# Planning me stand!



## ameekplec.

So here are all the drawings folks. Let me know what you think. Tank is 42" x 24" x 24". It will be painted black to match the living room, and painted white on the inside.

Basic frame:
The top is made of 2 x 6 to minimize deflection over the 42" span of the long dimension of the tank. 
There will be one screw strip missing in the back left corner due to plumbing coming down there. I think it should be fine as the back will be covered in a single sheet of 1/2" plywood, and it will be skinned on the side in 3/4" ply.
Not included in the drawing is 2 2x4 supports in both the top and bottom frames to minimize deflection of the bottom pane of the display tank, and in the bottom frame to hold up the sump and the ATO reservoir.









The first layer of skinning is done in 3/4":









The finishing layer also in 3/4":
The front will have two doors, attched with these nifty hinges:








The sides will be attached with recessed 1/4" magnets, and a french cleat-like thing to keep the side panels attached.









Here's how it should look all together:









Any potential problems or suggestions on improvements? Thanks!


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## BillD

The top rail does not need to be 2 x 6, as there will be no deflection, even with a 2 x 4. I don't see a solid connection between the legs and the top frame. Other than that it will certainly be heavy, and do the job. My personal preference is for stands that have leveling capabilities build into them.


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## waj8

It is not a good idea to use dimensional lumber in this manner. A 2x6 can shrink over 1/8" across it's width. Just use a plywood top and bottom. You do not actually need any dimensional lumber at all. 3/4" plywood by itself is more than sufficient to support any tank. Deflection is not a issue either. As long as the outside glass panels of the tank are supported, there will not be a problem. I would leave room in your design for some styrofoam underneath the tank. If you don't you run the risk of putting a slight twist in the tank which will stress the seams of the tank.


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## bob123

Very nice looking stand but one concern, how are you fastening top 2x6 to 
2x4 legs also 2x4 bottom to 2x4 legs? Styrofoam under tank will allow for some unlevelness but make sure where you place the stand that its very firm as this tank and stand unit when full of water is well over 1/2 ton. Good luck and enjoy.


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## Riceburner

A plate or another 2x4 piece on the inside corners "wood" work. I've got to build 2 four foot stands some time in the future, so will do something similar. Not sure If I want to hide the bottom of the tank trim behind molding or make it a flat top stand as I have now. The concern is when a bit of water spills down the front or sides and it's clean up. Though, I could do a removable molding that slides off....hmmm.....


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## ameekplec.

BillD said:


> The top rail does not need to be 2 x 6, as there will be no deflection, even with a 2 x 4. I don't see a solid connection between the legs and the top frame. Other than that it will certainly be heavy, and do the job. My personal preference is for stands that have leveling capabilities build into them.


I got that in another forum too - I guess I can knock it down to 2 x 4 and have more space in the sump area. As for levelling, the space it's going in is fairly level, so it'll just get shimmed if it's not level.



waj8 said:


> It is not a good idea to use dimensional lumber in this manner. A 2x6 can shrink over 1/8" across it's width. Just use a plywood top and bottom. You do not actually need any dimensional lumber at all. 3/4" plywood by itself is more than sufficient to support any tank. Deflection is not a issue either. As long as the outside glass panels of the tank are supported, there will not be a problem. I would leave room in your design for some styrofoam underneath the tank. If you don't you run the risk of putting a slight twist in the tank which will stress the seams of the tank.


Dimensional lumber will be fine I think - that and I'm much more comfortable in building this stand with lumber rather than 3/4" ply. Also, given that I want access from the sides also, it's not a straight front-open 3/4"box. Because this tank sits on the bottom pane, not the 4 upright panes, the stand has provisions to have a 1/2" styrofoam (insulating board) between the tank bottom and top plywood of the stand.



bob123 said:


> Very nice looking stand but one concern, how are you fastening top 2x6 to
> 2x4 legs also 2x4 bottom to 2x4 legs? Styrofoam under tank will allow for some unlevelness but make sure where you place the stand that its very firm as this tank and stand unit when full of water is well over 1/2 ton. Good luck and enjoy.


