# 65 gallon Overhaul



## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

In the middle of me getting my fishroom set up, my friend sent me an email. He knew someone giving away his 65 gallon (36x18x24H) with stand. The tank had some kind of reptiles and the stand painted to match a room.. well at least I hope thats what it was. I bought some paint stripper right away. I was going to do it today, started reading the instructions and I need it to set for 6-10 hours. I need to resilicone the tank, will most likly use black GE I silicone.

Here is a picture of the stand before.










Work on this starts tommorow. Should be fun.


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## kingpoiuy (Jun 9, 2008)

Willy Wonka lost his fish stand! :lol:

I'm sure It will look great once you paint it. Ill be watching!


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## dialicious (Oct 18, 2007)

That stand makes me think of my color blind brother.
He went to HomeDepot and picked out the color he wanted for his room, brought it home and started painting. It ended up being this screaming quasi-florescent pinky orange. To him it looks great, but then again - it took him a year to discover his favorite shirt was pink - not light blue.

The wood under that paint is screaming! Save me!


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## Mandalawi (Apr 24, 2005)

> To him it looks great, but then again - it took him a year to discover his favorite shirt was pink - not light blue.


LOL!!!!


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

I will be staining the stand, or just keeping the current stain. I put the paint remover on a couple hours ago. I need to wait for it to set then I can start to remove it.

This is my other DIY right now. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=176241


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Here are a couple new pics.

The paint remover setting. 









Here is all that came off easy with the paint remover. Isn't much, I am not to happy with it.



















I scrapped off more off the front and side. I started sanding it as well.


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## kingpoiuy (Jun 9, 2008)

I've been there, that's alot of work! :thumb:


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

I would have primed over it with kilz and repainted, not wasting time trying to remove paint.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

under_control said:


> I would have primed over it with kilz and repainted, not wasting time trying to remove paint.


I second that, kilz and 3-4 coats of black would have done it for me


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

The whole point of me removing the paint was because I do not want another black stand. I was looking for natural wood.


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## kingpoiuy (Jun 9, 2008)

Good, Wood will look a lot nicer. :thumb:


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

All the paint is off the back, sides and most of the front. Scraper is the way to go. I plan to sand everything down on tuesday. Its looking good


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

The stand is pine for sure. Smells like pine, tastes like pine, looks like pine. Looks real nice. Everything is sanded. A piece of pine under the right door is cracked. I will be replacing that with a new piece real soon. Its gonna be a looker

As for now, I am trying to pick out a stain. I will sand the stand with 150 grit, then finer. Touchup as needed. I like the following stains.

Driftwood
Golden Oak
Puritan Pine
Ipswich Pine

All of those are from Minwax.

Pictures will be up on wensday.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Honestly, considering the work you've put into this, you could've built a nicer stand in less time...


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Here is the start of the day. Most of the stand is sanded.










I took the bottom and the top trim pieces off. Easier to sand both that way, and I want to add a little detail to them.

Here is the stand half sanded, just a bit more to sand around the inside of the doors.










Here is the whole stand sanded once, not counting the top of the bottom trim. I need to buy a 12in wide board, replace that one piece that was cracked and run the grain the same way.










Don't you just love how level someone made that shelf? LMAO I need to fix that that today.

On the to do list now. 
Sand the stand one last time with 150 grit. 
Get fill the old nail holes. 
Get a piece to replace. 
Since I need to buy a big board, I might as well make doors for this cabinet. 
Stain.
Hardware.

I think thats all. Just a bit here and there that I didnt mention but thats fine.

Let me know what you think.


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## Snake42490 (Mar 17, 2007)

I am definitely like how its coming out now :_) good work!


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Today I had a bit of time so I got started on the doors. Close to done with the building of these. Once thats done, some wood conditioner and some nice stain. Here are 2 pictures.










Then both side by side.


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## jimmyknuckles (May 8, 2007)

Looks totally sweet so far! Can't wait to see it done.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Here are pictures of the doors made. I need to sand them a bit but they are drying right now.

Here is the front of one.










The back has a rectangle the same size as the front. Just little details here and there.










What do you think?


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## tropheus duboisi breeder (Jan 31, 2007)

Looks great Red


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Thanks alot.

