Sunken New Fiji Cube 32 Gallon EXT Build

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I have decided to build a new 32G mostly coral tank so that my current 250G can be a mostly fish tank as the fish I have are getting larger and there are a few not-reef-safe guys I want to buy. I decided a while back I like roller mats (and dislike changing filter socks - that said, if you do still use filter socks (as I do on one tank), I highly recommend "Reef Diaper's"... disposable is the way to go) - but I digress. I have a trigger roller mat on my large tank which works well. I really liked the look of the Fiji Cube sump and when I saw they came out with a roller mat that fit, I decided to give it a try. So I bought the 20g sump. I already had a Fiji Cube 10G AIO and a 22G EXT (plumbed to a reef diaper / Trigger sump), so I decided to go with the 32G EXT from Fiji. I couldn't find a stand I liked (or a price I liked) - so I decided to build my own. The journey began...

 

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Testing out some rock work on an old stand - tape shows the size of my new 32G Fiji Cube

 

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After searching online for ideas... I started to build my stand.

 

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My local hardware store snuck a piece of plywood into the primed solid wood pile...

 

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Bought a piece of butcher block on sale (this is a scrap) and tested my black cherry stain out...

 

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The corner to see a before and after view - plain vs stain.

 

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The stand is coming together nicely (i think at least). I bought the wood primed then ended up doing another 2-3 coats of white exterior paint (the high end can).. and 2 coats of polyurethane (matte). The top was stained with black cherry and got 3 coats of polyurethane.

 

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Started adding doors. I wanted the doors to be inset, so I started shopping for hinges (best prices were on Amazon). This type of hinge is very adjustable, but huge.. .I ended up using them on the front and right-side doors. The left-side door will be near a wall AND the hinge would get in the way of my sump being pushed all the way to the left in the stand so I opted to magnetize it to the stand (therefore I can take the entire door off).

 

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cut some felt for the feet.

 

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Doors on and stained... added some handles.

 

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The tank is here.

 

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oops.. Forgot to show the glue up on the stand.

 

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Got the overflow out.. and decided to try a starter pack I bought on sale.

 

[scottkoji]

the stand looks great! nice build so far

 

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After looking at how others plumbed online, I started cuttign and dry-fitting.

 

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the stand looks great! nice build so far

Thank you!!

 

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Seem to have it done here.. added a gate valve for the herbie overflow and another to the return pump since I ended up only having room for one return pump (went with the Neptune CORE 15 which takes up the entire pump return section of my sump)

 

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more picks..

 

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another pic

 

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Alright - getting my sand in. I decided to drop some aquaforest reef mud (lifesource) under the carib live sand.. we will see how that works.