DIY 150g Tank Stand & Canopy... ideas?

[oo7genie]

This weekend I'm picking up a 150g tank, and I plan on eventually building a stand for it. Never having done so before, and considering the tank and water weigh nearly a ton by themselves, I want to get lots of input, I intend to do lots of planning, and I want to do it right. I'd like to do it as cheaply as possible, but without sacrificing stand integrity, and while still maintaining a clean look and decent face. The type of face wood doesn't concern me much aside from decent grain, as I'll be staining the outer shell to resemble cherry anyway.

As for the canopy, I want it to have space to mount lighting (PC or T5) and give easy basic access for feeding, water testing, etc. through front hatches. On top, a hinged lid, for easy access via stepladder for more intensive jobs without having to remove the entire lid.

Facts:

150g Glass Tank
72.5" x 18.5" x 27.5"
Ground floor, against an interior supporting wall, tile floor.
Housing 2 Rena Filstar XP3's inside the stand.
Housing custom rock work and Lake Malawi mbuna cichlids in the tank.

Questions:

Is the height of the stand an issue? I'd like it to be roughly 30" tall, to house my canister filters underneath, and put the stand at a better eye level. However, I don't want to have to worry about it being top heavy and tipping over someday if it gets bumped hard by one of our regular canine visitors. My 90g does fine at this level, but then again, more water + more weight = more insecurity.

For the frame, 2x4"s, 4X4"s, or other? 4x4"s would obviously be sturdiest, but are they overkill or necessary? They are a lot of added weight, and if they aren't actually necessary to support the tank, I'd prefer to go with the 2x4"s.

What kind of wood would be the least expensive, yet strong enough to do the job reliably? Including having a resistance against sagging/bowing over time.

Will a tile floor withstand the weight without cracking? I realize it depends on the tile, but generally speaking, should I be concerned?

What kind of paint would be safe to use on the inside of the hood? I plan on painting it white for maximum light reflection in the tank.

What's the best method for an internal floor inside the cabinets? Could I get away with a simple sheet of plywood in between the vertical support braces & the horizontal floor frame? Or should those be directly connected to each other for structural integrity?

Here is a basic idea of what I'm thinking, based on a 4x4" frame design. I haven't rendered doors or moldings yet, but they are planned. I'm hoping to do a new one based on 2x4"s, if that ends up being an option. If you're interested in the google sketch up plan I created, I can send you a copy. It's just a draft, a bit sloppy as it was my first time using the program, many measurements are slightly off because I got lazy with it figuring it was only a draft. I'll be doing a very precise one prior to purchasing any lumber.

Any links to alternate plans or DIY walkthroughs would be helpful. Also, any links to better, free, fairly easy to use CAD programs would be helpful as well.

 

[e5anderm]

I'll do what I can to help you

The 30' height for the stand is fine as long as it is built properly (perhaps you might want to add some cross bracing in the back of the stand just in case) and by built properly you may think that you need a couple 4"x4"s but that is overkill. You could stick with basic 2"x4"s (fairly cheap) and be fine, and as long as you have the supports designed decently you won't have any problem with bowing.

As for a tile floor . . . is this flooring in the basement on top of a concrete foundation? or is it on a first (or higher) floor being supported by floor joists of some sort? I would think the tile would be fine (as long as you have a decently designed base for the stand that sits on the tile the weight will be spread out among lots of tiles which should help).

For a bottom for your tank (for the canisters) you could simply put a plywood sheet with cutouts to fit nicely between the vertical supports while resting on the horizontal base supports.

You can always use google, this site or another good site I sometimes read through is the monsterfishkeepers DIY section for their forum to get various plans that other people have used for their tanks and grab ideas from them.

For sketchup, its a decent program and probably the best available 'free' program you could use. There are other better CAD programs out there (Revit, AutoCAD, Microstation, Archicad) but they are probably going to cost you something and be very complex to use, I would stick with sketchup.

There is one nice thing that sketchup has that the other programs don't really have which is a large user base with a large public library of existing models which you can download and look at or modify. Go to FILE >> 3D WAREHOUSE >> GET MODELS, then do a basic search for Aquarium Stand and you will get over 100 existing models (granted many of them won't be applicable to your situation) which you can look through and see what other people have designed.

Hope this helps.

