Building a 40 gallon breeder tank that was going to be used as a Discus grow tank.
1 My initial lumber planning for the stand/cabinet. The cabinet will be 40" tall and must be 'decent looking' because it will be living in Kelly's sewing/crafts room. Therefore bare 2x4s painted black is not good enough.
2 The beginning of the construction. I used premium 2x4 studs and 2.5" Spax T-star screws for the basic assembly.
3 After installing the 8 additional 2x4 columns in the corners. This cabinet is WAY overbuilt for the weight of a 40 gallon tank.
4 It's going to be a Discus grow tank with a bare bottom (BB) so I spray painted the outside of the bottom of the tank with a 'Stone' textured spray paint.
5 The inside of the bottom looks sort of like sand which is what I was aiming for.
6 After installing the 3/4" red oak veneer plywood bottom shelf, sides, and back. I am starting to install the top trim piece.
7 I installed wood trim to cover the corner seam of the 3/4" plywood.
8 After staining the inside, sides, and back with MinWax 'Espresso' wood stain.
9
10 After staining the front.
11 I applied 3 coats of MinWax Gloss Polyurethane and then moved int into the sewing room.
12 I still need to build.install the front doors.
13
14 The front doors before I stained them.
15 I used a router to contour the edges of the doors.
16 After filling the tank.I plan to keep this tank at 87-88 degrees for optimal Discus growing.
17 I stained, clear coated, and installed the front doors. I think it looks like a 'decent' piece of furniture.
18 I plan to use a Penn Plax cascade 100 HOB filter and a Lustar Hydro IV (80 gal) sponge filter for filtration. The LED light is a Beamswork ET Series. The heater is an Aqueon Pro 150. I am using Dr Tim's Aquatics Ammonium Chloride Solution and Seachem Stability to cycle the filters.
19 The textured spray paint on the bottom of the tank is translucent when viewed from underneath.
20 I'm trying to do a fishless cycle on the filters using Ammonium Chloride and Seachem Stability. I have the ammonia levels at 2ppm and now I'm waiting for some nitrite to show up.
21 I replaced the backdrop with a lighter colored backdrop.
22
23 We moved the tank/stand a little to the left so we could move the wine refridge into the sewing/crafts room.
24 After moving the tank into the home office and adding gravel/fake plants, and three Rosy Barbs.
25 And a Pirate....
26 Three Rosy Barbs. They are like goldfish on meth....