The top frame will be attched to the uprights through pocket screws and the screw strips on the inside of the uprights. The tank is going is on a concrete floor in a condo so it's fine


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## fish_luva

I think the design look great and structurally it should work fine.. I have used fresh lumber on all my tank stands for my fish room and they are holding up quite fine. I see you have possibly taken some structural drawing as the drawings look great..... 

Might get you to help me design some show stands later on for the viewing area outside my fishroom 
cheers!!!
sheldon


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## Zebrapl3co

Looks good, nice and solid, I like it.

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## ameekplec.

fish_luva said:


> I think the design look great and structurally it should work fine.. I have used fresh lumber on all my tank stands for my fish room and they are holding up quite fine. I see you have possibly taken some structural drawing as the drawings look great.....


The design was inspired by a build on Reef central - really nice stand that guy had built.



Zebrapl3co said:


> Looks good, nice and solid, I like it.


Thanks! Solid is good - the last thing need is 105 gallons of salt water on the floor!


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## gucci17

Looking good...can't wait for the real pics!


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## ameekplec.

*More plans!!*

Well, it's not built (not even started ), but here's the details of the guts.

Everything has to be contained in the stand - no more bucket ATO reservoir next to the tank (as great as it is). So the ATO and dosing solutions are all contained within the tank.

Inside the stand:









Here's the details of the 25g sump. The Skimmer section has two drains - one emergency (corner) and one full siphon drain (main). The Bubble King Mini 180 skimmer fits nicely into this space - the skimmper pump inlet is well below the skimmer-bypass drain that runs above it (see plumbing schematic below). 
The skimmer section drains into a soft coral raceway (like that suggested in Calfo's book on coral propagation), or it could be used as a regular frag area, or even as a chaeto-filled detrius trap. It then drains into a section I'd like to turn into a cryptic refugium (completely dark) - or it could also be converted into a second frag space. Finally, this drains into the return section housing the ATB Flowstar 1500 (alternatively Eheim 1262).










The plumbing there in the return/drain looks to cross over, but it doesn't. It's further explained by the plumbing schematic below. 









Any suggestions? Comments? Any feedback before I get going will be throughly appreciated


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## xr8dride

Looking really good Eric, can't wait to see the final product. As you have seen, I built my own as well. I used no more than 2x4's and it supports the 2 90 gallons without any trouble. Good luck with the build!!


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## AquaNekoMobile

ameekplec. said:


> Well, it's not built (not even started ), but here's the details of the guts.
> 
> Everything has to be contained in the stand - no more bucket ATO reservoir next to the tank (as great as it is). So the ATO and dosing solutions are all contained within the tank.
> 
> Inside the stand:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the details of the 25g sump. The Skimmer section has two drains - one emergency (corner) and one full siphon drain (main). The Bubble King Mini 180 skimmer fits nicely into this space - the skimmper pump inlet is well below the skimmer-bypass drain that runs above it (see plumbing schematic below).
> The skimmer section drains into a soft coral raceway (like that suggested in Calfo's book on coral propagation), or it could be used as a regular frag area, or even as a chaeto-filled detrius trap. It then drains into a section I'd like to turn into a cryptic refugium (completely dark) - or it could also be converted into a second frag space. Finally, this drains into the return section housing the ATB Flowstar 1500 (alternatively Eheim 1262).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The plumbing there in the return/drain looks to cross over, but it doesn't. It's further explained by the plumbing schematic below.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions? Comments? Any feedback before I get going will be throughly appreciated


That looks almost like a Afga plate processor in the design drawing for the under tank setup. LOL

Suggestions? Sure. A couple come to mind. Have battery wired LED light inside there so when you're looking underneath the main tank you've got light to light up the insides. Say wire 4 high power LED's in the 4 corners inside with each of them on a old 486 heat sink either without a lens or a wide 60ish degree lens. Tho without lens is it s~135degrees IIRC. Think like a closet light. Also some small pegs or tiny (like IKEA small) 90 degree ledges which you see book shelfs have those little tabs. Make a small tiny shelf unit in there to house small things or go tot he local Can.T/Home.D/etc and get those small wire/meshed container shelves or attachments for doors/walls for holding spices and such which will help for holding fish food an other things allowing max use of the concealed space while being organized.


