anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 21:56:59 GMT -5
I started with an idea on building a "wooden aquarium" back on Feburary 25th of this year. I figured if I could gut the entire inside of my house room by room; surely I could accomplish this. At first I thought it was going to be simple in picking out wood, but the more research I did, i discovered not all wood is the same when it comes to cabinetry making. I have been very busy over the last couple of months and tomorrow my discus move into their new home. I figured that this was a good time to start my first blog and show anyone interested. I am very proud of my accomplishment and learned a lot of lessons along the way. I have to give Carl and Devon plenty of thanks for answering all my questions quickly not to mention the "one stop shop" for my aquarium needs. On March 23rd and 24th I was able to begin construction on the stand that would be 74x36x26. This was as easy as it could get and in the beginning things moved very fast. The hardest part of this whole build was making sure that everything was straight and plum at all times. The basic frame was standard 2x4 from home depot. But that was the last time i went there for wood Attachments:
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 22:19:22 GMT -5
I started with an idea on building a "wooden aquarium" back on Feburary 25th of this year. I figured if I could gut the entire inside of my house room by room; surely I could accomplish this. At first I thought it was going to be simple in picking out wood, but the more research I did, i discovered not all wood is the same when it comes to cabinetry making. I have been very busy over the last couple of months and tomorrow my discus move into their new home. I figured that this was a good time to start my first blog and show anyone interested. I am very proud of my accomplishment and learned a lot of lessons along the way. I have to give Carl and Devon plenty of thanks for answering all my questions quickly not to mention the "one stop shop" for my aquarium needs. On March 23rd and 24th I was able to begin construction on the stand that would be 74x36x26. This was as easy as it could get and in the beginning things moved very fast. The hardest part of this whole build was making sure that everything was straight and plum at all times. The basic frame was standard 2x4 from home depot. But that was the last time i went there for wood April was a very busy month; almost every day. I decided to use cabinet grade maple for the cabinet and trim work while using baltic birch for the tank itself. Birch and maple closely matches due to the wood grain that was bought from a local lumber yard. Unless you are going to paint after, I suggest staying away from Home Depot or Lowes for wood. I discovered that it is a very low quality material that you will pay top dollar for. Not that the lumber yard was cheap. I think I paid over $600 in basic wood just to get me started. The reason for selecting the Baltic Birtch was because of its high quality and density. Baltic birch only comes in 5x5 sheets from Russia. It is guaranteed not to have any voids in its 15 layers. And sure enough it is a well made solid piece of wood. Just what I needed for all the screws. Of course trim was more, but what the hell.
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 22:33:14 GMT -5
I started with an idea on building a "wooden aquarium" back on Feburary 25th of this year. I figured if I could gut the entire inside of my house room by room; surely I could accomplish this. At first I thought it was going to be simple in picking out wood, but the more research I did, i discovered not all wood is the same when it comes to cabinetry making. I have been very busy over the last couple of months and tomorrow my discus move into their new home. I figured that this was a good time to start my first blog and show anyone interested. I am very proud of my accomplishment and learned a lot of lessons along the way. I have to give Carl and Devon plenty of thanks for answering all my questions quickly not to mention the "one stop shop" for my aquarium needs. On March 23rd and 24th I was able to begin construction on the stand that would be 74x36x26. This was as easy as it could get and in the beginning things moved very fast. The hardest part of this whole build was making sure that everything was straight and plum at all times. The basic frame was standard 2x4 from home depot. But that was the last time i went there for wood April 6th thru 16th I finally finished the cabinet. Measuring, remeasuring and cutting and trim took a lot of work but it was nothing compared to the tank that was soon to come. Up to this point I thought things were going slow but well. Doing trim work is a challenge in itself but getting the doors square with equal spacing was a nightmare. Maybe it was just the process I used that made it harder than what it was suppose to be. I got the door design idea from a pic of a 16th century cabinet that I saw. The door was so simplistic with big iron hinges; it just did something for me; as opposed to a door frame with paneling in the middle. This doors are 1/2 thick maple slats that were doled and glued in place. Lesson to be learned here: If your frame isnt squared; neither will your trim be
