Aquarium Stands

[cityreef]

Hey folks! This is my first post, but I have been in the hobby some number of years. My latest project is a 112 gallon reef tank that my girlfriend's dad and I are building. We want some ideas on DIY stands. He plans to put an Electric fireplace in the stand, but we'd like somewhere to start. If anyone could contribute that would be awesome.

Cheers

 

[Windy]

What skill level are you in wood working? That will tell us what kind of advice you can use. What type of joining equip do you have?

Also, one of the issues of a tank and stand is controlling leaks and drips. I don't think I would put an electric fireplace near a tank, but that is just my opinion.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here are the plans for a conventional dimensional lumber stand. Tanks up to four feet long, all lumber is 2x4. Tanks over four feet, the top frame needs to be 2x6; all other lumber, 2x4's. No center brace is needed.



You can skin this in whatever floats you boat, for exotic hardwoods to simple plywood. I would recommend a 3/4 inch plywood top to level out the imperfections in the dimensional lumber.

 

[cityreef]

Well, It's her father that's building the stand, but! He's a contractor so he does have some pretty decent woodworking skills. I'm not sure what exactly he has in terms of joining equipment, but I'd imagine he has some at his disposal. And I totally understand in terms of the fireplace. I suppose he'll just have to work around it or figure out a way to make it safer. But we'll have to see!

 

[Mike in CT]

When I saw the fireplace mentioned, I thought it was someone pulling our chain at first.. Lol But seriously, is it one that is actually going to put out heat? Is it going on the bottom or to the side of the tank? I can't imagine putting one under the tank... Maybe off to the side or something.

 

[Lenny_S]

It's hard enough to keep the tank temp from getting too warm with lighting and pumps... Add an electric fireplace in the stand and I think you'd have a lot of problems

 

[cityreef]

I believe the plan is to have a slim fireplace built in to the outer panel of the stand. It would be a lot of heat certainly but I'm sure there are a few ways lessen the direct heat (cooling fans between the fireplace and stand, a "heat shield" of sorts)

 

[bobman]

It could be done with some sheeting and good insulation probably would not be able to run a sump in the stand though.

 

[BetURWrasse]

So if the fireplace is going in the stand where is all the filtration going?

 

[cityreef]

Well, I do know that we're using my old 55 gallon for the sump, which is only 12.5" deep. It'll have to be pushed towards the back, but at the same time the stand is custom so we could make the stand have a shelf in the front (the stand for my 55 had about 3" of space in front of the tank) to increase the depth of the stand.

 

[bobman]

But how do you plan on accessing the filtration for maintenance? I guess you could put doors on the sides 4' tank would only be a 2' reach on each side wich is no problem with enough insulation to keep hold down heat. You might also want to consider some computer fans or the like next to the hater since hot air rises it would still create heat to the tank but if you got enough blowing power to blow the heat far enough away and use low heat generating equipment it would be a cool project.

 

[cityreef]

Well, assuming the fireplace is something of a "Plug and Play" unit, I'm thinking that there might be a way to make it so that I could detach the entire front panel? (I work at my LFS and that's how we have our shark tank- we just remove panels to top up sump, etc) so there might be something in that. And that's exactly what I was thinking in terms of cooling it down, as well as the equipment used. I'll absolutely post pics once It's all done!

 

[Saybng]

It can be done...but just because he's a contractor doesn't mean much ( I deal with contractors all day)..imho.
but he may do so..anyways..if he has experience with heating and a/c then he can figure out a way for the heat to be redirected..but it can happen..following along..post pics please..and be safe and have fun.