Building My Own Stand...

[Seanislav]

Hey all...

We just recently moved to a new house in a new area. I was running a 300gal DD reef at the old abode and sold off the tank, stand, canopy, and all livestock to simplify the move. I also hated the stand. It was a Marineland stock item. It was too short (vertical clearance inside was only 26"), and it really was just enough to hold the tank...the base was that OSB wafer board crap with a finish veneer that a skimmer overflow trashed in pretty short order.

I have been advised that I will likely need to find someone to build me a stand and canopy, or build them myself. I am not above taking something like that on...but I want to make sure I do everything right, since what I hope to get my hands on is another tank of similar size...and a 300 gallon failure is not something I want to have to deal with.

So...with that in mind, I am looking for tips, tricks, and any general know-how that folks who have been there might be willing to impart, so I can again get to building a reef...my family is going through aquarium withdrawal since I shut the old one down a couple months ago.

Thanks in advance!

 

[clsanchez77]

Its easy to do, but requires patience and attention to detail. There is no shortage of guides on how to build one out of 2"x lumber. I personally think that approach is too bulky and kills too much space under the stand. I used 3/4" plywood instead and is more than strong enough.

Squaring off cabinet by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Bracing the Stand by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

image by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Staining Base Cabinet by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Lighting the Cabinet by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Right Doors Hung by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

 

[AdamD76]

3/4" ply for me also. Glued and pocket screwed. Stand is rock solid. 65 gallon

 

[Seanislav]

3/4" ply for me also. Glued and pocket screwed. Stand is rock solid. 65 gallon

So set me straight...what's pocket screwing?

 

[clsanchez77]

So set me straight...what's pocket screwing?

Its a jigg that lets you predrill screw holes on an angle so you can screw two pieces of wood that are adjacent and parallel to each other, such as this:

Personally, for an aquarium stand, I prefer to have everything glued and no screws. I did not use any screws on my stand...its all glued. To get a good alignment on all my joints and to help develop strength, I installed No 10 biscuits every 6".