lastlight's 225

[lastlight]

That looks promising already =) I like the rock structure on the left. Is the right side reef ceramics?

Cut my foam for the top and I'm told I'll have the tank this friday! The foam isn't tacked down...what do people typically do? I want to avoid gluing it due to hardened glue spots maybe making pressure points but I'm guessing when we try and get the tank on there they'll move and cause us grief...

Mounted the 3/4" sliding doors tonight. There is a bit of warp in the left side but I'm going to attach a vertical piece of plywood near the inner end of each door to pull the panels a bit flatter. Since the doors don't open 100% this extra plywood brace inside the door won't quite hit the stand's 2x4's. These are 22" sliders and are safe to 100lbs. I did some mods to the safety stops to give me a few extra inches of slide and after comparing the wobble at full extension to the original configuration it is the same. They wobble a touch when fully extended but are rock-solid when fully closed. A 5/8" plywood lip will be attached to the tops and sides of the doors to receive tile as well, then the sides will have an additional layer of 5/8" plywood to flush them to the door ends.

[sphelps]

Good idea on the doors, that'll create a nice clean look, very slick.

The right rock structure is a reef ceramic. Something I would use if I could go back. It's got lots of cupped areas, perfect for placing corals.

[lastlight]

I've finished the structure that will receive the tile now. I replaced the plywood doors with maple veneered plywood since it was a much straighter/flatter product. Shame to tile over it as it's a nice board but oh well.

The doors have a lip screwed and glued onto their tops and ends. The sides of the stand were built-out 3/4" to flush with the new door lips and these ends also now have a lip on top so the tile strip for the stand's top is level around the 3 sides.

When the doors are shut the stand is a perfectly flush box so hopefully the tile plays nice and will do the same. The plywood trim for the tile is about 1 cm away from the foam's edge so it won't interfere. I'll tile once the tank is on the stand and filled so I can tile close to the tank's glass with all deflections observable. I had tiled around my 400 gallon before filling it and it bowed so the glass touched tile in a few spots which was scary...

Next I'll be removing the doors and painting their insides.

Here's some pics:

[Brent F]

The doors look great. They should give the tank a nice look when done.

[mseepman]

I'm really enjoying this build thread...you have some great ideas!!

[lastlight]

Now if only I had money to actually DO anything reef related haha. Thanks for the comments!

[Parker]

This is going to look amazing when done!

[lastlight]

Well some progress again. This time I have the tank itself to show. I opted for no starphire and looking through it now I honestly think I'll be happier with regular glass. I hear starphire scratches easier, this isn't too green at all and I had weird distortions with my last starphire tank.

I had *removed* build this for me and they did an awesome job. Ground and polished edges, black silicone and eurobraced with a few holes. Getting the tank into the livingroom was pretty easy but to get it up on my high stand (44") we hauled my kitchen table over. We got it on the table first and from there onto the stand. Extra thanks to *removed* for delivering this beast to my door at no extra charge.

[Lance]

That is one fine looking tank! I agree, I see very little green at all. I've got a 225 Sea Star coming next week with starphire front. I've heard from some owners that the starphire glass does scratch easier and others say no. I personally have never owned it before, so I don't know. I've seen other tanks with it and I really liked it. I'll guess I'll soon find out.

[Delphinus]

Oh - I think I saw your tank at the store before it had the bracing or box on it.

"Shore is purdy"