Heres the stand its not finished Ive followed the stand build off RC. There will be (2) 2x4s at each corner on top of whats already there for extra support and allow me to flush mount the skinnnn. Itll be primed with kilnz inside and out. This is just what I got done on the back porch before the rain. Here are some quick pics, its going to be setup on the dining room wall. Theres lots more to be done I havent got time to type ! Oh and Im adding a center brace on the front and the back as well. The tank is a glasscages 50 long(48x12x18) the sump is a 30 drilled for an external 1100gph pump, Ill be running a ASM mini skimmer. The tank will be BB and the sump will have a fuge with a DSB. The display will be lit by a sunlight supply 8 bulb t5 fixture.












After talking it over with Joe I decided to do the middle brace, At least now if I upgrade I could really do any tank I want Im sure this thing will hold an elephant. I used around 100 2' wood screws. Still need to supports to go inside the top frame like the ones you see in the bottom fram. Strange enough I had 10 8' 2x3s without adding up everything I had just enough with hardly any scrap leftover.

whatcha think ?

wow i think it looks great!! got a lot of potential... i cant wait to see this when its done

I've heard pretty bad things about the glass cages stuff, hopefully you won't have a problem with that!

The stand looks pretty good so far, are you going to drill the top for plumbing, or do you have another idea?

Oh forgot to mention, its an older glasscages tank. I drilled it three times on the back glass, two one inch overflows (elbows with strainers). And a 3/4 return in the middle of the back pane.


Oh I forgot to mention when I got this tank the back was painted blue and the bottom was painted white. LOL. So I had to de-rim it, scrape scrape and scrape. Then painted the bottom and back black. During which I was carrying the tank inside bymyself and busted one of the side panes out. So I had to replace it and silicone it all over again, Then glue the trims back on. I water tested it for a month LOL. This tanks been through alot.

I am so jealous! 8x54 watt, you are going to have some crazy growth.

Stand looks good, strong & built properly, and the counter top is a pretty good quick & easy solution for a top surface, with room on the sides for fragging.

So are you keeping the counter top away from the wall for the plumbing to get down? or are you going to drill through the counter top surface.

Looks like a fun project...

What size return pump you plan on using?

The plumbings goin to run behind the counter top. And Im using an 1100gph external pump. I bought two gfci outlets to swap out with the standard plugs thatll supply power to everything.