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 22:51:29 GMT -5
April was a very busy month; almost every day. I decided to use cabinet grade maple for the cabinet and trim work while using baltic birch for the tank itself. Birch and maple closely matches due to the wood grain that was bought from a local lumber yard. Unless you are going to paint after, I suggest staying away from Home Depot or Lowes for wood. I discovered that it is a very low quality material that you will pay top dollar for. Not that the lumber yard was cheap. I think I paid over $600 in basic wood just to get me started. Of course trim was more, but what the hell. April 6th thru 16th I finally finished the cabinet. Measuring, remeasuring and cutting and trim took a lot of work but it was nothing compared to the tank that was soon to come. Up to this point I thought things were going slow but well. Doing trim work is a challenge in itself but getting the doors square with equal spacing was a nightmare. Maybe it was just the process I used that made it harder than what it was suppose to be. I got the door design idea from a pic of a 16th century cabinet that I saw. The door was so simplistic with big iron hinges; it just did something for me; as opposed to a door frame with paneling in the middle. This doors are 1/2 thick maple slats that were doled and glued in place. Lesson to be learned here: If your frame isnt squared; neither will your trim be April 19th thru the 26th was probably the most stressful. Whatever mistakes I made before could not be duplicated on this tank. 3/4 in Baltic Birch measuring 60x24x24. Every cut on making this tank had to be square and true at every angle for it to work. I cant tell you how many times I went from measuring tape to angle before actually making a single cut. I only made one mistake and had to get another board to make the front lip. It needs to have a 2 inch overhang all the way around to hold the 1/2 inch plate glass. Approx 200 stainless steel screws about 2 inches apart all the way around holds it all together. Not to mention glue. Even the screws had to be set straight so not to damage the wood. Can you imagine drilling 200 pilot holes then come back and drill in 200 screws?! The inside is a two part epoxy paint called "pond armour" that takes at least two coatings from a pint of paint and epoxy. I used 4 because i didnt apply it fast enough and it cured too fast. That lesson cost me $160, being that each pint cost $80. Expensive lesson that could not be found locally. Gotta love online ordering!!!
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 22:59:04 GMT -5
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 23:15:19 GMT -5
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 23:23:26 GMT -5
April 30th to May 6th. Added on the little side cabinet. You would think that after all this it would be no trouble making a little box for the side. This little cabinet drove me nuts. Ran into all kinds of trouble for some reason. Also 1/2 inch plate glass is a lot heavier than i thought. It took me and my father to carefully set it in with plenty of silicone. Up to this point it is almost complete for unfinished furniture. Way over budget by this time but i couldnt stop. Wife still doesnt know how much I spent. lol May 6th. 100% complete unfinished 150 gallon tank with stand and hardwired lights. I was so proud of myself, and at this point was ready to do it again! Up to this point I have approx $1600 invested in materials alone!! What an expensive venture I had. My uncle, who has done cabinetry work for the last 40 years came over and gave his blunt but "constructive criticism" He was shocked to learn that this was made with only 5 tools! A chop saw, skill saw, sander, jig saw and a router. He went over it with a fine tooth comb and found absolutely nothing wrong!!! Surprised by my own craftsmanship I decided to sell it through the local Craigslist for $3500. Needless to say it didn't sell. Not even a hit. I didn't care because I made it for me. This is a unique item for the unique enthusiast. You would be surprised at the amount of people who did see it, (including family and friends) who couldn't get the concept of a "Wooden Aquarium". Maybe thats one of the reasons it didn't sell; wood and water don't usually go together and maybe people didn't trust the construction. I don't know Sometime after I did a lot of research on lighting and decided on making a custom light bar. Originally I was just going to go with a regular lights until Carl pointed me in the right direction being that I wanted to show off my discus with some live plants. Lights of choice: 2 TMC Ultima 1500 color plus. Initially I thought the lights were too expensive for my taste, but I bit the bullet and bought them anyway. I don't regret it one bit. Hey......what the wife doesn't know, don't hurt right?!
