It all starts with the stand

[Richard Schmidt]

Hi folks:

Just thought I would show some pic's of the stand I just finished building for my 90 gallon cube.
I will update this post as the tank finally gets wet. Its been over a year since I bought the tank, but set up was delayed because we bought a new home and had some contractor issues to work through. Since I had the time I went ahead and built a new stand for it.


It all starts with an idea:

Then the fun begins:

Frame is finished:

Finished Stand:

Top of stand is black granite (contractor friend had a piece he removed from a remodel he did):

Frame is 1" thin wall tubing. Skin is distressed oak flooring material. 3 sides completely removable.
3" tall PVC flood pan built in. Drain located in pan that would drain into my crawlspace in the event of a flood. All internal exposed wood is covered with PVC.
Using a Cerebra controller.
Starting to run the tubing from my garage to the tank for both auto top off as well as auto water change. Hope to be wet in a few weeks.

For what it's worth this is the stand I started with:

I'll keep updating this post as build/plumbing continues.

Thanks for looking:
Rick

 

[Tahoe61]

Nicely done.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Very very nice. Looking good.

 

[4FordFamily]

Looks great! I like the wood finish!

 

[Richard Schmidt]

I installed the lights this weekend. What ya think?

I taped a piece of paper behind tank then measured to figure out mounting hole locations in the wall. With the "Boss" looking over my shoulder I thought it best to measure 4 times before drilling those holes, not sure who was more scared, her because these holes were going into the new drywall in our new home, or me because she watched me measure 4 times before drilling those holes.
I pulled the tab on a beer can to congratulate the tape measure for being correct.
The light fixtures swing 90 degrees so I have full access to the top of the tank without having to try to work around them.
Next step is plumbing.
I'll keep you updated.

Rick

 

[NHreefguy]

I'm diggin the hangers! There's nothing more exciting than a new tank build.

 

[DLHDesign]

Nice looking stand, tank, and hanger! Looking forward to seeing the plumbing.

Once thing I noticed is that the tank seems to be sitting right on the granite. I've seen other advice that it's a good idea to put some kind of padding (foam, neoprene, etc.) that can compress ever so slightly. From what I recall, this helps to prevent micro-stress on the tank seams. Is that something you're thinking of doing?