 

[Fish Bowl]

You could Craigslist an old aquarium setup with a stand and canopy that fits your new tanks dimensions. And potentially save $ and many hours of your time.
Available pretty reasonable sometimes especially if the tank it comes with has seen better days.

 

[oo7genie]

Thanks for the replies!

Craigslist is where I found the 150g tank and it's terribly low (20") stand with no canopy or hood to speak of whatsoever. It took me several months just to find this deal. The problem with finding a better stand or setup, is that there aren't enough people in the area with tanks this large that are selling them. There are a ton of good deals on 48" stands, but almost no 72"s even listed. Those that are available have asking prices of $500+. With a budget of $500, I figure I may as well build my own stand, and customize it to my personal specifications. Eugene isn't a terribly small city, but it's small enough to limit my options for used fish gear due to the lack of interest in the hobby. I'm actually about to start a local aquaria group, to bring local hobbyists together, to show off tanks, trade ideas, trade equipment & stock, that sort of thing. I had posted an ad asking if anyone knew of one, and got several responses that said no, but they wish there was one, and if I started one to let them know.

But back on topic, one of the things I love most about this hobby are the various related projects. I like designing things, I like working with my hands, and I am an artist so I tend be picky about how things look and work. This is also a long term build, so while I am trying to stay away from grossly huge costs, I'm not being super stingy, as I won't be dumping a bunch of money into it all at once.

As far as my floor is concerned, it's a single story home with no basement. Floor joists over the crawlspace. I haven't been down there, but I'm assuming that since it's right along a supporting wall, that the cement wall underneath that runs down the middle of the house is directly behind where they tank will be. Granted, not directly underneath the tank.

I figured as much for the inside floor of the stand. I was kind of hoping I could avoid extra cuts in such a large piece of wood by layering as opposed to fitting. I have been known to make mistakes from time to time, lol.

I went through the sketchup 3D warehouse plans, didn't really see anything that was of much help. Most were either much more complex than I plan on building, or were only "doodles", shells without any actual frame or depth to any of the parts. I'll be checking out ideas in the DIY forums here and at Mosterfishkeepers. Google has been surprisingly unkind to me, or perhaps I'm just not using the right search terms.

 

[e5anderm]

Google 'DIY aquarium stand' 'large aquarium stand plans' aquarium stand plans', etc.

You will get a lot of random stuff as well but if you can see throuhg you should be able to find a lot of existing plans, ideas, even youtube videos that you can look at and grab things from to create your own design. I don't think I would recommend using anything in google sketchup for exact plans but you can use other peoples ideas/designs if you want. I guess i didn't look through them but just glanced at them and noticed maybe 1 in 10 results would be somewhat helpful.

When its all said and done your tank/water/decorations/stand/etc. will have a total weight of like 2000 lbs!! So just make sure your floor can support that weight, always go perpendicular with the floor joists (so that instead of your tank sitting on 2 or 3 joists it sits on 6 or 7) and it sounds like the tank will be fine with a supporting wall close to underneath it, but if you have some leftover 2x4s it couldn't hurt to jam them up in a way that they add to the floor joists directly underneath the tank for more support (better safe than sorry approach).

As for the inside of the stand, some people like to open their stand and see a nicely painted/stained interior that may not look as nice as the exterior but still looks nice. Other people don't care at all (since you can only see it when you open it to get supplies/check the filters/etc.) and just do whatever they want. I wouldn't but the filters directly on the tile floor but you could have some cut out piece of plywood that fits between the base supports (but isn't attached to them at all) underneath the filters and be fine.

I would just recommend, do your research, figure out what direction you are going in (taking ideas from other people) and if you have specific questions don't hesitate to ask cause someone will know a good answer. Your original design is a very good start though, if you like the look of it just work with it.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

4 x 4's aren't really needed but would be good for the corners only. You make your top and bottom frames and half lap them into the 4 x 4's. Half lap joints take the stress off the fasteners and puts it on the wood. Where it needs to be. Do the same with 2 x 4's for your center supports. Since you will sheath it in plywood glue and screws will be all that's needed. The plywood skin will brace the structure for stability. Especially if the back is a solid skin. If it is you could just use 1/4" ply for that rabbeted into the sides/top/bottom just like in basic cabinet construction. For the inside I would recommend using a water based poly which will give you a bit of protection in case of spills. The shell/carcass is built first then it is sheathed.

There's a few threads on here about stand builds. Here's a link to one

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?246677-Stand-questions