# New project: 4 24" cubes w/ rack



## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

So today I started my new project. Well, all I did was sign a check for a thousand dollar delivery of plexi-glass, but now the hard part is over. My goal: Four more of these 24" cubes. I am also planning on welding a rack for them out of 1 1/2" X 3/4" aluminum bar. I am planning on these cages housing the few pairs of pumilio I have, as well as a few more pairs I hope to acquire soon. I purchased 6 4' X 8' sheets of 1/4" material: 3 clear and 3 black. I am going to do the the back and two sides in black and everything else clear. I should hopefully have enough material that I can make a few smaller tanks from the scrap. Unfortunately, my plexi guy just went home sick, so I will have to wait till tomorrow to start. I'll keep you guys updated.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Those look cool, I was gonna ask where you bought them when I looked at the pics but I guess you built them yourself. Gonna post pics of building them?


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

ChrisK said:


> Those look cool, I was gonna ask where you bought them when I looked at the pics but I guess you built them yourself. Gonna post pics of building them?


The cage in the photo is just one of my prototypes. I put the photo up so you guys would know what I am going for. As far as the new project goes, the only photos I could post would be a stack of plexi sitting in my factory, but as soon as I get something going that is worth a photo, I'll definitely post them.


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

Today I was able to break down the 4' X 8' sheets into 24 pcs of plexi I need for the four cubes. Tomorrow I should be able to start routing out the openings that I am going to need. The front needs the opening for the door, the top need the holes for the recirculating air system, and the back needs a hole for pump access. Hopefully I can get that done in the next few days so I can start putting them together. 

















P.S. That is not me in the photo. That is my plexi mentor. He has been doing plexi fabrication for over 30 years, and has taught me a lot.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

This is going to be awesome!


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

Today I was able to start gluing up the sides.


















The paperclips are inbetween the two pieces of plexi to create a gap for the acid to flow in. After the acid dries, the excess plexi on the edge is going to be routed off. Right now, I am routing out the holes for the air system in the top piece of plexi. Now that I figured out how to get a decent photo on the board, here is a couple better photos of my prototype tanks for this project.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Very cool!


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## PacMan (Oct 9, 2008)

lookin good man. cant wait too see them finnished


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

As you know I am ver excited about the progress of this!


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## sNApple (Mar 19, 2007)

your very lucky thats for sure


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

those are sweet, must be nice to work at an acrylic shop! i woudl make tanks all day


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

So between Saturday and today, I have been able to put the tops and backs on, so that makes 5 out of 6 sides done. Here is a photo of the template for the top piece. The long hole in the front is the return hole for the recirculating air system. It will suck the air from the tank through the two back holes.










Here is a photo with the top and back on. The hole in the back of the tank is for pump maintenance. On the inside I build a housing for the motor and then build the drip wall over it. Then, if the pump were to break, it can be easily replaced from the back. In the photo, there is a piece of plexi sitting on top of the white weights on the back piece. The piece of plexi squares the box before it is attached to the back piece and it is removed once that pieces dry.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

That looks great. Seems like you're a pro


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

Got the fronts on today, so that leaves me with: Finishing the front door, back door, recirculating air sytem, and the pump housing. That will finish all the acrylic work. Then I get to build out these bad boys. I am going to start welding the metal rack this afternoon as well.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Looks like you should put some of those on the classifieds soon bro


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

ChrisK said:


> Looks like you should put some of those on the classifieds soon bro


I've never sold one of these before, but would love to. I want to get these four up and running for a few months to see if there is any problems, before I offer them for sale. The company I own does some acrylic fabrication already, but I have never built one of these for anyone but myself. Maybe I should work on some pricing to see what I would have to sell them for. I would be interest to see if I could move them. Also, I can build any size. 24" cubes seemt are on the bigger side (close to 60 gallon), but a 16" or 18" cube could definitely be more affordable (also easier to ship).


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Sam, I would come out to the Pomona show in January. I will be there. There were some acrylic tanks for sale at the last show, but I do not recall prices, I don't know if you saw those. I am sure you could move them though if the price is right. I will have customers for you too...Orchid tanks! We will talk.


Wayne


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

I love the dimensions of those tanks. I am envious


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

It seems like Understory has setups like this for sale on their site. Might be worth having a look at. 

By the way, I'm really enjoying watching these develop.


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

I just wanted to start out by saying thanks for everyone's kind works. Today, I was able to get the rack cut and welded together. It is made of 3/4" by 1 1/2" aluminum bar. I am thinking that I still want to a couple of support pieces, but this is pretty much it. Also, I am going to add a 1/2" piece of MDF to the top of each shelf to provide even support across the bottom of the cages.


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## Kimmeh (Nov 3, 2008)

Looking forward to updates


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

That's a very nice stand.


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

I got a few minutes today in my spray booth at work, so I had a chance to primer and paint my stand.









I also was able to put the house in the back for the pumps. I sucks water in through the little slits, and since they are going to be under the water line, nothing should be able to get out. The little door in the back is going to be used for pump maintenance.


















I am not done with the air system yet but here is a few photos of what have. I haven't done it yet, but I am putting a piece of screen inbetween the front vent, and the top of the cage, so nothing can get to the fan.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

The intricacy is very cool. That pump access door is a great idea and one that you'll be thankful for.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I like the recirculating setup. It must be nice when your designing the viv from the ground up to be able to implement all of the goodies in a nice way. It's just not as nice looking when you have to retrofit all of that stuff into a standard aquarium.

