I would really like a 36” tall aquarium stand. I have zero interest in making my own, but can’t find much evidence on the internet of anyone who manufactures taller stands. Am I missing something? I have neck arthritis and hate stooping over to look at my fish.
Stand height?
- Thread starter bridgerunner
- Start date
You might look for a cabinetmaker & expect to pay big $$. I have a "custom made" oak stand from a friend. It's shorter than standard made to my height & reach. But make sure they understand the possible weight issues of water, tank & substrate. Another possibility is adding 2 x 4s to a standard stand to get to your preferred stand height. Beware, extremely tall or short stands can make servicing the tank very difficult, it's not just about watching fish, lol.
If you don't mind metal. Search for Titan-Eze metal stands. They're intended for stacking two tanks so the stands are quite high. I have the 75gal version and have had it setup for years. I struggle to get elbow deep in the top tank and I'm 6ft tall. They're not a substantial looking stand, but are strong once setup with a tank or tanks on them.
If it would help, I can takes some pictures of anythings described below and either post them for you or PM them to you.
I do a lot of two level stands. A long time ago I realized that one cannot have a tank at ground level and make a siphon work O.K. in it. Also, it is hard to work on a tank when you must look down through the the water to see anything. I was not able to spend a lot of time sitting cross-legged on the floor to see into one. The result was I needed to find a way to insure that the bottom of an under tank on a stand would be close to 12 in. above the floor. I wanted to be able to sit on a low stool and see into the tank vie the front g;ass. Although I am short, and despite mu age I still have good balance, so using a stool or small step-ladder to work on a top tank wasn't an issue.
I came up with a solution to get the stand to be taller. I use 4x4s cut to be a little longer than the the depth of the stand (front to back). I would stack two such pieces and join them via plates with screws, that gave me close to 8 more inches of elevation. I have a mix of stands which included the Titan-eeze modes for 48x12 and 36x18 in. hanks. When placed on the floor, the lower level will be 3 in. above the floor on both models, but the 36 lenth had the top level at 28 inches while the 48 in. length was 31 in. high. However, by adding the 8 in. high stack of 4x4s, the ultimate height are as follows: 48 in. long is 11 in. above the floor on the lower level and 39 inches for the top; the 36 in. long is the same 11 in. above the floor but the top level is only 33 inches above the floor. So you can adjust things as needed.
It is possible to manipulate the height of the blocks I place under the legs. (These face front to back.) A single 4x4 raises things by half of the above and using a 4x4 with a 2x4 would raise them by 75%. I have also done this raising trick using a 2x6 on end. But this requires I make the base mimic the frame of the tank (I make a rectangle out of the 2x6s on end). The thinness of a 2x6 requires this design to be stable.
The titan stands are lightweight but like anything, they have their drawbacks. While there is no question they support the size tanks for which they are desiged, they will "rock" if you push on the front of the top tank. Do not fall against one as I believe this could make it tip ove. This is amplified by how I raise them as the center of gravity is also being raised. I should also say I have sed several of these stands for years and never tipped one over. The second problem I noticed is they are not level in term of the long horizontal run. Only the frame of the tank being supported is normally adequate. However, I notice after I have filled a tank on my first that I could see light between the frame and the stand along the lenght, both the front and back. This freaked me out because is is howe tanks normally crack from the stress on the glass. But I have never had a tank crack from this. I assume if a lot of the frame is supported it will do. I would be reluctant to use these stands for larger tanks - say over 75 gals.
I have a method I used when I built my own wooden stands. I used strips of self sticking foam insulation from 1/2 to 1 inch thich around the entiore supporting edge of the 2x4 upon which the bottom tank frame sat. This compensated for the irregular surface of the 2x4 by the weight of the tank compressing the foam as much as needed, thus, self leveleing. I did not do this on the Titan stands as I incorrectly assumed things would be completely level out of the box. Despite nothing going wrong in this respect with The Titan stands, I would strongly consider using the same foam trick on Titan stands if I had that option again.
I also use a couple of angle iron stands. These are very sturdy easy to paint any color but need some dense wood under each leg of you will damage a carpet or floor. Google angle iron aquarium stands to find these. I have one for a 75 and another for a 50/40b, with a half inch oach pad under the legs it is 29 inches high. Use the 4x4 trick and it comes out to be exactly 36.5 in. tall :-( You can only put a smaller tank in the under level and you will need to have a wooden layer on the bottom to put any stand there.
I do a lot of two level stands. A long time ago I realized that one cannot have a tank at ground level and make a siphon work O.K. in it. Also, it is hard to work on a tank when you must look down through the the water to see anything. I was not able to spend a lot of time sitting cross-legged on the floor to see into one. The result was I needed to find a way to insure that the bottom of an under tank on a stand would be close to 12 in. above the floor. I wanted to be able to sit on a low stool and see into the tank vie the front g;ass. Although I am short, and despite mu age I still have good balance, so using a stool or small step-ladder to work on a top tank wasn't an issue.
