Salty stage: Have you ever built a DIY aquarium stand?
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- Thread starter Peace River
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Have built many, going back 40 years or so. Basic skinned dimensional lumber, reinforced plywood cabinetry, built into walls, free-standing 360 degree viewable, big stands, small stands... yeah.
With my current tank, a 140g peninsula, intended to be up against a wall on one end, with the sump and other equipment in a closet behind that wall, I designed a wood stand, furniture grade 3/4" plywood. I wanted a bar top all the way around 3 sides of the tank. Since there was no equipment under the tank, I was looking at a bookshelf sort of arrangement.
When it came time to build, I stopped, and thought about it. Hm. Anything else I should look at, before spending several hundred bucks on plywood? I did a quick cad drawing of a steel frame. 1.5" square tube, 12 gauge. Sent that cad drawing to a local fab shop for a quote. Materials and labor for cutting it out, welding it all up came to less than what I was going to pay for the plywood. Called a local powder coating company, they said they'd sand blast the mill scale off and powder coat with gloss black, $100.
So... DO IT!
A bit of ply for the bar top, let my daughter paint the top, cover the artwork with some bartop poly, a pair of custom bookshelves (they're not bearing any weight)... bit of oak trim. Stand's been there for several years now, no issues. Strong enough to park a car on it, if I wanted to.
Point is, don't discard ideas in order to go traditional.
With my current tank, a 140g peninsula, intended to be up against a wall on one end, with the sump and other equipment in a closet behind that wall, I designed a wood stand, furniture grade 3/4" plywood. I wanted a bar top all the way around 3 sides of the tank. Since there was no equipment under the tank, I was looking at a bookshelf sort of arrangement.
When it came time to build, I stopped, and thought about it. Hm. Anything else I should look at, before spending several hundred bucks on plywood? I did a quick cad drawing of a steel frame. 1.5" square tube, 12 gauge. Sent that cad drawing to a local fab shop for a quote. Materials and labor for cutting it out, welding it all up came to less than what I was going to pay for the plywood. Called a local powder coating company, they said they'd sand blast the mill scale off and powder coat with gloss black, $100.
So... DO IT!
A bit of ply for the bar top, let my daughter paint the top, cover the artwork with some bartop poly, a pair of custom bookshelves (they're not bearing any weight)... bit of oak trim. Stand's been there for several years now, no issues. Strong enough to park a car on it, if I wanted to.
Point is, don't discard ideas in order to go traditional.
I built mine mostly due to cost. I could build one for a 1/3 of the cost of buying one. Also i noticed most people way over build their DIY stands. Doing that makes them very bulky and doesn't leave much room for a sump/equipment. I designed mine using a safety factor of 2 and its very solid.
My brother and I build and sell log furniture and reclaimed barnwood furniture, so I went the route of barnwood on my stand. The four corners are supported by massive barnwood beams and the sides/trim are barnwood siding. The inside is overbuilt with 2x6 framing and joists under the aquarium plywood pad.
When I made the decision to downsize I pictured a big empty wall where the tank used to sit. First I was getting completely OUT! Then I decided to keep my side stand which fit an IM Nuvo 40AIO. Well she missed the side stand as she always sat stuff on it before we left the house. Well ended up building another "side stand" which still houses the 10G ATO container in a pull out drawer) and space for water tests, laptop and what nots. Then she decided to expand her Click N Gro so now we are back to 3 semi matching stands. I do believe the C02 exchange is helping boost up pH...
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Planning my 75g build now. Have many ideas. My biggest issue is having a 2 year old and making sure he cannot get into the sump compartment where the chemicals are. Planning on using magnets to hold on the side panels. The panels material themselves is what i havemt decided on yet, but i have some time. Trying to be cost effiective but make it look good.
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My 125, 110, and 75 are all on DIY welded square stock and angle iron stands. They're severely overbuilt but they were cool projects.
About ten years ago I was setting up my first marine tank since the 80's - a 55 gallon. My wife and I wanted something attractive for the living room. Before starting the construction in my basement workshop, I measured the space from the basement stairs to the ceiling to know how tall I could go.
I spent two weeks building it with a frame of two by fours covered by particle board and finished with knotty pine carsiding, trimmed with rope for a nautical look and brass drawer pulls and cabinet handles shaped like seahorses and shells.
When I was ready to move it upstairs I realized that the stairway ceiling curved downward at the bottom and the cabinet was about three inches too tall to fit up the stairs! I spent the next week wracking my brain trying to figure out how to get the stand upstairs before finally admitting defeat and setting the tank up in the basement.
I spent two weeks building it with a frame of two by fours covered by particle board and finished with knotty pine carsiding, trimmed with rope for a nautical look and brass drawer pulls and cabinet handles shaped like seahorses and shells.
When I was ready to move it upstairs I realized that the stairway ceiling curved downward at the bottom and the cabinet was about three inches too tall to fit up the stairs! I spent the next week wracking my brain trying to figure out how to get the stand upstairs before finally admitting defeat and setting the tank up in the basement.
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I built this out of redwood because it doesn't warp as much as pine. All the hardware is hot dipper galvanized bolts.
No screws. I designed it to have as little wood to wood contact as I can.
No screws. I designed it to have as little wood to wood contact as I can.
Yes, here is the write up from my build thread. Still going strong over 10 years later.
The Stand:
The stand was made and designed by myself. There were a few requirements for the stand.
It was to be made of cherry. I wanted drawers like my kitchen cabinets.
The inside height of the drawers is 5 inches, exactly the height of a Salifert test kit.
The front and back needed to be as open as possible, the front to allow for sump removal if needed and the back for ventilation and the ability to utilize the wall for electronics mounting. The inside compartment had to accommodate the skimmer and calcium reactor I was planning on using.
The height of the stand is 40 inches to the tank platform, 41 to the top of the trim. Inside height from the melamine platform to the bottom of the drawers is 27 inches. The stand is 30 inches front to back in order to accommodate the vortechs and return plumbing and still place the stand only a couple inches from the wall. A 3 inch plank fills the gap to make up the 3inch difference between the canopy and stand and the aquarium.
The stand at 30 inches deep matches the distance from the wall of the front of the couch nearby. I utilized plywood to create glue-lam type supports rather than dimensional lumber. Even the frame has support features. The doors and trim were fabricated at a local cabinet shop to my specifications.
The stand literally started from the drawing board.
The Stand:
The stand was made and designed by myself. There were a few requirements for the stand.
It was to be made of cherry. I wanted drawers like my kitchen cabinets.
The inside height of the drawers is 5 inches, exactly the height of a Salifert test kit.
The front and back needed to be as open as possible, the front to allow for sump removal if needed and the back for ventilation and the ability to utilize the wall for electronics mounting. The inside compartment had to accommodate the skimmer and calcium reactor I was planning on using.
The height of the stand is 40 inches to the tank platform, 41 to the top of the trim. Inside height from the melamine platform to the bottom of the drawers is 27 inches. The stand is 30 inches front to back in order to accommodate the vortechs and return plumbing and still place the stand only a couple inches from the wall. A 3 inch plank fills the gap to make up the 3inch difference between the canopy and stand and the aquarium.
The stand at 30 inches deep matches the distance from the wall of the front of the couch nearby. I utilized plywood to create glue-lam type supports rather than dimensional lumber. Even the frame has support features. The doors and trim were fabricated at a local cabinet shop to my specifications.
The stand literally started from the drawing board.
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