# Finally finished my 120 gallon stand and canopy



## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Well, it only took a year or so, but I finally finished the stand and canopy for my 120 gallon tank. The main construction was 2 X 4's and then skinned in all cherry! The filtering for this tank will be two ehiem 2028's and lighting is a Coralife 4X65 CF with lunar lights.

This is the stand finished but awaiting stain and poly











This is the finished tank, in its resting place!


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

purdy


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks! Its also pre wired. Those switches on the side that you see, control the 2 rows of lights. I'm waiting for some mineralized soil, and then I'll start the hardscaping.


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## sonaps (Jul 8, 2005)

Nice craftsmanship! I like the trim work you did. :thumbsup:


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## NeonShrimp (Mar 9, 2006)

sonaps said:


> Nice craftsmanship! I like the trim work you did. :thumbsup:


I agree, it looks like something you can pass on down in the family. I a couple of centuries they will may say it all started with you and now they have 20 factories making stands for the hobbyist who cares about quality and craftsmanship.:smile:


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks awesome. A little weary of the access you have from the top. Not great for trimming and such, but I guess this is something you can approach as needed.

Love the stain choice. Really classy looking.


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks! That was the deal i made with the wife! she said i can have a big fish tank as long as the stand matchees our furniture. So i figured...I can do that! It took a while, and learned alot as I went along. I'll get other pictures up as soon as i start the hard scaping (still waiting on some mineralized soil)

Creedy- you are right...it can be tough with trimming since the stand is roughly 30 inches and the tank is about 28-28 inches on top of that. I'm going to try and keep this a low tech tank. I'm running a CF coralife 4X65, and each row is on its own timer, so i'm going to see if maybe 1 row for 8 hours with a burst of 1 hour from the second row of light...we'll see b/c i dont want to be doing weekly trimings in this tank

and this is a picture of the base prewired, and also the water change drain plumbed in to the wall, before the tank went on


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

"water change drain"....*drool* 

Brian


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## BTDarters (Dec 30, 2007)

Oh, by the way, the stand looks awesome, too!!!!

Brian


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

What are the switches on the outside for?


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

gmccreedy said:


> What are the switches on the outside for?


Each switch is a timer switch which controls the dual gang box on the oppisite side which will have the two rows from my CF lighting attached to it. Since its on the outside of the stand, I can also manually turn them on or off easily

Oh, and the hole around the water change drain is all sheet-rocked and spackled and painted.


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

At least the year work shows. Great looking setup you got going there.

I have to admit I'd be scared of the tank drain. You know how many fish/shrimp/plants I've had to save from the bucket?? But with a tank that big I understand the convenience. Can't wait to see it up and running.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Beautiful furniture quality job. Will the tank bottom be drilled so nothing has to go up behind it? And, I see what looks like a water supply line in the wall, but no drain, or is that a line that leads to other valves so it acts as both the drain and supply?


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> Beautiful furniture quality job. Will the tank bottom be drilled so nothing has to go up behind it? And, I see what looks like a water supply line in the wall, but no drain, or is that a line that leads to other valves so it acts as both the drain and supply?


Thanks!

I'm actually going to be using 2 canister filters. I currently have a 55 gallon tank That has an Ehiem 2028 and a 2026 running it. I'm going to buy one more 2028, and take the one on the 55 gallon also, so this way i'll have two 2028 on the 120 gallon. I also have an inline heater and UV sterilizer that will be plumbed into the filter returns. The drain line that you see, comes out right above a slop sink in the basement, and has the smae valve end on it. So what i plan to do it connect the section that you see in the pictures in line to one of the returns from my canister filter, this way I can just open the valve and have the canister push water down the drainage line to the slop sink. Then for refills I have a python end that connects on to the sink faucet and i will connect that to the valve thats comeing from the wall above the slop sink, and i can send water back through.


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

mikej2244 said:


> Wow....great looking work. I now have my motivation for a big one now. I have the perfect wall for a 7 foot tank, will be using this thread as it goes along to get the wife on board. Any chance you would be willing to make another set and sell (preferably in less that a year!)


 
Thanks!

