Aquarium stand design

John Hemenway

Member
Messages
138
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
I've started the SketchUp design to build a stand for a new aquarium. The aquarium will be about 48x24x24 inches. This will be about 120 gallons. Final weight will be aprox. 1000 lbs.

Please take a look at the (hopefully) attached sketch. Do you see any structural problems?

The stand will be made out of birch ply and most likely maple for the face frame. I'm trying to create a very plain look similar to the style of an ADA stand ( www.adana.co.jp/en/products/na_tank/wood_cabinet ). The doors will be inset plain panels. The finish will be grey paint or some other opaque grey finish. Is it possible to tint poly to get an opaque finish? I've only done stain and clear coat poly or lacquer on cabinets.

Anyway that's it for now. Please feel free to comment/critique!
 

Attachments

  • living rm stand - reef.skp
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Fabricating with 3/4" plywood can produce a very sturdy cabinet. On edge, plywood will support quite a bit of weight. The trick with the cabinet is to minimize the possibility of racking, or also called twisting. The way it's made with supported corners will act as gussets, counteracting the forces due to a cabinet being very top heavy. A few aquarium cabinets I've done this way:
Oak tambour over plywood.

Ebony aquarium cabinet.

Here is a quick drawing for a plywood construction.
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Aquacabdet.jpg



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mike i am safe to assume you coverd the raw plywood edge where you made the rabbets with some molding or veneer ?

10-4. If you click on my two examples (I think the links work), you'll see one is covered with Red Oak tambour, and the other with Macassar Ebony Veneer. An alternative if a hardwood plywood will be the finished face would be to add a moulding to cover the joinery.


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John I think I would beef it up a little with some 2x4s then skin it out with plywood.
One layer of 3/4 ply looks a little ify to me.........??

Les,
Thanks for the reply. Actually the sides are TWO sheets of ply each. I'll glue and screw them together. The current stands I have (commercially made) have 1" thick ply with the top dado'ed in only about 1/4"! They've been going good for 10 yrs. now.
 
Fabricating with 3/4" plywood can produce a very sturdy cabinet. On edge, plywood will support quite a bit of weight. The trick with the cabinet is to minimize the possibility of racking, or also called twisting. The way it's made with supported corners will act as gussets, counteracting the forces due to a cabinet being very top heavy. A few aquarium cabinets I've done this way:
Oak tambour over plywood.

Ebony aquarium cabinet.

Mike,
Nice stands.

I'm planning on a solid wood face frame. Would the same 'anti racking' happen by rabbiting the back of the FF instead of the side? How about a spline to attach FF to side? I'm trying to make the stand as plain as possible. No trim, no detail. The tank will be the feature. The stand is just there to keep the tank off the floor!

Here is the corner detail...

corner detail.jpg

Colorful, ain't it! :)

Side is dark green, FF stile is brown, spline is lime green. One of these days I'm going to have to read up on how to edit colors in SketchUp. :rofl:
 
John, check out mine, very similar concept..............
http://familywoodworking.org/forums...m-Stand-UPDATE&p=260375&highlight=#post260375

You don't need all the 2x4 framing, a well built plywood box properly braced so it doesn.t rack or twist is fine. I will question the solid top though, my LFS owner warned me against that, saying the tank needs support around the frame only. The bottom glass will bow due to weight, placing a solid top underneath could cause it to stress out and break. If you look at commercially made stands most of them do not have a solid top.

I think I might still have the sketch up plans (and as-builts) for mine, If you want them let me know and I'll e-mail (or PM) them to you.......

BTW, welcome to the aquarium addiction!!
 
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Mike,
Nice stands.

I'm planning on a solid wood face frame. Would the same 'anti racking' happen by rabbiting the back of the FF instead of the side? How about a spline to attach FF to side? I'm trying to make the stand as plain as possible. No trim, no detail. The tank will be the feature. The stand is just there to keep the tank off the floor!

There are a few ways to do the cabinet. If you make it like a traditional cabinet with plywood sides and a face frame, you will have a solid wood edging showing from the side. If your plywood and the solid wood FF are the same species, it will look finished. You can just use glue and clamp up the edges. I would suggest that you make your FF rails and stiles wide enough to create the "gusset" needed at the corners to prevent racking. I would make them at least 3" for the rails and stiles. To join the top and bottom rail to the stiles I would suggest making half lap joints.

I also suggest inner frames connecting the sides to the front and back. It can be like a fitted drop in face frame, and it can be flushed with the top edges. Or, better yet, and easier to do would be to inset a full plywood top to flush out to the top edges of the sides and the front and back. This will maintain the top of the stand to stay square and resist twisting. When you set the tank, there would be no wood edges covering any part of the tank frame.

Another method can be with 2x4's , but I don't usually use them for anything. If I did, they would be planed and jointed to be flat and square so when they are used in concert with each other, they make clean joints when doing the joinery. Unfortunately, 2x4's are notorious for twisting and warping, but, you will hear of some that say they use them. If you did use them, you could just clad the exterior with 1/4" hardwood plywood (if suitably braced).

For any joinery, I would use TB III and clamps. Mechanical fasteners will help. I would not suggest biscuits or pocket screws.


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I will question the solid top though, my LFS owner warned me against that, saying the tank needs support around the frame only. The bottom glass will bow due to weight, placing a solid top underneath could cause it to stress out and break. If you look at commercially made stands most of them do not have a solid top.

