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[Len]

Foosinho's official thread:
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[Foosinho]

I am so not going to win, but it should be fun anyways.

I've been mulling this over for a few weeks, and had gotten far enough along that I had dimensioned sketches of a custom corner tank and stand, but I tossed that out when I started figuring out the construction times, and the costs I'd need in tools to do it right.

So now I'm down to a standard 10G tank (purchased), with a custom stand. I'm planning adding an external overflow with a Durso standpipe draining down to either a custom refuge/sump, or a 5.5G refuge/sump. I need to work out where the baffles and partitions would go in a 5.5G to see if I can make everything fit. I've got the tank, got the fittings for the Durso, and that's about it.

I'm still working on selecting a return pump, and working out how I want to plumb the returns. I'm also trying to decide if I want T5 lights, and if I can fit them in a custom canopy. The lighting decision is dependent on and/or driving the stocking decisions.

Stand construction is tentatively scheduled to begin next Monday, after I finalize the dimensions and design.

[Foosinho]

First day of real construction today, after collecting various bits-n-pieces the past few days. Too busy over the weekend coaching Science Olympiad for the local middle school to get any work done on this. Oh, that and watching Ohio State pull off a miracle win over Illinois.

Finished collecting the necessary lumber, and made all the cuts today. Or, so we thought - my father and I were test fitting some pieces together and we noticed we forgot to make four cuts on the front legs for the lap joints. Gah. So, that's the first order of business tomorrow. Then, frame assembly on the stand, and maybe we'll actually put the birch plywood cladding on tomorrow as well.



You'll notice the rear legs (on the right in the photo) are taller than the front legs (on the left). The stand is going to have a 5 inch area behind the 10G tank for the external overflow, return plumbing, and wiring to pass to the canopy, and that'll be framed up tomorrow. The canopy itself will wait until I decide for sure on the lighting.

As soon as I finish the stand, it'll be time to get the glass for the external overflow and start cutting/drilling the tank. Another Science Olympiad event this coming Saturday really reduces the available hours to work on the tank...

[Foosinho]

BTW, the right tools make a big difference. We did all of the cuts above with a 10" radial arm saw - a table saw would have been nicer. Much nicer.

[Foosinho]

Well, started assembling and we got the base all nice and square... and discovered one of the legs is twisted, pulling the entire frame out of square. So we had to disassemble a lot of the stand. I'll be replacing the twisted leg tomorrow (we found a piece that is exceptionally straight - and long enough - in the scrap pile).

I'd post the nightly progress photo, except it's pretty boring. Not much has changed!

Unfortunately, since the only non-hand-tool we've got is the RAS, we don't have the precision we'd like for this kind of fine work. Lots of work with a chisel so far, and I'll be busy with the rasp later smoothing out the millimeter sized errors in the lap joints.

At the very least the birch panelling will wait until the plumbing is leak-tested.

This is slow going when you've only got about two hours a night.

[Foosinho]

Finished the frame of the stand. Very square and solid - the frame itself has a tiny wobble, but that'll be fixed when we install and level it (either shim it, or put in adjustable legs). The right front leg (when standing in front of the stand) was horribly warped, and twisted the whole frame. Replaced it tonight, and remouned all four legs to ensure everything was exactly square.



I'm very happy with it.

Next is the plumbing and cutting the tank for the return bulkheads and the external overflow. I need to get some plumbing fittings, plus I've got another Science Olympiad event to coach this weekend, so I'm probably taking a break until Monday or so. I'll obviously have to add in the bottom shelf first, but I'm going to hold off on putting the birch ply on the outside of the frame until I've tested the plumbing - I'd like to have easy access from all four sides.

[Foosinho]

No real work done since the last post. I've collected a few items I need (plumbing fittings, dremel bits, 5.5G for sump), and dug out my old collection of equipment from my old 7G bow nano. Pumps and SCWD are currently on a UPS truck enroute.

Tommorow it's back to my father's workshop to drill the 10G, cut the slots for the external overflow, and (hopefully) make a DIY oystercrete cliff for the back wall of the tank and start that curing. Assuming I get all that done, I'll go ahead and silicon together the external overflow so I'll be ready to start gluing up the PVC and leak test sometime (early?) next week. Just ordered my T5 retrofit kit so I can start working on the canopy as soon as it shows up.

