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d2's Planted Tank Adventurama

Oase

Do you need a heater in Texas?
Homes are fully temp controlled. As long as the house has power, interior temp is a constant 72-ish give or take depending on time of day.
 
Started building the stand last night. Going to try to put a bit of a time-lapse vid together but for now, here's a few pics...

Hardware...

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All the things...

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And the base. Tons of leveling feet.
The exterior of the stand is white, but the interior is black now.
I'll try to show it in the vid, but the instructions are lacking. They are illustrated steps, nice and clear but almost zero mention of any of the hardware.
If you've put IKEA together before, it shouldn't be a problem. Has been pretty straight forward so far.
And there are some good videos for reference, even if it's not this specific stand.
https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/manuals/

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Coming from the salty side have you considered using a sumped system?
I did! Looked at a few different options.
But I think after having sumps in all my reef tanks over the years, I just wanted to try something different this time.
 
Well, I just pulled the trigger on TWO Oase 600 Thermo canisters.
The integrated heater, prefilter and ability to easily use glass pipes won out.

Next I probably need to be looking at c02 and how best to hook that up.
Seems like inline would be most efficient. GLA has regs with multiple outputs so I could run one line to each return.
 
That’s a lot of screws and whatnot :eek:

Shame they switched to a dark interior on the white stand, I much prefer paler color inside for light effect
(I looked at Waterbox site)
 
More work completed on the stand last night. Only thing left is doors.
There has been some concern about the black interior but the side walls are white.
At this point, I'm not seeing much of an issue with it being too dark inside. Plus I'll be adding a light anyway.

There are just two things I'm a little disappointed with. Disappointed may even be a little strong... more like "not as impressed with".
1. It's obviously the same stand used for their reef-ready tanks. A cutout in the top panel and huge opening on the rear wall for all the plumbing coming down from an overflow. You're selling a new line of NON-DRILLED tanks, specifically marketed for freshwater. There should be a stand specifically for that. I have an email into support just to confirm it wasn't an oversight. If I was sent the correct stand I'll be offering some "advice" on that.

2. The white exterior panels are... "OK". They are glossy but from what I can tell they are powder coated or lacquered or something. Comparing them to my previous Elos stand, the finish is not going to be as durable. The Elos had a strong laminate that was glossier and could really take a beating. I've drilled through it, it's thick. And even though the interior was some sort of man-made pressed wood, overall it was impervious to water and wear, and very strong. I'm worried about how the finish on the Waterbox stand is going to hold up over time. The interior plywood construction is nice from a water damage standpoint, but I can tell by the edges and corners that the outer layer is not nearly as strong. It's definitely wayyyyy nicer than the new Planet Aquariums stands. Those things look like a home spray job. On a scale of 1-10, with Elos being a 10, I'd rate the finish of the white panels around 8.5, and the Planet tanks a 4-5 at best.

That said, the stand seems very sturdy. I like the finish of the black panels which has a bit of a texture to it and feels more durable than the white panels. I like that it actually has a floor (the elos is designed without a floor, so vibration from equipment is not transmitted/reverberated through the stand), and the floor is raised which is kind of nice, even though it technically does eat up a little interior space. I think I mentioned earlier that there are tons of leveling feet. There are some good cutouts, plenty of room for cables and hoses. Although in my case, I do kind of wish there were cutouts on the right like there are on the left. Again, this is an issue that it's a reef stand, not freshwater. ADG makes some custom stands that have hose cutouts on the side panels. I waiver back and forth on that vs the rear placement, but at least there are provisions for multiple canister filters or a choice of placement if just running one.

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Stand construction is complete.

I did hear back from Waterbox on the stand being "reef ready". It's not one of their reef stands because the tank itself is 1" smaller than their closest size reef tank.
So apparently the stand was specifically designed like this, which doesn't make much sense to me. They say it's so you'd have the option to run a sump if you want.
But why would I buy a non-drilled tank and drill it, when they sell reef ready tanks?
Anyway, doesn't really matter, just seems odd to me. If it was me I just would have duplicated that left panel with the two large holes in it on the right side.
No need for the large center opening on the back wall. That's space that could be used for mounting equipment. And of course no need for the cutout on the top panel.

Heavy duty drawer slides are on order. I think i'm going to put both canister filters right in the center, on a slide out shelf.
Will make maintenance easier.
Thinking of having the co2 equipment on the right side, and then using the separate compartment on the left for electronics.

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I don't want to distract too much from your thread here... but it always surprises me that cabinet manufacturers don't do more to insulate their cabinets. Mainly for noise but also from the point of view of energy efficiency, keeping the heated tank water from looking heat on its way too and from the filter.
 
