2.5 Gallon DIY Tank Journal (In progress)
Started by going to my LFS and picking up a 2.5 gallon tank ($12). I used ford blue to paint the back of the tank. I first gave it a very light coat of paint and let it dry for a couple of hours. I eventually ended up with about 4-5 coats, gave it a couple of days to dry and then put some clear duck-tape like tape to protect it from scratches.
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After reading articles on nano-reef.com, I decide to make some blueprints of the hood I wanted. I didn't have any of the equipment to do any of the cutting so I took my plans to my local Lumber yard (Southern Lumber Company) and had them do all the cuttings for $15. I had a guy named Mario do a great job for me, and everyone else in the store made it seem like the cuts were not easy to do. I don't know if this is not a regular cutting job, but you might have to twist the persons arm to get them to help you. This is my first time ever working with wood, so I was completely clueless. I bought Walnut, which was a bad choice because the wood came to about $30 dollars. A much better choice would have been Alder, which was half as much and had a nice grain for the dark stain I was going to apply. You could go even less with some Poplar or Pine. The most expensive cut is the rabbits, and I asked for 45 degree cuts for the edges.
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The rest of the stuff I got to finish the hood included Minwax Ebony Stain and Clear Satin protective finish. Check out http://www.minwax.com/shoptalk/resources/basics.cfm for information on the steps to stain and finish the wood. I am using Gorilla waterproof glue. Since it expands as it dries I bought two 90 degree corner clamps. Some white paint for the inside of the hood and some sand paper came to about $20. The bookworm lights are going to give me 2 X 13watt compact fluorescents that come sealed in tubes. http://www.paperdirect.com/PaperDirect_PF401/productDetail.asp?superprodid=4339 has them on sale for $12.
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These are the cuts from the lumbar yard.
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This is the corner glued together using the corner clamps. Takes about 4-6 hours to dry.
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Started by going to my LFS and picking up a 2.5 gallon tank ($12). I used ford blue to paint the back of the tank. I first gave it a very light coat of paint and let it dry for a couple of hours. I eventually ended up with about 4-5 coats, gave it a couple of days to dry and then put some clear duck-tape like tape to protect it from scratches.
After reading articles on nano-reef.com, I decide to make some blueprints of the hood I wanted. I didn't have any of the equipment to do any of the cutting so I took my plans to my local Lumber yard (Southern Lumber Company) and had them do all the cuttings for $15. I had a guy named Mario do a great job for me, and everyone else in the store made it seem like the cuts were not easy to do. I don't know if this is not a regular cutting job, but you might have to twist the persons arm to get them to help you. This is my first time ever working with wood, so I was completely clueless. I bought Walnut, which was a bad choice because the wood came to about $30 dollars. A much better choice would have been Alder, which was half as much and had a nice grain for the dark stain I was going to apply. You could go even less with some Poplar or Pine. The most expensive cut is the rabbits, and I asked for 45 degree cuts for the edges.
The rest of the stuff I got to finish the hood included Minwax Ebony Stain and Clear Satin protective finish. Check out http://www.minwax.com/shoptalk/resources/basics.cfm for information on the steps to stain and finish the wood. I am using Gorilla waterproof glue. Since it expands as it dries I bought two 90 degree corner clamps. Some white paint for the inside of the hood and some sand paper came to about $20. The bookworm lights are going to give me 2 X 13watt compact fluorescents that come sealed in tubes. http://www.paperdirect.com/PaperDirect_PF401/productDetail.asp?superprodid=4339 has them on sale for $12.
These are the cuts from the lumbar yard.
This is the corner glued together using the corner clamps. Takes about 4-6 hours to dry.
