My 75g stand is coming along nicely....

[DarkSoul]

It's been a long time since I've been around here, I believe my last activity was back in 2007, and that was due to some "life going sideways" events.

Well, I'd been thinking about getting fish again for a while, and the other day me and the wife (read: gf) went out and bought a 75 gallon tank on a whim.

The prefab stands are crap, and I now have a better set of tools to allow me to build my own

So, a few days of planning and a couple days of hard work and the stand is making progress.

I caught some flak about the idea of casters, but the people who have brought it up, while making some good and valid points, seem to be under the impression that I'll be wheeling the aquarium all over the place full of water, substrate, etc.
I'm not.
This stand is also going to be bolted to the wall that it sits against, the casters are there for the purposes of moving the stand, and so that if (BIG HUGE IF) it needed to be moved I could do so without removing the actual aquarium itself, but it would in fact be empty.
The casters I purchased are 250lb rated. so 6 casters are good to hold up to 1500lbs.
To be honest though, I am still kind of on the fence about the whole caster idea. But that would put my stand 4" shorter than my desired 36"



However, all that aside, I would like some ideas on how to cover it and put doors on it, because I'm a little stumped on that part of it all and I don't just want to leave it open.

 

[FreshyFresh]

That's a beauty! Cool software renditions of it too. I'm not a fan of the casters, but if they work for you and you want them, why not. I've got my 75g on a Titan Eze metal stand designed for twin 75s. It looks real rickety, but has been going strong for 3yrs so far (75 up top, 55 on the bottom).

The finish work is where I'd fall short. Not my forte. I suppose you could sheet the exterior in plywood or nice paneling and make some plywood doors.

 

[DarkSoul]

That's a beauty! Cool software renditions of it too. I'm not a fan of the casters, but if they work for you and you want them, why not. I've got my 75g on a Titan Eze metal stand designed for twin 75s. It looks real rickety, but has been going strong for 3yrs so far (75 up top, 55 on the bottom).

The finish work is where I'd fall short. Not my forte. I suppose you could sheet the exterior in plywood or nice paneling and make some plywood doors.

The finish work is going to be what kills me too lol. I've been looking at those cuts and thinking "seriously?!"

This was going to be like a $50 project, grab a few 2x4's and assemble....
I think I'm about $300 into it so far. Mostly just the cost of the casters and 4x4 outer posts. Casters: $15 each, Posts: $22 each "Premium cedar" lol

 

[Rbishop]

Look for all ready made doors, then size your rough openings to accommodate them. Unfinished would be best and of the same material you sheath the rest of the cabinet so the stain/finish will be a closer match.

 

[DarkSoul]

As I'm sitting here building this, and looking at the casters I've installed, I have to say that I'm highly considering NOT using them.
Despite the fact that it will be bolted to the wall, it's very unstable front/back, greater than I thought it would be.

I may opt for a lower tank height or might just build a secondary frame to sit underneath it and boost it up an extra 3-4"

 

[rufioman]

Look for all ready made doors, then size your rough openings to accommodate them. Unfinished would be best and of the same material you sheath the rest of the cabinet so the stain/finish will be a closer match.

This. Probably the easiest way.

 

[DarkSoul]

I've decided against using the casters, so that poses an only slightly small problem of the bottom trim not being able to be the same size as the top trim, so I'm going to have to adjust for that, and in the end what I may do is just veneer the visible spots of the posts to make them look nice and cove the holes for the lag bolts.

 

[DarkSoul]

Here's the old girl so far.
I used left over pieces of the outer posts to act as an inner support for the upper frame.

I kind of have an idea about the doors that will make them symmetrical but I don't like the idea of them looking so big. I couldn't find any prefab doors this size (25.5x20 3/16"), so this is the only actual spot I'm stuck on.

The left side door will be both a short wide door, with a flap above it to access the 20G for cleaning and such, and the right side door will apparently be just a big ugly looking door
I don't want to the doors and cover panels to be the same thickness as the trim pieces (3/4") either.

I also want to hide the seams where the wood is butt jointed together, so I'm thinking some kind of veneer.

 

[FreshyFresh]

If you could make the real thing look like the cartoons, that stand will be awesome.

 

[DarkSoul]

If you could make the real thing look like the cartoons, that stand will be awesome.

That's my thinking exactly. But I somewhat fear that when it comes to the finishing it might end up a little bit more like those instagram "nailed it" posts lmao.

I've changed the design for the doors around a bit, and once I finally decide on how I want the doors to look, she should be on the way to being finished.