# This is my new 150g saltwater aquarium



## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

I do not have as much experience as some of the people on this forum. However I still give it my best. So I wanted to upgrade my saltwater tank and did not want to spend all the money for someone else to build my stand and canopy. 

So here is my new stand and canopy. 
(it still needs to be stained and finished)
All of the doors will attach with magnets








And now some shots of the whole thing


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

That looks very nice. Put on a finish and get some fish in there and let us see it again in place!


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

The stand looks very good. Post finished pictures. Just for safety and some personal opinions, I'll offer some constructive criticism. Don't take this wrong, but posting a project should be open to positive comments meant to help.

Looking at the pictures, the actual structure looks to be plywood, but the thickness doesn't appear to be 3/4". If I'm wrong about that, I apologize. Thinner grades could have the propensity to buckle under the weight or twisting forces. When filled with water, there will be over 1250 lbs, not including the weight of just the tank.

Using 3/4" plywood can work well for a sturdy stand, if its configured to counteract racking, both at the supports of the cabinet and at the joints. I see that you have some sort of bracing applied at those positions, but I can't tell what they are exactly. Here is a suggested quick general drawing using 3/4" plywood:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u3/cabinetman_photos/Aquacabdet.jpg?t=1301917368

Just a cosmetic comment, aesthetically, some cabinets look better when the vertical stiles (for both the cabinet and doors) and door/end panels are done in vertical grain orientation. This is a personal like/dislike. It's not a rule of any sort.












 







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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

ACP said:


> That looks very nice. Put on a finish and get some fish in there and let us see it again in place!


Thanks, I am hoping to to get it finished this week and have it up and running by next week. I will defiantly post some completed and filled pics. 



cabinetman said:


> The stand looks very good. Post finished pictures. Just for safety and some personal opinions, I'll offer some constructive criticism. Don't take this wrong, but posting a project should be open to positive comments meant to help.
> 
> Looking at the pictures, the actual structure looks to be plywood, but the thickness doesn't appear to be 3/4". If I'm wrong about that, I apologize. Thinner grades could have the propensity to buckle under the weight or twisting forces. When filled with water, there will be over 1250 lbs, not including the weight of just the tank.
> 
> ...


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Very cool stand and canopy! :thumbsup:

I have a 220gal. SW tank with 450+lbs. of rock and sand.
It weighs well over 3000 lbs.

Don't forget to beef your floor system. :boat:


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

mdntrdr said:


> Very cool stand and canopy! :thumbsup:
> 
> I have a 220gal. SW tank with 450+lbs. of rock and sand.
> It weighs well over 3000 lbs.
> ...


Thanks, no worries about the floor, slab foundation


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

you went from possibly underbuilt to overbuilt haha 

2x material would of been good also, just for everyone elses benefit,


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

It was built that way for the wifey's piece of mind. The thought of 150g of saltwater on her living room floor is not something I want to come home to.


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## kingcut (Nov 24, 2009)

Looks nice. I like the rugged steel sub frame. Great idea. You could cover that with anything, even bamboo or cedar.


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## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

Man, I really like that stand, it's clean and smoothly done. Can't wait to see it finished. Do you have other salt water tanks? 
--Matt


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

bbandu said:


> It was built that way for the wifey's piece of mind. The thought of 150g of saltwater on her living room floor is not something I want to come home to.


If a 150 gallons of salt water ends up on her living room floor you won't want to be home anyway.:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Very nice work. Would love to see it finished and set up. Great job.


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## hands made for wood (Nov 2, 2007)

Looks great! And it will look even better once you get a finish on it and the tank set up! :smile:


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

Thanks for all the good comments, I spent about three hours today sanding it. I am going to co look for some stain tomorrow. If all goes well I might even get some stain on it. My plan is to try and have this thing up and running by the end of the week.


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

haugerm said:


> Man, I really like that stand, it's clean and smoothly done. Can't wait to see it finished. Do you have other salt water tanks?
> --Matt


Right now I just have a small 30 gallon saltwater holding tank for the 4 fish that I already have. They came out of my 90 gallon saltwater that I took down to make room for the new tank.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

bbandu said:


> It was built that way for the wifey's piece of mind. The thought of 150g of saltwater on her living room floor is not something I want to come home to.


 really super nice looking work there
about 25 yrs ago i re carpeted my livingroom i built my own 75 gal tank and cabinet.the cabinet was plywood and was super strong but i messed up and my tank busted in the middle of the night.i had 75 gal of saltwater and fish all over my new livingroom.
good thing you looked ahead on all these things lol


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## chinchin (Feb 12, 2011)

Your telling us that you do not have experience with this but look at your work.
Its really beautiful and it looked like some one who is very skillful have done this.


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

Looks really nice and really sturdy.When you gonna put the sea snakes and eels in it?The wife would love those.:laughing: OK,not very funny/Itchy


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

You say thats not funny but it would be pretty awesome. At one time I owned 3 different snakes, However with a baby in the house now the snakes had to go.
So I could probably get away with a eel but probably not the sea snakes. But it would be awesome.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

Nice project! That steel frame looks really strong!


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## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

OH yeah, good job with the steel frame too. I've seen lots of people build frames out of 2x4's, and while they're nice and sturdy if done right, usually the people end up regretting not using steel. There's a lot more room underneath for a sump or refugium with the steel frames.
--Matt


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

Thanks, where some people see it as over kill, I see it as insurance that leaving to whole section open and not worry about it


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

ok sorry for not updating in a long while but life has gotten in the way as it has a way of doing. I have made tons of progress on the tanks and stand and should have it in the house anyday now. Will post some updated pics soon.


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

I just wanted to update this thread since its been awhile, here is a crappy cell phone pic which for some reason made the stain on the stand looks blotchy in the pics but its not in person. Will take a better pic when I have time to break out the good camera. The tank will set for acouple days for it 
to clear up and then it will be time to rearrange the rocks in it.


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## california (Jul 9, 2011)

nice i like the canopy


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## SargeVN (Jun 26, 2011)

Looks good....


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

Ok here are some pics of the tank as of right now. I have added a few more pieces of rock but the aquascape is still pretty simple.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Looks great! :thumbsup:

Are you running a sump?, skimmer?

What type of lighting are you using? :smile:


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

Yes I am running a sump, its a 40g DIY sump, have a ASM G3 skimmer, and for lighting I have 8 48" T5 retros which will later be changed out for LED's.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

bbandu said:


> Yes I am running a sump, its a 40g DIY sump, have a ASM G3 skimmer, and for lighting I have 8 48" T5 retros which will later be changed out for LED's.


 
Cool, I'm runnin MH lighting with CF, love to go LED one day.
Chiller runs pretty hard with my system. :thumbdown:


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## tito5 (Apr 5, 2011)

thats awesome! I want a tank like that but I don't have the room in my house for one.


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## bbandu (Mar 29, 2011)

mdntrdr said:


> Cool, I'm runnin MH lighting with CF, love to go LED one day.
> Chiller runs pretty hard with my system. :thumbdown:


 
Yea if you were to switch to T5's the chiller would not have to run as hard, might not even need one. I don't have a chiller on my system right now, I have one but only use it for the hottest months if necessary.


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