Hey....you never know how this economy is going to go...i might have to end up going into the aquarium stand building busniess....hahahaha


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## cojo0667 (Feb 21, 2008)

timelessr1 said:


> Well, it only took a year or so, but I finally finished the stand and canopy for my 120 gallon tank. The main construction was 2 X 4's and then skinned in all cherry! The filtering for this tank will be two ehiem 2028's and lighting is a Coralife 4X65 CF with lunar lights.
> 
> This is the stand finished but awaiting stain and poly


Just wondering what type of wood you used and where you bought it from. I know good wood is expensive, did you buy it from a home depot or lowes or a lumber yard? Also, the moulding on the top of the aquarium, did you make it or did you buy the pre made kind.

Thanks!


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## j-pond (Dec 18, 2008)

The whole thing look amazing...great job!


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

cojo0667 said:


> Just wondering what type of wood you used and where you bought it from. I know good wood is expensive, did you buy it from a home depot or lowes or a lumber yard? Also, the moulding on the top of the aquarium, did you make it or did you buy the pre made kind.
> 
> Thanks!


 
The frame its self is made out of 2 X4's which i picked up from my local Home Depot. I think the frame alone was only about $30 or so. The rest of the wood is all Cherry, and i picked it up from a local lumber yard here in Jersey. The crown molding on top was already cut like that ( i think it ran like $15 a foot) The thin slats that I used as molding I got from a online lumber yard from central PA since my local place wanted to charge me like $400 for those.

And in case anyone was curious the Stain I used was a water based stain from a compnay called General Finishes. The polyurathane i used was water based also from General Finishes which I sprayed on with a spray gun


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

timelessr1 said:


> The rest of the wood is all Cherry, and i picked it up from a local lumber yard here in Jersey.


'looks to me like most if it is cherry-veneer plywood.


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

PDX-PLT said:


> 'looks to me like most if it is cherry-veneer plywood.


yeah...the majority of the wrapping was done in cherry ply, had to use 2 sheets and they ran $140 a sheet for the top furniture grade. all the molding is solid cherry lumber


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

PDX-PLT said:


> 'looks to me like most if it is cherry-veneer plywood.


How could you tell?


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

timelessr1 said:


> yeah...the majority of the wrapping was done in cherry ply, had to use 2 sheets and they ran $140 a sheet for the top furniture grade. all the molding is solid cherry lumber


How much did this stand cost you in materials? I bought a stand only that I think is of the same quality, and I don't like to talk about how much it was.


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

kid creole said:


> How much did this stand cost you in materials? I bought a stand only that I think is of the same quality, and I don't like to talk about how much it was.


The materials were somewhere between $750 and $850 that includes the stain from GF and the paints for inside the base and the canopy.


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

kid creole said:


> How could you tell?


Look at the front piece: it's a 6 ft wide by about 30" tall piece of continuous grain. Solid cherry boards don't come anywhere near that big. Solid wood furniture uses separate, smaller boards as horizontal rails and vertical stiles.

Also, the sides are also one piece, this time with the grain running vertically. Since solid wood changes its cross-grain dimension with changes in humidity, but not with the grain, the stand would tend to self-destruct if it were solid wood.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with using plywood, BTW. This ply looks far nicer than the cheaper rotary-cut-veneer plywood you often see being used.


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## Pinto (Jan 23, 2009)

Really nice craftsmen skills.
I'm planing to build a canopy similar to this for my 75g.
Just hope it will be comparable to yours .


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Pinto said:


> Really nice craftsmen skills.
> I'm planing to build a canopy similar to this for my 75g.
> Just hope it will be comparable to yours .


Thanks...just take your time...its not worth rushing. It took me months and 40-50 test colors to get the stain color just perfect.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Nice looking stand timelessr1.

Is that receptacle next to that waterline that you ran GFI protected?


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> Nice looking stand timelessr1.
> 
> Is that receptacle next to that waterline that you ran GFI protected?


No, not yet at least. I was contemplating whether or not i should change that outlet to a GFI outlet. That woter line is really only a drain/ water fill line, but it might be safe just to make the outlet GFI since electricity and water dont mix very well, and I'm dealing with 120 gallons of it. Now that i think about it...i have one or two extra GFI outlets laying around...looks like i'll be changing that out....thanks Biscut!


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

I just want to say this is really beautiful. Wish I had space for something like this. Please do a tank journal when you finally begin to start enjoying the tank.