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## phi delt reefer

I have built something similar (from a construction stand point - design is different) and it too is for a reef tank.

I have some words of advice 

1. 2x4 are not 2x4 they are 1.5 x 3.5
2. 2x2 are not 2x2 they are 1.5 x 1.5
3. Get a roofers square to help align pieces as well as two good quality clamps (ATLEAST 2!) Make sure you clamp then screw.
4. Make sure you select the straightest wood you can - in the States they can purchase wood by grade. I went to Home Depot last week and the guy had no idea what I was talking about. They are all grouped to together, you need to cherry pick. have them bring down a new skit of 2x4s for you to select from, the contractors come at 6am and take the goodstuff so dont take from an already opened bundle.
5. dont underestimate the number of screws you need. In my build, I used 250 screws. I dont know how but i have two empty boxes to show for it. Also get a couple of NEW screw bits (#2 square) they wear out quickly and strip the heads when they do. they are cheap and buy the cash register.


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## ameekplec.

AquaNeko - thanks for the suggestions. I was going to put some sort of lighting in the stand, but not sure what yet. LEDs sound like a great option, but it might be just easier to get some cheapie flourescent under cabinet fixture from Canadian tire or somthing.

PDR, thanks for the reminder about the screws - I always forget that I need WAY more than I expect (ie when building a 150' of 8' high fence...).

Going to Lee Valley on Friday to pick up gadgets (pocket screw jig, flat head screws, my nifty hinges, etc etc).


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## bob123

If you plan on having live plants in your tank go with the flourescents. I tried LED and all my plants started dying when I checked with other people they said LED's are more for accent lighting,so buyer beware. Also on the lumber go to a building supply place and not Rona or Home Depot you will not get quality lumber from them.


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## ameekplec.

Ta dum! Just got this pic today from miracles of my tank:









edit: in case you're wondering what the weirdness on the overflow is, it's probably the remnants of the plastic coating in the plexi, or so I hope!


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## ameekplec.

So, I kind of "know" what I'm doing, but I had a quick question for the wood workers - do I need to glue and clamp everything, or can I just glue, screw and clamp the 2 x 4 skeleton and the large panels? Do the smaller (skinning layer 1 and 2) panels need to be glued and clamped? Or can I get away with just nailing them in?


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## Riceburner

Clamping would give you the best finish. You can get away without, but if you have the choice, clamp it. Take the time now for a better finish later.


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## ameekplec.

*Progress!! See my stand!*

well, I made a design modification (made the inside framing 42 1/8" wide, the tank is 42") to allow for any inaccuracies in my own cutting (mainly hedging against a stand too small) and to allow for some expansion/contraction of the stand.

Also, while at HD I had a realization that I don't need to use 3/4" all the way around for the skinning - I just need it on the outer layer. So that saved me a bit of money and a bit of weight from the stand, and made it ever so slightly smaller.

And without further ado, here's my stand as it "stands" now:









 Well, it's progress. Hopefully I'll have it constructed by the end of the week. The cutting of lumber and plywood (at my folk's place - apparently people don't take favourably to doing this kind of stuff right over Dundas street) went better than expected, and the beveled cuts weren't as tough as I expected it to be. They're not perfect, but I'm no carpenter.

I also bought casters (wheels) to put on the bottom of the stand to help me wheel it down to the parking garage so I can stain and paint it there. When it gets back here, I'll remove the wheels, put it in place, and shim it level, if need be.

I'll be sure to post more pics of the construction process


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## PACMAN

looks good so far lol


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## Zebrapl3co

Hmm ... you'd better work quickly. Paint don't dry right under sub zero temperatures ...
looking forward to seeing the progress.

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## ameekplec.