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 23:34:55 GMT -5
May 6th. 100% complete unfinished 150 gallon tank with stand and hardwired lights. I was so proud of myself, and at this point was ready to do it again! Up to this point I have approx $1600 invested in materials alone!! What an expensive venture I had. My uncle, who has done cabinetry work for the last 40 years came over and gave his blunt but "constructive criticism" He was shocked to learn that this was made with only 5 tools! A chop saw, skill saw, sander, jig saw and a router. He went over it with a fine tooth comb and found absolutely nothing wrong!!! Surprised by my own craftsmanship I decided to sell it through the local Craigslist for $3500. Needless to say it didn't sell. Not even a hit. I didn't care because I made it for me. This is a unique item for the unique enthusiast. You would be surprised at the amount of people who did see it, (including family and friends) who couldn't get the concept of a "Wooden Aquarium". Maybe thats one of the reasons it didn't sell; wood and water don't usually go together and maybe people didn't trust the construction. I don't know Sometime after I did a lot of research on lighting and decided on making a custom light bar. Originally I was just going to go with a regular lights until Carl pointed me in the right direction being that I wanted to show off my discus with some live plants. Lights of choice: 2 TMC Ultima 1500 color plus. Initially I thought the lights were too expensive for my taste, but I bit the bullet and bought them anyway. I don't regret it one bit. Hey......what the wife doesn't know, don't hurt right?! May 31st to June 15th. Tedious as tedious can get. First time staining anything; and OMG I was so ready to be done already!!! With the guidance from my brother (who is an excellent stainer) I was able to begin the slow and tedious process of staining everything. Not to mention the endless sanding, cleaning and application of three coats of satin polyurethane. Know I know why people who make cabinets don't like finishing them!!! This was not for the faint of heart. I ran across a professional painter in a paint store while looking for stain and jokingly offered to pay him to stain my project after showing him the pics. He just laughed and said "no way; I'm not screwing it up"
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 14, 2015 23:43:06 GMT -5
Sometime after I did a lot of research on lighting and decided on making a custom light bar. Originally I was just going to go with a regular lights until Carl pointed me in the right direction being that I wanted to show off my discus with some live plants. Lights of choice: 2 TMC Ultima 1500 color plus. Initially I thought the lights were too expensive for my taste, but I bit the bullet and bought them anyway. I don't regret it one bit. Hey......what the wife doesn't know, don't hurt right?! May 31st to June 15th. Tedious as tedious can get. First time staining anything; and OMG I was so ready to be done already!!! With the guidance from my brother (who is an excellent stainer) I was able to begin the slow and tedious process of staining everything. Not to mention the endless sanding, cleaning and application of three coats of satin polyurethane. Know I know why people who make cabinets don't like finishing them!!! This was not for the faint of heart. I ran across a professional painter in a paint store while looking for stain and jokingly offered to pay him to stain my project after showing him the pics. He just laughed and said "no way; I'm not screwing it up" AM I DONE???!!! AM I DONE??!! Finally on June 25th everything including the plumbing was installed; including sump, 2 25 watt sterilizers and a beautiful piece of driftwood that would not sink. This 9th wonder of the world sat in place until July 11 while testing and tinkering. And guess what?......... NO LEAKS!!!!! WHAT A PLUS!!!!! Attachments:
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 15, 2015 0:02:04 GMT -5
May 31st to June 15th. Tedious as tedious can get. First time staining anything; and OMG I was so ready to be done already!!! With the guidance from my brother (who is an excellent stainer) I was able to begin the slow and tedious process of staining everything. Not to mention the endless sanding, cleaning and application of three coats of satin polyurethane. Know I know why people who make cabinets don't like finishing them!!! This was not for the faint of heart. I ran across a professional painter in a paint store while looking for stain and jokingly offered to pay him to stain my project after showing him the pics. He just laughed and said "no way; I'm not screwing it up" AM I DONE???!!! AM I DONE??!! Finally on June 25th everything including the plumbing was installed; including sump, 2 25 watt sterilizers and a beautiful piece of driftwood that would not sink. This 9th wonder of the world sat in place until July 11 while testing and tinkering. And guess what?......... NO LEAKS!!!!! WHAT A PLUS!!!!! July 11th. The aquarium was finally placed into its permanent home. This was no easy feat either. It was a 12 hour process that went well until the last hour. I had to first break down the new tank and put all aged water and bio media into a liner in the back of my truck that was being circulated by two pumps. Then completely break down the majority of the plumbing and move everything to the other side of the room to make room for the 75 gallon discus tank that was going in its place. Then I had to break down the 75 gal and move fish to a safe place. By the 11th hour everything was finished and fish back in original tank with no harm done. I was about to begin the process of moving the water out the back of the truck when I heard this horrible grinding noise coming from outside. I went outside, only to discover that the hose attached to one of my pumps fell out the truck and completely emptied it dry. I almost cried. Whatever bacteria that I had on my media was probably completely dead by now. I'm was spared by saving the pump though. All that seasoned R/O water...........gone!!!!! 200 gallons to be exact!!!! Now after a long 33 day cycle of testing on top of testing every parameter known to man; my discus is finally getting their home that they deserved!! Not to mention the cool live plants that i finally decided to attempt to tackle. This brings me to my next round of thanks to Devon would helped me understand and guide me through my live plant experiment. So far so good on the plants. They seem to have grown a good bit since this photo, but that will be another entry into the blog in the next day or so.
