[chexwebson]

I am interested in building my own stand and have seen several examples that I like. I personally like more of a cabinet design without the whole 2x4 construction. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance...

chex

[goldline]

One option is to use 3/4 plywood, to save money use 1 side good. I just built a cabinet and hood,would be happy to help.

[chexwebson]

well what I keep seeing is that there are some designs that appear to have some type of plywood construction on the corners and front, which are then overlayed with solid wood. I have the background, but the design is something that I have been concerned about due to the weight that it must support. Is it just straight plywood or is it solid with cutouts for openings...etc....

Thanks again in advance...

chex

[goldline]

I would recommend building the actual structure out of plywood then overlay with hardwood.You can also purchase vaneered ply cherry,oak,etc. plywood will support a substantial amount of weight.There are so many ways to go about building a stand it was complicating to me and I am a carpenter.

[Beeker325]

Personally I would look in your area for a cabinet surplus company or a Habitat for Humanity donation/outlet. (Its like a Salvation Army for cabinets that can be used or New). The cabinet front is all that you should be interested in. the back and toe kick is something that is not attached to the front.
Purchasing the front face allows you to have a fancy front that would normally be either too expensive or hard to make as nice as a finished cabinet look would take. Don't be fooled most custom cabinet makers do this for their projects. If there is nothing in your area go to a Rockler woodworking type store and you can order the fronts there. the fronts come with doors that fit perfectly and are made of materials that will not warp.
Once you have the front. make the back and sides out of 2x material. this will leave engineered room for skimmers that are tall and sumps that can actually be serviced without killing your neck or other body parts. the surplus stores are the best though and cheep because you are not trying to match an existing cabinets. Happy hunting.

[Beeker325]

What city do you live in? you may have mentioned this but how may gallon tank are you trying to build for?

[Big D]

I have a pretty detailed description of how I built mine, here's a link to my build on another site... Disregard the first post in my thread, it's a link to even another site, all of the build info is below it...


180 Build <<<---Click Here


Big D

[chexwebson]

Well as far as finding someone to do this, I do custom cabinets as a side job, which used to be my primary line of work so that isn't an issue. Big D, I saw your other post and was very intrigued. As with yours and many others, I see the plywood understucture, but have not found a design layout. Something that could be used to actual build such a stand. Any suggestions where this might be found or even a sketch that could be provided? I have built cabinets for years, but never built one for an aquarium and am concerned about the weight. You figure a 55 gallon aquarium with live rock, that is a lot of weight....that is nothing compared to something on the scale of what you are using...

Thanks again in advance for any and all comments...

chex

[Beeker325]

this is not brain surgery. If you are a cabinet maker and you have a local fish store in the area go there and look at what they use. its nothing special. the technical specs of almost all building materials is on the website "http://www.engineersedge.com/lumber.htm" and they state that (1) 2x4 is capable of supporting 1500lbs. the size tank that you are thinking of is 55 gallons and if you figure 8lbs. per gallon thats 440lbs (you will not even have that weight but just for the sake of argument. Even if you had 200lbs of additionals the plywood or 2x4 will support the weight no problem. the most improtant thing is that the platform is as close to plum flat as possible. any imperfections will result in uneven pressure on the tank which can result in failure down the road. this is one thing that is definately an issue to make right but there are many work in progress systems that change the use of the cabinet often to make for new equipment and thought processes on tank use and technology. Sorry to rant. good luck and i'm sure that whatever you build will turn out fine, just over engineer the cabinet.

[tyoung]

This may sound like a simple question, but, how do you shim the sand to make it level? I am guessing you shim the flooring or the top of the tank to get level. I will be putting this tank and stand (180 gallons) on carpet(maybe vinyl) flooring which covers concrete.

[chexwebson]

tyoung, I would shim the stand at the floor.

Beeker325, As for the brain surgery...as per my original post, I am trying to avoid 2x4 construction. I have a stand of this construction now and I don't like the design at all. Purchased, not built. As for what I can see in my LFS, nothing really comes close to what I would like to see. Big D is the closest I have seen to my liking. The website you mentioned is very interesting and I am sure that I have nothing to worry about if I do as you mention and over engineer the cabinet. I am just trying to build what is necessary.

I did some more research and found several sources and examples where individuals had built stands out of 3/4 stock. Interesting, a 1x1 piece of pine can support 750 lbs, at least that is what one source said. Could make for some interesting designs possibilities.

Perhaps I need a more basic understanding of the distribution of weight from the aquarium. My understanding is that the weight is distributed evenly from the bottom of the aquarium? Thus the entire weight is distributed to whatever it touches on the bottom of the tank. Thus when a stand does not have a solid top, it distributes this to each of the supports that it touches? So then tons of glue and tons of screws and never look back? That just doesn't cut it for me...I want this to look good inside and out.

Thanks again for comments and suggestions in advance...

chex

[wendyzim]

this stand was built by my (idiot) ex. It's bolted to the wall, made of 2x4s with some sort of panelling on the outside. I think it has six pieces of wood at the top and bottom for support.

[nickrp]

your tank and stand are awesome.

[steve0xr]

A very easy way to semi-build a stand is to buy an iron cast stand for support of the tank then build a 3-sided frame around the exposed area with some nice thin wood. The Iron stands are usually pretty cheap around 75$ and you won't have to worry about it not being strong enough.

[nickrp]

That is a good idea.