Stand planning stages... (1 Viewer)

[mario8402]

So I either need to get a new tank asap or sell mine and get out..
I have been contemplating a steel stand over a wood one because its all the rage and seems better all around... can anyone give me the pros and cons?
It will be holding a 180 and will be around 36" tall and will need to be able to hold a 75 underneath, is that possible?

 

[AquaNerd]

make the stand 40" tall...that's how tall mine is.

tons of room underneath.

steel stand can be extremely strong and you can put all types of material on it (woods, plastic, etc) to hide the metal.

con is price and the fact that it is very large and may not fit through the door when it's done. just plan ahead.

 

[tas5tas]

Tall stands are great...mine is 43" tall. Plenty of room underneath.

 

[mario8402]

yeah, Im just trying to figure out which one would be better.. Not really sure how much materials would cost for steel or wood.. obviously with steel I would have to pay someone to build it, with the wood, I could probably build it myself

 

[andrew7b]

Mario,
When I was building my son stand. I priced both steel and wood. Steel will cost you alot more. Also you have to get it prime and powercoat to prevent it from future rusting. You have to skin w/ both. Wood you can built it yourself to save some money. I did my son tank stand w/ red oak wood. The grain showed up nicely when you stain it.

 

[karlo]

I wanted mine in steel and it was for a 120G and it would have cost me the same as a new tank so i went with wood and and built it for about $150 and good thing Mike helped me if not it would have been to short so we did it at 40" just perfect and really heavy duty and no need of center brace.

 

[mario8402]

what thickness wood did yall use? I was planning on 1/2" for the stand skin and 1/4" wood for the canopy to make it a little lighter, but I cant find anyone selling the same type of wood with those thicknesses..

 

[Reefaddict79]

the stand I built for my little project had 21/32 plywood with 1/4 red oak ply glued to the plywood and routered flush on the edges that would later be trimmed in 1 x 3 red oak . Check out Houston hardwoods they had all sorts of veneer plywood.

 

[cliner]

Whatever you decide, thing of all the little gizmos, gadgets, doo-hickies, etc., that you will have or want to add later. I regret not modifying mine before setting up 180 gal. I am out of real estate down there and couldn't add much if I decide to later. Taller will defintely give you some more options ,but think about where the tank/stand will sit in your house, could you also build longer than tank?

 

[d2mini]

I built my current stand higher than normal. Don't remember the exact height off hand but it's around 40". And then I have a tall canopy on top. Other than lifting the top to feed, i have to stand on a stool to do pretty much everything. I keep one near the tank. But it is nice not having to bend over to look into the tank.

Who builds custom unfinished stands in Houston? If I get another tank, as much fun as it was building my first stand, I think I'd rather save the time and energy and have someone else build me one.

 

[mario8402]

thanks for the tip reefaddict.. I will have to check them out, just wish it wasnt so far.. they have good prices?

cliner, I thought about that, but I dont really like the look of a stand that is bigger than the tank, if thats what I wanted I should have just gotten a longer tank haha. Hey I sent you a pm last night, I would like to come check out your stand sometime soon if you dont mind so I can get some ideas?

d2mini, I built my frame @ 40" too. so its going to be tall, but it will be worth it like you said to view it.
I have also been looking to see if anyone builds custom unfinished stands and cant find anyone. just trying to get prices really and see if its worth my time doing it myself.

 

[Reefaddict79]

the prices at Houston Hardwoods were'nt outrageous but not cheap, but they do have a giant selection of exotic wood that would be nice for trim work or building a really high end stand.

 

[mario8402]

I stopped by ACE and may be doing 3/4 birch on the bottom and 1/4" for the canopy. what do yall think?

 

[cliner]

I used some birch on mine, it looks good and takes staining well.

 

[andrew7b]

Mario,
I would not use birch. I would use red hardwood. It's because it will show the grain alot better then birch. You can come by and see the stand I build for my son tank.

 

[d2mini]

Mario, i measured my stand and it turned out to be about 42" tall.
Here's my stand thread that shows what I ended up with. I never built anything like that before so I just made it up as I went along.

http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=33965&start=0

 

[mario8402]

thx for the tip cliner

andrew7b, thats why I want to use birch, I dont want to see the grains too much, I will be staining it dark and want to match my cabinets as much as possible. I would like to come check out your tank though, maybe later this evening?

thx d2mini, I think yours came out pretty nice. My friend and I are planning on winging it too haha