Tank Stand

[METZCOOL]

Well here is my first attempt at building a stand for my new 265.
Give me the good, bad, and the ugly with your comments, think its strong enough?
I need to paint and put oak plywood around it yet.
Thanks!

[Secondgen]

Very nice work! I don't think the weight of the tank will be a problem.

[bigray]

Looks good. I do not belive weight will be a problem. I would talk to Dodd at NDR he really helped me out on my stand. Good luck you are off to a great start.

[Lost Floridian]

Nice work, but i have a question, are you going to put a piece of wood and then a piece of high density foam over the top or just place the tank directlly on the frame?

And I cant see from the pics, but if you ever had to, could you get the sump out? (thinking about upgrades, leakes or whatever)

Good luck,
-Will

[quicksilver]

Not to shabby I like it wish I was going to be around for the final product.

[verper]

I'd only be worried about getting the sump out for replacement like Will asked.  Maybe the front center brace can be taken out temporarily?

FWIW, you only need foam under the tank if it is a rimless tank.  Framed tanks need only sit on the frame.

[slandis3]

FWIW, you only need foam under the tank if it is a rimless tank.  Framed tanks need only sit on the frame.

The only exception to this is a glass cages tank. There warrenty requires you to put all there tanks on foam.

[METZCOOL]

Thanks for the positive replies.
The tank is a new marineland 265 tank, and everything I have read has been not to put any foam between the tank and stand on a glass tank and support only on the edges?
I built a frame that will fit across the center of the stand and support tank should I need to remove front brace to remove sump.
Any other issues I should address before secondgen and grunk08 help me set the tank on it Friday?
Thanks again everyone!

[Midwest Express]

Looks good man.  I would think you are good to go if you already have plan for maintenance on everything in the stand.

[METZCOOL]

Hey All,
Well the guys all showed up and made easy work on moving the tank(Thanks Again!)
Here are some pics of it on the stand, now I'm getting anxious to get the plumbing and electric all connected.

[Secondgen]

Glad to help out. It was great to meet everybody. Keep us posted on the tank build.

[Riderc82]

Looking good.... Good choice on placement I love walking into the door after a crappy day at work.

[NORTHDIXIEREEF]

LOOKIN GOOD, MOVING RIGHT ALONG.

[METZCOOL]

Well I finally got my aquascaping done and thought I would post some pictures, just need to order my sand from Dodd next week.
Will also order 60 lbs of live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater to seed the base rock after its up and running for awhile.
I have a Aqua C EV400 skimmer and been thinking about ordering a Reeflo Orca 250.
Anyone have one or opinions on the Orca skimmer?
Think I would notice a big difference from the Aqua C skimmer?
Thanks for any opinions.

[Amstar]

did you use rods to stack your rock or just exopy them together?

[METZCOOL]

Amstar,
They are stacked on 3/8 fiberglass rods solvent welded into 1/2" acrylic bases.

[Blown76mav]

Looks good to me.  Can't wait till I'm at that point.

[Amstar]

fiberglass rods... hummm where did you get those.  I have heard that you can use those orange rods (that go at the end of your drive way--just get the gray ones) or use acrylic rod.

I think by doing what you did it gives you a better chance to come up with different ways of stacking rock in "pillars" so to speak.

looks good. 

[METZCOOL]

US Plastics headquarters is in LIMA,OH and you can pick up anything thats on the website. Cell cast acrylic is pretty cheap also.
The fiberglass is stiffer and stronger than the acrylic ones and is also clear like acrylic.
Thanks for the positive comments as I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but knew I didn't want a big pile of rocks.
Will be drilling and creating two arches to connect the three stacks with live rock from Tampa Bay later on.

[Amstar]

any advice on drilling the rock?  did you run into any problems or learn any tricks to it as you went on. 

[METZCOOL]

Started with a masonary bit and busted the first piece. Ended up getting a regular titanium bit and it drilled through the rock like it was a block of cheese.
Just drill at a low to medium rpm, was able to drill within 1'' of the edges with no problem.
Having the 2' X 2' acrylic base for each of the 3 sections gives it a real stable base so it won't fall over and you can hang the rock out to create ledges. If you have dry base rock to work with it is alot easier as you can try different configerations without worrying about your live rock having to much die off. I made a rectangle with tape on the floor in the garage the same size as the aquarium and when I was done I unstacked it in order and reassembled in the aquarium.
Overall it was real easy once I got the right drill bit.

[METZCOOL]

Got my tank fillled with sand and water and new Reeflo Orca 250 plumbed in finally!
Towards the end of cycle and ready to add some more fish and live rock to seed the base fiji rock, real happy with the marineland tank as corner overflows work fine with the Tunze wavebox which was a big concern of mine.
In the process of making black laminate 3/4" skin to cover stand and make a canopy to match.
Need to plumb in carbon, phosphate, denitrator and bring calcium reactor online yet, (IT NEVER ENDS)

Some pics!

[UD Flyer]

The tank looks great! I really like how the rock is open and clean on different island structures.

[lazylivin]

That is very nice. So many places to attach coral. Cant wait to see some livestock in there. Nice job man