Sokretys Build: Deep Blue 60 Cube

[Sokretys]

Whelp, I pulled the trigger and bought a deep blue cube. Picked it up last Thursday. A new shop in Gorham, ME called Easy Aquariums hooked it up. I've been aquiring equipment and knowledge over the past few months or longer (so it might seem) and this weekend I got going with the stand. I'll be building my own sump from scratch out of glass as well.

The stand is made from: poplar, poplar ply, red oak and red oak ply. Im sure i could have gotten away with using pine instead of poplar. But from what i've read poplar is very moisture resistant and it doesnt warp/shrink/swell very much at all over time. So I said what the hell why not. All 3/4. I used some kind of "waterproof" wood glue on all connections. As well as 100 wood screws. 100 pocket screws. And more, not sure how much more but i emptied the 2 100's. With all honesty carpentry doesn't come to me naturally. The progress ive made took about 18 hours and im not close to done.

pocket screw jig. Shockingly simple to use. Unless of course you get tired and don't clamp it down tight enough. Which i did once. Really friggen pissed me off but oh well.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMAG0358_zps54984191.jpg

poplar frame w poplar ply on back, top and bottom. The "stand" on the left and right will hold a 3.5 gallon RO resevoir on each side.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMAG03591_zps30d9b8da.jpg

Here you can see my pocket screw mistake on the back left. The hole was drilled too close to the edge...But ill be filling in those holes with wooden plugs as i did with all of the others. I will be painting the entire inside with epoxy floor paint. I doubt anyone will be able to notice it after painting but I will know haha I also used ge silicone 2 on all of the seems in there. Sloppy but functional

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMAG0361_zps70407630.jpg

Here is how i just left it for the weekend. The cube will sit on top of 3/4 foam and the black rim on the bottom of the tank will be flush with the oak trim. The top will be 2" of oak on the left and right. As well as 4" in the front. The stand is 44.25" tall. It was supposed to be 42 but I had a wicked brain fart when sizing the poplar uprights-forgot about factoring in the recessed top to the equation. Whatever-it will still work just fine. And i was a bit concerned with the limited space for plumbing above a sump that is 21" tall. Should be much easier now haha

The front will be a solid oak rectangle. Not sure at all what im going to do about the doors. I may outsource those haha

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Sokretys/IMAG0360_zps4fd7e5fb.jpg

 

[s_kelley]

Wow Nate great job with the stand

 

[Sokretys]

Thanks Shane. Sorry i couldnt land your 50 but my gf insisted on the cube haha.

So i dont know if you can tell but the side panels are not touching the floor. My doorway is 28.75 in width and the width from left to right is 28" and the top will be 28.5".

I would like to make some oak molding 2.25" in height and only like 1/4" in width. Any suggestions on how to do this?

 

[Sokretys]

Coming right along

 

[PSU4ME]

Very nice, what are your stocking plans?

 

[s_kelley]

You've already got it in the door make it as wide as ya want!

 

[Sokretys]

Very nice, what are your stocking plans?

Not too sure yet. At the very least i will move the stock of my 26 into it. Cherub Angel, Mocha Clown, gold bar neon goby, purple firefish, highfin goby+banded pistol, female green mandarin, Assorted inverts, assorted sps, lps, polyps. I do want to get a tail spot blenny, and a wrasse of some kind. That and more rock haha If i could find an armful of vanuatu branch rock i would be a happy camper. I want to lay it down on the glass before adding sand to have an epic home for the shrimp/goby pair

You've already got it in the door make it as wide as ya want!

haha yeah but i still need to be able get it out! Your thoughts on a low profile molding around the base?

 

[Sokretys]

The inside, top, and back all have 2 coats of oil based enamel w/ built in primer. Bought it for 1.99 at Mardens up here in Maine. Took about 30 minutes of stirring with a butter knife lol but it worked out. I put standing water on the top for about 9 hours overnight. Dried up no mark etc. Staining today with Minwax "Special Walnut". Allowing to dry for 48 hours then ill be finishing with 2-3 coats of Minwax Helmsman (clear satin) spar urethane.

