Pics are backwards from what I meant to put them. Bottom one shows it up close, you can see the point of impact on the edge, middle one shows it from inside, looking at the glass at the joint between front and top, first one shows the entire tank for scale, you can see it on the front edge.
300 Gallon stand and canopy
- Thread starter DaveB
- Start date
My landlord and I and two of his employees got it in the house tonight. Carried it to the steps, slid it down two pieces of 2x4 to a landing on plywood, where we fingal fingered it up on end, loaded it to an appliance dolly, wedged it in a 7 foot door (the hardest part), and rolled it down the hallway.
My shoulders are burning (I held it in place overhead during the doorway adventure).
But it's in.
And then my landlord gave me about $400 worth of finished cabinet hardware. 3 doors that are pretty much ideal in size, 2 that are narrower that might work on the ends for sump sliding in/out, and some extra stuff I might be able to trade to get the rest. They're stained already, which I don't need, but he said I can order trim and plywood veneer that matches exactly, so maybe I can skin the 2x4 stand in cheap 1/2" ply then skin that with the veneer. We'll see. If nothing else, I guess I can sell or trade what I have for unfinished doors.
I think they're about an inch wider than ideal, as there might not be enough room for a fluted molding between each door, but maybe I can just do a central vertical molding piece and have two double width openings. We'll see. Just having such a cool ass landlord makes this whole adventure almost worth it.
Still... next time, I'd go acrylic. And the adventure's not over. I'll be forever nervous about cracking and leaks.
My shoulders are burning (I held it in place overhead during the doorway adventure).
But it's in.
And then my landlord gave me about $400 worth of finished cabinet hardware. 3 doors that are pretty much ideal in size, 2 that are narrower that might work on the ends for sump sliding in/out, and some extra stuff I might be able to trade to get the rest. They're stained already, which I don't need, but he said I can order trim and plywood veneer that matches exactly, so maybe I can skin the 2x4 stand in cheap 1/2" ply then skin that with the veneer. We'll see. If nothing else, I guess I can sell or trade what I have for unfinished doors.
I think they're about an inch wider than ideal, as there might not be enough room for a fluted molding between each door, but maybe I can just do a central vertical molding piece and have two double width openings. We'll see. Just having such a cool ass landlord makes this whole adventure almost worth it.
Still... next time, I'd go acrylic. And the adventure's not over. I'll be forever nervous about cracking and leaks.
You are right on the money with doing the skin. Exactly how I would do it.
That sucks about the tank. I would be uncontrollably irate if someone did that to my tank. Glad to hear you got it in the house though.
That sucks about the tank. I would be uncontrollably irate if someone did that to my tank. Glad to hear you got it in the house though.
Nice looking tank, you could fix that lip easily, and if you ever decide to get rid of it let me know, 
as far as your many answers, i would also agree, the double layer bottom is strictly overkill, a nice stand with a plywood top, and a relatively thin foam would work perfectly, my 225 tall has just a single layer of 1/2" with an inner wall bracing 3" wide, i havent had any cracking problems with it sitting on plywood
as far as your many answers, i would also agree, the double layer bottom is strictly overkill, a nice stand with a plywood top, and a relatively thin foam would work perfectly, my 225 tall has just a single layer of 1/2" with an inner wall bracing 3" wide, i havent had any cracking problems with it sitting on plywood
Pharaoh;3203885; said:
not me... I would be totally controlled while I beat them to within an inch of their life .. if I wasn't controlled... I might over shoot the inch and actually kill them 
WOW I just read this thread and I have no idea how you held it together. You are defiantly a better person than I. I really hope this all works out for you.
My only question about all that is how I conceal the finishing nails in the veneer and the trim (which I can also order pre-stained. I'm sure that'll get expensive though if I elect to do anything more than just straight edges, which I had planned to)... On unstained wood I'd nail them, putty, sand, stain... if it's already stained, what do I do? Is there stain colored putty? Seems that even if there was, it'd still be visible.Pharaoh;3203885; said:
On the plus side, if I am buying everything pre-finished, that means I can totally build and level the stand's skeleton quickly and put the tank on it first, while I still have the suction cups, and then put the finish on it while it's already on the stand. (Or, if it fails the fill test, it saves me the effort of finishing the stand.) That solves the huge problem of how to lift something that big and heavy up 38 inches off the ground with enough control to gently set it down without ever touching any of the trim.
