Wow today was a busy of running around picking up some equipment and looking at multiple different cabinets.
This was today's haul:
CPR CS-90 overflow box and brand new Tom aqua lifter with hanging kit
Got this for $50 together from someone on craigslist
The overflow has some buildup but it's eventually bound to happen. Any tips of removing this? Is acrylic safe to vinegar dip?
Next, I grabbed a return pump and a simple LED light to use for the fuge for $10 also from craigslist.
Not sure what brand the pump and the label doesn't have much info either, but from what I've researched I think this is called a mag7 pump? If anyone has more info and want to post it'll be appreciated. I just thought it was cheap and there wasn't much to lose with this purchase so just went for it.
Finally, I found a cabinet that I think will finally work for my build!
I believe it's solid pine, and it was built by the seller's uncle.
I got very fortunate with this purchase, he was selling a set of 4 furniture and I thought he wanted $90 for it and was thinking of offering $30 for the cabinet alone. When we met up and started talking price he wanted $200 for the cabinet and I was shocked and I told him I came here thinking of spending about $30. Turns out the ad was for $900 altogether and I had just misread it. We negotiated a bit and I told him since we're both out here and I got $40 cash right now that I would take it on the spot if he can let me have it cheap for a project and in the end he let it go to me! The furniture was too big for his my apartment and he had been paying storage to have it stored so I think that's why he was so generous about letting it go. In Vancouver Kijiji seems to be less popular compared to Craigslist but I'm glad I looked there and found this cabinet.
Here it is!
Each side is made up of about 1" thick wood and even the back which is shown in the picture
The bottom is supported by beams on 3 of its side
Each joint is glued and either screwed together or nailed together
The back panel has a bit of gap between it and the top but i think structurally it should still be sound. I might fill in the gap with some wood putty.
Even the doors are joined together instead of 1 piece, looks awesome imo
I gotta admit though that with the sump in the storage compartment it's a tight fit. I'll be able to get everything in there but will need to do some amazing cable managing to get everything to fit nice. Starting to plan out the plumbing as well now and things are starting to get complicated. Maybe I'm being overzealous with the 20g sump and maybe I'll try to find a 10g to use instead.
Here it is set up with whatever I have for now.
I wanted to hang the lights off the shelf I have and the cabinet turned out to be the perfect height so I'm very happy.
The wood on the cabinet is also rough finished so I can just light sand it and stain or paint it the way I want or just leave it the way it is. I kind of like the look of the wood right now and how it contrasts the rest of the dark furniture in my room so I might just leave it the way it is and just give it a nice finish.
The cost is slowly starting to rise and the next couple of things I get will be more expensive probably. Next on the list to hunt down are a skimmer, heater, lights, and power head.
Total cost so far now: $140