I may have missed it, but have you decided what your going to do for lighting on this rack?


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

jubjub47 said:


> I like the recirculating setup. It must be nice when your designing the viv from the ground up to be able to implement all of the goodies in a nice way. It's just not as nice looking when you have to retrofit all of that stuff into a standard aquarium.
> 
> I may have missed it, but have you decided what your going to do for lighting on this rack?


For lighting, I really want to use t5s. The only problem is that all the decent fixtures that I've found are four bulbs. I am hoping that they work with only 2 or 3 bulbs in them. I am still trying to figure that out. I the t5s don't pan out, I have gotten some good T8 fixtures from home depot.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Hagen makes some decent t5ho fixtures that you can retrofit pretty well. They come with individual reflectors so you may be able to use two bulbs and get a decent amount of light. I've got two of them that are 24" 26w each on my 24" cube and I grow mosses and such on the floor very well. I can show you some pics if you'd like.


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## Rich Frye (Nov 25, 2007)

Cool .Nice start.

Rich


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## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

Great design and fabrication! Looks like you've got all the details well thought out......I'll be watching this thread for awhile, lol


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## pet-teez (Oct 3, 2007)

holy cow! that project seems to be going nicely!


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

Not a lot of progress, but I was able to finish the back access door and overflow drain. Also, I got a chance to throw all the vivs onto the rack for a dry fit.


















As soon as the water reaches the drain level, the water will come out the holes in the back, run down the ramp, and then drip into funnel connected to pvc. Then the pipes from each tank are going to run to one container that I am going to put under the rack. I also got my light fixtures the other day, as well as a bunch of broms. I'll post of a few photos of the light and broms when I get home.


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

This is really really impressive. Makes me excited to see where this goes.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Very nice. I am definitely jealous.


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

So here is a few photos of the lighting fixtures. They are actually commercial grade fixtures that are meant to be hard wired into a building. I've wired pigtail to the fixture so that I can plug them into a normal wall outlet. These things are crazy bright.

















I also got in 50 or so broms for this project. I am just storing them in sterilite containers for now.


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Nice! 

I like the lights a lot.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Those are some nice light setups. Are they 48"? If so you should have no lighting issues. I've currently got a 24" cube running half that lighting and it's crazy bright. You should be able to grow pretty much anything under them.

I really like the broms too. Very nice colors there.


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

jubjub47 said:


> Those are some nice light setups. Are they 48"? If so you should have no lighting issues. I've currently got a 24" cube running half that lighting and it's crazy bright. You should be able to grow pretty much anything under them.
> 
> I really like the broms too. Very nice colors there.


Yea, those are 48", and High output also so they are very, very bright. If they end up being too bright, I can pull one of the legs off the power, and make it run on only two bulbs. Once I get everything set up and in my room, I'll be able to see how bright they actually are. Hopefully the broms will color up more once I get them planted and under these lights.


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

Andre (if that's your name),

I run those same lights and bulbs from Lowe's, but only the dual bulb fixtures over my tanks, not the 4. That tank is going to be ridiculously bright. I have had a few issues with tanks drying out rather quickly and when I grow plants under them I have to water them a couple times a day, other wise they start wilting, but they are awesome lights and pretty cheap also.

And your broms will be very red, mine are about half red under 2 bulbs, can't imagine 4, get the frogs some sun glasses...







andre2000lb said:


> Yea, those are 48", and High output also so they are very, very bright. If they end up being too bright, I can pull one of the legs off the power, and make it run on only two bulbs. Once I get everything set up and in my room, I'll be able to see how bright they actually are. Hopefully the broms will color up more once I get them planted and under these lights.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Nice. Do you have a link for that fixture?


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## NickBoudin (Nov 3, 2007)

Updates on this yet?


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

Derek Benson said:


> Andre (if that's your name),
> 
> I run those same lights and bulbs from Lowe's, but only the dual bulb fixtures over my tanks, not the 4. That tank is going to be ridiculously bright. I have had a few issues with tanks drying out rather quickly and when I grow plants under them I have to water them a couple times a day, other wise they start wilting, but they are awesome lights and pretty cheap also.
> 
> And your broms will be very red, mine are about half red under 2 bulbs, can't imagine 4, get the frogs some sun glasses...


First, the name is Sam. Probably about time that I update my profile and signature with my real name. I was also thinking that the four lights might be a little bright. When I was wiring the plugs onto the fixtures, I read that If I pull one of the legs of the switch, that it will only run on two bulbs. When I get home, I am going make one of the fixtures run only two bulbs and I'll see how that works. I am not too worried about the lights drying out the cages. They are all going to hooked into my mistking system, so I can up the misting if I have to. 



> Nice. Do you have a link for that fixture?


I didn't order the fixtures directly, but I believe this is where my electrician got them. http://www.texasfluorescents.com/HBP-Series.pdf



> Updates on this yet?


I should have a small update in the next few days. My real work has been getting in the way, but I should get a little time this week to finish them up.


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

Do take some pictures if you run 2 lights and then 4, if you decide to. Also, sweet on the misting system, one day I will make one. Thanks Sam


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## schgriffith (Mar 16, 2009)

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but I really would like to see how this turned out. Anyone know if the user is still on here, or if there are finished picture shots?


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Show us your progress!


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## edwing206 (Apr 9, 2008)

Hasn't been on here for a while.... Taken from his Profile "Last Activity: 01-21-2009 01:51 PM"


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

boooo.....


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