DIY Stand for 72g Bowfront.

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dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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Has anyone seen any plans for a DIY tank stand for a bowfront aquarium (in this case specifically a 72g)

Every single plan I can find is for a regular rectangular stand, unfortunately my better half liked the aesthetics of a bowfront, and here I am.

I don't particularly like the stands available at the local pet supermarts, I don't think I'd trust them to hold a TV, let alone 72 gallons of water, so I'm looking for either a decent plan for a DIY stand, or suggestions of where I could look for one for sale.

thanks,
 
Hi dougall, seems that you could use plans for a rectangular tank with few mods. The "bow" should be accomplished fairly easy using 1-by hardwood (assuming you're using a plywood-over-frame scheme) and scoring the backside of the plywood.
I don't know of any plans out there for diy bowfront though.
 
Thanks,

I think my biggest concern is getting as much support under the actual front edge tank edges ..


I'm probably being overly paranoid, Maybe I'll put some kind of design down on paper and see just how much (if any) would be unsupported.
 
First off how far does the bow stick out from the basic square pattern of the tank? I would think that you could make your basic square pattern and then you can use 2x4's to build up the front (shaving the 2x4 to match the front bow). Then put on a plywood top. I would also make the footing the same as the top to have a solid surface. You can use 1/4" plywood to cover the front of the stand, as it is the easiest to bend. I would use heavier plywood for the top, sides, and back. If you are good with woodwork you can put doors in the front, but that is up to you.
 
P.S. you will want every inch of that tank to be on a surface, you do not want any part of it hanging over and I would think that you would want the edges to be suported...
 
You will be overly paranoid! We all are. No one wants a stand to collapse!
The bow is somewhere around 3-4" out from square (had to grab dogfood so checked out the 72 at petco). If you're not into bending wood, you could try laying a 2X6 flat for the top and bottom piece of the front frame. Imagine your front frame on a standard rectangle made from 2X4's on edge, an upright at each end, one upright in the middle, and the top and bottom pieces going the entire length of the front, except you turn the top and bottom pieces flat and they're 2X6's. Before you put them together, you would cut the curve out of the 2X6's. So you have the left and right side of the frame supported and since you have a top and bottom edge cut out the same, you can put the middle upright at the front edge of the bow. Hope this makes sense. More importantly, I Hope This Helps (HTH)!
 
I have a Top Fin stand I got from Petsmart for my 50 gallon that is rated to support up to an 80 gallon tank. It's very sturdy. The 72gal bow front would fit on this stand without a problem. I believe I bought it for around $130 at the time. In my local stores, I've also seen stands for the 72gal bow front from both All Glass, and I believe Oceanic . I'm considering getting the same tank in the near future.
 
Well,

it appears after all the planning + thinking, the missus has decided she would like to just buy a stand, so I'll be heading to that fish place on Saturday sometime to pick up an oceanic stand. I dare say I'll be buying a bunch more stuff too ;)


thanks for all the insight everyone, It just turns out she has more plans for me than saving money by building a tank stand, I do dread to think what they are though.
 
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