Aquarium Stand?

[Bill Grumbine]

Tom, let me add my little bit of experience to this as well. I have built two aquarium stands, one for my own family and one for a customer. Ours was a wee little thing knocked together very quickly when the girls came home with goldfish won at a carnival. I made it from oak veneered 3/4" MDF with solid oak edge banding. It had an inset door, and a flat top with just a little bit of a rim to keep the aquarium from sliding around. It was butt joined with biscuits, and was nothing more than a simple box to elevate the tank to vewing height and store supplies.

The second one was a little more elaborate, and I never got pictures of it before I delivered it. It was made from wormy maple and 3/4" birch veneer ply. It was for a salt water 75 gal tank. It had raised panel doors and was pretty much a simple box with raised panel doors. It was glued and screwed using Kreg pocket screws. I splurged and used stainless steel screws since it was a salt water tank.

To reinforce what Jeff wrote, you do not need post and beam style construction with 2x4 lumber. My tank is in storage, but it saw lots of service in its day. The other tank is going strong in place for a year now with no problems. A properly constructed tank with square joints and solid joinery (like pocket screws) is perfectly capable of holding a tank full of water. Square and level is essential, so if the floor where it is going is not level, you need to plan for levelers in your construction.

I hope this helps you out some.

[Tom Pritchard]

Well I went with my son today and bought a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" maple/birch plywood, and some nice figured 3 1/2" wide by 3/4" thick maple for the trimwood at Lowe's. I'm going to use an Anelin dye for the first time on this project, and probably a superblonde shellac over the top of that. I was a little concerned with water on the shellac, but my son assured me that there won't be much of that ! I am going to try and use pocket screws where possible. Tomorrow I'm going to try and sketch something up a little more concrete, and then get started. I'll be back for more help on this one, I'm sure!

My thanks to all who took the time to reply !

[Frank Fusco]

I have never built a pretty stand. The one I did with wood (not pretty) was with 2x4s and, for a tank of 30 gal. or larger, I wouldn't use anything less. I know, you said, "except for racking". Keep in mind, in a home, unexpected things can happen. Grandchildren playing, a careless housekeeper, drunk friend, etc. Others here have experience with aquarium stands as well and don't agree with me. That's OK. But, personally, I would never build, or buy, a pretty wooden aquarium stand. I have had aquariums for fifty years. You always contend with water problems. The water can come from just sloshing when cleaning, big fish splashing, plain old creep, the occasional leak, condensation, whatever. Water happens and nice wood things can get damaged. My preference has always been steel stands. Not the prettiest but the most practical.

[Al killian]

When you make it, make sure it is a little deeper. I was told it should be at least 14" deep to help keep it from being top heavy. Good luck with it and take plenty of pics.

[Tom Pritchard]

Hi all! Bet you thought I had been shipped to Siberia, huh? Well, we've been pretty busy since the first of the year, and I'm just getting around to putting the stand together. OK, the material is 3/4" maple/birch plywood, and I decided to go with pocket hole joinery as someone here recommended. It will also be 14" deep at the base for stability, which someone else here recommended. I have the base assembled now, and hope to get the shelves and crossbracing done this weekend. I'm going to trim the stand with curly maple, and then use an aniline dye from Lee Valley to stain it. I'm still up in the air about the final sealer, although I'm leaning towards a water base poly. I would like to go with shellac, but I'm concerned about water drops. BTW, the top shelf that the tank will be set on is 3/4" melamine board. Thanks for looking!

[Ian Abraham]

Looking good Tom
I would go with the Poly too, you know it's going to get water on it at some point.

If 4x2s are overkill then I best not show you any of my stands with the 6x2s or 8x2s.

Seriously using some solid (but cheap) structural components on the INSIDE of a tank stand doesn't mean it has to be ugly. You can clad the strong frame you have built with whatever fancy wood or construction you prefer. Mine are usually clad with cypress or pine 4x1s with T&G profile, but thats because I have solid timber, and would have to BUY plywood. I realise that ply is a better option structurally and cost wise for most people though.

Over-engineered? Possibly...
Going to fall apart? Not is this lifetime

Cheers

Ian

[Richard Smith]

I'm probably not adding anything of importance but here I go. I have a commercially made aquarium stand and hood made of 3/4" pine with poly finish( 75gal.). Very nice looking, like furniture. You don't need 2/4s. You want something that won't sag. A 1/6 on edge won't sag. Also my stand has doors and drawers. What they did was build dividers in at two diff. directions that go from bottom to top. This ilemanates ANY sag or racking.

On another note; I saw an article in an aquarium mag. The man bought a wooden commode on sale at a clearance price and beefed it up to make a stand.