DIY Stand for 50 Gal

Hello all.

I have been reading this forum non stop for about 6 months now in preporation of my next saltwater tank build. Currently i have a FOWLR which is a 20 gallon with an eclipse hood. Moved from keeping freshwater fish to saltwater, but now it is time for coral, and the eclipse hood has been nothing but trouble for me. Enough about that, i will write more details about my new build in a build thread.

Right now i have a question about stands. I want to build my own and everyone else i see is building them out of massive 2x4 frames, even some with double 2x4's. I dont want my stand to weight a ton, so i was thinking about making it out of 2x2 or 1x3 any ideas?

Ill post a design soon

Thanks

 

Most DIY stands are way over built. Commercial built stands are built with 1x4's or 1x6's. You can definitely go lighter on the build. The most important thing is to design the stand so that the nails and/or screws are not supporting the weight. Just my opinion.

 

Am certain my DIY stand for my 125 is way over built.

(But I sleep much better at night. )

(Just my opinion)

 

there is no need for any 2x anything in your stand. i would go with 3/4" hard wood ply wood for the box and 3/4" hard wood for the face frame and doors. i understand that some people over do there stands and that's OK, but some over, over, over do there stands.


look into the Kreg pocket hole jig for building your stand. its a great tool and very easy to use. good luck

 

you could use a steel frame and drill and bolt wood to it.leave the back open for air and steel frames are made so a tank of the same width as the display tank can fit under it.light and strong.thats what i'm planing with my 55 gallon tank.my sump will not fit under most 55 gallon stands.

 

Good idea Ziggy... I did something similar with my 40 breeder... I cut plywood to fit the metal trim of the stand. Actually sound proofed it with bed foam on the inside. Stapled fabric over the wood and stapled it on the inside, putting the bed foam over it.

 

you know what they say.there is no original ideas lol.i have'nt done it yet but have been planning it for awhile.i'm just going to use quarter inch thick wood and glue or bolt it on the inside of the frame so i don't need trim and paint it black to match the hood.my idea is the same as ogdenenator,to keep it light and strong.right now i'm using a 75 gallon stand for a 55 gallon tank.i had to put a bunch of planks across it to hold the smaller tank.looks bad but i'll make a good stand soon.

 

Anything under 3" wide will bow and warp. 50g tank=420lbs of water. Not including the weight of the tank and canopy if you're building one too. If you use 2x4's you dont have to worry about somebody bumping it and the whole thing falling over. If you give me the dimensions of your tank, I can come up with a design that will be pretty simple and light enough one person can carry it and easily support 1000lbs+. If built to one of my designs, you will have a high quality piece of furniture, not just a stand.

Heres a 2D version of a completed stand setup I plan on doing for a 40g breeder. The tanks foot print is 36x18, the stand will be 48x18x36. Have added shelving for pictures or knick knacks. I plan on having a terrarium or something similar next to and have the excess light coming off the sides to light it and grow whatever in it. Also use trim molding to hide the tank frame on the bottom.

 

Hey Geek.

I would love to see the plans for your stand. The 50gal I'm looking at has the same footprint as your 40 just a bit taller. I was thinking about trying to make a stand that is 5 feet long so i have a shelf on each side. Any help would be greatly appreciated, the stand is the only thing holding me back from setting up my tank right now.

Also i plan on having a 20H sump and a 5g RO top off reservoir under the tank.

 

If you wanna get really complicated on the stand, I could design one to hold a 50g sump underneath, lol.