building a stand

psychadelicdrea

psychadelicdrea

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Oct 6, 2004
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i got this tank thats 12 1/2 by 36 inchs left to right and i just couldnt find a stand in the stores guess its a odd size...so i thought i'd try to build one im gonna search the net cause i wann go buy the wood tomorow cause we wanna get this tank set up ....if anyone could help with some ideas or good links......i was gonna check out how my 20 gallon stand is build and try to mimick it but just make it longer to fit.....any help would be appericated
 
what do u all think of this...will it be able to suppost the tank i made the lenght and width to the size of the tank... i think its around 30 gallons if i used all 2/4's will that support the weight or is the lenght to long and need to add a 2/4 in the middle for support.. its going to be all open just going to sand it down and stain it with the shelf in the middle what do u think?

tankstand.GIF
 
just buy two old school speakers that are incased in tall columns and put it on top...
asp281.jpg
 
im not going to speculate if your trying to be funny or not but please dont reply with remarks not related to the stand in itself....i cant in good mind stand a 30 gallon tank on "old speaker boxes" get serious man
I'm going to lowes tomorow to build somthing so please only serious remarks!
 
I thought the speakers were a good idea myself... although I might have picked something other than speakers. I dont think you have to get all mad about someones ideas. I have a 20G on an old but nice looking dresser, and my 40G on an old and super heavy duty coffee table. Youd be surprised how many things you might find new uses for. I did build the 75G stand myself. Used a 2x4 frame and went over it all with 1" pine boards.
 
I built the stand for my 55 gallon and it really looks good. I used all 2x4's and afterwards, stained it. It's much cheaper than what you would pay for a tank from a LFS. Search the DIY section and you should be able to find the link for building a simple and sturdy stand.
 
1 gallon of water weighs 8.34lbs. Therefore 20 gallons will weigh 166.8lbs.

That's not including gravel or equipment. Be sure to make it as stable as possible.

Keep us posted with your progress.
 
Mgamer20o0 said:
i would just make sure to reinforce really good. the water alone is 250 pounds in a 30 gal. never built a stand before.
Click to expand...



250# is nothing in the big picture.

Point 1... using 2x4? Right away you're heavier duty. Most stands are MDF which is sawdust & glue and not nearly as structural as 2x4 (especially when wet)


Point 2. 2x4 is a larger/thicker/sturdier piece of wood than a 1/2" sheet of MDF
 
FWIW here are a couple shots of the stand I built. Unfortunately I dont have any pics showing the frame. Its a 2x4 frame covered up with regular 1" pine boards. I went around the base, top, and doors with a pine board that I routered an edge on to make it look nice like the ones you might find for $200-$400 in the store. Since I used all pine, I spent a little under $100 including hardware, finish, and lights. Its stained with country maple gel stain and finished with semi-gloss poly.
[click images to enlarge]



Other nice thing about DIY is that its easier to modify later. I later 'extended' the frame out to fit a 75G tank (the original one above was a 40G). Here you can see the extension I had to make to make the upgrade from 40G to 75G. I also built a new hood.

 
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