MeuserReef's 90 Gallon Japanese Style Tank Build

[MeuserReef]

Hello all...

I thought I'd share with you all my latest aquarium project. The wife and I are "upgrading" our 55 gallon N. Pulcher tank to a 90 gallon. As an avid DIY'er, the stand, cabinet, and canopy will all be built by yours truly. The structural part of the stand has been constructed from 1.5" steel tubing and coated with a gazillion (ok... more llike 4) coats of Silver Rustoleum "hammered" metal paint. The cabinet and canopy will be made from solid American Ash hardwood lumber. I must note that I am a bit OCD when working with nice lumber and for this build I have decided that I want to create a "Japanese Style" setup (more on this aspect later).

This will be my second "furniture grade" aquarium project. The first was for our 120 Reef aquarium. I have a build thread for it located HERE



Our current 55 gallon tank is home to a breeding treo of WC N. Pulcher. There are now about 30-40 F1 fish along with the "parents". Here is the most recent pic of this setup:


Another view:



Ok, now that we have the background out of the way, lets move to the "NEW" 90 gallon build. The stand (as mentioned above) is made from 1.5" steel tubing. I purchase all of my steel from Conroe Mill Supply on Davis St. in Conroe. The 1.5" square tubing is sold in 24' sticks. This project used just under 2 sticks (approx 40 feet). At $1.25/ft (which is cheap), it made sense to go with steel vs. wood for this setup. (I paid $2.25/ft. for the same steel back in the spring of 2008 when I built our reef setup). 3/4" Birch plywood was used on the top and bottom of the stand to create both a barrier between the tank and the steel, as well as a "floor" for the filters to sit on.

Here is the stand, all welded up and painted:


Steel stand with unfinished 3/4" plywood:


Finished plywood (end grain painted/sealed with black Rustoleum oil-based paint):


Mounting flanges that will (eventually) hold the hardwood cabinet panels snugly to the steel. These also add "racking support" to keep the stand from failing when its under load:




Ive already completed quite a bit of the Ash hardwood components, however I am a few pictures short at the moment, so I will have to report back with them once they exist!

[fshfrk]

Ya baby!

[newb]

lookin' good...Im interested to see this Japanese style setup.

[mgarrido]

Josh, Your reef setup is absolutely amaizing, if you are planning do the same with your 90G fresh water tank i can't wait for the pictures!!!

[MeuserReef]

Ya baby!

Uh huh!

lookin' good...Im interested to see this Japanese style setup.

Me too! I know what it looks like on paper and in my mind, but the finished product will tell me if I passed or failed at my attempt.

Josh, Your reef setup is absolutely amaizing, if you are planning do the same with your 90G fresh water tank i can't wait for the pictures!!!

Thanks for the kind words regarding our reef setup. A LOT of time and attention went into that build, pretty much taking all of 2008 to complete. Our 90 gallon setup is on schedule to only take about 3 weeks. It will be much less complicated as far as equipment and stuff too, though!

[wesleydnunder]

Awesome attention to detail, Josh. I'm anticipating a work of art.

Mark

[MeuserReef]

Thanks Mark.

A few more pics to add to the "DIY" aspect of this build (which is why I chose the DIY forum to post all this noise)

The hardwood "skin" is being built as though it was a set of cabinets (with respect to design, joinery, etc.). The "panel door" concept is used on the side panels (of both the cabinet and canopy) as well as the doors. The panel door concept simply refers to the way that the wood is joined. For this design, a simple Tongue and Groove router bit was used to make the rails and stiles.

Closeup of the Tonge and Groove method of joining the rails (the horizontal pieces of wood) to the stiles (the vertical pieces of wood)



Panels being glued up:


After gluing, its clamp time!


I will explain the panels in a bit more detail later, but I will say that they will add a good bit of the Japanese to the style.

