What do you wish your aquarium(nano) stand had?

[Sawyer Breslow]

Hi all,

im working on designing an aquarium stand for nano tanks, 20-45 gallons. I would like to hear from everyone on what they like and don’t like about their particular stand. Could be anything from material to hinges to height and everything in between. Looking forward to some great ideas!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

A slide out bottom, removable sides and doors would be very nice.

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Interesting. My initial thought would be that removable sides would increase the material and width of the cabinet. Removable door would be easy to accomplish.

slide out bottom would be easier to accomplish on nano tanks since you are likely only holding dosing containers and other small gear.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Sliding shelves would be fantastic, it's often really difficult to get in the cabinet to find supplements so sliding shelves would be fantastic. Removeable sides seem a bit weird to me, but if the nano has a sump then it would be fantastic to get in at the sides. A sliding door may also be something to consider, they are all the rage right now in the reptile world so it may be cool to integrate. Swappable acrylic windows in the doors or sides could also be neat, as well as integrated internal lighting.

 

[Quietman]

Well I wish it was bigger.

I put casters on my RSR170. Very glad I did that...raised the sump to make maintenance easier, cleaning spills under tank is a breeze and the few times I've needed to move the tank didn't require a complete tear down. See my build thread for details.

The challenge I've yet to beat is cable management. Tough with a smaller tank.

 

[BiggestE222]

Hi all,

im working on designing an aquarium stand for nano tanks, 20-45 gallons. I would like to hear from everyone on what they like and don’t like about their particular stand. Could be anything from material to hinges to height and everything in between. Looking forward to some great ideas!

More room. And build in options for hanging my power bars.

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Well I wish it was bigger.

I put casters on my RSR170. Very glad I did that...raised the sump to make maintenance easier, cleaning spills under tank is a breeze and the few times I've needed to move the tank didn't require a complete tear down. See my build thread for details.

The challenge I've yet to beat is cable management. Tough with a smaller tank.

Casters would be manageable with smaller tanks. Interesting idea!

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Sliding shelves would be fantastic, it's often really difficult to get in the cabinet to find supplements so sliding shelves would be fantastic. Removeable sides seem a bit weird to me, but if the nano has a sump then it would be fantastic to get in at the sides. A sliding door may also be something to consider, they are all the rage right now in the reptile world so it may be cool to integrate. Swappable acrylic windows in the doors or sides could also be neat, as well as integrated internal lighting.

Acrylic windows would be an interesting upgrade. I know my wife wouldn’t want to see into the cabinet, .

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

More room. And build in options for hanging my power bars.

I was thinking about that. Cable and electrical component management would be solid

 

[Quietman]

Casters would be manageable with smaller tanks. Interesting idea!

To be honest, I'm planning on a bigger tank (120 peninsula) and the stand is going to be designed to support casters. I might take 6 of them (light industrial casters can have a very high capacity) but it's just too darn convenient not to do it. I won't have a tank without them.

I may not use the ones I did in my build. The extension foot is nice if kind of a pain to extend (I didn't extend it for the first several months just in case I had to move), so just a simple rotating light industrial swivel locking caster would do nicely.

Because our aquariums are usually the heaviest things in our homes and the most unusual with water flow and piping I think we tend to grossly over engineer (or at least over estimate) the engineering needs. Super charged pumps, waaaayyy over designed cabinets and such. Move to the industrial world and the weights/capacities we're talking about with reef aquariums wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

Best of luck. Nothing like the design/dreaming stage.

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

To be honest, I'm planning on a bigger tank (120 peninsula) and the stand is going to be designed to support casters. I might take 6 of them (light industrial casters can have a very high capacity) but it's just too darn convenient not to do it. I won't have a tank without them.

I may not use the ones I did in my build. The extension foot is nice if kind of a pain to extend (I didn't extend it for the first several months just in case I had to move), so just a simple rotating light industrial swivel locking caster would do nicely.

Because our aquariums are usually the heaviest things in our homes and the most unusual with water flow and piping I think we tend to grossly over engineer (or at least over estimate) the engineering needs. Super charged pumps, waaaayyy over designed cabinets and such. Move to the industrial world and the weights/capacities we're talking about with reef aquariums wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

Best of luck. Nothing like the design/dreaming stage.

Yea, definitely over engineered! Probably because the amount put into stocking most of aquariums! Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Storage underneath. It looks better without it but it’s always a pain to go get stuff in the place I store things across the room

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

More space…

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Storage underneath. It looks better without it but it’s always a pain to go get stuff in the place I store things across the room

Yeah, my thought would be a bigger cabinet then tank size for the extra storage.

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

More space…

Are you thinking a bigger cabinet or would better space utilization help? For example more shelf’s. I feel like a lot of times the cabinet is so tall that you miss out on using a lot of the vertical space.

 

[Devaji]

build it like a tinny home where every inch as a purpose. cable mng. solved, storage
basically make it a smart euro cabbie where every inch counts.

 

[Reefing102]

Hmm cable management built into the corners, perhaps a built in slide out controller board, wider doors or no brace between doors, also something that’s a bit wider than the tank itself by maybe 3 or so inches on each side to give just that extra space to move things around. I’m liking the caster idea too

 

[fish farmer]

Removable door and/or sides.

I don't have the sump to my 29 underneath a stand. It probably wouldn't fit a standard stand.

The sump is a 20 high and I'm enclosing it (again) next to a kitchen cabinet. I used to access it from one side. I had a small curtain for access. In the newer arrangement I'm going to add a removable front panel as well and still have the side curtain. I want to be able to remove the sump if it ever leaks. That should be valid for all tanks. I worked with an old stand on a 120 gallon and the only way the sump was put in or taken out was from behind. The front had four tiny doors....it was a six foot tank, they could have made a couple of big doors.

Removable/adjustable shelving over the sump.

Make it out of materials that don't rot from seawater.

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Hmm cable management built into the corners, perhaps a built in slide out controller board, wider doors or no brace between doors, also something that’s a bit wider than the tank itself by maybe 3 or so inches on each side to give just that extra space to move things around. I’m liking the caster idea too

Sliding controller board would be cool!

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Removable door and/or sides.

I don't have the sump to my 29 underneath a stand. It probably wouldn't fit a standard stand.

The sump is a 20 high and I'm enclosing it (again) next to a kitchen cabinet. I used to access it from one side. I had a small curtain for access. In the newer arrangement I'm going to add a removable front panel as well and still have the side curtain. I want to be able to remove the sump if it ever leaks. That should be valid for all tanks. I worked with an old stand on a 120 gallon and the only way the sump was put in or taken out was from behind. The front had four tiny doors....it was a six foot tank, they could have made a couple of big doors.

Removable/adjustable shelving over the sump.

Make it out of materials that don't rot from seawater.

Adjustable shelves will be a must for sure!