I came up with a solution to get the stand to be taller. I use 4x4s cut to be a little longer than the the depth of the stand (front to back). I would stack two such pieces and join them via plates with screws, that gave me close to 8 more inches of elevation. I have a mix of stands which included the Titan-eeze modes for 48x12 and 36x18 in. hanks. When placed on the floor, the lower level will be 3 in. above the floor on both models, but the 36 lenth had the top level at 28 inches while the 48 in. length was 31 in. high. However, by adding the 8 in. high stack of 4x4s, the ultimate height are as follows: 48 in. long is 11 in. above the floor on the lower level and 39 inches for the top; the 36 in. long is the same 11 in. above the floor but the top level is only 33 inches above the floor. So you can adjust things as needed.
It is possible to manipulate the height of the blocks I place under the legs. (These face front to back.) A single 4x4 raises things by half of the above and using a 4x4 with a 2x4 would raise them by 75%. I have also done this raising trick using a 2x6 on end. But this requires I make the base mimic the frame of the tank (I make a rectangle out of the 2x6s on end). The thinness of a 2x6 requires this design to be stable.
The titan stands are lightweight but like anything, they have their drawbacks. While there is no question they support the size tanks for which they are desiged, they will "rock" if you push on the front of the top tank. Do not fall against one as I believe this could make it tip ove. This is amplified by how I raise them as the center of gravity is also being raised. I should also say I have sed several of these stands for years and never tipped one over. The second problem I noticed is they are not level in term of the long horizontal run. Only the frame of the tank being supported is normally adequate. However, I notice after I have filled a tank on my first that I could see light between the frame and the stand along the lenght, both the front and back. This freaked me out because is is howe tanks normally crack from the stress on the glass. But I have never had a tank crack from this. I assume if a lot of the frame is supported it will do. I would be reluctant to use these stands for larger tanks - say over 75 gals.
I have a method I used when I built my own wooden stands. I used strips of self sticking foam insulation from 1/2 to 1 inch thich around the entiore supporting edge of the 2x4 upon which the bottom tank frame sat. This compensated for the irregular surface of the 2x4 by the weight of the tank compressing the foam as much as needed, thus, self leveleing. I did not do this on the Titan stands as I incorrectly assumed things would be completely level out of the box. Despite nothing going wrong in this respect with The Titan stands, I would strongly consider using the same foam trick on Titan stands if I had that option again.
I also use a couple of angle iron stands. These are very sturdy easy to paint any color but need some dense wood under each leg of you will damage a carpet or floor. Google angle iron aquarium stands to find these. I have one for a 75 and another for a 50/40b, with a half inch oach pad under the legs it is 29 inches high. Use the 4x4 trick and it comes out to be exactly 36.5 in. tall :-( You can only put a smaller tank in the under level and you will need to have a wooden layer on the bottom to put any stand there.
Just to add to the above, I've never had a siphon issue with the floor level tank on my double stands. I siphon them into a big plastic storage tote while running a submersible utility pump in the tote with a garden hose routed where ever you want it to discharge. As long as the water level in the tote stays lower than the level in the tank, it siphons out just as fast as the top tank.
I agree though that the lower tanks aren't as nice for display purposes. They're more utilitarian.
I agree though that the lower tanks aren't as nice for display purposes. They're more utilitarian.
You don't say what size tank you want on said stand. That kind of makes it difficult to offer much real world advice.
A lot of saltwater stand companies and higher end planted tank companies make taller stands because of the taller equipment that has to be housed in them, things like protein skimmers or CO2 tanks.
Another option being used by folks like Evolution Aqua or Innovative Marine are stands made from aluminum frames, either should work for you, I assume.
There's also a pretty big fish store in Portland, The Wet Spot, if that's where you still are, I would try asking their suggestion, I have $5 says they would be able to hook you up with something
A lot of saltwater stand companies and higher end planted tank companies make taller stands because of the taller equipment that has to be housed in them, things like protein skimmers or CO2 tanks.
Another option being used by folks like Evolution Aqua or Innovative Marine are stands made from aluminum frames, either should work for you, I assume.
There's also a pretty big fish store in Portland, The Wet Spot, if that's where you still are, I would try asking their suggestion, I have $5 says they would be able to hook you up with something
It’s a little challenging to browse at Wet Spot these days. I was there the other day, didn’t see any taller stands, didn’t want to hang around too long.
In any case, I’m thinking about putting a layer of brick under a 30” stand to boost it a couple inches.
Call them, email them, post on their social media.
I did check that Innovative Marine stands are 36" tall, so you could check there.
Putting bricks under would work too
I had to call six times earlier this week to get through. I think with so many people at home, everyone is spending more time on their aquariums, plus they’re managing their whole new shop-by-appt system. They just seem overwhelmed.
The reason I’m embarking on this project now is a friend is giving me a $400 gift certificate to Wet Spot. My friends are way too good to me
But I’m going to get a tank/stand combo from Petsmart and save the gift certificate for stock, plants, hardscaping, filter, substrate...
I’m going to go with brick or cinder block to raise it a little.
