I took a break from this addiction; thought I was cured; but relapsed completely about 3 months ago and realized I don't want to be cured...
I am building a stand and canopy for my latest 'fix' in this addiction and I'm going to post my progress here in hopes it will keep me moving along and that I can use this great community's input and guidance.
I started a company and let my 75 gallon mixed reef tank go practically wild. The tank went 2 years on literally ATO only - no testing, no additives other than Kent Coral Builder in the top-off water. The combination of no water changes and a DSB resulted in a Bryopsis and bubble-algae, GSP, and Pulsing Xenia tank. I'm not sure why, but suddenly in one week, the Coralline algae covered the glass, which got me cleaning... and cleaning... and cleaning. I started weekly water changes, manually removing bubble and bryopsis algae a few times a week, and dosing Brightwells Coral Amino, Bio-Fuel, Microbacter-7, and Kent Tech-m (known bryopsis killer). I threw masses of Xenia over the fence each time I reached in the tank, pulled rocks and scraped GSP off. Suddenly all these old corals I forgot about emerged from the algae. That did it. I was officially off the wagon. I started buying corals from ARC members and they've been doing very well.
The only thing missing is room in the 75 gallon for coral growth... Enter the 175 Gallon Bowfront acquired used from an ARC member:
The only issue with the tank is the stand. The factory stand is made of particle board...yah.. real smart, huh! Well one sump incident later... here's what happens to particle board when it meets saltwater.
The top and other vertical boards are made of the same particle board. Instead of doing all the necessary work to replace the bottom just to have another spill ruin the top, I decided to build a custom stand. Here are my thoughts on building the new stand:
My current 75 stand is the standard height, but I noticed that any time anyone looked at the tank, they needed to bend over. I want it at eye-level. When measuring and eye-balling height, I ended up at 37 inches. Since my hockey # is 38, I rounded up...
The bottom of the stand will be designed like a tray to hold water. I considered plumbing it. but think the area is enough to hold *most* overflows until I can wet-dry vacuumm it out.
Instead of matching the curve of the tank, I am making it 3 sided in the front with custom trim to fit the curve of the tank.
The sides will also have doors or removable panels which will allow me to remove the sump, replace, it, etc. without moving the stand or removing supports.
Here's the progress so far:
Side-view showing opening large enough to fit a 17" deep sump in and out of:
I have cut the facing panels and doors out of for the 3 front faces, but no pics yet. The last thing I did last night was silicone and epoxy the bottom to create the waterproof tray:
I'm off to the hardwood company and woodcraft for an ogee bit to make the top trim... hopefully more pics tomorrow.