I don't want to distract too much from your thread here... but it always surprises me that cabinet manufacturers don't do more to insulate their cabinets. Mainly for noise but also from the point of view of energy efficiency, keeping the heated tank water from looking heat on its way too and from the filter.
I don't know how much you could really do though as far as insulation. You can't have a sealed cabinet because that leads to humidity issues. I made that mistake once with a custom stand.
Soundwise you can add some insulation panels but most pumps these days with the advent of DC has made things pretty much silent. My last pump that was rated for well over 3000 lph was completely silent when running.
Temp shouldn't really be an issue. If it is you could put pipe insulation around your tubing. But if its that cold or that warm in your house I wouldn't want to live there. LOL :nailbiting: :D
 
The top panel cutout is certainly unusual for a rimless tank - complete even bottom panel support is seemingly industry ”standard”
I’d take system photos (tank, stand, tank on stand etc) and write a formal email regarding this cutout and possible longterm consequences (read the fine print re warranties - it’s not unusual for one item to be warrantied for 3-6 months, while another is done for 1-2 years (which then becomes the advertised warranty))
(formal as in cc to company executives, customer support, sales etc)

(This may not be a reef tank stand, but it has certainly been built with reef design in mind ... I suspect they took their standard reef kit and just adjusted the size)

Keep photos and records of your concerns re the odd finish as well (not expecting issues but why not be prepared)

I’ve finally gone over to stands with side cut outs for filter hoses (back option is also included) and can’t believe I resisted for so long o_O :rolleyes: :D
When looking at the tank, they somehow disappear in a way that the back hoses do not (I add tank backgrounds to block cords, hoses) - some trick of lighting? (they’re still the same green/grey Eheim hoses)

I’d encourage you to add some cutouts (as shown in the ADA style DIY stand threads) BUT if there are any issues with the stand or tank, I suspect Waterhome would insist the issue resulted from your modifications
(most warranties include this sort of rider)

Does the stand glide fairly easily given the leveling “feet”?
(and no carpet)
 
@alto Yes, a buddy has one of the reef tanks and other than slight size difference our stands are identical.
I do have a conversation with customer support re my concerns about the stand, along with my suggestions.
Not from a standpoint of anything being "wrong" with it, just some odd decisions for a freshwater, non-drilled tank line.
The cutout shouldn't pose any problems. You should see how Elos tanks are supported on the stand. The entire weight of the tank is supported purely by the sidewalls of the stand and the two front corners.
See pic below. You can see the sidewalls and two front corners are slightly raised over everything else.

The finish is nice, just not as nice IMO as the Elos due to it being a coating and not a hard laminate.

ADG here in Houston makes custom stands with those side cutouts.
My only problem with that is the left side in my particular case because of the way the tank is oriented in the room. You basically walk into the house staring at that side of the tank. Hoses running up the side will be right in the middle of your view. I think I'm going to have the hoses run up the rear on that side of the tank. The other side is fine because it's facing the wall.

Yes, right now with no weight, the stand glides fairly easily. Although the tile is textured (plus the joints) so once the heavy tank is on top it may not glide so easy.
But even now, the stand itself is quite heavy! Total shipping weight of the stand and tank was over 700 lbs.



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TWO Oase BioMaster 600 Thermo canister filters arrived this week. :)

Last night I spent playing with about 30 (yes, thirty... give or take) leveling feet.

They are all around the perimeter and on the cross braces.
I worked on all the perimeter ones first, then flipped the tank up on one end and used a straight edge to get all the center ones at the correct length to match the perimeter ones.
I've basically got it perfectly level but will re-check before the tank goes on. I'll be moving it around quite a bit between now and then as I install various things I'd rather do without the tank on top.

Here's one end of the stand showing the leveling feet.

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And now I'm in the middle of drilling and test fitting the GHL "Flex Mounts" for the lights.
I've got two of the three installed. Need to add an extra brace in back for the third due to the large opening in the back wall of the stand.

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Extra brace added for the center light mount.
And the heavy-duty sliders came in so I can start working on the pull-out shelf for the filters. :)

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Great updates, coming together nicely and that cut out has caused a few small problems for you but looking great keep the updates coming.

Dean

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
Well this should make maintenance easier. :)

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Hope everyone is enjoying their labor day weekend (in the USA).
Had a heck of a week last week with the biggest bummer being getting caught in a flash flood with my brand new 6 week old car, stalling out and completely seizing the engine. :(

But meanwhile, Slow Build must continue.
This weekend I'm working on the electronics side of the cabinet.
Two 1/2" pieces of plywood against the walls give me a support for a shelf to hold the controller and doser.
The black plywood on the right covers the complete right side, which should give me a good spot to mount the controllable powerbars and other electronics without having to drill a bunch of holes into the stand itself. Just two screws hold each support wall to the stand.

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