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## agutt (Oct 28, 2008)

stunning! can't wait to see it when it is up and running!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Drooooooooooolllllll


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Very nice! I love the dark stain. It should show off the tank very well. Can't wait to see it planted!


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks everyone! I will definetely start a journal when I start the hard scaping and planting!


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## msc (Mar 10, 2008)

Great looking piece of furniture. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, I have a small job for you.


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## joeeey (Jan 22, 2009)

Bravo! Very nice carpentry skills.


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

Very nice work. I am having a hard enough time getting my wife to say yes to the tank.....


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

timelessr1 said:


> Each switch is a timer switch which controls the dual gang box on the oppisite side which will have the two rows from my CF lighting attached to it. quote]
> 
> Can I ask you what kind of switch is that, how much it costs and where can I get it?


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

marcinsmok said:


> timelessr1 said:
> 
> 
> > Each switch is a timer switch which controls the dual gang box on the oppisite side which will have the two rows from my CF lighting attached to it. quote]
> ...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Hi, 

I know this thread is kind of old, but I remembered this beautiful stand the other day and started looking for the thread, as I couldn't remember who had posted it or anything 

I would love to see (and I'm sure I'm not alone with this) how this tank turned out. Maybe you could start a journal, or even just post a picture in here...


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

You know, I forgot I had this tread out there. I guess I've done alot since then....Added CO2, added some more lighting...im at 3.25 watts/gallon right now. Here is a pic of the capping T grade sand and potash and dolmite, waiting for the mineralized soil to be added


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

This is with the mineralized soil added....i made it a little too watery...but its still all good 












Took a while filling it, since I didnt want the sand disturbed too much i trickled the water in












It took a few days for things to finally clear up


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Its starting to look like a real tank now 










This is about 2 weeks after the initial set up....things cleared up nicely, and since i was using two 2028 seeded filters from another tank the cycling went extremely quick!






























I let the tank run for about a month or so with about 10 fish in there before I started any planting. (all 10 fish are still as happy as can be)


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## colinthebassist (Nov 30, 2007)

Where did you get those blue PVC boxes you used for all your electrical plugs? I've been looking for those ones, or something similar for awhile and can't find any of them here.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thank you for posting the progress. The tank is looking real nice. I can't wait to see what it will look like, when it's all grown in. If you decide to post a separate tank journal in the journals section make sure you post that here, so I won't miss it 
Good job!


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

colinthebassist said:


> Where did you get those blue PVC boxes you used for all your electrical plugs? I've been looking for those ones, or something similar for awhile and can't find any of them here.


 
Those blue PVC boxes are actually called "Gang" boxes and are used in house construction. You should be able to locate it at a Home Depot, Or Lowes, or and Construction supplier. 


Once i get a little more free time i'm going to put up a full journal...works just been a little busy


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

I finally have an update. Things are going great with the tank! have major growth..fish are happy! Plants are happy


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## Green024 (Sep 19, 2009)

:drool: Very nice!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That's an awesome piece of wood. The plants filled in great. I like how natural it looks.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That's very pretty. The wood is gorgeous!


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks! yeah that wood took like 3 months of soaking to finally get the tannin all out. I had to soak it in a 55 gallon plastic drum. Yeah the plants really did fill in! I do have one question though...on large leaf plants...how do you really trim them up? Can i lob of the leaves at a certain height? I dont really want to cut them at the stem b/c that will thin out the bunch, im looking more to control the height of these plants


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If you trim just the leaf, it will die.

I think your best bet would be to go with some smaller sword species.

Melon swords don't get nearly as big. Kleiner bars get big around, but usually not quite as tall as Amazons, too. Flame swords or Ozelots are another you might try.

Take all that with a grain of salt, b/c IME any given sword that doesn't "usually" get as big may decide it just LOVES a certain tank and get massive! lol


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## davocean (Oct 11, 2009)

That looks awesome!
Tank itself looks great, and I love the look of cherry, and nice finish.


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## timelessr1 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks! Yeah , The cherry wood came out really nice...but i realized after wards that since the stain is pretty dark, i probably should have just went with like Birch, since you wouldnt be able to tell the diffrence in the type of wood after the darker stain and poly.


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