Pics will obv come soon

Oh and an update on equipment. I have a Reef Octopus Diablo DC 5500 in the mail. I will def have it this time next week...super excited haha. Glass for the sump will be cut by Tuesday. I've already got an additional 60 lbs of "expired" live sand that i got for $10 a bag. In theory she could be wet in a week Maybe more depending on how long i need to let this silicon cure

 

[firstimer]

coming along. nice stand!

 

[Sokretys]

Plumbing is in the mail and in 4 different packages

 

[Sokretys]

 

[mtpkts13]

Nice craftsmanship! Ive been eyeing that pocket screw jig would've helped with my stand build. gonna have to get one. The tank is nice too Ive got a DB 80 rimless love the look of them. Great job!

 

[Sokretys]

Finished building my sump. It was sloppy and stressful. I cleaned it up pretty good with about 9 razors and a roll of paper towels. I think it looks pretty decent. Real good considering all of the worst seams will be in the back and covered in darkness haha Had another brain fart with measurements. Bit of a trend here, damn i hate math. Had to add a glass strip above a baffle to bring up the water level in the skimmer section. Curing til the weekend and the final push!

This week ill be finishing up the stand. I built the doors over the weekend. Found some 1/4" solid red oak hobby board for the panels. 2 tall and skinny inset shaker doors with inset panel. Euro style hinges. I didn't feel like setting the dato up. So i made the slotting for the panels with a bisquit cutter. I dont know if the way i did it is in the manual but it did the job haha. I hope to get around to hanging the doors before the weekend but im really expecting them to be a real B. I've gotta spar varnish the stand too. Ill post a few pics tom

btw i got my RO Diablo DC 5500 in and it is really very sexy

 

[SteveDola]

Looking good! I built my cube stand very similarly. The pocket jig is a great tool with wood glue to make the stand super strong. The Oak looks nice...almost went with Oak but since my kitchen cabinets are birch I went with b****. DId you make the door yet? that was the most difficult part of the process for me...just not that good with a router table :smilet-digitalpoint.

 

[Sokretys]

Thanks! Yeah when i bought the jig for $40 i was like, man i didn't want to spend that much. But in hindsight it was worth every friggen penny. I like you used wood glue wherever i could and it strong like bull haha. I was using all of my dads power tools on this project. He has a killer table saw and chop saw as well as pretty much any powered hand tool. His router and routing table were a gift to him before i was born lol. Sooo its not really the greatest. Uploading cropping pics meow...

 

[Sokretys]

 

[Sokretys]

Front:

 

[Sokretys]

The sponge is for a fluval 305. I get them for a buck a piece. I basically made the return chamber 10 7/8" wide so i can just drop one in now or in 5 years and not have an issue finding a replacement sponge. Although i dont plan on running it all the time. I still need to have acrylic teeth made to fit over the baffle leading to the sponge. Like said the silicone is pretty sloppy. I didn't bother with painters tape. But i got the entire thing done from beginning to end in less than 24 hrs.

Fuge lighting will likely sit right on top of the euro brace

 

[Sokretys]

Oookay! Finished! Spent the vast majority of my spring break piecing it all together and i am soo very happy im done. Simply exhausted. Had to modify the deep blue overflow box. In that i got rid of the screws for it. Flipped its adjustable gate upside down and siliconed it in place.

I have the DC Diablo 5500 on setting 5 of 6 and that along with my tunze 6025 produce tremendous turbulent flow. Took a while to fill the RO reservoirs but i dont think ill be filling them for a few weeks at least

Ive got an old 12v 0.41a pc fan powered at 0.3a and it is loud and flows air across the room. Ill def be swapping that out soon. Got it turned off for now.

On 3:

With my old diy led:

Need to try a bit of crushed coral on the left of fuge there. And make a light. Thinking id like left third to be in the 15kish and right 2/3 to be 6500kish:

 

[Sokretys]

Front ball valve hooks to mj1200 to fill reservoirs. Ball valve in rear will hook to a 1/2" gate valve for reactor in return chamber:

Still needs spar varnish, door handles, new light, more rock and MORE CRITTERS! haha