Yeah, I'm hoping to get a bit done tonight


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## AquaNekoMobile

It's warming up this weekend. If you have a heated garage or again a heated underground garage take a box fan and turn it on while letting it dry.


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## ameekplec.

I got it started last night - glued, screwed and clamped part of the 2x4 frame, and drilled the uprights for pocket screws. But I have only 4 clamps and even less space so it'll take a few days to get it all together


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## ameekplec.

Progress!










Got the 2x4 skeleton together - there's no screw strips for the uprights. Instead they're pocket screwed into the top and bottom frames.










Everything is pre-drilled, glued, screwed and clamped together for extra strength. This tank isn't going anywhere - this stand is rock solid 

This is part of the skinning done already:









I made 2 errors in cutting - some of the trim is 1/4" and 1/2" too long, but that can be fixed with a router later. I'll need to rout out the holes for the plumbing and electrical on the back panel anyways so that's fine.

Also, I forgot to include the thickness of the 1/2" ply topping the bottom 2 x 4 frame. So my sknning is 1/2" short - which means that the bottom glass of the tank will be visible, but oh well. If I really don't like it in the future, I can always add another layer fo trim on top.

Hopefully I'll have all the trim done tonight and start filling in nail holes and such, and have it ready for painting tomorrow.

Time remaining to tank delivery: 3 days.


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## PanzerFodder

Looking good, and looking forward to seeing it when it's finished  .

If you ever go into Lee Valley you can get pluggs designed to cover the pocket hole's, also they sale a wood glue called "TIGHT BOND 3" I use it because its very stong when dry but it's also 100% waterproof as well 

Cheer's...PanzerFodder...


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## ameekplec.

Well the reason I did the pocket holes on the outside is that I will be skinning over them, so there won't be a hole on the inside of the stand.

I used Gorilla glue for gluing everything together. So far so good.

I finished the skinning today, so all I have to do now is fill all the nail/screw holes with wood filler, and even out some mistakes I made (things didn't line up perfectly ). After that, it's headed to the garage to paint!

Front view (I'll finish the doors at a later date):









From the side:


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## xr8dride

Excellent work!! 
Ok you're quick!!! lol, I haven't quite gotten that far on my build yet. I've got it all marked out and ready to cut though. 
Also, it's good to see that I'm not the only one having to build in my living room...can't wait til it no longer looks like a construction site.

Keep up the good work, it's looking great so far!


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## Zebrapl3co

What do you mean when you say skinning wood? Does that mean you're going glue a layer of vynle like material on top of it?
I like the looks of those clamps. Are they any good?

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## xr8dride

Skinning the frame is just a way to say i'm enclosing it, making it look like a stand rather than just a frame.


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## ameekplec.

Zebrapl3co said:


> What do you mean when you say skinning wood? Does that mean you're going glue a layer of vynle like material on top of it?
> I like the looks of those clamps. Are they any good?


Yep, like Rob said, skinning is merely "wrapping" the stand to make it look better.

I bought the clamps from Lee Valley - they work great but they're hard to use compared to them hand clamps (like the style on top of the stand), which can be used one handed.


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## Big Ray

okay WOW ! that' looks amazing man !

if u wanted to practice more and make me one as well, let me know  hahah


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## ameekplec.

Haha, well hopefully it'll come out looking good after all is said and done. Right now I'm having difficulties with the top of the trim around the base of the tank - originally I was just going to cover the ends of the plywood with veneer but the veneer isn't wide enough. I have to either use two strips of veneer or find somewhere that has veneer at least 1.25 inches wide. Any ideas?


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## Rmwbrown

While i realize this is pretty much my standard answer for any wood working related issues, but go down to Lee Valley. They normally have small sheets of veneer you could cut to size. That or pick up some Particleboard Edge Filler. Your painting so that should smooth it out enough to cover any noticeable spots.


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## PanzerFodder

ameekplec. said:


> Haha, well hopefully it'll come out looking good after all is said and done. Right now I'm having difficulties with the top of the trim around the base of the tank - originally I was just going to cover the ends of the plywood with veneer but the veneer isn't wide enough. I have to either use two strips of veneer or find somewhere that has veneer at least 1.25 inches wide. Any ideas?