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 15, 2015 16:56:51 GMT -5
AM I DONE???!!! AM I DONE??!! Finally on June 25th everything including the plumbing was installed; including sump, 2 25 watt sterilizers and a beautiful piece of driftwood that would not sink. This 9th wonder of the world sat in place until July 11 while testing and tinkering. And guess what?......... NO LEAKS!!!!! WHAT A PLUS!!!!! July 11th. The aquarium was finally placed into its permanent home. This was no easy feat either. It was a 12 hour process that went well until the last hour. I had to first break down the new tank and put all aged water and bio media into a liner in the back of my truck that was being circulated by two pumps. Then completely break down the majority of the plumbing and move everything to the other side of the room to make room for the 75 gallon discus tank that was going in its place. Then I had to break down the 75 gal and move fish to a safe place. By the 11th hour everything was finished and fish back in original tank with no harm done. I was about to begin the process of moving the water out the back of the truck when I heard this horrible grinding noise coming from outside. I went outside, only to discover that the hose attached to one of my pumps fell out the truck and completely emptied it dry. I almost cried. Whatever bacteria that I had on my media was probably completely dead by now. I'm was spared by saving the pump though. All that seasoned R/O water...........gone!!!!! 200 gallons to be exact!!!! Now after a long 33 day cycle of testing on top of testing every parameter known to man; my discus is finally getting their home that they deserved!! Not to mention the cool live plants that i finally decided to attempt to tackle. This brings me to my next round of thanks to Devon would helped me understand and guide me through my live plant experiment. So far so good on the plants. They seem to have grown a good bit since this photo, but that will be another entry into the blog in the next day or so. Moving day is here! The move went pretty well. No fish harmed. Just a few shots of the sump, tank and my beautiful fish. I am so glad that this project is finally complete. In all with material, plumbing, and everything I say I spent in excess of $3000. Was it worth it......I would say yes right now. I only have one regret....and that regret is that it wasn't a 300 gallon tank! For now I will leave the 75 gal. running as a quaranteen tank cause I want to add 3 more discus in the near future. After that I will probably spend the next 10 years trying to get out of debt. SSHHHH....dont tell my wife!
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Aug 16, 2015 17:57:42 GMT -5
oh wow. what a pleasure. that's beautiful! Seriously one of the nicest tanks I've seen and I've seen some tanks :/ Crazy amazing. Fish color is great! Plants look great. Sorry about the budget. I've dont that before, but never really on this scale... Wont tell your wife...I'll end up an accomplish and some how be my fault! lol. Great handy work. Very enjoyable. I'm glad there are no regrets. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Aug 16, 2015 17:58:25 GMT -5
Thank you for your kind words too
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 16, 2015 22:17:02 GMT -5
pleasure is all mine Devon. Glad you took the time to read all of that. I stare at it every evening. I'm still entranced by it. Between the quick replies on the help I needed and Carl's website; I feel inspired. The lights ya'll suggested really make everything pop. Pics don't do justice. Hopefully when Carl gets back from vacation; he'll look at it too. He helped create the monster. lol
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Post by angelminx on Aug 17, 2015 3:18:39 GMT -5
Beautiful tank ! I would love to have a tank that size, but unfortunately money and my lease don't allow it . ...If I had the space, etc. (I wish ), I'd love to have a LARGE tank (or 2) that could be set up as a paludarium/riverside display. I'd like to house either a few humungous schools of tetras, cories, some plecos, and, maybe a few angels or something-- or, if I could have a really large setup, I'd like to have a couple of Lima shovelnose catfish, Bichirs, ropefish, Oscars (and maybe a few other cichlids and catfish) ! A large brackish setup would be nice, too--especially if I could set it up for mudskippers, etc., with a few mangroves. But, until I can move into my mansion, that will have to wait . So many fish, so little room! BTW: I love the colors of your blue and the "orange" discus, too !
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 17, 2015 7:51:43 GMT -5
thks angel
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Aug 17, 2015 12:11:43 GMT -5
Yes, the lighting is something else. From all the set-ups, they are by far some of the nicest lights. I know what you mean about the pictures not doing them justice. I have the same thing going.
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Post by Carl on Aug 25, 2015 13:32:34 GMT -5
Incredible job and finished "product". We had over 100 large wooden aquariums at the Bahooka Restaurant I set up and used to maintain, but NONE were of the build quality of yours (& they were made by a professional too, I only plumbed and set them up)! You fish are beautiful too! CONGRATS! Carl
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anti
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Post by anti on Aug 26, 2015 16:19:37 GMT -5
thks carl; and thks for all the research support. im prefty proud of it
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