Deb's 60 Gallon build -ReefKeepr Lite up and running

[debdp]

Well the tank stand is a ways off, but at least I have the canopy almost done and light electrical is set up. The tank is a DSA 60 gallon, 30 long by 24 deep, 20 tall. It will be replacing my 24 gallon AquaPod soft coral tank in the same spot. When I’m ready to install the new tank, I’ll have to move the cabinets up to the ceiling. Here's a wide shot of the new canopy over the old tank... sort of dwarfs it

[attachment=2]Canopy10.jpg[/attachment]


The canopy will hold 6 T5HO bulbs. My new sunlight supply retrofit had a bad ballast so I’m waiting for a replacement. One of the lights is a Sunlight Supply Ready fit which I took out of the metal housing so I could keep the canopy thin. Browsing lights I saw a Current 24W retrofit for $59 so figured I’d try it. The ballast is fully enclosed and totally plug and play. I wish really I had picked up two instead of the Sunlight Supply Tek II retrofit. The reflectors are not that good, but I have parabolic reflectors to replace them with anyway. The canopy is 18x27x3.25”. Has two 3” fans, moonlights and a Current LED Brightlite, and an acrylic cover.

[attachment=1]Canopy2.jpg[/attachment]
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[debdp]

Wide shot of the canopy & the Current remote ballast.

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The holder for the chain holding up the light. I covered the screw with heat shrink plastic so it wouldn't scratch the chain.

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The two fans at the back of the canopy.

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[debdp]

Since the Current retrofit came with a remote ballast I had to figure out where I was going to put all the electrical. I need as much room in the cabinet for a sump as possible. Tried the cabinet over the tank, but too hard to get to, so ended up with this solution. Had a Mission style bookcase on the opposite side of the wall. Built a simple wooden holder for the timers. Had some acrylic sheets I could use as covers covered those with black window film, put Velcro on the bookcase frame and acrylic and put them up. All the cords are currently ‘stashed’ behind that big chair which I’ll need to figure out how to ‘clean’ that wiring mess up.

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[blide]

Very nice... I like the canopy.

 

[debdp]

Well with things being fairly quiet over the holidays work wise, I'm making the most of this extra time. So I have managed to get the frame of the stand done. After this is posted I'll be taking it outside for sanding. Still needs a lot of work... exterior frame, bottom & top plywood. I went 2x4 frame because it will mostly remain open all around, except for a removable side panel and hinged doors in the front. I do plan, though, to put plywood in the back which will extend one-third down the back towards the sump area and above the tank about 4-5 inches. It will be painted black and will provide a background for the back of the tank as well as a place to hide the cords from the light hanging overhead. The back corner of the light will rest on that plywood, hopefully looking like it's one piece.

 

[debdp]

So I've been doing some more work on my tank stand. These were taken over last weekend. But I finished gluing in the last bit of trim tonight. Tomorrow I'll do the final sanding, add the bottom. And this weekend I'll get it painted -- white. Once that's done I can take measurements for the top and the back plywood pieces. The back will go from the center of the back of the stand and extend up about 3 inches above the tank... both will be stained black. The back piece is to give a dark background to the back of the tank and hide the cords coming from the light fixture. There will be about a half inch gap or so between the tank and the back plywood. The stained wood will be coated a few times with Helmsman clear satin. The edges of the plywood will be trimmed with 1x 2 but will be painted with black satin enamel (Behr). As usual since I design as I go I didn't account for the type of hinges I wanted for the front doors and with the trim only being 1/2" I'll have to come up with something. All the cabinets in the room have euro hinges so we'll see.

 

[washingtond]

Looks good. When do you think the tank will have water in it?

 

[debdp]

@washingtond wrote:

Thanks. My goal has been to be set up by Next Wave, but not sure it will be. After the stand is ready and the 24 is taken down I have to work on the overhead cabinets before the 60 is set up. They're getting moved up to the ceiling and a drawer slide system mounted underneath for the lights. If work stays slow it might get done by Next Wave.

 

[psteeleb]

looking great - fantastic workmanship

 

[debdp]

Been busy this weekend. It's been painted. I've added the bottom, but before laying it in I filled all the gaps in the bottom with Dap 3.0. And then put a heavy bead all the way around the edges so when the bottom went in it would squish up and under the plywood. Then I let that dry overnight and added another bead all the way around the edges on top and filled in all the gaps. It's paintable so I just need to prime & paint the bottom.

[attachment=0]60 stand 1.jpg[/attachment]


I cut & stained the backing and top. The trim has been added to both pieces with mitered corners. Below are pictures of the top before and after staining & trim. I'm really wanting to get everything painted and the stained portion coated so it'll have a good two weeks to dry before putting anything on it.

[attachment=1]60 stand 2.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=2]60 stand 3.jpg[/attachment]

 

[debdp]

Here's a little better picture of the corner and staining. I'm undecided whether I want to put a second coat of stain or not. I may test the center and see how it looks first...but this is one coat.