If I was you, I would just rip a thin stip of wood just a shade over 1 1/4 wide mitre the corners and then tack it on and sand it a bit to make it the exact size.

Cheers...PanzerFodder...

PS: I just remembered that I have a few large sheets of paperbacked oak vaneer in my workshop, you are welcome to have a few sheets if you don't fancy painting it?


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## gucci17

looks solid ameek! How much did all the materials run you?


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## ameekplec.

Not that much, actually:

Lumber/supplies ($224.11):
2x) 2' x 4' x 8' = $4.20
3x) 3' x 4' x 10' = $8.64
4' x 8' 3/4" birch veneer (G2S) = $66.47
4' x 8' 1/2" birch veneer (G2S) = $58.36
Low-odour Klitz (1 qt) = $11.97
Black Stain (1 qt) = $18.59
530 1 1/4" finishing nails = $4.69
250 2 1/2" construction screws = $8.99
2x) 50' 13/16" birch veneer = $21.96
wood filler = $4.29
8 oz gorilla glue (I used almost all of it) = $15.95

Hardware ($50.42):
2x) Pair of 110 deg face frame hinges = $25.70
8x) Magnetic catches = $10.32
4x) Magnetic push catches = $14.40 

Tools:
R3 Kreg Pocket hole kit = $39.95

The supplies and hardware for the tank cost just a tad over $310 - not bad since I earmarked $300 without even knowing what I needed to buy for it. I didn't really need the Kreg jig, but I'm certainly glad I bought it, as it made the installation of the uprights really easy and made them really strong and made the connections really clean.

Tank gets delivered tomorrow. Eek! Stand's not ready yet, and neither am I!


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## ameekplec.

Got it all skinned and solved the problem of the top edge. I wasn't sure if it would trun out ok or not, but I used two strips of veneer for each edge. It turned out pretty well I think (much better than the disaster I thought it would be):









Got it all trimmed out, and I have to say, it does look pretty sharp:









Filled in all the screw and nail heads and any gaps with wood filler, so tomorrow morning (if I have time) or evening, I'll sand it down and start the painting/staining.


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## PanzerFodder

Looking nice buddy  good luck with the sanding (Oh God! how I hate that job  ) .

A tip that you might find usefull, once the stand is sanded nicely it may be a good idea to dab each *"filler spot"* with a little stain and then let it soak in for a while, so that when you stain the whole unit you won't see lighter spots were you filled the screw holes  .

Cheer's...PanzerFodder...


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## ameekplec.

Thanks for the tip - I'll dab them all first before I get started on painting the inside of the stand.

Hopefully after work I'll have some time to get the first coat on. Then later tonight I'll do a second coat (time permitting). 

Tank delivery got delayed a day


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## gucci17

ameekplec. said:


> Thanks for the tip - I'll dab them all first before I get started on painting the inside of the stand.
> 
> Hopefully after work I'll have some time to get the first coat on. Then later tonight I'll do a second coat (time permitting).
> 
> Tank delivery got delayed a day


Damn that sucks but you did say you weren't ready for it yet


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## ameekplec.

Yeah, it sucks, but then again, it's a blessing. As much as I want my tank now, I'm not ready for it!


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## PanzerFodder

Just a quick question for you, will you be sitting your new tank on a piece of Styrofoam, if yes! What is the best type to get, and were can you buy it?.


Cheer's...PanzerFodder...


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## ameekplec.

Yep, the tank will sit on a piece of styrofoam. I'm using insulating foam found at Home depot (pink or blue sheets) 1/2" thick for between the tank and the stand.


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## PanzerFodder

ameekplec. said:


> Yep, the tank will sit on a piece of styrofoam. I'm using insulating foam found at Home depot (pink or blue sheets) 1/2" thick for between the tank and the stand.


Thank's for the info, I will have to get some at the weekend 

Cheer's...PanzerFodder...


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