DIY Stand

[TheEngineer]

I'm one day into a reboot of my 50g SCA cube. I was originally planning to paint the stand and reuse it, but after getting the sump out I realized the MDF was severely degraded on the one side. In the trash it will go! I haven't made my own stand before, so this will be a first for me. I'd appreciate all the advice you can give!

This time around I'm going to do a "dry" electronics section on the left side of the stand. It will be separated from the sump by a piece of plywood (non-structural). I plan to build the stand using 1x4 and 1x2 pine boards with 1/2" plywood for the top, bottom and doors. The doors will be removable on the left, front and right. Only the back wall will be fixed. I plan to hold the doors on with magnets and simple strip to hold it up.

Here's a drawing of my initial concept:

I'm sort of basing the design off of this one that @dbl built. I don't have a fence for my table saw, so I can't do the nice inlay for the joints, but I'm planning to join them with a strip of 1x2.

 

[redfishbluefish]

That is panel construction. If you have a table saw, you're good to go. You can purchase 1 by strips from HD in various widths. The "panel" portion is 3/32 to 1/4 inch. I did something similar for my 35 cube. Door held in place with Neo-magnets countersunk and epoxy glued in.

 

[TheEngineer]

Think this is strong enough for a 50g with a sump? Seems like it would be to me.

 

[dbl]

Think this is strong enough for a 50g with a sump? Seems like it would be to me.

It will be plenty strong. The one pictured was actually built for a friend's 75 with a sump. Good luck with the build.

 

[TheEngineer]

It will be plenty strong. The one pictured was actually built for a friend's 75 with a sump. Good luck with the build.

Awesome! Is the doubled up top needed?

 

[dbl]

Awesome! Is the doubled up top needed?

Probably not under normal circumstances. But the person it was built for decided he wanted an overhanging top, both in the front and the sides. With the suggestion of others, I doubled it up so he didn't have to be quite so exact on placing the tank on the top.

 

[TheEngineer]

Probably not under normal circumstances. But the person it was built for decided he wanted an overhanging top, both in the front and the sides. With the suggestion of others, I doubled it up so he didn't have to be quite so exact on placing the tank on the top.

Ah! I plan to have a 3” overhang all around. So I should double up then?

 

[dbl]

Ah! I plan to have a 3” overhang all around. So I should double up then?

Personally I think you could do it either way and be fine. But for the small amount of "extra" wood I would just double it up.

 

[TheEngineer]

I was thinking more about this earlier today and I realized that if I use sanded plywood for the top I'm going to have an unfinished edge to deal with. I thought about trimming it or something similar, but I don't really like that look. The idea I had is to use the interior frame as the mounting point and lower it by 1/2" to recess the top. This picture is what I'm thinking.

My worry is that now the nails and glue connecting the inner frame to the legs/frame has to hold the entire weight of the tank. I feel like I'm missing something obvious here....

 

[TheEngineer]

I could just run trim around the whole top of the tank, but I don't really want to increase the width of the stand even more.

 

[Greybeard]

Either of the two previous posts would work... as long as the tank is sitting on a level, flat surface.

Many of us, myself included, over engineer and over build our stands. Yes, it's a heavy box of water, and a catastrophic failure would be a major mess... but as you said, you had it on a factory OSB or particle board stand... and that held up for some time. If it hadn't been exposed to water, it would likely have lasted far longer. I've seen 2x4 stands wrapped in 1/2" or 3/4" ply that you could have used to support a car. There's really no need for it.

Your stand needs 3 things: Some reasonable resistance to water damage (that puts OSB and particle board right out of the running for me). Ability to carry the load, with a safety margin. On your 50g cube, say 700 lbs? That's really not that much of a load. It also needs to be able to resist racking or twisting well enough to stand up to everyday abuse... you have to decide for yourself how much abuse your stand is going to take. With my 4 year old grandson a regular visitor, this one was pretty important to me

My latest stand is powder coated steel, with a 3/4" ply top, extending around the tank as a shelf, well sealed to water damage. Why? It was the strongest, most open, longest expected lifespan materials I could come up with, without being terribly expensive. Probably cost me less to build than some of the high quality wooden cabinetry stands I see around here all the time, and it's at least as strong... and it works with the look I was going for.

 

[TheEngineer]

I just realized that first picture may have been a bit misleading...The inner frame does not connect to the floor.

I can use pocket holes to connect the top board to the legs and then it would rest on the inner frame.

 

[TheEngineer]

I thought more about it last night... Gonna go with this design.

If I can find a pine top that is the right size I might skip the border.

Here's where I am with the design.

I'm happy to see all of my current equipment will fit inside the stand without a problem. My ATO reservoir used to sit on the floor next to the tank. Some day I'll make my own three section container for ATO and two part.

Now, how about height? This is setup just like my current tank at 31.5". I'm going to get all 6' pine boards so I could just go right up to 36" and not need any extra material. It would be nice to not have to bend so far to see in it, but when I'm sitting down the height is fine.

 

[Greybeard]

Looks like a plan

Height? My tried and true method is to measure from my up-stretched armpit to the floor, subtract tank height, and you have stand height

My latest build moves the sump and life support equipment to a closet behind the tank. No more working on my knees for this old fatman.

 

[TheEngineer]

Great thought! 36”it is!

 

[TheEngineer]

I found the look for the front I want. (I think and pending wife approval).

I’d have the door wrap around the side so you can’t tell it is there. The trim on the front and both sides would be part of the door.

It would limit access to the electronics but I honestly very rarely fiddle with them. I would need to take off both doors. That might be a nice safety feature from the kids though.

The doors on both sides would just be flat boards, not this design.

 

[cilyjr]

Height? My tried and true method is to measure from my up-stretched armpit to the floor, subtract tank height, and you have stand height

Lol, brilliant.

 

[Greybeard]

Lol, brilliant.

It came as a shock to me when I found this was not common practice. Seemed obvious to me. There are reasons to vary from this... my current system is lower, but it's a wide, shallow, open top system that lends itself to a lower display. Got a friend setting up a 90 cube, he raised his stand to the point that the top rim is nose height... gotta keep a step ladder next to the tank for access. Yes, the extra under tank height is nice, and the display being higher lends itself to the 'look' he was going for... but no look would be worth working from a ladder every time I needed to stick an arm into my tank.

Same reason I don't care for canopies. Yeah, it can be a good look, but it makes accessing the tank harder... for what?

 

[siggy]

If I built a stand for a cube, I would do a oversized cabinet too, but with a 10-12" side counter and offset the tank. I see a lot of cubes here with packed cabinets and it drives me nuts. I would use some type of solid surface top, ether granit or smoked glass. The carcass would be 3/4" plywood in oak, maple or cherry and I would use biscuits and pocket hole joinery and 1" by-pine or scrap-3/4" to reinforce where needed and probably order nice doors from lowes

 

[siggy]

(I think and pending wife approval).

Edit: but if I lived in Pennsylvania I think my Wife would insist we drive to the Hershey area and see what the amish folks have Good luck