 

[debdp]

Quick update... I built the new rack for the light. It will be bolted to the cabinets overhead. And when I need to access the tank, I'll just need to slide it out to the right. Once the tank is up, then I'll figure out where I need to place the hooks for the light. Here's two pics of it upside down.

 

[debdp]

Secondly the stand. I still need to do some touch up painting on the black trim and another coat of black on the back board. But the backboard is mounted. I set the top on just to see how it would look and leaned the side panel to see how it would look. Not enough light in the room for a good picture. The back ended up with 4 coats of urethane and the bottom 5 because I missed a small spot and had to sand and recoat. The underside of the top is being painted white now. Then the back and top need the urethane portion taped off so I can fine sand and paint the edges one final time. Then just mount the top to the stand. I have a black silicone sealant that will fill in the gap between the back board and the top behind the tank.

[attachment=1]60stand1.jpg[/attachment]

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This is supposed to match the other stand I made... this one.
[attachment=0]6g nano 1 30 10 .jpg[/attachment]

 

[washingtond]

Looking good and thanks for the update.

 

[debdp]

So the stand is pretty well done. I just have to do a bit of touch up on the side of the top where I scraped it a bit in one spot moving the stand into my office. I just have to figure out what type of hinges I want to use for the front doors and then take measurements to have them made. but that can be done after the tank's set up. The side panel is removal and I used cabinet latches made for RVs. The outside edges of the blue painter's tape marks where the top and sides of the tank will come to.

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[attachment=0]panel latch.jpg[/attachment]

 

[debdp]

I tried moving some of the xenia and they started melting. The jawfish buried herself under the largest rock and was going to be a bear to move so I thought I'd try something else. Got some furniture slides. Emptied the tank as much as possible, used a crowbar to pry the corners up and slipped in the slides. Took the strap I use for tightening wood when glued and slipped around the tank and voila, it slid, but not without a lot of effort. I built the stand so knew the frame could handle it.

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So here's a wide shot of the cabinets on the wall before. After the tank was out of the way, took the cabinets down and replaced them with one 15x30 cabinet. I reinforced the back with extra wood to mount to the wall and predrilled the holes for bolting the light rack.

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New cabinet installed. Fixed holes, scratches on the wall & painted.

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Mounted the light rack to the cabinet.

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Moved the stand into place and mounted the light to see how it would look. However, now that the tank is in place I found I need to move the light out to the front more so I need some sort of Z bracket. Found some online and ordered them, but I still need to see if I can find some locally if they don't work out.

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Mark came over early the Saturday before Easter and helped with the plumbing (Thank you again Mark). A lot of little things I would not have known and missed. And we filled the tank with freshwater and ran a test.

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Since last Saturday, I have filled the tank with sand, rock in the display tank only. Tossed in a stocking with some frozen seafood and chunk of shrimp then added a bottle of Fritz Turbo Start. I still haven't gotten a reading on ammonia or nitrite, which is what happened the last time I used Turbo Start in the 40. I did see a colinista snail on the glass, and a couple asterinas, but a dead brittlestar on the sand hints that there is some cycling going on.

 

[debdp]

Last night I filled the refugium and started the pump. And to my dismay this morning the tank is running 82 degrees. I'm sure it's the pump since the display tank was running 78 degrees with a 100W heater and the top covered with acrylic sheets. So is that normal for the pump to heat up a tank so much? It also vibrates which is a tad irritating, even though there's a bit of padding underneath.

 

[psteeleb]

@debdp wrote:

yes - some pumps do add a considerable amount of heat to the tank. Mag pumps are notorious for this. If the pump is hard piped there may be some stress on the pump that is creating the vibration. Consider adding a piece of tubing near or at the pump.

 

[debdp]

@psteeleb wrote:

yes - some pumps do add a considerable amount of heat to the tank. Mag pumps are notorious for this. If the pump is hard piped there may be some stress on the pump that is creating the vibration. Consider adding a piece of tubing near or at the pump."]

Well it's a Mag 7 so guess that explains that. It is hard piped... but what do you mean by adding tubing? Replace the hard pipe with tubing? Or as a cushion?

 

[psteeleb]

@debdp wrote:

yes - some pumps do add a considerable amount of heat to the tank. Mag pumps are notorious for this. If the pump is hard piped there may be some stress on the pump that is creating the vibration. Consider adding a piece of tubing near or at the pump."]

Well it's a Mag 7 so guess that explains that. It is hard piped... but what do you mean by adding tubing? Replace the hard pipe with tubing? Or as a cushion?"]

Usually just adding a short piece of tubing between the pump and pipe works, for example; from the pump discharge to the valve or first fitting if you have one. I can't see your details well enough to tell if you space or not.

Another consideration is making sure the pipe above the pump is supported where the weight of the pipe is not on top of the pump. When hard piped it may even work to hang the pump from the pipe so the pump is about a quarter inch off the sump bottom, then add some foam underneath to cushion the pump.