Commercially made stands are made to be as inexpensive as possible. Ask your LFS owner how many tank stands he has made. He likely recommends open tops because that's what he sells. With a solid top, the squareness of the top of the cabinet is maintained. If the floor is not flat, or the stand itself is a bit out of square, a solid top provides a flat surface for the frame of the tank. If leveling has to be made, a solid top will disperse the movement across the plywood top, not in direct line with any of the four legs, or one side or the other. Personally, I think it's a bunch of hooey that the bottom will be stressed if not allowed to bow. I believe it's the other way around.

If the bottom can bow beyond the thickness of the frame it sits in, it can have an effect on the glue joint angle (becoming obtuse from 90 degrees) to the front and back. Over time, it's stresses like that I would worry about.


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Aquarium stands do not need solid tops. The tanks are supported at the edges. That being said, a solid top or appropriately sized pieces at the ends and the middle (if required) prevent the stand from racking. On big tanks I always liked the ones with a well constructed 2x4 frame integrated with whatever exterior material was chosen. Plywood, solid wood, ship lap, frame and panel, corrugated steel - and even then they might have a plywood skin beneath the exterior material. Having experienced all the major quakes in Southern California since the 1960s I am always worried about building, bracing and mounting anything that's top heavy.

I have had fish tanks from 2 gallons to 150 gallons over the years. Basic rule of thumb is count on 10 pounds for every gallon of water for the tank plus the weight of the stand. If you have major external filtration or sumps don't forget to include the water volume for those as well.

Also consider that no matter how beefy your stand, your floor better be ready to support and not sag after setting up a bigger tank. I decided to sell my 150 gallon setup after moving into the second floor unit of a 140 year old brownstone in Boston and not having the guts to chance setting up 1500 pounds of static weight on those old walls and joists.
 
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Thanks for all the replies.

It's to late here for me to comprehend what's been said. I'll read for true comprehension tomorrow AM!

Sorry I didn't mention it before, this will be for an acrylic tank. They are ALWAYS supported completely. No open top stand for these bad boys! Also the glass tank known as 'rimless' is also completely supported. I've had several rimmed glass tanks and always had solid top stands. No problems yet. I think you CAN use open top stands w/ rimmed tanks (saves material cost) but I'm not sure it's a requirement.

I don't buy the argument about the bottom bowing. If the glass is that thin, well there is a problem from the get go. I've always put a pad - my current favorite is sheet styrofoam - under all tanks. Never had a problem.
 
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There are a few ways to do the cabinet. If you make it like a traditional cabinet with plywood sides and a face frame, you will have a solid wood edging showing from the side. If your plywood and the solid wood FF are the same species, it will look finished. You can just use glue and clamp up the edges. I would suggest that you make your FF rails and stiles wide enough to create the "gusset" needed at the corners to prevent racking. I would make them at least 3" for the rails and stiles. To join the top and bottom rail to the stiles I would suggest making half lap joints.

I also suggest inner frames connecting the sides to the front and back. It can be like a fitted drop in face frame, and it can be flushed with the top edges. Or, better yet, and easier to do would be to inset a full plywood top to flush out to the top edges of the sides and the front and back. This will maintain the top of the stand to stay square and resist twisting. When you set the tank, there would be no wood edges covering any part of the tank frame.

Another method can be with 2x4's , but I don't usually use them for anything. If I did, they would be planed and jointed to be flat and square so when they are used in concert with each other, they make clean joints when doing the joinery. Unfortunately, 2x4's are notorious for twisting and warping, but, you will hear of some that say they use them. If you did use them, you could just clad the exterior with 1/4" hardwood plywood (if suitably braced).

For any joinery, I would use TB III and clamps. Mechanical fasteners will help. I would not suggest biscuits or pocket screws.


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Mike, thanks for the reply.

Yes this will be constructed similarly to a traditional cabinet, just a bit stouter! The side/top and side/bottom connections will be a dado, glued and nailed (Norm style). The finish will be some sort of opaque, dare I say, paint like product. Anybody try to color either one of the Target coatings products or poly to get an opaque finish?

I like your suggestion for lap joints on the FF. The current plan calls for 2" wide stiles on ends, 4" wide center stile and 4 1/2" top rail. The center stile will be backed up with a 3" ply piece to provide extra support for the top and a center 'joist' under the top. This center brace was not shown on the original SU drawing.

The tank will sit below the top rail to hide the bottom edge. Since it's an acrylic tank, there is no frame. I don't really like the look of the bottom seam on an acrylic tank so it will be hidden.

I have no plans to use any 2x4s. They take up too much room in the stand. With all the other 'stuff' that goes under there i need every square inch of space. This is going to be a reef tank so there is a sump, skimmer, additives, etc.

John...
 
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...Anybody try to color either one of the Target coatings products or poly to get an opaque finish?...

I've mixed Transtint dye with Target USL and gotten good results. When sprayed lightly, it's not really opaque, but with enough coats the wood grain is pretty well obscured.

On this piece I did want some of the grain to show, but in the areas that got a heavy coat (like the inside), the grain is pretty well obscured. (It's ash, though, so short of using a grain filler, the growth rings would likely show up, even under paint.)

Bowl 092 - 01  800.jpg Bowl 092 - 03  800.jpg Bowl 092 - 08  800.jpg
 
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