DIY projects

Tank lighting is completed. I have installed my new acrylic LED lighting and power supply mounts. Attachment to the tank was by small oak blocks with stainless bolts and wing nuts for easy removal. The lighting power supply fixture was installed beneath the tank, on the inside of the cabinet. Cables were run with nylon "P" clips and stainless bolts. The lid of the canopy can be opened without getting a face full of light, and the lighting fixture ...

Thought that I would share the latest from the rebuild. I'm almost done with the acrylic work, and let me tell you, it's been fun to make various components now that I have the skills.

I needed to mount my lighting fixture to the canopy, and the stands that came with the LED fixture were not suited to my tank. There was also no way to suspend the fixture. I wanted to devise a way to mount the fixture to the canopy, yet not have it attached to the lid. I don't want the fixture shining ...

Major construction finished, I'm moving on to fit and finish. Next up is electrical. Last iteration of this tank had a power strip velcro'd to the inside of the stand and lighting on an analog timer. That was not going to fly for the revised version. I started by installing outdoor grade PVC conduit. I installed a double gang box for outlets and a single gang box for a switch that would control one of the two outlets.


...

As I continued my rebuild, I wanted to change the stand to hide the additional plumbing that was being added. I had extended the base of the stand to provide extra room for the sump, and that needed hiding as well. I had an idea that it would be possibly to add a vertical board to cover the sides. This would necessitate extending the canopy as well, which was not going to be an easy task. I would need to change how the canopy was hinged. Here is what I came up with.

I extended the ...

My first aquarium was purchased from my LFS almost 10 years ago. I had it up and running until we moved to a new house in 2007. Since that time, its sat in the corner of my basement and collected dust. The tank is about 30 gallons, and while I know that is small for saltwater aquariums, I like the challenge of running such a setup. Smaller aquariums also keep CAPEX and OPEX costs down. The tank is an acrylic flat back hex, and when I got it, it came with an oak stand and hood. There was no provision ...