Expect lots of photos of parts and construction soon!

[Foosinho]

Whew. Long day today, and I didn't get everything I wanted done. But... the tank is drilled! W00t!

Earlier this week, the plumbing fittings arrived from Savko.

Yes, I have a helper. One of many, in fact.

So, since the fittings have arrived - and I've got some time to work on the tank - it's time to drill the display. First, I'll lay out the holes for the returns, and cut those.

I used tape to help avoid chipping the glass, and to mark my layouts.

Everything is cranking along smoothly, when I get a little excited (I'm almost done!) and CRACK THE TANK. Crap.


So, I run out and get another tank ( ) and try again. This time, I'm going to mark all the cuts, drill pilot holes on all of them (since that seems to be the danger spot), and then complete the cuts.


Success!


However, in replacing the tank I got a different brand, and it has slightly different outside dimensions. You'll notice that the tank slightly overhangs the front of the stand. So, I've got to modify my stand by cutting back the supports behind the tank. Later.


So, at the end of the day I've got the tank drilled, and the 5.5G sump that barely fits in the stand.


Next up: create the DIY rock for the back of the tank, and get that curing. Also of high priority is to get the overflow constructed and attached, so I can start hooking some plumbing together for preliminary leak test. Once I get a feel for the "flow" and spacing in the stand, I'll figure out which sump configuration to go with, get the baffles installed, and drill the sump for the return pump.

[Foosinho]

Not much done since Saturday. Yesterday ended up being a total wash - except I got (most) of the glass cut for the overflow box (hardware store guy misread the cut list, and I didn't catch it until I got home... at least I've got lots of spare glass!).

I did, however, manage to mask of the tank and spray the first two coats of black paint. The bottom looks excellent, despite the fact that it'll be covered in sand. The back needs another 2 coats, probably - it's difficult to get the spray can the right distance from the back to get an even coat.



I also managed to finish the rest of my glass drilling. Got the bulkhead holes for the overflow and sump completed.



Sadly, I still haven't gotten around to making my rock. The schedule says I'll be doing that on Wednesday. We'll see.

[Foosinho]

Well, painting the tank ended up being a mistake. I never managed to find 2-part marine epoxy (to seal it) in anything less than a TWO gallon quantity. Time to start scraping. I'll put a piece of black acrylic in there instead. Sigh. Some proverb about eggs and omlettes comes to mind.

[Foosinho]

No pictures today - I forgot my camera. Took a few with my dad's camera, but I don't have them loaded into my computer yet.

First, I scraped off all the paint. Messy, but pretty quick. The tank needs a good cleaning now, but one big mistake reversed.

Second, I started assembly of my external overflow. I cut the remaining piece of glass (the hardware store guy botched my cut list), but it took my second try until I got a feel for how hard to score the glass. It's easier than you might think. I siliconed the back, sides, and bottom together and left the unit to cure. That silicone is messy stuff. Tomorrow I'll attach it to the tank proper. Since my circulation pump (along with some other equipment) arrived UPS today, I'll probably start assembling some plumbing tomorrow as well. I'm expecting I'll be able to start testing the water flow as soon as Friday.

Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten around to mixing the cement for the DIY rock. It's been so cold, and I've been busy with other tasks. If I put this off much further, it definitely won't be ready by the end of next month, even with a creek to cure in.

[Foosinho]

First, I'm going to apologize for the tiny photo size. I took these shots on my dad's camera (forgot mine yesterday and today), and he really shrunk 'em before he emailed them over. Dialup is slow, and they've got dialup.

Anywho, got a few things done today. Feeling pretty good - it's starting to come together, after feeling like I've been at a standstill the past 2 weeks.

I managed to finish the external overflow. It's hard to see in the photos, but it *is* there. Fits with just under a quarter inch to spare.



