popik Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Where did you pick up wood veneer ? i poked around a few places but didnt see anything...i guess i should have asked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Where did you pick up wood veneer ? i poked around a few places but didnt see anything...i guess i should have asked I was going to get Walnut Burl veneer at Lee Valley(they carry different veneers), but it was seriously lacking any "burl" and just looked like regular walnut, so for the price wasn't worth it. I ended up just picking regular walnut veneer at Windsor Plywood in the west end (next to Lee Valley). All Windsor Plywood locations carry a small selection of veneers in different size rolls. It's kinda hidden tho so you have to ask if you don't see it yourself. Here is walnut burl SHOULD look like: (This is NOT one of my projects) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 If you guys ever get down to Calgary, you need to check out the Black Forest Wood Company. :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 They actually have a booth set up at the woodworking show I go to every year here in Edmonton. I've bought some lumber from them before, they carry a pretty decent selection. But shipping is pricey and I don't go to Calgary often. Last night I added another coat of finish to the stand. It will still need another coat or 2 and it's taking forever to dry in my cold garage, so I may not get it moved downstairs this weekend. Today is my wife and my anniversary so I won't be working on it tonight at all. Boom :boom: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Sounds interesting, I wouldn't mind knowing how to veneer something. Congrats on your anniversary too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Happy anniversary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDude77 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Happy Anniversary Boom. Congratz! :thumbs: How many years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Just 4. But we already have a 20 month old boy and the wife is pregnant (6 months along) with our second, which we're told is a Girl! We;re done after that. Ha ha. Thanks guys. The Mexico trip was kinda our anniversary present to each other and I also gave her a new ring while we were there. We went out for dinner to the Crepere on Tuesday and last night we just curled up and watched t.v. together. I brought home 2 dozen roses last night too. Anyway, today I have to change the transmission fluid and filter on my truck, I've been putting it off far too long! Then hopefully I'm gonna start milling the lumber and building the canopy for the 180. I bought 2 T5 strips from Aquagiant. They are the 3' ones, with 2 39watt bulbs in each of them. I'm gonna swap out one of the white bulbs in each to a blue bulb to better show off the colors of the cichlids. There won't be any plants in the tank as lake Malawi has very few. I wanted to talk a bit about cycling this tank. My plan is to add ALL the filter media from both my canopy fliter and rena Xp3 on the 55 to the sump, and then right away add most the fish that are in the 55 to the 180. I say most of the fish because I'm gonna trade in 2 of them and my Julidichromis will stay in the 55 which will become a Tang tank. Will this give me enough bacteria to be "instantly cycled" in the 180? I was hoping to take the 5 gallons of bio balls I have and put them in someones established tank to get them bacteria'd up, but I havn't found anyone to do that for me yet. I figure then that the bacteria thats still in the sand and rocks in the 55 will be enough to support the few Tang fish I have right now till I slowly add more. Does that sound o.k? I don't mind a bit of a nitrite spike, but obviously don't want a huge one. Is there anyone near me that will host my bio-balls for me for a week or two to get bacteria on them? I'm in N.E Edmonton but will travel a ways, Sherwood park is close. Thanks! Boom :boom: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 It sounds like a good plan - I think it'll work fine. If you're not planning on adding many more fish to your 180 in the near future, you won't really need to establish the bioballs, too... unless you're thinking either the media from the 55 or the bioballs. If that's the case, use all the biomedia from your 55 in the 180, and put as many bioballs as you can in the 55. After after a couple weeks, move about 1/4 of the biomedia back to the 55, putting the displaced bioballs into the 180's sump. If you do this every couple weeks, you should be fine. Maybe just toss a dose of Prime in ever 2 days or so to nutrilize any nitrite spike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Can't wait for the finished product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 It sounds like a good plan - I think it'll work fine. If you're not planning on adding many more fish to your 180 in the near future, you won't really need to establish the bioballs, too... unless you're thinking either the media from the 55 or the bioballs. If that's the case, use all the biomedia from your 55 in the 180, and put as many bioballs as you can in the 55. After after a couple weeks, move about 1/4 of the biomedia back to the 55, putting the displaced bioballs into the 180's sump. If you do this every couple weeks, you should be fine. Maybe just toss a dose of Prime in ever 2 days or so to nutrilize any nitrite spike. Thanks Jason, sounds like I'll go ahead and do that then and pray for the best. Like you said, there shouldn't be too much of a nitrite spike and I'll dose with Prime to help with any that does occur. So today I started building the canopy. Cherry front with walnut plugs just like the top trim on the stand, and birch plywood for the rest of it. I have to take some pics tomorrow night when I work on it some more. I have a few piano hinges laying around so the canopy will have a 6' piano hinge about 10" back from the front to lift it open. I may use some type of lid stay to hold it open, otherwise it'll just have to sit back and rest on the back half. I managed to get thin enough lights so that the whole canopy is only 4 1/8" thick, the exact same thickness as the cherry top trim on the stand, so it'll look nice and balanced, an important factor in furniture building. Boom :boom: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmyg Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Extremely impressive. I have started building my own tank stand for my 90 gal. but don't have nearly the knowledge or the tools you have... Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Thanks timmy! Just so you guys don't think I'm slacking, I DID finish building the canopy this weekend and I sanded it and put on the 1st coat of stain today. I DID take pictures but unfortunately had no time to put them onto my computer before I had to come in to work tonight (got called in for overtime). I'll try tommorrow when I'll also put the final coat on the stand. Once that's dry I'll have to find a few guys to help me move it all into th basement and then I'll start running it and add fish soon!! Boom :boom: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Alright folks, here are some pics of the canopy construction. Basically it is birch plywood with the cherry front trim. The routed profile in the chery trim. Cherry is just a wonderful wood to work with! It cuts and routes well with very little chipout. Here you can see I'm cutting some cherry plugs out of a scrap piece of cherry wood, with a plug cutting bit. And the plugs glued and tapped in, black walnut in the front and cherry on the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Here is the canopy completed and placed on the tank. As I has posted earlier, I routed a shallow rabbet for a 6 foot long piano hinge along the length of the canopy. It opens like this. Here is the back of the canopy. 2 1/2" holes drilled at 6" intervals (on center) for ventilation so the lights don't get too hot. I actually burnt out my el-cheapo hole cutting bit and drill on these, So I have to get a new one before I can finish them. Yesterday I put the first coat of stain on the canopy. Here is what it looks like now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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