Stand options for large tanks

[Tim P]

awesome thread guys. thanks for the inspiration. currently building a 200G and was debating wood vs steel. love the ideas for attaching a façade to steel so that seems like the way to go! And never knew I'd need "feet" to balance the load on the floor. Keep the ideas flowing!

 

[AKReef]

There are a couple ways to skin a steel stand. My current tank is on a steel stand with plywood skin. The side panels are attached through the inside with screws through the steel posts. The front panel is attached using panel clips attached to 1x2 stringers spanning the front. This makes the front panel removable for easy access to the inside of the stand. Here are pics:

Panel clips attached to stand:

Clips on back of plywood panel:

Panel attached to front:

My new tank has a steel stand on a concrete pad. The panels are going to be attached to the sides, again using 1x2 stringers attached to the stand, and the screws through the back into the panels.

Work in progress still:

 

[JasPR]

I have 120 & 180 oceanic tanks set up for 10 years now. The store bought wood stand is so degraded by saltwater that I sometimes fear it is near collapse. The hinges are beyond rusted and the cheap floor of the stand is like a wave now. I suppose I should not complain as I did get ten years out of them. I tell you this because I believe that wood ( and certainly NOT pressed board) should not be used as a building material around saltwater aquariums. Unless you accept that they have a shelf life and will look worse and worse over the years. You can build them not to fail, but they will never look new after a while. The best stands IMHO today are steel powder coated stars with MAGNETS to attach a pull away skirt. And if you can handle a contemporary look-- I prefer epoxy painted doors ( front and side) or formica sealed at the seams. Again, just my opinion formed from my experience and the experience of others. I would qualify my comments by saying, if you have an all fish aquarium, a specialty aquarium ( like all lion fish or in my case, one regal angel, two copper bands and three small bicolor angels in my 135) your woodstands will hold up better over time ( especially if your filter system is a closed design). But use a sump and no glass lid and keep corals ( hands in and out of the tank constantly), add an auto top off and a large skimmer and moisture and subtle salt spray (and the inevitable overflow WILL happen now and again). running long-- sorry

 

[FFFishy]

I used 2x2 steel. Added some adjustable feet so I could level the tank perfectly. Then had It powder coated black. Working on a magnetic facade.

@Cgfish25 Thanks for the pictures. That's a very nice stand. Looks like you have the adjustable feet sitting on angle-iron with some padding under it. Am I correct?

 

[solaris187]

There are a couple ways to skin a steel stand. My current tank is on a steel stand with plywood skin. The side panels are attached through the inside with screws through the steel posts. The front panel is attached using panel clips attached to 1x2 stringers spanning the front. This makes the front panel removable for easy access to the inside of the stand. Here are pics:

Panel clips attached to stand:

Clips on back of plywood panel:

Panel attached to front:

My new tank has a steel stand on a concrete pad. The panels are going to be attached to the sides, again using 1x2 stringers attached to the stand, and the screws through the back into the panels.

Work in progress still:

Do you happen to have links to, or know the name of those clips and stringers you are using?

 

[bblumberg]

You can also build a wood shell that slides into place, rather than being attached. Here is my 75g corner with and without the bottom shell.

 

[AKReef]

Do you happen to have links to, or know the name of those clips and stringers you are using?

Unfortunately, they came from the local specialty hardware store, so I don't know the specifics. But I did find something similar on Rockler.
http://www.rockler.com/2-z-clips?si...h5jO0Ok6XWojlc0dJOFOhSgdznQ_aIKxoCbcoQAvD_BwE

The stringers are pretty much just standard 1" x 2" lumber.

 

[Cgfish25]

Thanks! I actually welded the piece that the feet sit on. 1/4”x3” flat stock with 1/4”x1 1/2” welded perpendicular. Angle iron doesn’t have a flat surface it gets thicker as It gets closer to the corner so I thought that would work better.

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

I am building a 200g 8ft Long reef tank and built my stand out of 2x6’s and then skinned it with cabinet grade 3/4” plywood and painted it with an oil based enamel, everything is held together with coated decking screws as well! Made a removable Center brace in the front to make getting the sump in and out easier as well. The top is perfectly level on all planes thanks to 1600 psi shims because no house floor is perfectly level especially over a 6 To 8 ft span. Hope this helps, I would have done steel if it were in the budget and I didn’t have solid bamboo flooring to contend with.

 

[SandJ]

They make metal bands that you can wrap around the steel and screw into that so you dont have to drill the steel. Liquid nails also works if you want to glue. there are a lot of options if you do not want to drill into the steel. I personally would weld a tab to each corner and at every two feet and drill a hole into the metal tab and put a screw into that.

@Szigedi do you happen to know the name of the metal bands? Sounds like exactly what I am looking for!

And I apologize for resurrecting and old thread.

 

[Tony Hight]

Ddvr b

 

[Aardvark1134]

All you need is some strong glue like liquid nails and strong magnets. That way you can remove the wrapping anytime you want.