HelloReef 15 - TSA Giveaway

[Johnd651]

Alright, so it's staying home with me. I am planning on putting it in the same room as the FW tank, but it looks like the IM stands are no longer available. The page doesn't exist on IMs site, and they seem to be out of stock everywhere else.

It would fit perfectly in this corner (where the green cabinet currently is). I have up to 24" of room, so this is a great spot. Now I need to find a piece of furniture.

 

[Johnd651]

I can not seem to find anything that will fit. I can get up to 48l x 24w. It seems that everything that fits length wise is just under 15 in wide. Other ideas? I was still thinking about some metal shelving from 8020.net.

 

[tbrown]

We like shopping at American Furniture Warehouse if there's one close by you. Quite the selection.

 

[Johnd651]

HelloReef 15 stand

So I think I'm just going to go the 2x4 route. I think I should be able to use just regular 2x4s, make a box for the top and bottom and have it supported what the heck 2x4s in between. Plywood skin. Around 36" high, so 51" with tank? Tank is 15x15x15" , 15 gallons Thoughts?

www.reef2reef.com

So I think I'm just going to go the 2x4 route. I think I should be able to use just regular 2x4s, make a box for the top and bottom and have it supported what the heck 2x4s in between. Plywood skin. Around 36" high, so 51" with tank?

Thoughts?

 

[Johnd651]

Was doing trim work on the house and already had the saw out today. Luckily I had enough scraps to cut for a wood stand. Just need to cut the plywood for top and bottom.

 

[Johnd651]

Rough assembly

 

[Johnd651]

Need help skinning it, ideas?

I need help skinning the stand

 

[Johnd651]

@tbrown gotta show me how to build that homemade square steel stand you have. It would have left me so much more room underneath.

 

[tbrown]

We over-engineered it a lot. I actually had to cut out bracing to make room for the skimmer.

For your purposes you could probably have used half inch square stock or even angle iron. We used 1" angle iron at the top. One version has it angled down and the top is just flat, no lip (I think it's the 125 stand and the 110 stand...) and one version (I think the old 75) has 3/4" angled up to make a lip to hold the tank in.

Originally they were all freshwater tanks so I made the shelf low enough to hold 10 gallon tanks. Any more I'd make with the shelf just an inch or 2 off the ground for more space for sumps/canister filters. I had to remove the shelves on all of them to use sumps and canisters which takes away from storage space.

 

[tbrown]

1" square stock legs, half inch square stock bracing between the legs with wood shelving sitting on that, 3/4" angle iron for the top. For skinning we've discussed simple curtains with magnets in pockets. @pandaparties did a similar thing for his but he glued magnets to the front and made fully removable front panels.

 

[Johnd651]

1" square stock legs, half inch square stock bracing between the legs with wood shelving sitting on that, 3/4" angle iron for the top. For skinning we've discussed simple curtains with magnets in pockets. @pandaparties did a similar thing for his but he glued magnets to the front and made fully removable front panels.

I thought about putting magnets in and having a removable panel vs making a door. At this point since it's an aio, my only thought was to put dosing and ato in there.

 

[tbrown]

I thought about putting magnets in and having a removable panel vs making a door. At this point since it's an aio, my only thought was to put dosing and ato in there.

Make sure that the doser has enough slack and make the top shelf have a hanger for dosing bottles then put it on casters like a kitchen drawer and you can pull the shelf out to adjust as needed.

Make a few shelves inside for fish food container, extra additives, and use the bottom for a small phyto tank?

 

[Johnd651]

Make sure that the doser has enough slack and make the top shelf have a hanger for dosing bottles then put it on casters like a kitchen drawer and you can pull the shelf out to adjust as needed.

Make a few shelves inside for fish food container, extra additives, and use the bottom for a small phyto tank?

I did add a beam across the bottom to put a floor in, but I didn't think of shelves. I have a bunch of soft close drawer slides that might fit.

 

[tbrown]

I did add a beam across the bottom to put a floor in, but I didn't think of shelves. I have a bunch of soft close drawer slides that might fit.

Yeah! Take the fronts off and you have sliding shelves.

 

[Johnd651]

Yeah! Take the fronts off and you have sliding shelves.

That opening is only 24" high. Top Shelf 10" bottom 14"?

 

[tbrown]

If I were doing one for the doser I'd put it as close to the top as possible so maybe 4". Measure your tallest item that's going on the shelf and make the bottom shelf a half inch to an inch taller than that and put the third shelf at that point?

I dunno, maybe the doser shelf with a hanging shelf below and attached tall enough for the dosing bottles and then a shelf right on the base.

 

[Johnd651]

If I were doing one for the doser I'd put it as close to the top as possible so maybe 4". Measure your tallest item that's going on the shelf and make the bottom shelf a half inch to an inch taller than that and put the third shelf at that point?

I dunno, maybe the doser shelf with a hanging shelf below and attached tall enough for the dosing bottles and then a shelf right on the base.

I ended up doing 8" and 15.25". The rails I have are 21" long so they wouldn't work. That being said I can add one in the middle if I buy short rails. Control panel will go in on the side and then veneer to finish it off.

 

[Johnd651]

So long story short.... end of school, vacation, birthday, vacation, etc and I've been slacking on the forums.

The Adaptive Reef board came in and I got some furniture grade plywood to skin it.

 

[Johnd651]

I hope today I can get the plywood skin cut up!!! I have some kitchen cabinets to finish up, so while I have it all setup, I will try to cut it up.

 

[Johnd651]

Skin.... trim next