125 FOWLR build

i decided to start a thread for my first ever salty tank and i would very much appreciate input from you all. i have kept all kinds of freshwater fish in the past, and many reptiles, feel free to browse around my photobucket.

so heres the bones of the stand i built, its a little over 6' long, and 3' tall. this whole operation is going into a cut out the previous owners of my house were kind enough to leave for me in my livingroom. as it stands in these pics its 14-15 2x4's and a sheet of cheapo 1/4" ply.


tomorrow i'll be doing the front in a much nicer sanded 1/4" ply, adding in some doors, and painting the back of the 125 acrylic tank black. also tonight i should be setting up my 6 stage 100 gpd RO/DI unit.


the 2 outer sides are going to be cabinets for various types of filtration, but the middle section still has me a little confused as to what to do. i was thinking the bottom could be a nice skinned cubby for a step-stool to allow for easy access to the future canopy, and above that a drawer of some kind, but i'm still on the fence . . . any ideas for this middle space would be greatly appreciated!!


~Will.

 

looks good

just remember to ask lots of questions it never hurts

not sure about the middle spot

 

Looks good! The only thing I would suggest is to completely remove the ply that is inside the stand, and instead of the way you have the floor, have that be a single piece of ply attached to the bottom of the stand. It would give you a lot more room when the time comes to do a sump/fuge, plumb everything, etc.

 

+1 on that pack... My thoughts exactly

 

hmmm, thats a pretty good idea having the entire bottom open and just making 3 cabinet doors across the span of the stand. not only would that allow for bigger and better future filtration, but it would be a hell of alot easier making the front face look neat and uniform.

i could just add a couple short 2x4's across the bottom where the seems of the floors meet and fill in the tops with black silicone after its painted and sealed i bet you'd never know the floor was in 3 pieces ;D

this thing is going in a wall cutout, and on the other side is my fiancee's daughters room . . . should i enclose the back of the stand and drill holes for plumbing to reduce noise, or will it really not matter as much as i'm thinking?

~Will.

 

and FYI, my new goal in life is to get water in my tank before packleader ;D

~Will.

 

k + for that iLL . lol

 

Screw you guys, I'm going home!


I don't think the noise will be nearly as bad as you think. I vote for open back. Plus, your going to want as much ventilation in there as possible.

 

i third the removal of the inner walls. it will allow a longer sump, small one would be horrible for a big tank.

is this actually going in her room room? or a closet? see may not appreciate it too much, especially if its a reef tank. due to heat, humidity, and noise. i would definitely puts some kind of insulation in the stand to mute sound and close off the back. you may want to put a sump in the stand first before closing off the back, its probably better to just put a few screws in the back then properly closing it off just incase your equipment that wont fit throught the doors.
just remember this is your tank so she wont be as tolerant of inconviences as fellow reefers here with tanks in there room. so go top notch all the way and make sure she has kick ass AC
i hope this doesnt dampen your enthusiasm too much though.

 

No, I think he means the daughters room is on the other side of the wall