[RMD55]

I saw your thread on the reef it was awsome. Mahogney is a dream to work with do you find the ash a little harder. I am working on a stand for a 65 tall (36 X 18 ) out of rock maple and a wood called jatoba, it is almost twice as hard as the rock maple. I have had the big brother of your Kreg kit for years and love it. I am going to borrow your lift hings for this build. I wish I had it on my last build out. I had a red oak board 11" wide after milling long enough to make the face of the canopy. I ended up cutting it in three pieces, the two outer are doors. The grain still runs the length of the top but it has two saw cuts and leaks light, the doors have started to sag and I have no more adjustment in the euro hinges. I just may have to redo it using the lifts. Did not mean to hijack your thread. I would love to see the project in person but to bad you live on the north side of noware.

[MeuserReef]

I saw your thread on the reef it was awsome. Mahogney is a dream to work with do you find the ash a little harder.

Actually, I do find the Ash to be tougher to work with, but not because of anything that the wood did to me! Before the lumber was aquired, we were set on a light-colored stain. This reinforced the decision to use Ash, which lookes awesome stained in a Natural or Honey color....

... then after the lumber was bought, transported, and cut into pieces, we changed our mind and decided to go with a dark color, somewhere in between a Cherry and a Mahogany. This unplanned change in color has added quite a bit of challenge to the finishing part of this project. After many tests of a good number of stains, I ended up using a wood dye to achieve the dark color without completely hiding the grain.

I am working on a stand for a 65 tall (36 X 18 ) out of rock maple and a wood called jatoba, it is almost twice as hard as the rock maple.

I would love to see the Rock Maple that you are using. I LOVE figured maple! Jatoba is commonly referred to as Brazilian Cherry, is it not? And, yes... it is VERY hard wood. Ive worked with this species on a few custom stair cases a few years ago when I still lived in North Carolina. Had I known that I was going to end up staining the Ash so dark, I would have used Brazilian Cherry. You should achieve a beautiful contrast by using both the dark and light species together.

I have had the big brother of your Kreg kit for years and love it.

Pocket holes are awesome for sure

I am going to borrow your lift hings for this build. I wish I had it on my last build out.

Borrow away my friend (I borrowed them from someone too) They work great and for $4 each, you cant loose. Dont forget the threaded inserts for mounting them.

Did not mean to hijack your thread. I would love to see the project in person but to bad you live on the north side of noware.

No hijack when a fellow carpenter chimes in. And for the record... its quite nice up here north of nowhere (although those in Spring might not appreciate you dissing their town ).

[RMD55]

Yes jatoba is also called Brazilian Cherry. With the color contrast the maple I choose is not "highly figured" I thought that would be to busy. If you ever want I know a couple of places in town that do carry the Tiger and Currly maple. I also did custom stairs for a while until I could get back to a Systems Administration job, it pays better

[MeuserReef]

Yes jatoba is also called Brazilian Cherry. With the color contrast the maple I choose is not "highly figured" I thought that would be to busy. If you ever want I know a couple of places in town that do carry the Tiger and Currly maple. I also did custom stairs for a while until I could get back to a Systems Administration job, it pays better

Do tell where one can find Tiger / Curly maple... Ive got a few other non aquarium related projects that I would love to use some nicely figured maple on. Ive been to Houston Hardwoods and Mason's Mill Supply and neither have a specific assortment of "figured" maple. You have to dig through the "regular" maple to find it. The guy at Mason's said that in a large bundle (100+ boards) there may be 1 or 2 that would have figure that would qualify as "tiger". Man is that stuff sweet!

Thanks for your contribution to this thread!

[RMD55]

Try Clarks Hardwood Lumber down in the Heights, open on Sat. morn. or Hardwood Products BW 8 S just north of I-10 W they are open only during the week. The other way to do it is to order it online.
The reason that there might be only one board out of a hundred is that it is culled at the mill. Only one tree out of a hundred might yeild the figured grain. The Tiger brings a better price. One advantage of ordering online is that you can get all your boards from a single log. Do you get Fine Woodworking? They have ads of where you can get special woods.