[Wet Thumb Forum]-Im building a 55 gallon stand

[cheesehazard]

This weekend I am going to start working on a stand for my 55 gallon plant tank. I was wondering if anyone has any pictures of DIY stands or what the dimensions should be. I had planed on making it out of wood. I was thinking I should use 4x4s and 2x4s for the support and covering it up with some nice plywood. Also i want to put a light or two in my stand and a outlet to plut everything into. Does anyone think this is a bad idea incase of a water leak, or should I just not worry about it and use the outlets that are used in the bathroom. Any help would be greatly apreciated. I was just looking online at differnt stands and I saw one for a 10 gallon tank but under the 10 gallon there was another 10 gallon. Has anyone done this. I might put 2 10 gallon tanks under my 55 gallon in the center of my stand. I think it would probably look really well.

Thanks Andrew

[cheesehazard]

This weekend I am going to start working on a stand for my 55 gallon plant tank. I was wondering if anyone has any pictures of DIY stands or what the dimensions should be. I had planed on making it out of wood. I was thinking I should use 4x4s and 2x4s for the support and covering it up with some nice plywood. Also i want to put a light or two in my stand and a outlet to plut everything into. Does anyone think this is a bad idea incase of a water leak, or should I just not worry about it and use the outlets that are used in the bathroom. Any help would be greatly apreciated. I was just looking online at differnt stands and I saw one for a 10 gallon tank but under the 10 gallon there was another 10 gallon. Has anyone done this. I might put 2 10 gallon tanks under my 55 gallon in the center of my stand. I think it would probably look really well.

Thanks Andrew

[JamesHoftiezer]

Just search on stands. There have been many good threads concerning stand construction and finishing.

[JERP]

I second James' suggestion to search the forums on stand construction. Use Douglas Fir or stronger for the wood.

Install a GFCI outlet at the wall outlet that will be powering the tank. Your in-stand power strip will be safe from water leaks with a GFCI outlet. You can also get GFCI power strips.

[Josh Simonson]

Well, it's alot more important that it be perfectly flat if you're using a glass tank vs an acrylic tank. I built a tank table that's got a 20 and 2 10s right now, about 2.5x6ft with 3 4x4s going the length of the top resting on 3 4x4 uprights on each end. The sheet of plywood on the back gives it support so it won't fold up on me. The top is melamine, waterproof and heavy.

If you build a stand, you should put in alot of effort to make it look good so the wife won't object to it at some point. Put trim around the edges of the top, use laminated plywood on the sides and stain/varnish it with small matching cupboard doors on the front. I'd reccomend the 4x4s though, better to take the tim taylor route than the mr bean route...

[cheesehazard]

Would home depot or ace hardware carry bulkheads? I need 3 bulkheads for my pump. I searched on home depots site but it didnt find anything. Also does anyone have any diagrams on a diy water top off. Thursday night i am going to drain my tank, friday im getting my tank drilled out and later im going to finish the stand.

[JamesHoftiezer]

bulkheads hard hard to get local;
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/.../6885/cid/1895

Used the threaded bulkeads and used adapters as neccesary.

[kzr750r1]

If you have any friends with a stick welder build it out of steel. Here is an example of mine built several years ago.

http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.c...12&m=619106746

The top is 2" angle iron with legs/support built with 1.5" or 2" box steel that is around .125" wall thickness.

Make sure you fit everything on a flat level surface and weld, beat, and grind your way to a clean tank stand. The leveling feet are some feet I stripped off of an old Nortel PBX. I capped the bottom of each leg with scrap .125 steel and drilled out for the steel nuts that are welded to the leg caps. This allows even leveling and adjustment if needed, although I would not adjust with a full tank.

I placed another scrap piece of steel in the middle of the 4' span and capped the angle iron with some .50" particle board. The middle brace is just some insurance that the side won’t bend over time. We are talking about a lot of weight here. The wood was placed to allow even dispersal of weight from the tank.

Then paint after a grinding session and some solvent to prep the metal. I used a rattle can from OSH.

IMO wood stands are tough to build without some wood working experience and tooling.

[cheesehazard]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kzr750r1:
If you have any friends with a stick welder build it out of steel. Here is an example of mine built several years ago.

http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.c...12&m=619106746

The top is 2" angle iron with legs/support built with 1.5" or 2" box steel that is around .125" wall thickness.

Make sure you fit everything on a flat level surface and weld, beat, and grind your way to a clean tank stand. The leveling feet are some feet I stripped off of an old Nortel PBX. I capped the bottom of each leg with scrap .125 steel and drilled out for the steel nuts that are welded to the leg caps. This allows even leveling and adjustment if needed, although I would not adjust with a full tank.

I placed another scrap piece of steel in the middle of the 4' span and capped the angle iron with some .50" particle board. The middle brace is just some insurance that the side won’t bend over time. We are talking about a lot of weight here. The wood was placed to allow even dispersal of weight from the tank.

Then paint after a grinding session and some solvent to prep the metal. I used a rattle can from OSH.

IMO wood stands are tough to build without some wood working experience and tooling. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I was actually thinking about making a stand out of metal. I can weld really well but it wouldnt match the hood I made. I just got 2 bulkheads today from my lfs. Friday I am taking off work to start draining my tank and to bring and get it drilled. If I have any extra time friday im going to start with my stand but if not i will start saturday morning. I hope to have at least 2 coats of paint on it saturday night. I need to get the wood and some misc. pvc parts. Im really worried about getting my tank drilled out. The glass shop here said it would be 15 dollars a hole. I just dont want my tank to break. Id be very pissed off. Im hoping they will be responsable if it breaks.

[kzr750r1]

Good luck i'm interested in how your bulkheads turn out. What is the bottom glass thickness?