Crustys 130 Bowfront build

Well the boss (wife) has decided that she wants to put a tank back in our entryway. We had a 72G bowfront there years ago. Was a nice piece and it was the first thing you saw when you opened the front door. So now I get to redo all of that since we sold the 72 some years ago.
So with the help of mike a a bribe of a 6 pack of my home brew, him and I went and picked up my new project last weekend. A 130G glass bowfront RR tank with a stand and canopy.

After a close inspection of the stand, I could see that it had some water damage. Also the previous owner had cut the back opening bigger but did not seal it so there was more water damage there. I've also found some mold and some of the outer skin has delaminated. At this point, I'm going to try and save as much of the stand as I can. Good thing one of my other hobbies is custom woodworking.

First step is to strip down the stand. I removed all of the trim and the doors. The hinges are rusted out and the doors have delaminated some on the inside. I should be able to seal that back off. The outside is still in good shape. hopefully just a good sanding and recoat.

next was to remove the moldy warped bottom and the back that was cut up. I'll rebuild the bottom and make it more stable as well. I'll also replace the back and trim out the edges to prevent moisture from getting into the plywood. Then I'll reseal it all.

The bottom.



Warped plywood removed from the bottom. I've removed all of the bottom support and will rebuild it with fresh wood.



The back and with it removed. The stand is upside down.

So my next step is to and down the remaining stand, removing the old finish. But I have to be careful not to sand thru the veneer oak skin. Also as you can see, this factory built stand is minimal. Not like the over built stands most of us build. It has 1/2" ply for the sides. 2X2 corner post and 1/2" ply for the top and base. Then there is 1/8" veneer oak ply "skin" wrapped around it.

I'll update more after I sand off the old finish.

The plan is mostly a reef tank with little or no fish. Probably going to go with DIY LEDS in the canopy.

Looking good except for the water damage...should be easy to repair. Are you going to add more support to the stand?

Diy leds? I thought you were going with par38 leds? Aquastyleonline has some good diy kits or rapidled as well.

I vote you for t5

I vote LED t5 combo. Simply the best... LOL

I was thinking of T5's but not sure how they would mount in the canopy. I want to try and use the canopy as is this time around. There is a lid that opens in the middle of the canopy. Not sure how the weight would play in. That's why I was thinking DIY LED's mounted to the opening. We'll see when I get to that stage.

2 Radions will work for your tank! The Gen 1 lights have a good price on the used classifieds.

OK, we've got some updates. I rebuilt the base using 2X4 lumber. Nothing fancy other than I cut and sanded in the curve to fit the front bow. This way it will give it more support. I also added a strip of plywood to back up the bottom of the front ply. I', going to add in some "hidden" feet to raise to stand up off the ground about 1/8". This will allow air to circulate and also allow any water that may spill to dry without damaging the stand.

I also put in a new back. Nothing fancy. Just some pine boards planed down to 1/2" so that they would fit correctly where I removed the old stuff/ They will be dressed up nicely when complete.

Now as for the rest of the stand. I tried sanding it down to smooth it out so I could just spray on a new finish. However, I wound up sanding thru the veneer on some spots. There were way too many scratches that wouldn't sand out. So I just took off the old skin. I also removed the trim and skin off the doors. So the plan is to attach a new skin and make it look like the old stand. It will look better and also I get rid of the rotted/moldy wood that was on the bottom. While it is taking some time, it's still cheaper than me buying a new stand. It's just going to take longer.

ok, I finally got the base reskined. That was a chore. I used 1/8" oak ply, same as was on it before. Except mine as 1/32" oak veneer on it rather than a slim, paper width veneer which I quickly sanded thru. But trying to wrap the ply was a pain. The glue seems to be holding though. Next up is sanding down the trim and gluing it on.

Looks really good..what are your plans as far as finish?

The current plan is to clear coat with spar varnish. Unless the boss wants it stained.

Very nice woodworking! I can see all the time you put into it.

Yea, a lot more time than I was hoping for. I've got the stand done as far as putting all the trim back on. Now I'm reskining the doors. They will match/line up with the grain on the stand. Next will be to reskin the canopy top.

the wife wants to stain it as she doesn't really like the color of the oak. Not sure what color we will go with yet.

Crusty,

I haven't been on in a while, but I'm liking the progress