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bengalyellow 
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 Topic: Looking for advice on building a stand and canopy
Posted: January 21 2010 at 6:04pm |
I have a 90G bowfront that I would like to build a stand and canopy for , I have built stands and canopy's but not for a bowfront. Any tips, advice, and or pics would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance 
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210G ray tank, 55G reef, 90G reef
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 7:51pm |
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If you haven't bent wood before it will be tough. The other option is to build a square cabinet with a bow front top, or a rectangular cabinet with a solid top that the tank can sit on. Ive built cabinets for a 72g and a little 16g bow front. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of either.
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bengalyellow
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 9:35pm |
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Ya I haven't bent wood before, I was thinking I might be stuck with building a rectangular cabinet, I also was thinking about piecing some 2" slats around to get the bow look BUT not sure if that's a bad idea or not? What do you think?
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210G ray tank, 55G reef, 90G reef
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 10:34pm |
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Thats how all glass makes theirs. If you like the look then it would be fabulous.
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jcoulter17
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Posted: January 21 2010 at 10:48pm |
check this website out DIY Canopy for a 72g bowfront
Edited by jcoulter17 - January 21 2010 at 11:09pm
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 9:27am |
That would suck with lights mounted to it, or just to service the tank. If your going to attempt a bow front you should try to accomplish something like this. Its a 144g semi circle that we built.
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rdbrown
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 11:37am |
This is how I would make both the stand front and canopy front. I would trace the aquarium onto a sheet of plywood and using a band saw cut out the curve to the front of the tank to use as a jig. You would need two of these jigs.
I would then use the plywood of my choice such as oak, maple, etc. I would think that either 1/8" or 1/4" would work best. The thicker the plywood the harder it will be to make the bend. You need two pieces of the same gage of plywood and then you need to cut 1" strips of the same plywood. Glue the one inch strips vertically on the plywood with a 1/4"-1/2" space in between each strip.
Once the glue is dry on the strips you will need the second piece of plywood and the jigs that you made. Put glue on the strips and place the second piece of plywood on top of the strips and using the jigs at both the top and bottom clamp the whole thing to hold the shape while the glue dries. This will then keep the curved shape of the aquarium. I hope my description makes sense.
Edited by rdbrown - January 22 2010 at 2:01pm
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Kauai, Hawaii
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bengalyellow
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Posted: January 22 2010 at 10:32pm |
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WOW Dion that looks great, rdbrown your description did make sence and I am thinking I will give it a go. Where do you put the supports for the tank?? Do you support it after all the glue dries?
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210G ray tank, 55G reef, 90G reef
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rdbrown
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Posted: January 23 2010 at 8:46am |
 bengalyellow wrote:
WOW Dion that looks great, rdbrown your description did make sence and I am thinking I will give it a go. Where do you put the supports for the tank?? Do you support it after all the glue dries? |
Dion could probably better help you with the structural support. I would put most of the support into the sides and back of the stand and at most use a center support in the front between the two doors. I was thinking of building a stand and canopy myself, so this is the method I was going to use to bend the wood. I really don't like the slatted stands, so I wanted something nicer. Here is a like to a nice looking custom 72 bow front tank.
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Kauai, Hawaii
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 23 2010 at 11:02am |
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WOW thats a heck of a structure. Looks awesome but so very heavy. There are several ways to build it and have the front stay bent. typically you have to bend the front farther than you want to allow for the relaxing of the panel. If you curf it (slat) then you don't have the relaxing effect. The structure is all dependent. (mostly on skill and tools available.) Hence the reason they are more costly than rectangle tanks. Bending and curving panels is time consuming and if one has the skills and equipment it can turn out awesome. I'm trying to find a build thread on one of the other clubs sites that shows how he built his 150 bow front. IT was built out of a garage with very few tools. I was impressed with the out come. Now to find it...
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 24 2010 at 11:11am |
This thread made me think that some other time and trouble saving tips could be useful for all of us, so I started a thread, Aquarium Setup Tips: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38142
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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