what was I thinking... particleboard

Look, Snake, I know this isn't what you want to hear right now, but I work with wood, doing all kinds of custom woodwork, including a specialty of custom aquarium cabinets. The fact is that you can't cut corners when you are holding water (which will inevitably spill) and lots of weight! I simply won't buy commercially built stands because I don't think they are adequately braced for long term use. The new hardwood Sedona series (and similar) stands are pretty much the best on the market as far as strength, but even they don't meet my standards. I built a 2x4 frame in my 5x2x2 aquarium cabinet, and don't regret the small extra cost a bit. I also made it look nice (since I do cabinet work) and not take up much room. I simply refuse to sacrifice function for beauty! Especially when I can make something quite functional while very beautiful. I have one commercially built stand in use today. It was bought used from someone for a good price. It is solid pine for a 55 gallon. Even though this stand is well made (surprisingly) and from solid wood (rare these days) it still has bowed in one spot, though not enough to affect function. This is the largest size I would even consider using a store bought stand for! This is because the tanks themselves go up quite a bit when you go over 55 gallons. 55's are relatively cheap, but 75's and up get to be and investment. I'd hate to lose a serious investment! You really do get what you pay for in a sense! I would aim for custom work, and about at the 75% range for price. Don't go with the most expensive (name brand costs) or with medium cost (mediocre work). Usually in between these you can find good quality for the price! The minimum scrutiny to use is NO PRESSWOOD or MDF (medium density fiberboard), as these will sag and swell if they get wet. And these are the best results of water damage....much worse has happened (cabinet joinery has failed and collapsed the entire tank system!) These products are just NOT suitable for anything containg heavy water containters!

Hope things work out for you! It is tough when you buy bargain items and then find out shortly afterwards that you have to buy more expensive stuff (comparatively) to replace it!

Bummer Snake! Have you thought of DIY? I made a stand for my 29 and I think (it was a while ago) I used one 2X4 (ripped into 2X2s) and 1 sheet of 1/2" plywood (of course I always have scraps on hand so it could have been a little more. I see used metal stands on ocassion in the local paper pretty cheap too.
Bmeasure, did you use furniture grade plywood to "skin" your tank stand frame? Any pics?

Yes, my setup is completely furniture grade white (very clean) 3/4" maple. I don't have any pictures yet cause I'm still trying to find time to make the canopy (just have strip lights on it for now). I have stained it a dark "Bombay Mahogony" color and will try to get good pics to use in my portfolio of wood projects I specialize in! Soon as I can find enough time away from other projects (gotta pay the bills ) I will get it done and take pics.

You guys gotta promise me you'll help me figure out how to post them on the forumn, though!
-Mark

uh oh.... sounds like you have the same stand as me.... no problems with mine yet... but that is scary

Bmeasure said:

Yes, my setup is completely furniture grade white (very clean) 3/4" maple. I don't have any pictures yet cause I'm still trying to find time to make the canopy (just have strip lights on it for now). I have stained it a dark "Bombay Mahogony" color and will try to get good pics to use in my portfolio of wood projects I specialize in! Soon as I can find enough time away from other projects (gotta pay the bills ) I will get it done and take pics.

You guys gotta promise me you'll help me figure out how to post them on the forumn, though!
-Mark

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Sounds nice! I used 3/4" maple for my stand too, trimmed with 1X4 maple. I'm not a carpenter but I think I could have been
One of the easiest ways to get pics online is join a free photo site like webshots.com. It's free and you can just post the link to the site like this...
http://community.webshots.com/user/beviking

Bill

Very nice looking handywork there beviking and Bmeasure. Bmeasure, would a steak dinner convince you to drive over to Auburn and build me one of those haha j/k

SnakeIce, I've had that same stand for about 5 years now and only recently moved my 29g off of it. I've still got a 10g QT on it, but my had started to splinter and is no longer level. I included just one pick of what is pretty much happening on all corners. Wont have anything on it pretty soon hopefully.

TrickyD119 said:

Very nice looking handywork there beviking and Bmeasure. Bmeasure, would a steak dinner convince you to drive over to Auburn and build me one of those haha j/k

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Hey, I didn't see Bmeasures' pics. Where are they? Steak dinner? You two are sharing stuff behind our backs aren't you?

I haven't shared anything yet....when I get pics I'll share with all! Your stand looks very well made, Beviking. You must be a quick learner! Nice to see someone take time and do quality work. That's so hard when you just want to hurry and get the tank set up, right?

I'd love to come to Auburn and do a tank for ya....just hope my trip and expenses is within your budget....not to mention that steak!

Thanks for the picture upload info Beviking.

Beautiful tank and stand Beviking. Maybe I need to start saving some of these photos to show the hubby what I want someday.