Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

DIY aquarium stand - show me yours


Jakesaw

Recommended Posts

I picked up a 29 gallon tank today at petco - and realized now I need to buy / build a stand for the tank.

 

If I build - I'm leaning toward the model that I have seen online where people are using 2x4 lumber with this basic structure.

 

148629DIY_Stand_Template.jpg

 

I've built some shop furniture and an entertainment stand using jointed / planed 2x4 lumber in the past - and got a decent looking final project - but it wasn't perfectly flat / square - b/c of the nature of 2x4 lumber and movement of the wood.

 

If you have used construction lumber for this type of stand - what did you do to negate this - or do tank stands not really have to be dead flat as I always thought they needed to be.

 

Feel free to post any pictures of your stands - I'm completely open minded at this point in time - with a focus on if I build my own - I dont' want to make this a full blown furniture project at this point in time - and prefer to keep costs down so I can buy other equip needed for my first tank.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
angelacbishop

I haven't built my own stand but I can say for sure--make sure it's flat!! I had my 60 gallon crack diagonally across the entire back panel and flood my house due to a stand that was very slightly off.

Link to comment
gulfsurfer101

That sucks to hear and that's how I lost my 75br puffer tank. It was on a metal stand made from iron angle that buckled due to salt erosion and I came home to a half empty tank. jaksaw I have a pic of a somewhat stand I made in about a half an hour using a couple peices of lumber, powerdrill and level. I will finish it If I ever decide to get this tank going.

frankentank009.jpg

frankentank007.jpg

I've gotten a litle further on it an now have sides and a flat sheet of plywood across the bottom for the sump. All I'm missing now are the doors. I want to have a glass area doors since I wan't to have a display fuge down there.

Link to comment

I have a dead flat 1.5" laminated plywood surface I can put on top of any frame if I need to in order to get a flat surface.

 

Is there any advantage to having an

 

* open frame top stand - where the tank sits in an open frame in case some water drips during water changes -

 

VS

 

* a solid top - and if any drips occur - I could wipe them up - any chance of water getting under the tank and causing problems long term?

 

Thanks again

Link to comment

Here are a couple pics of my tank stands. The black one is for my modern office. It has the classic 7 gallon mini bow on it. The other one is for my living room. It holds a 29 gallon freshy tank that needed a hair cut BAD29gallon.jpg

 

7gallon.jpg

Link to comment

hey guys have any of you thought of foam insulation under the tank between the tank and the stand??? years ago my uncle and aunt owned a pet store and all the tanks that I helped set up we always put 1/2 inch styrofoam or come type of closed cell foam to make up for stands that were a little out of level... Just an idea... Chad

Link to comment

Some people do that. But that really wont level the tank. It just lessens the stress of imperfections in the stand across the tank a little more. You level the tank with shims under the stand if its on carpet. As long as the foundation that the tank sets on is level the tank is safe. Heck I have seen tanks .5" unlevel by the floor, but the stand was perfect so the integrity of the tank was held true.

Link to comment

cowkid,, now that you mention it we did shim the stand.. I totally forgot about that.. Thanks for reminding me and you are right about just releaving excess stress..

Chad

Link to comment

Making standard doors is not hard, but it still takes time. Unfortunalty if you are not equipted with the basic tools and knowledge it can get to be a pain. This is ever more true if your planning on making raised panel doors like on my stands. They take special router bits, jigs. But really you can make doors as simple or hard to make as you want to.

Link to comment
Making standard doors is not hard, but it still takes time. Unfortunalty if you are not equipted with the basic tools and knowledge it can get to be a pain. This is ever more true if your planning on making raised panel doors like on my stands. They take special router bits, jigs. But really you can make doors as simple or hard to make as you want to.

 

Yea for raised panel doors i use a shaper, with positive and negative bits called roman ogee

Link to comment
WindCloudWRX
Making standard doors is not hard, but it still takes time. Unfortunalty if you are not equipted with the basic tools and knowledge it can get to be a pain. This is ever more true if your planning on making raised panel doors like on my stands. They take special router bits, jigs. But really you can make doors as simple or hard to make as you want to.

 

I'm having a friend willing to cut the pieces at his shop, and I was planning on just putting it together on my own.

I want something simple, and I have basic tools, nothing too fancy as I don't do wood work.

 

I'll need to support about 60 gallons, so would 2 x 4 be sufficient? For the 4 corners.

 

Do you guys do sketches?

 

Was hoping to be 2 ft (length) x 2 ft (width) x 3.5 ft (height).

Link to comment
hey guys have any of you thought of foam insulation under the tank between the tank and the stand??? years ago my uncle and aunt owned a pet store and all the tanks that I helped set up we always put 1/2 inch styrofoam or come type of closed cell foam to make up for stands that were a little out of level... Just an idea... Chad

 

That doesn't work if it's out of level. It's good for something that is uneven though,like floor tiles that are uneven.

Link to comment
chickendude10

It seems like you already had a plan for the doors. But if not, here are mine. They aren't way fancy but I was able to make them just with a table saw to make the joints and some wood glue and clamps.

 

PICT0047.jpg

 

 

Good luck!

Link to comment

hey my 29 long tank leans forward a little bit and has foam under it on an iron stand. water is about 1/4 ish to 1/2 ish inch difference higher in front vs back, is this anything to worry about??? thanks abunch

Link to comment
It seems like you already had a plan for the doors. But if not, here are mine. They aren't way fancy but I was able to make them just with a table saw to make the joints and some wood glue and clamps.

 

PICT0047.jpg

 

 

Good luck!

 

I like that look - the frame and panel doors look sweet. I'd build something like that next summer - but today my money's gonna have to go to startup costs. I can build a nice cabinet / base down the road.

Link to comment

post-35305-1219939309_thumb.jpg

 

My materials list, std 2x4s, 1/4" oak plywood, 1x3 and 1x2 Oak trim, 2 cathederal arch oak doors lakesidemoulding.com. Got some at Home Depot and some at Lowes, can't remember which, but ones wood looked better over other for various pieces. I wanted doors to match kitchen cabinets, built ins, etc., so I sprung for professional doors. ~$100 shipped, you could probably get local cabinet maker to do and save shipping cost, or go with MDF if painting and save even more. I don't have tools or know-how to do doors right and it's everyone sees it, so I didn't want it to look "homemade".

 

All weight bearing structure is sitting directly on 2x4s, no screws bearing any weight. Made stand heavy, but better than screws bearing weight.

Link to comment
, you could probably get local cabinet maker to do and save shipping cost, or go with MDF if painting and save even more.

 

MDF - for an aquarium :o

 

Have you ever seen that stuff when it gets wet. Expands like stay puff marshmallows. If I were going that cheap and flat - I'd use particle board like all the commercially available stuff. I like all the ideas though - I'll settle on something for quick / temporary / cheap. I don't want to get into building a nice stand til next Summer thogh - so it probably won't look that perty when it's done.

Link to comment

Archived

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

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...