New Update - 06.14.07 (The stand and canopy completed)
The stand and canopy have now been painted and polished. I used about 4 coats of black lacquer then wet sanded the finish to 1500 grit and then polished the entire outside. It was a lot of work and if I was to do it over again I would use an automotive acrylic based paint and clear instead. The lacquer looks great but was harder to work with and will not hold up as well as an acrylic clear. However the finish looks great and it is a mirror finish. After painting and polishing I installed a 3/8" thick black foam pad on the top of the stand underneath the glass to prevent point pressure.
I then installed two old 48" T12 fixtures on the canopy lid. Wiring was completed after the entire tank was assembled. I will later add black wire loom over the exposed white wires.
The stainless finish doors and side panels will be installed once the water parameters are right and everything is finished.
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The stand was pretty much designed around the sump. The stand dimensions are 52-3/4" x 23-1/8" x 33". The sump dimensions are 45-3/4" x 16-3/8" x 22-1/2". The sump is so big that maintenence would be difficult without a way to easily access it. I needed access to any part of the sump while being able to remove it without draining the main tank and moving the tank away from the wall. So, I designed the stand with removable side panels, back panel, and front brace. I can remove a side panel to access the sump more easily, or slide the sump out of the side for maintenence or repair. I can remove the front brace and do the same thing. I wanted the sump to be as big as possible and be easily accessible. The stand is constructed of three types of plywood. This was all wood that was left over from previous projects. The outside casing is 3/4" oak ply. The front doors, side panels, and back are 1/2" imported birch multi-ply. The rest of the stand is 3/4" imported birch multi-ply. The inside was finished with iron on "Band-it" melamine.
Update 7-22-06 Finished stand wiring & lighting.
Today, I installed the electrical wiring and lights in the stand. Extension cords were used for the wiring. The cord coming from the wall going to the stand is a 10'foot black 14 guage/ 3 wire cord with the female end cut of and hard wired in. For the inside I used a 20' foot white 16 guage/ 3 wire cord cut up in several pieces. I used the last couple of feet with the male plug for the refugium light since it needs to be on a timer. I have a couple plug-in timers but they prevent the use of some outlets and hang to far down. I am thinking of using a dual digital switch-mounted timer to run the main tank lights and refugium light. These pictures are taken from the back with stand upside down and all the panels removed except the front doors. Also, you can't see all of the black cord here. The little black cord plugged into one of the outlets is my camera, running OUT OF JUICE!
There are four switches separately controlling 4 pair of outlets. The switches are mounted in the top front right, and the outlets are mounted in the top left rear. The ballasts are for the main tank lights and are old T12 40watts that were given to me with the original tank setup. Ballasts get hot so, they were mounted on raised fiber plates. This will keep the heat down and prevent burning the melamine.
The small compact fluorescent is a 18" 15watt I bought from Home Depot for about $10. I will use it for a service light.
The refugium light is a LOA 65W flood light. (Also from Home Depot about $40) This light is sold on ebay as something special?(said to have a different bulb)
These LOA or Lights of America floods have been around for a while. Some people like them and some people think they're junk. In my opinion most of the bad wrap is from when these lights first came out. Many of the problems were caused from the cheap electrical ballasts and problems with the photo sensor. Now, they still have cheap ballasts but the quality control is a little better. Also, I think alot of people screw them up by repeatedly turning them on and off before warm up, which can cause failure.
This light should have the light sensor diasabled and be ran on a timer for long periods at a time. You can find more info on this light searching www.google.com. The picture with the light ON does not really show how bright this light is. To give you an idea how bright it is, the room lights were all ON in that picture. The camera just makes it look like the lights are out. I think these lights are great for what they are. A cheap, really bright compact fluorescent, with good lumen(s) output, and a descent spectrum. It makes a great refugium light!
Next upadate I will be adding the stainless veneer to all the panels and getting ready to paint.