Everything has been sanded with 180grit. Ready for stain if I want. I tried some poly on a piece of scrap. I like the look. I am going down to the garage now to do the bottom and top trim around the stand.


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## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

nice job bringing this stand back to life. Any tips on making pine take a good stain? the stand itself is oak and trim is pine.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Thanks. Try using wood conditioner before you stain it.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

The stand is DONE... well kinda.

I stained the whole stand today. All that is left is applying poly and restaining several places.

Here are the pictures.










Here is the custom trim I did for the top and the bottom.










Here are the hinges and handles installed. DONE... again well kinda 



















Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading the post, or looking at the pictures.


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

Great Job, Looks awesome, 100x better than the original.


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## YoungAquaticPhotos (Aug 24, 2006)

Wow! Nice job start to finish!


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Thanks everyone. 
Doors have been sanded and restained. So its like 1.5 coats on the doors. I still need to decide what I want to do with the finish. I have some semi gloss poly, or several people have reccomended tung oil. I tested both on a sample. I should be done with the stand tommorow.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

I got bored, liked the idea of a canopy. I have not looked at any plans, I have not made one in the past. I am just kind of going with the flow.

Here is a mini diy tutorial on how I am doing it.

First I cut 3 pieces for the left and the right. A couple for the front. I will be gluing these pieces together to eliminate knots and go cheap.










Then I tongue and grooved the sides. The panel in the back is one of the sides. The little piece in front will be for the door opening.










Clamped and applied glue for the grooves.










On the bottom are both sides clamped. They are cut to just a bit over 13in. The length is around 20in. I will plane the height down to 13. The width will be determined later.

On top of that is a little sample of how the front will look like. 2 more little pieces on top, then a side of each. Thats the front.










Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

On sunday I worked on the canopy a bit more. I glued all the pieces for the panels. This is the front panel.










Here is one of the side panels, all glued and ready to be cut to spec.










I think it looked close enough liked one piece, and no knots 

Once I had the side pieces sanded and ready I cut 2inches into the bottom of the piece. The tank trim is 2in and 3/8in will be resting on the top of the tank, 3/8in covering the front.










I bit later I cut 3/4in on the top so the top door/panel would have a place to rest.

As it nears morning I wait for the panels to dry. So I can get the box built. Doors will be matching the ones on the bottom. The top panel will also be one huge door. Its just a waiting game for a couple more hours. Thanks.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

All the panels are dry. Front is cut to size, sides are cut. 2 back supports are cut. Everything has the groove to accept the trim or the door on top.

I did the doors today. Can you spot whats wrong with the door on the right side?










I realized real early but thought it wouldn't bother me later. Well it did and I did did both 

I will say what it was later.

Here is a picture of the front with the updated doors on front.










Thanks for looking. Please let me know what you think.


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## Turtlemaxxx (Jul 13, 2007)

The grain is the wrong way. Otherwise everything looks great. And yes it would have irked me too.

-matt


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Thats exactly right. I started the panels and figured it out a couple cuts into the project. I figured it would be fine and I wouldn't notice it.

Once I was done, I just didn't like it. I didn't understand why I would run this grain left to right when everything else has been running up and down... well not ALL but I did try for the majority. So I changed it I am sure most people wouldn't even notice. Its all good.


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

Here is the frame. I put a brace on the back that isn't in this picture.










Here is a top view with the box, the top trim, the top door. I have yet to install hinges but yes that is a door.










Here is simply the front of the canopy with the trim and doors.










Last and final picture of the canopy build.

Doors, and all.










Overall I am really liking the idea of canopies now. This is one very light. With the doors max weight of 10lb. I have just a bit of sanding to do. I will stain the canopy using the same method as the stand.

The day after that poly for everything. Inside and outside of the canopy, only the outside of the stand.

I still have to reseal the 65g. I still plan on doing the DIY background aswell.

Thanks for looking. PLEASE let me know what you think.


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

turning out great, lovin it man :thumb:


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## tropheus duboisi breeder (Jan 31, 2007)

I like it a lot Radek


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

nice, cant wait to see it all put together! :thumb:


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## redzebra24 (Sep 28, 2005)

All put together, there it is!

This is the tank I am dealing with.










Thanks for looking.


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

very nice, i love the canopy. it turned out great!


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