Jump to content
SaltCritters.com

My DIY Biocube 14 stand build


RudeBoy

Recommended Posts

Hey all,

I wanted to share my build for my DIY Biocube 14 stand that I decided to make due to the lack of ready made stands for this particular tank. I rarely post on this site but now that I have the Biocube that will have to change. I plan to move everything that I have in my 7g bow front to this new tank. I currently house an Orange Face Black & White Ocellaris Clown, a Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp and a Yellow Watchman Goby in there and I'm looking forward to moving them over to the Biocube. I also have an assortment of snails and crabs that are the cleaner crew.

 

One of the main reasons I bought the BC14 is because of the endless mods and setups that you can do on it. While I have a set up in mind, I'm anxious to see which filtration mod will work best for me. Let me know if you have any questions about the build and I'll be happy to answer them.

 

I wanted to make sure that the four corners of the frame were carrying more of the load from the tank but not all of it. The concept for the framing is from a build for a 30g tank but I modded it for the BC and I used 1x3's for weight and aesthetic purposes. I assembled them with Gorilla glue and pocket screws. I chose to wrap the stand with 3/4" Sande Plywood, this is my go-to wood for stands and canopies because of how great the finish is pre-painting/staining. After attaching all the panels using Gorilla glue again and my brad nailer, I filled the nail holes with a homemade wood filler made from a mixture of saw dust and glue. I would only recommend using this filler if you're going to paint the stand a dark color because sanding it down to be unnoticeable can be a pain if you use a glue like Gorilla glue. Any glue should work fine though.

Legs & Frame



Side Panels and Facing - 2


Side Panels and Facing


Adding Face Panels


Framing/Panel - Top View


Framing/Panel - Front


Framing/Panel - Side


More to come...

 

Link to comment

Morning folks,
Sorry to have cut the post so short last night but I started falling asleep as I was writing it up... watching the Yankee game last night completely drained me! (Yeah, that actually happens to me. LOL)

So to continue... my biggest fear with this build was making sure that I didn't make the top of the stand too wide and/or not deep enough. I was building it based on the tank dimensions that were on Coralife's website but the site that I ordered the tank from had different dimension for the same tank. I was getting a little nervous... and I had already finished the body of the stand and was preparing to start sanding it and cutting out the top. Luckily the tank came and I had chosen the right dimension's to build off of. I didn't want to have too much space on the sides of the tank for 3 reasons: 1. I wanted to place it in a corner in my living room and I wanted as little space behind it as possible so the tank didn't stick out into the room too much. 2. I wanted as little space as possible to leave random stuff lying around on the stand because I'd feel my wife's wrath if I did. I tend to use every flat surface in the house as my personal dresser. 3. I wanted anyone who looked at the tank to focus more on the tank once the approached it and less on everything around it. Any tank that has been on a very narrow stand has always kept my attention. I decided to go with semi-gloss black for the paint to match the tank itself, it came out nicely. I painted the inside white and used Kilz2 interior paint in the event that I decide to add a small sump underneath one day. White also helps to see everything better even if you don't plan on adding a light in the storage area of the stand.

 

Box complete with top

Box with sealed bottom panel

Box with sealed bottom panel - 2


Two of the biggest challenges for me were cutting the inside bottom of the stand due to how I positioned the legs and designing the door. I knew I wanted the door to be more narrow due to the height of the stand but I also wanted it to have a beveled inside edge and a decorative inside panel. Using 1x3's made it difficult to router the back-inside edge to hold the panel insert so that it was flush with the entire backside of the door and to also route the inside front of the door for a less than boring appearance. It all worked out though but believe it or not, paining it was a pain due to the paint gathering in the beveled edges.

 

Door Framing with back/inside routing

Door Framing with inside routing

Door Framing with panel insert

Panel insert

Link to comment

When I made the doors for my 65g stand, they were the last pieces that needed to be made on the project and I was mentally checked out as this was my first project of this size. So the doors didn't come out exactly how I wanted, however they worked but they were definitely boring. After finishing this stand, I'm actually inspired to remake them. My wife was telling me that I really need to make the stand's door look unique... I knew the look that I wanted to accomplish but finding the right material to complete it. I forgot to mention earlier that the "panel insert" for the door is made of a piece of non-perforated hardboard. It's just Pegboard without the holes in it... it's very sturdy and easily cut with a jig saw. We went to Michael's Arts & Crafts and I found the material I was looking for in the form of a wall hanging that was not only incredibly over-priced but it was also 75% off so I got it for like $11. I cut it to size and planning the cut was as much work as planning how I was going to attach it to the panel. I basically laid the material out on the panel and used "Loctite Gel All Purpose Glue" to glue down the edges. Then I placed the panel between two sheets to plywood and weighted the top down to create pressure, it held nicely. Below is the finished product and I'm pretty proud of it. Everything said an done, I'd put the cost of this build at about $85. That includes everything from all building materials, screws and glue to the door hinges and hardware. The last piece I have to add is the door knocker styled knob for the door that I special ordered from Lowe's. None of the stores carried the one that I wanted.

 

Biocube 14 DIY stand

Biocube 14 DIY stand

Biocube 14 DIY stand

Biocube 14 DIY stand

Biocube 14 DIY stand


Thanks again for following and please let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...