Cabinet ideas for ATO Reservoir/Controllers??

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out where to get a cabinet that i can put my 10g reservoir and mount all my controllers/electronics in. I'd love to find a black one to match my stand, with a removable top so I could still fill the reservoir easily. Needs to be flat to the ground for the weight of the reservoir too. Could mount the controllers on the side or back wall, doesn't matter.

I'm horrible with my hands so I don't know if I could DIY but I have to get everything stored away as my 1-yr old is starting to pull plugs and get too curious with all the lights & dials.

Any advice/help would be much appreciated!

Here's a diagram I made because I'm an architect

 

If it doesnt have to look like furniture a large black plastic tote would work, cheap and easy to work with. Plastic will hold the screws from your apex and the tote will hold water if spilled. If must look like furniture something like a wooden toy box and paint it, probably wally world for either of these.
Just a thought

 

Do you have room behind your tank? thats what I am planning to do, just putting a small plastic drum behind the tank. good luck

 

I have to admit that i am looking forward to responses to this thread

 

The first question I have is what's behind the walls in the corner? Can you put the stuff on the other side of one of those walls and plumb through? Then you don't have to worry about matching the stand.

Second question:

How much are you willing to spend?

The reason I'm asking is that I'd think that any cabinet next to your existing stand would destroy the aesthetics of the cube in the corner.

If you can't put the stuff on the other side of one of the walls then consider putting it IN one of the walls.

I did a couple quick diagrams below.

The first shows a basic depiction of what the walls look like now from a structural basis.




The image below shows what it would be after construction.




It would be fairly easy to do all the work around this yourself.

Step 1:
Mark out the studs and draw where you want to cut the drywall/studs.

Step 2:
Cut out the drywall along your markings using a reciprocal saw.

Step 3:
Cut the studs down to the drywall in the room behind. Care needs to be used here to not damage the drywall in the room behind.

Step 4:
Build a 2x4 frame to match the size of the opening you want to have and install it where you cut the original studs - this gives you your structural strength back in the wall.

Step 5:
Put a finished wooden frame around the cutout.

Step 6:
Mount a pair of 36" cabinet doors to the finished frame.

 

Nice work Rocketman. If he doesn't go that route, I think we all can at least appreciate the diagrams and idea.

I have a black cube and bought this media cabinet for my ATO, doser and Vortech controllers:
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

I got a 1.5" thick piece of wood and cut it with a table saw and added it as a middle shelf with some 3" wood screws to support the ATO reservoir. I used a hole saw on the back board for the cables.

I have a couple weeks off next month and plan on posting a build about it.
I have a kid and put a child proof lock on the door knobs. It works great and looks great. But it is a bit pricey.

My tip: figure out the dimensions of the cabinet you would like and put them in the search box of sites like Sears to find something if you don't want to DIY the whole thing.

matt

 

This is a sweet idea, and nice drawings. But I don't get how this would look better than a cabinet that matches the stand. Having a pair of cabinet doors mounted to the wall wouldn't look right at all imo.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

 

The advantage of having it in the wall is that you don't have another piece of furniture taking up space near your aquarium.

As to the aesthetics, when you frame it out it looks like a built-in cabinet. I haven't done this for an aquarium, but I've done it for storage and it looks quite nice.

The best thing would be to put the stuff on the other side of the wall and get it out of the way altogether, but this gives another alternative that doesn't take up space.