Rcunning8
Premium member
Hey Reefers!
Hello my name is Ryan and I am a coral addict
Over break my father and I did a really cool project together that I wanted to share with you. I was at a LFS and came across a really neat ten gallon aquarium that was housed in this wooden chest that looked like a really nice piece of furniture. The price tag was astronomical at 450 dollars and I thought to myself "I could make this"! So started my three day quest to build an antique looking wooden treasure chest where coral is the true treasure
.
Started out with the Home Depot basics:
2'x6' piece of pine wood
6' pine trim with quarter round pine trim
Decorative oak railing
Four oak feet for stance
Assortment of pine/oak decorative trim and accents
Wood stain
Wood lacker
Paintbrushes
Hinges
Tools needed:
Mental perseverance
Father who knows how to operate a miter saw without chopping fingers off
Hammer
Nails
Miter saw
3 inch hole saw
One inch hole saw
Sandable/stainable puddy
Sand paper
Electric sander
Home Depot employees to make the big cuts
Step one:
Make the box first to fit snuggly a ten gallon tank. Leave about three inches in the back for electronics like timers and power strip/ cables.
Measuring is key in this step because one must account for the size of the tank and the size of the trim that u wish to frame the tank with in order to provide just enough trim to cover the black lining of the tank but still maximizing the viewing area
Step two:
line the front of the box with the trim so that the trim covers up the black lining of the tank but still doesn't take too much away from the viewing experience!
Step three:
Make top of box. The top or hood will house the light so make sure that the hood is tall enough to house the entire light with some room to spare so that the light is not right on top of the water.
Notice the nice accent trim!
Make sure there is ventilation in the back of the hood as to provide airflow to cool the light and aerate the water
Glue on the mitered railing on top of the tank if you so chose to have this detail
Step four:
Add accents and do detail. I drilled with two types of hole saws a clover leaf design for two viewing areas on the side of the tank. I also glued two accents on the tank above these holes
Step five:
Put pieces together to get an idea of what you want the chest to look like. Also giving u mental satisfaction that you did something with your day.
Step six:
Place putty in the cracks that will eventually present themselves at the mitered angles. Wait for puddy to dry and sand them. After that, do first round of staining. If you haven't stained before it's not hard. Just make sure you shake up the stain before starting. Lay down the stain allow to soak in for 20 mins then wipe down with rag. Repeat until you get the desired darkness. After this is dry wipe down one more time and brush on lacker. Make sure that u brush on the lacker in one direction and in the same direction of the grain.
Step 7:
Create overflow in tank out of acrylic only if you want. I wanted to because I wanted to grow chaeto and cover up the pump so I could put anemones in this tank without worrying of them getting sucked into power heads.
Step 8:
Steal sand and rock from your 120 DT and place in tank and fill with new water. Here is my finished product!
Thanks for looking guys! All in all the tank and chest cost just under 200 dollars to make since I added so much detail. I found a pretty cheap light to put in there for 50 and all the other stuff like pump, heater and thermometer I already had on hand. I loved doing the project and I think the outcome was awesome. Not to mention my father and I had a great time making it together!
Happy reefing!
-Ryan
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hello my name is Ryan and I am a coral addict
Over break my father and I did a really cool project together that I wanted to share with you. I was at a LFS and came across a really neat ten gallon aquarium that was housed in this wooden chest that looked like a really nice piece of furniture. The price tag was astronomical at 450 dollars and I thought to myself "I could make this"! So started my three day quest to build an antique looking wooden treasure chest where coral is the true treasure
. Started out with the Home Depot basics:
2'x6' piece of pine wood
6' pine trim with quarter round pine trim
Decorative oak railing
Four oak feet for stance
Assortment of pine/oak decorative trim and accents
Wood stain
Wood lacker
Paintbrushes
Hinges
Tools needed:
Mental perseverance
Father who knows how to operate a miter saw without chopping fingers off
Hammer
Nails
Miter saw
3 inch hole saw
One inch hole saw
Sandable/stainable puddy
Sand paper
Electric sander
Home Depot employees to make the big cuts
Step one:
Make the box first to fit snuggly a ten gallon tank. Leave about three inches in the back for electronics like timers and power strip/ cables.
Measuring is key in this step because one must account for the size of the tank and the size of the trim that u wish to frame the tank with in order to provide just enough trim to cover the black lining of the tank but still maximizing the viewing area
Step two:
line the front of the box with the trim so that the trim covers up the black lining of the tank but still doesn't take too much away from the viewing experience!
Step three:
Make top of box. The top or hood will house the light so make sure that the hood is tall enough to house the entire light with some room to spare so that the light is not right on top of the water.
Notice the nice accent trim!
Make sure there is ventilation in the back of the hood as to provide airflow to cool the light and aerate the water
Glue on the mitered railing on top of the tank if you so chose to have this detail
Step four:
Add accents and do detail. I drilled with two types of hole saws a clover leaf design for two viewing areas on the side of the tank. I also glued two accents on the tank above these holes
Step five:
Put pieces together to get an idea of what you want the chest to look like. Also giving u mental satisfaction that you did something with your day.
Step six:
Place putty in the cracks that will eventually present themselves at the mitered angles. Wait for puddy to dry and sand them. After that, do first round of staining. If you haven't stained before it's not hard. Just make sure you shake up the stain before starting. Lay down the stain allow to soak in for 20 mins then wipe down with rag. Repeat until you get the desired darkness. After this is dry wipe down one more time and brush on lacker. Make sure that u brush on the lacker in one direction and in the same direction of the grain.
Step 7:
Create overflow in tank out of acrylic only if you want. I wanted to because I wanted to grow chaeto and cover up the pump so I could put anemones in this tank without worrying of them getting sucked into power heads.
Step 8:
Steal sand and rock from your 120 DT and place in tank and fill with new water. Here is my finished product!
Thanks for looking guys! All in all the tank and chest cost just under 200 dollars to make since I added so much detail. I found a pretty cheap light to put in there for 50 and all the other stuff like pump, heater and thermometer I already had on hand. I loved doing the project and I think the outcome was awesome. Not to mention my father and I had a great time making it together!
Happy reefing!
-Ryan
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
