My first DIY project... And its big!

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Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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Kayla
Finally got ahold of the LFS owner after calling every other day for at least 2 weeks. He says his wholesaler won't take the frame back, and he would give me a refund, but in store credit. I asked if he could do 50/50 on store credit and cash back. I'm thinking on building a frame made out of wood, but not positive. There is a man who welds in his spare time that said he could do it, but the angle iron alone would be $100 and he would charge $35 an hour for labor, so he's way too steep for me. Hopefully I will get this figured out soon, I am getting tired of this frame crap :swear:
 

Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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Finally built a frame for this thing, we grabbed some fiber board as the base, and used 2x4s as the sides, after we got done screwing everything in, we couldn't even slide the frame off, so its not going anywhere. We Filled it to leak test before leaving, keeping my fingers crossed for now.


 

Maddhatter

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May 24, 2009
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That is a good deal, but the deep chip in the corner concerns me the most, the other items are cosmetic. If that chip is too deep it might compromise the structural integrity of the tank. Maybe you should fill it up with a substrate and water to create a pressure test of sorts. If you know someone who can blow glass you might can get a corner piece molded to cover that chipped area and then silicone around it.
 

Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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That is a good deal, but the deep chip in the corner concerns me the most, the other items are cosmetic. If that chip is too deep it might compromise the structural integrity of the tank. Maybe you should fill it up with a substrate and water to create a pressure test of sorts. If you know someone who can blow glass you might can get a corner piece molded to cover that chipped area and then silicone around it.
I think that we have decided for now that the best thing that I can do is to fill the chips with silicone and cover the corners with angled wood, I don't know anyone that blows glass, we filled it with water last night. Apparently its still doing well. I could probably call around to the blown glass shops around town, the problem is that they will have to make a house call to see the tank lol.

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Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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Building the bottom of the stand with a sheet of fibre board and 2x4s.

Top and bottom pieces made


Both pieces screwed and leveled to 4x4s to complete the skeleton.
Here soon I will be adding some plywood for the skin and trim to make it look pretty

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Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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it's been a long time since I have updated.
I have had the tank up and running with fish for quite a few months now with no issues. I have been able to put a DIY 3D Styrofoam background inside, and yesterday we finished constructing the canopy.
The top of the canopy is hinged, and it is easy enough to lift that I did not need to section it off. I sprayed the inside of it with clear coat, so that the wood will have a harder time rotting when it gets wet, or just from the humidity. With the stand and canopy, the tank is a whopping 6'2", so I need a chair or something to give me a boost if I need to get into the tank. I have a 5M strip of 5050 RGB LEDs that are waterproof that have an adhesive backing that I will be using for lighting. Right now it doesn't have the lights on because I am having an issue with the controller that I received with the lights. The lights are stuck on blue at the moment, I should be getting a replacement in here soon.
IMAG0121_zpsb8c0380f.jpg
Now all that is left is to stain both the stand and canopy, put fancy trim on both, and clear coat the inside of the stand(I forgot to do that before I set the tank up). I plan to do the clear coating when we move here at the end of august. After we get done moving, I will then start wrapping and putting the trim on. I think the tank has come quite a way already so far. Let me know what you think so far!

IMAG0121_zpsb8c0380f.jpg
 

dudley

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Feb 9, 2005
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Dee
Looking good! It has been awhile since we had an update.
 

Manafel

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Oct 10, 2011
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Looking good! It has been awhile since we had an update.
Thank you! I will be sure to post pics when I get the lights on, which will hopefully be soon, so I'm going to do better to keep this thread more updated lol.

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