So, inspired by si_sphinx's epic thread on his new set up, I have decided to have another go at building another set up.

One of my filters decided to sprout a leak ( unnoticed for around 6 hours ) so my previous/current stand is swollen and looking very worse for wear.

Time for a new set up...

The plan...

- Tank = 103 X 36 X 31 LWH. I was given a few sheets of glass that are this size. They have nice beveled edges and are in good nick so that is why the odd sizing.

The Tank will be rimless/braceless , I have yet to test how much the glass will bend but it is quite low so I think I should be okay. Have lots of glass to play with to get it right anyway.

- Stand = 103 X 36 X 700 LWH.

- Plants = Glosso, Acorus grammineus " mini green ", Lilaeopsis brasilinsis, Ludwigia acuata, heteranthera zosterifolia " star grass ", riccia fluitans, Alternanthera reineckii "rosaefolia",

Java fern, Java Moss.

maybe drawf sag too, not sure at this point. And whatever else there is room for. :gigl:

- Lighting = 4 X 39W T5. 3 10,000k and 1 14,000k. Because I am trying for a braceless aquarium I am going to hang the lights from the ceiling.

- Ferts = Will probably use PMDD because trying to work out the ferts hurts my head, so I will leave that lesson till a later date.

- Co2 = Might get the fluval 88g, anybody had any experience with these? are they any good???

- Fish = LOTS of Glowlight tetras, not sure what else.

Wish me luck.

Starting the stand...

The wood

Drilling for dowles

Gluing parts together

The main skeleton finished

The top and back are on :smln:

Doors :bounce:

Filling in all my dents and scratches

Nice looking stand :cofn:

That stand looks a lot easier and nicer than mine did :thup: good job.

how thick is the glass?

At 30cm high, your not going to have much water pressure at all, i doubt that you'll get much bow... supposing your at least 8 mil... :thup:

How I miss Barrie... :spop:

Stand looks Really Great :spop:

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1732

Err, 8mm will give you a safety factor of 12.3 - 3.8 is the commonly accepted safety factor.

That stand looks a lot easier and nicer than mine did :thup: good job.

Just different I think mate. The first stand I built could hold a bus I reckon, very structural. As this one is only holding 140kgs ( ish ) I can get away with a lot build wise.

The ply is only 12mm. In hindsight I think It would have been cheaper and easier to use 15-20mm mdf and just copy the ada stand structure.

@ cricketman = the glass is 6mm, around 7.0 safety factor. I have used the sellys silicone for all of my tanks but I am pondering switching to something more industrial. i am not worried so much about the glass braking but the seal itself.

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1732

Err, 8mm will give you a safety factor of 12.3 - 3.8 is the commonly accepted safety factor.

So no Bow at all then... :thup: :rotf: :digH:

Beautiful stand !drool: I really love the door handles :thup:

Thanks, there were a lot of tacky handles to choose from but I think these have quite simple lines, similar to the stand.

- Co2 = Might get the fluval 88g, anybody had any experience with these? are they any good???

If you don't mind pouring all your money down the drain. For roughly the same price but at a little more hassle (sourcing all the parts and self assembly) you could do a DIY sodastream rig that costs around $10 to fill up instead of $35 8)

I have looked for something that can use the sodastream bottles but all the guys at BOC ect say they don't have the parts and that I should buy what they have and use a fire extingusher ect ect.

Do you have a link to anything that I could use? There are a couple of regulators on trade me but don't think they are compatible with soda stream.

I would be more keen on the soda stream bottle option as I can get them for free but thought it was not an option.

The guy at the local gas station here said he could sell me a brand new 3.5kg bottle, tap/fitting and fill it for $140.00 :thup:

3.5kg was the smallest size he had too, all the other bottles were a lot bigger. It isn't that expensive. To fill it is $10-$20 I think.

It's $7 per kilo of CO2.

Cool thanks P44 :thup:

The guy at the local gas station here said he could sell me a brand new 3.5kg bottle, tap/fitting and fill it for $140.00 :thup:

3.5kg was the smallest size he had too, all the other bottles were a lot bigger. It isn't that expensive. To fill it is $10-$20 I think.

That is pretty good, guy here was trying to tell me $200 for a small fire extinguisher bottle.

So does anybody know of a place that I can get the fittings for soda stream bottles? every avenue I have gone down seems shut pretty quickly.

how about poaching the fitting from an old sodastream stand?

Do you mean as an adapter for a regulator valve or just try n use the soda stream fitting?

Either way I think I am going to pull one of my stands apart just to have a look

I was thinking of just for the adapter between the regulator/ bottle, but you could just rig it so you give the machine a squirt every time you go to feed. Fizzy fish! :slfg:

Pretty much done now. Some minor touch ups here n there.. Would really have liked to use a stain to bring out the wood grain but there was too much filling that needed to be done.

Bit of Gruen Transfer going on in the background :nilly:

Now for the Tank.

That stand Looks Amazing Well Done.

Wow your stand is beautiful !drool: :thup:

Thanks guys hopefully it stays nice.

Although the photo does hide a lot.

Gutted I haven't really had time to get the tank done. have decided to change the height from 31 to 36 cm and see how I go. 31 cm is very low but it will do if the 36 cm breaks in testing.

Almost finalised my plant selection and animates had a sale on glowlights so I grabbed another 10. No idea how much I have now. Can't be more than 30.

hopefully have something more to post soon.