I also managed to cut the baffles for the sump, but I haven't determined exactly where they are going to go yet. That'll probably be the last thing I do, once I figure out the required "overflow" capacity in the event of a power failure. Need to grind down the edge of one just a bit (wasn't quite a clean cut), and need to knock out the bottom corners to fit around the existing silicone bead in the tank.



Finally, I started figuring out the exact details on the plumbing, and putting together subassemblies. I've got a Durso going in the overflow, and since my Mag 5 pump arrived the other day (no picture yet) I can finally work out the spacing needed to squeeze everything in.



Tomorrow, I'll start hooking up the plumbing for good. Got to pick up a few fittings, but I've got all the big items already. I'll probably leak-test the overflow as well. The goal (knock wood) is to get the plumbing completed tomorrow.

[Foosinho]

As usual, I fell short of my goal for the day's work. I'm noticing a trend!

Anyway, got some plumbing done today. I *think* I've figured out pretty much where everything is going to go. Also cut the shelf for the sump to rest on. Also discovered that one of the returns slightly interferes with the rear leg, so I sanded a dimple into the rear leg to get it to fit.



Finished the Durso (except for drilling the cap). The external overflow fits the space nicely, and the Durso fits the overflow nicely. I've worked out a few details on plumbing, and I'm going to dry-fit the rest of the parts together to ensure it all fits. It's snug in there.



Also, my T5 retrofit kit arrived today. Unfortunately, one of the bulbs is on backorder, but the kit and one bulb will be enough to begin construction on the canopy. But that'll have to wait until I finish the stand.

Also, in case you hadn't noticed, everything on this thing is designed to come apart. I'm building it at my dad's shop, and will be moving it to my condo when it's complete. Additionally, I'm expecting to move to another city perhaps as early as late summer, so it's got to be able to come apart again.

[Foosinho]

Finished the plumbing today!* Put some water in the system, and fired up the pump. Yay!

* - Almost. Need to make some minor adjustments as a result of the initial test.

So, the first thing I did was finish cutting the pipe for the return manifold, and dry fit it together. You will notice that there are two valves coming off the return line - one to feed the fuge, and the other to throttle down the return pump if needed. I was happy with what I had (you'll notice there should be just enough room to fit a DIY skimmer between the two manifold valves), so I glued it up.



Of course, I need to glue up the return subassemblies that hang off the bulkheads on the rear of the tank.



Yay! The hard plumbing is complete!



So, now it's time to start hooking up the SCWD. Unfortunately, I was a bit of a dolt and I left the vinyl tubing outside, so it was cold and stiff. Eventually, with the aid of a hair dryer, I got it cut and installed, only to find when I went to hook everything up one tube is about an inch too short, and one an inch too long! So, in order to do my leak test, I raised the sump up a bit and rotated a return bulkhead a smidge to get the SCWD assembly to fit.



Unfortunately, I had two small leaks in my leak test. One was a union that wasn't tightened enough resulting in a poor o-ring seal, and the other was a small leak in my overflow. We did the best we could to seal the overflow leak on the fly so we could turn on the pump and check the rest out. Of course, we were too busy trying to quickly complete the test while trying (in vain) to plug the leak to stop and take pictures. Next time.

The result was a terrific success. The overflow can handle the pump's full fury, and even with the main tank draining down to the bulkhead level (should be fixed when I do the in-tank loc-line) the sump could handle the pump losing power. I added a huge glob of silicone (after disassembling everything and drying it out) to patch the leak), but I still need to shorten the Durso about an inch, and fix the issue with the vinyl tubing. I set the entire return plumbing inside the house to warm up a bit until I can get back to the project on Monday.

[Foosinho]

OK, so I spent some time reworking the vinyl tubing, and I got things a little bit better. Did a leak test, and other than two bulkheads that worked a smidge loose and the pump connections (no teflon tape), it worked like a charm.



I'm still not entirely satisfied with the vinyl tubing - I made the left side (as you look at the tank) tubing longer, and now I think it's too long. 3/4" vinyl tubing is not very flexible. You can see how it's "torquing" the return manifold a little bit in the photo. It's a little tough to get the union on back there too.

