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Aquarium stand for my son.

Tom Pritchard

Tom Pritchard

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22
Location
Rochester, New York
A while back I posted a question about plans for an aquarium stand in the Designs, Plans, and Sketches forum. I received several great suggestions, and have since started putting the stand together. I'm making it out of 3/4" birch/maple plywood, with maple trim and door. The last picture is of the boards that I will be gluing up for the door. It's a tough project because I only have my son's measurements to gauge the size of the stand with:huh: . He wanted it taller than most stands available so that it can be seen from across the room. In any case, here are the pics. Thanks for looking!
 

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Looking good AND solid! :thumb:

I thought you were building a router table...........what with the hole in the back.......What is that for :huh:

Looks like you are doing a heck of a nice job, lucky boy you have there! :D
 
Air hoses etc..........?

So the filters etc would all be in the cabinet?

I guess things have changed since I had a little aquarium with everything on the top...? :dunno: :D

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Cheers!
 
Tom, that stand is loking good. What are the diamensions of it? I would be carefull with a wooden top for the cabinet. The water splashing might warp the edges, just use a good water repellent finish on the top and inside if your filter is going in there.

Stu, My air pump for the fish tanks is in the attic, but the filters, heaters and water pumps are under the cabinets. It helps keep it clean looking.
 
Looks great Tom - and nice looking shop too, love all that lighting. Looking forward to seeing the final piece! :thumb:
 
Wow, thanks for all the replies and questions!

Chris, yes the maple for the door has some pretty nice figure in it. I'm using an aneline dye from Lee Valley for the first time at my son's request for a finish, so we'll see how the figure pops out.

Stuart, the hole in the back is for the power, air, and water lines that go from the filter and airpump on the shelf in the base up to the aquarium.

Al, the stand is 30" high and 30 1/4" wide. With the 3/4" maple trim pieces around the base, it will be 14" deep and 31 3/4" wide at the base where it will sit on the floor. Someone mentioned having at least 14" of depth in the base for a more stable structure. :thumb: (Thanks Al!)
I plan on using a waterbased polyurethane (gloss or semi-gloss) for the finish, and the shelf that the tank sits on is melamine covered (no water penetration).

Tim, thanks for noticing the shop lighting. I recently redid all the lighting in my shop to help my aging eyes be as accurate as possible!

Thanks again for the comments everyone, I'll post more as I move ahead!
 
What fish is he keeping?

I have got guppys and Pleco catfish at the moment. Guppies cos you can buy 10 and soon have 200, and Plecos cos you can buy one and have clean tank for 20 years (as long as it big enough)

Cheers

Ian
 
1 more question

Is he putting it on carpet or soild flooring? If carpet make sure you put down a piece of atleaet 1/2 plywood. Carpet can couse it to sit strange without a solid bottom. Make sure you show us a pic of it full of fish. Yor son is going to really in joy that stand. Congrats on the great work.
 
Ian Abraham said:
What fish is he keeping?

I have got guppys and Pleco catfish at the moment. Guppies cos you can buy 10 and soon have 200, and Plecos cos you can buy one and have clean tank for 20 years (as long as it big enough)

Cheers

Ian
Click to expand...

Hello Ian, thanks for the reply!

He has a plecostomus, several platys, some neons, and a couple wierd little catfish that I can't remember:doh: .

Ian, I was reading your heading and noticed that you are in New Zealand! The son that I am building the stand for visited New Zealand last summer as a chaparone for a People-to-People delegation from his school district. People-to-People is an organization that allows high school students to travel abroad for 4 weeks in the summer to see other parts of the world and meet students from other countries. I know my son was in Auckland, and a couple other cities in New Zealand, and kept commenting on what a beautiful country it is! He is looking forward to returning someday.

Where are you located in New Zealand? He will be interested in hearing about it! Small world, isn't it:D .
 
Hi Tom

I live in a town called Stratford, Taranaki province. It's a bit off the beaten trail for the tourist thing, and about 4 hours from the main cities of Auckland and Wellington. But then I'm not into the big city thing and prefer the semi-rural pace of things ;)

Cheers

Ian
 
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