Magik's 75 gal upgrade!

[magikof7]

Stand is almost ready for Staining!
Hubby just has to finish the panel "doors" for the front and side.
They will be held in place by magnets so I don't have hinged doors to deal with especially in our small living room.
One Side and the back are fixed so I have somewhere to attach my reef keeper and clobber.

I am having a hard time decided what color stain to use. Most likely as light as possible. I actually like the natural colors the wood is now.

Front


Front corner that will match up with the trim on the front panel.


Side


Back

[daplatapus]

Nice work.
If you like the colour of the wood as is, see if you can get a sample size of the oil based Varathane Diamond Finish to try on a sample piece of your wood. It really brings out the richness of light coloured wood and is hands down my favourite finish for maple. But, only the oil based stuff. In my opinion the water based Varathane isn't worth the can it's sold in.
When you put your first coat on, the wood fibres will really stand up on end. Let it dry, give it a quick sand and 2nd coat. Then you can decide if you want to sand again and 3rd coat, but I've found that greatly depends on how heavy your 1st coat was.

[magikof7]

Thanks for the tips! I tried the natural stain but found it wasn't dark enough for the trim so, I'm going to go with Ipswich and the Diamond oil based outdoor Finish (satin). I found the regular varathane finish did not hold up well on the stand for the 29 gal.

I should be able to start staining it tomorrow.

[magikof7]

Starting the plumbing tomorrow but it's about time the tank is finally on the stand! I'm going to go pick up the big rubber mat to put under the stand to protect my beautiful sub flooring.





the magnetic doors off


picked up some of Eli's dry rock from Concept. I threw in some rubble and a couple bigger pieces of live rock from my refugium to get it started. I rinsed it well and now have 2 power heads in there.

[Claudia]

Really nice setup, love the stand

[magikof7]

Water Test tomorrow!







Hoping to have it salty within the next couple of days. I need to find a pump I can use to fill the tank from the brute cans. I think I have a mag 90 somewhere but I can't remember if it has metal parts on it.

My anemone is not willing to split and he has jammed itself under some live rock and is sticking out each side. naturally annoying my other corals. maybe the move will change it's mind.

[magikof7]

well I filled the tank and sump turned it on and realized.... I didn't put a ball valve on the feed for the refugium so the water just pumps into the refugium (in the sump) and doesn't pump up into the display So it can sit until I run over to home depo in the morning.