesthetic reasons, but still wanting to have some airflow from the back of the lightbox to keep heat transfer from the lights to a minimum....
here I covered up the top pf the frame, and the unsightly dribbles of stain....notice the seam where the two pieces of plywood meet on the side....

And here is the strap/band which covers the bottom of the frame...it kinda looks from this pic like the scrap wood I have the lightbox resting on to keep it off the floor is part of this whole mess...it not, really.

Nick

[Maxx]

And here is a close up of the gap between the top and bottom straps...its pretty easy to see the seam where the two plywood skin panels meet up...but I've got a plan for that too, (yeah, I know, I'm all about the cover up huh....)

Left over scrap wood to the rescue!!! Cut to fit and urethaned...

Finally here is the whole thing, with rear filled in abit and extra straps attached.....

Nick

[Spooda420]

Nick,

That is the most over engineered stand/canopy I have ever seen you could put a freakin' hummer on that thing and I dont think it would give.

Start buying LR and some SPS so I can get some frags from ya!

best of luck.

Chris

[Maxx]

Chris,
The liverock is already cookin in a 55 in the basement. But I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need some pods and stuff to jump start the population in the tank. Have you got any Chaeto?
Nick

[Witfull]

Nick,,,i cant wait to see the zealous floor reinforcements! the house will fall down and the only thing standing will be the tank and stand!