Obviously, the sump is a little noisy, but the Durso is whisper quiet. Since I've got a better idea of the amount of water that will fall back into the sump on a power loss, I can start working out the exact baffle locations and the rest of the pipes down there.

[Foosinho]

Slow week. Today I went back over there with a few scraps of wood to work out the details for finishing the stand. Came to a solution for the door and stand skin, so I'll be buying that wood tomorrow morning.

Also busted out the T5 retrofit kit, to determine how the canopy goes together. Feel like we've got a decent feel for that, so more purchasing to go on tomorrow. Hopefully I can at least get that framed up, and start skinning the stand.

I did, however, manage to trim the rest of the vinyl tubing so everything goes together a little easier.

[Foosinho]

Framed the canopy today. Unfortunately, we made the wrong decision when we were orientating the uprights, meaning I can't fit the T5's and PC's in the hood. So we tore part of it apart and will reassemble tomorrow.

I had pictures, but left the camera at the workshop.

Hopefully we can rebuild that part of the canopy again, and put the bullnose around the base of the tank (simulates a table top - so the tank looks like it's sitting on a piece of furnature that matches the rest of our eating area furniture) tomorrow.

[Foosinho]

Short day today - just reframed the canopy, and set it aside all glued up overnight. I've got a few pictures, but I'm going to hold off a bit until I get a few more that are a little more interesting.

[Foosinho]

We had exceptionally nice weather all week, and that slowed me down some. I did manage to get a few things done. The initial canopy frame up is done, but I've got a little more work to do on that before it's "photo-ready".

I found some adjustable "slider pad" legs, and mounted those to the bottom of the tank. This will, I hope, allow me to level the tank and possibly move it away from the wall in case of an emergency.



I also began doing the finish carpentry on the stand. I started with building the false table top. Since we don't have a working router (it's old and broken), I purchased some stair tread returns to create the bullnose. Some careful work with the RAS and I was able to trim them to length and glue them around the frame. With the tank on the stand, it looks like the tank is sitting on a table top! It worked!



In case anyone else wants to try this, learn this lesson from me: the quality control on these returns completely sucks. Take time in the store to ensure you have nice ends and, more importantly, pieces that are the same size!



While all this stuff was sitting while the glue dried, I started prepping the sump for baffle installation by marking the sump, and cleaning up the pieces of glass by removing any imperfections in the edges and knocking off the bottom corners to clear the existing silicone.



Additionally, one of the front legs has a small amount of bow to it. Enough that we never noticed it until we were laying plywood up against the frame to work out how we were going to finish the piece. Time for a hand planer and some elbow grease!



Finally, I cut the back and attached it. The back will be removable to assist in tank set up.



The little pieces of wood sticking up provide a surface to screw the canopy to so it won't flip off when I open it.

The goal is to finish the "skinning" of the stand tomorrow, and if I'm feeling especially ambitious to figure out the details on attaching the door and completing that task as well. That should put me in a position to paint this coming week while working on completing the canopy simultaneously.

[Foosinho]

Made tremendous progress today, despite the fact that it took me nearly 1.5 hours to run and get more supplies.

The first thing I completed was the sides of the stand. Cut the ply, cut the trim, and nailed everything in place.



I was test fitting some wood up above the bullnose to get a feel for the details. Below you'll see some detail on the trim on the right side. I have some similar joints on the bullnose on the left side - I'll knock those out with some wood putty and an orbital sander.



I finally worked out the details of how the door is going to hinge - I'm going to have to cut into the stile of the frame around the door to accomodate the hinge. You can see a test piece below.



Now that I'd gotten that figured out, I cut the door pieces, test fit them, and set them aside for glue and nails tomorrow. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I had to go to the barn and replace a light fixture in the indoor arena.



Glue up tomorrow, plus I'll probably silicone in those baffles while the glue is drying on the door, and hopefully I'll start with the putty and sander to clean up the frame to prep for paint. Everything above the bullnose will be stained, to match the furniture in the room the tank is going to be displayed in. If I can get some paint on there early next week, I should be able to finish the hood next week as well, which would *probably* have me doing the electrical next weekend, and possibly setting the tank up next weekend as well. I probably won't get that far, tho.