spypet

is that 30" high? it's going to be a bitch
to get your arm down there to scape it.

dirrtybirdy

im going to make one soon.

gotcheaprice

Really nice stand. I wanna make something just like this except black for my 55 gallon. Where did you find formica? And if you have any instructions on how you built this or the material, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

hoppycalif

Home Depot used to sell 4 x 8 sheets of a few formica patterns, including plain black. I don't know if they still do that. And, working with formica is a skill to learn. That material can shatter easily if handled roughly, but it is so flexible and in such large sheets that it is awkward to handle. I found the first thing to learn was how to rough cut it without destroying the sheet - I destroyed a couple while learning. But, the finished product is very well worth all of the effort, as this stand shows.

Jason Baliban

I get a bunch of PM's for the materials on this, so hopefully this will help some people.

Wood
-3 sheets of 3/4" plywood - I got the best quality i could find.
-2x2" studs for extra inside corner support.

Formica
2 sheets (8x4' - they actually give you an extra inch on each side, so its really 50x26") of formica from lowes. $85 each

Construction
I glued the plywood together to create 1.5" plywood. I used this for all of the stand except the front doors. I glued all the corners and screwed into the corner studs for extra support.

Extras
-Contact Cement (Gel variety)
-Formica router bit (straight)
-Wood Putty
-Plastic Oval Grommets from http://www.mockett.com/default.asp?ID=329
-Euro Hinges

Light Stand
-1/2" Conduit
-1/2" Conduit Set Screw coupling
-1/2" Conduit Mounting Strap

*Use a conduit bender to bend the conduit

Tools
-Table saw (cheap one)
-Circular Saw (good one)
-Power Drill
-Router
-Conduit Bender

Stand Dimensions
122x80x47cm

Hope this helps.

jB

nationof2

Nice... really well done. I bought a custom stand from ADG and it was nice but didn't fit my 120 cm tank exactly like the ADA ones would have. I wish I had the tools/experience to have built my own. You should start selling them.

MARIMOBALL

Jason thanks for all the details. Im gonna give pics and instructions to a local builder to see if he can do it. Ill be tearing down my 120gal planted tank and get a 120P.

twilothunder

Thank you much for the additional info!

I'm getting very close to building something similar for my 90p, and this thread has been a huge help in my preparations.

Hope the tank is still doing well, please post updated pics when you can

Jason Baliban

Here is the final shot of this tank.



You can check out more about the layout here...

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...i-meander.html

jB

Tex Gal

That is really neat! How did you get the grass to curve like that on the top