Soraci

  • Design
  • Build
  • Care
  • Repeat
  • Personal
    • Design
    • Build
    • Care
    • Repeat
  • About
  • Contact
Home » Personal

My 120 Gallon Reef Tank

May 9, 2016 By Thomas Soraci

I love fish, and I love my reef tank.

Check out my YouTube Channel for videos.

 

This is a top down view of my 120. I started off like everyone else, lots of different coral. Now I’m starting to transition to more of the branch and Montipora-type corals.

soraci fish tank top view

 

 

Tank is lit by two Kessil A360s, and everything connects to an Apex system so I can monitor and fine tune the tank.

soraci reef tank

 

 

The basics of the reef tank consist of 100 pounds of sand, 120 pounds of live rock. The sump is a 40 gallon eshopps with a Reef Octopus skimmer NWB-150, refugium, and Eheim pump.

thomas soraci 120 gallon reef tank

 

The tank is a custom SC Aquarium, 1/2 Sapphire glass. It has the euro lip so splashing is reduced and I can keep it as an open-top tank.

thomas soraci reef tank

 

Thanks for checking out my 120 gallon reef tank

Filed Under: Care, Personal

Building a Toy Tank with Wood

May 7, 2016 By Thomas Soraci

Wood you believe there’s not a whole lot of wooden tank templates available online? ( yes, that ‘wood’ was intentional. I’m an English major, remember?).

I wanted to build a toy tank for my baby nephew but could not find a design I liked. I’m completely new to wood-working so why not build something from scratch? See below for the “plans” although I would still call this project a prototype.

 

tank toy wood

This was the start. The body of the tank is 5 main pieces: the center, sides, and “side caps.”

The center was built with 2x4s. First, cut out the center, and the sides using a band saw. The two sides should be identical, and a little different than the center. This gives the tank a more realistic effect. But feel free to use your own creativity.

 

 

wooden tank toy

 

Once’s you cut the pieces the way you like them, give them a test fit!

Starting to look like a tank, right?

 

 

 

Ok, so we wantank toy woodt this thing to move right? Otherwise, what’s the point? Here’s what I did. I cut some wholes in the side pieces…. enough to accommodate some wooden hobby store bought wheels. Then, clamp the center and sides together.

 

Also, feel free to stain your pieces however you see fit.

 

 

 

 

wooden tank underneath

Here’s an underneath picture. You have the center pieces, dowels, wheels, then the side caps. I used two wheels per corner to make it more tank like.

 

 

 

 

 

wooden tank top

 

Here is the top. Pretty simple to make. I tried to build this as a “wood only” toy, so in order to make the top move I used a larger dowel with a smaller dowel as a pin to hold it into the top.

 

 

 

tank top cuttingWhat you do next after you figure out what your top will look like, is cut a slice off the bottom. Then you can drill a large hole in the top slice to accommodate the pin, and a smaller hole in the bottom slice to accommodate the dowel. This is going to allow the tank top to move.

 

 

 

wooden tank toy plans

Wooden dowel in the top part. Glue the bottom slice to contain the dowel and pin.

 

 

 

 

 

wooden tank toy soraci

Once the bottom slice is glued you’re top is done! Be careful not to get glue on the dowel or it won’t spin.

 

 

 

 

 

soraci tank plans

Now we just put the two main pieces together..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wooden tank toy by soraciAnd…. money shot! Completed tank!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Download Tank Plans

Filed Under: Build, Personal

Thomas Soraci

I'm a non-stop creativity machine will all the cogs in all the right places. Read More…

Location

Located in the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas, NV! Wait...is that New York?

Have a Project?

Shoot me an email to see how I can help. Or connect with me socially.

Connect with Me

Who doesn't love networking and making friends?

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 soraci.com

 

Loading Comments...