I would rate the chances of me moving this to my next residence at less than 2%. So when my girlfriend and I buy (probably next summer) it's yours. Seriously.julsy;3204340; said:Nice looking tank, you could fix that lip easily, and if you ever decide to get rid of it let me know,
Trust me, if I had any witnesses or way to prove it was him, there'd be some serious issues. I'm not the immediate beating type though... more like the Count of Monte Cristo deliberately planned revenge type.basslover34;3204450; said:
I actually had a shouting match with him on a separate matter earlier today, but ultimately took the high road and apologized because I was in the wrong. But I figure that'll get us about two days worth of peace before he flips out about something again. He's like that. All 5 neighbors hate his guts and can't wait for him to move.
Haha, I've had so much go wrong at this point that it's almost expected so it's hard to muster the energy to react.The1and only;3204590; said:
At least now the damn thing is inside so I can start planning the stand. I wonder if there's a way I can design it to be expandable, ie if I sell it and move and get a 96x36 tank instead. Probably just easier to just take it apart and replace the 2x8s on the ends and the plywood skin.
So... to reinforce the upper glass: The piece that's broken is 96x3x.5" - should I get another piece the exact same size and just reinforce the entire top? Or would something shorter over it be fine? With glass, do I need to sandwich it top andbottom like acrylic? Remember, I'm not trying to prevent a leak, but to provide the strength to support that cross piece. Given that the tank is only 25" high and there are two other fully intact pieces plus .5" glass I'm sure it's fine, but I don't want to take any risks. The glass company nearby likes me so I can probably get glass cheap from them. Just need to decide what would be best.
If i were to give my best suggestion, i would do both top and bottom, i would lay a .5" piece between the braces on the underside, using a good silicone like ge 1200, dkhardware sells it, come out of a warehouse up there in chicago, and then i would lay another piece over the top side to the outside of the braces, you could probably even lay a 1/4" pice on the top so that you dont have a huge section of glass, with the sandwich holding the broken section it, i dont see you having any structural problems.
And deffinately let me know if you do decide to move next summer, i will be more than happy to take that off your hands come move time
And deffinately let me know if you do decide to move next summer, i will be more than happy to take that off your hands come move time
Adding two more 96x30x.5 inch glass panes to a tank that already weighs over 800 pounds sounds like the world's best idea ever. That scares the hell out of me. But if it's necessary, it'll happen.
Shoot me an email with your contact info just so I have it on file next year in case this site disappears or something. bernreuther at gmail is the address.
I sold my three little rays yesterday because I decided it wasn't very nice to keep them in a little tank forever while I deal with getting this thing up and running. It'll be a while, so I gave them a better home. I miss them more than I thought I would, though I don't miss doing a water change every single day.
Shoot me an email with your contact info just so I have it on file next year in case this site disappears or something. bernreuther at gmail is the address.
I sold my three little rays yesterday because I decided it wasn't very nice to keep them in a little tank forever while I deal with getting this thing up and running. It'll be a while, so I gave them a better home. I miss them more than I thought I would, though I don't miss doing a water change every single day.
DaveB;3205044; said:My only question about all that is how I conceal the finishing nails in the veneer and the trim (which I can also order pre-stained. I'm sure that'll get expensive though if I elect to do anything more than just straight edges, which I had planned to)... On unstained wood I'd nail them, putty, sand, stain... if it's already stained, what do I do? Is there stain colored putty? Seems that even if there was, it'd still be visible.
On the plus side, if I am buying everything pre-finished, that means I can totally build and level the stand's skeleton quickly and put the tank on it first, while I still have the suction cups, and then put the finish on it while it's already on the stand. (Or, if it fails the fill test, it saves me the effort of finishing the stand.) That solves the huge problem of how to lift something that big and heavy up 38 inches off the ground with enough control to gently set it down without ever touching any of the trim.
They have these wax pens. We call them crayons. But they can be bought to color match your stain or vaneer. They work wonders. They are typically used for toucing up scratches, but they work for cover the holes made by the brad nails.
There are ups and downs to skinning a tank stand after the tank is on it. But its is definitely worth it to do it after if you need to get the tank going quickly.
I would rate the chances of me moving this to my next residence at less than 2%. So when my girlfriend and I buy (probably next summer) it's yours. Seriously.
Where was I on this deal?
