Kevin207's 336 gallon 9' tank build

[Kevin207]

This is the official :roll: thread for following the build of my 9 foot tank that arrived January 30, 2007.

I will continue to post many pictures in the Members' Tank Specifications area in this thread:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=91376

This thread will probably be used to draw your attention to that thread of photos, as well as provide a place for comments and discussion as I go forward with this aquarium.

Thanks for the input that many of you gave before I had the tank built
I look forward to any more input you might provide along the way.

-Kevin

 

[bleedingthought]

Just letting you know I'm tagging along to this one too. 8)

 

[dnorton1978]

DITTO

 

[AF Founder]

This is the official :roll: thread for following the build of my 9 foot tank that arrived January 30, 2007.

I will continue to post many pictures in the Members' Tank Specifications area in this thread:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=91376

This thread will probably be used to draw your attention to that thread of photos, as well as provide a place for comments and discussion as I go forward with this aquarium.

Thanks for the input that many of you gave before I had the tank built
I look forward to any more input you might provide along the way.

-Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Where in maine are you?

 

[Kevin207]

Up in them thar hills.

 

[AF Founder]

Up in them thar hills.

Could you be more specific; I live in Portland and have a 700-gallon reef.

 

[Kevin207]

If you didn't post pics of such a tank then we'd kill you.

Check your email for details...I'd rather not specify my address with all the death threats I get here in the forums :wink:

 

[Kevin207]

Which door layout do you think looks better?

3 double doors as shown below

or

4 single doors as shown in the next post?

 

[Kevin207]

Which door layout do you think looks better?

3 double doors as shown above in the previous post

or

4 single doors as shown below?

The original design was for 4 doors, but they built a three bay stand. Three doors would make the doors too big.

4 doors (original plan) are large but we'd have to really reinforce them to keep them from warping. We would also have to cut the existing stiles between the doors and shift them to the left and right and add another stile in the middle.

3 double doors means six doors, but they would be less prone to warping and would leave 3 larger holes (than 4 smaller holes) to access the top of the tank and the area under the tank.

So which do you think looks better, and which do you think is most functional?

 

[Anonymous]

I like the 4

 

[bleedingthought]

I definitely like the 4 better.

 

[JKDMan]

4 most def

 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to say 3 just to be awkward.

Though also have the following question to ponder. Would it make it easier to move things in and out of the sump with three larger doors than 4 smaller doors? That's maybe the only advantage of three doors.

 

[bleedingthought]

How about 2 double doors? Best of both worlds.

 

[Kevin207]

Well, I just looked at the still crated aquarium, and noticed that they built that to the specifications I asked for, but the stand layout for the stiles is different.

There are cross braces on the top of the aquarium such that there are 4 holes across the 9 foot top of the tank. It would be best to have a 2 foot door in front of each of these holes.

Therefore, I must match this on the bottom....so I will have four doors on the bottom. This means we have to modify the stand by cutting the existing two middle stiles and moving them out to the sides a bit and then add a center stile.

The stand would be a little stronger with the extra stile, and this looks like the ONLY way to go given the way the top of the aquarium is braced into four holes for access.

Thanks for your input....it looks like four doors was winning anyway

 

[Kevin207]

I have drawn up the finished cabinet look with inset doors as another option. Which do you like better, the inset doors look shown below or the surface mount doors shown in pictures above this post?

 

[Anonymous]

I like the bottom picture better.

Louey

 

[trido]

I agree that the last pic looks the best. BUT, you may want to consider the potential light escape issues around the edges of the doors.

 

[Kevin207]

I agree that the last pic looks the best. BUT, you may want to consider the potential light escape issues around the edges of the doors.

I have good news on that front (I had that same concern):
There are thick plywood stiles that would be behind the cracks between the doors, so there should be no light escaping. The tank stand is built, and we would be putting 3/4" mahogany on the entire front of the cabinet in the form of faux stiles and doors inset into them. The plywood stiles behind the mahogany are actually 6" wide and several inches thick. Hope what I described makes sense.

 

[bleedingthought]

Bottom better!