First Tank in 10 Years, stand build suggestions?

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Hey everyone I’m new to the forum and super excited to get back into the hobby. I’m planning on starting my first tank in 10 years, a 90g from glasscages.com, the specs are below. I have a CNC Router and can pretty much build anything. I’m looking for suggestions for stands including materials. I plan on doing a 20g long sump setup. Any help is appreciated!

48 x 18 x 25 tall glass aquarium 90 gallons
Low Iron Glass front and ends
Overflow and 2 holes
Acrylic overflow cover
2 sch 80 bulkheads
Riser tube and nozzles
Hinged glass tops

 

[Big G]

I used oak plank and oak plywood for my stand for my 90.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Thanks Gary this looks awesome. I can tell you know how to build by the jig you used for the rear vertical support. Usually only cabinet makers have that tool. What is your sump setup like? Did you put your sump in before finishing the assembly or do you have a removable panel?

 

[Big G]

The sump is an Eshopps RS200. Nothing fancy in the sump: cheato and sea lettuce, a couple of mesh bags of BioMax, extra foam filters for HOB and bubble filter to have handy for use in a hospital or QT. The front doors with the glass open completely. I doubled the support above the front doors and the front corners of the stand, so there is no center support bar getting in the way of inserting, removing, or cleaning the sump.

That tool is made by Kreg. Yes, I use it for cabinet making, doors, windows, furniture, etc. Very handy and makes an incredibly strong joint.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

The sump is an Eshopps RS200. Nothing fancy in the sump: cheato and sea lettuce, a couple of mesh bags of BioMax, extra foam filters for HOB and bubble filter to have handy for use in a hospital or QT. The front doors with the glass open completely. I doubled the support above the front doors and the front corners of the stand, so there is no center support bar getting in the way of inserting, removing, or cleaning the sump.

That tool is made by Kreg. Yes, I use it for cabinet making, doors, windows, furniture, etc. Very handy and makes an incredibly strong joint.

Awesome! I’ll probably make mine out of vacuum formed MDF as it’ll seal the material really well or Baltic birch if my wife wants me to paint or stain it. I could also use steel square tubing as the reinforcement. Come to think of it I could actually have my fabricator build a metal frame out of steel square tubing and just put panels on bolted from the inside with 1/4-20 threaded inserts. Thanks!

 

[ca1ore]

90 is not a big or particularly heavy tank so just about any plywood/mdf box would suffice. I personally prefer using ply/mdf over dimensional lumber as it is more stable. For my 450 stand, I made my own micro-lams out of glued/screwed plywood for all horizontal members - probably unnecessary for a 90 though.

 

[Big G]

just put panels on bolted from the inside with 1/4-20 threaded inserts. Thanks!

Saw a reefer build his stand out of steel and then used those really powerful "rare earth" magnets to hold the panels in place. Absolute genius.

 

[Sod Buster]

FRP is the new trend. Fiberglass reinforced plastic. Strong, light, and will not corrode. Skin it with whatever you like.

 

[d2mini]

I'd use an 80/20 type material or have someone weld you a frame.
Then use that CNC to create the skin, with magnets to hold it to the frame. Access from all sides.
Also include a full "drip tray" inside as your floor.

 

[Captain Quint]

Hey everyone I’m new to the forum and super excited to get back into the hobby. I’m planning on starting my first tank in 10 years, a 90g from glasscages.com, the specs are below. I have a CNC Router and can pretty much build anything. I’m looking for suggestions for stands including materials. I plan on doing a 20g long sump setup. Any help is appreciated!

48 x 18 x 25 tall glass aquarium 90 gallons
Low Iron Glass front and ends
Overflow and 2 holes
Acrylic overflow cover
2 sch 80 bulkheads
Riser tube and nozzles
Hinged glass tops

Lots of terrific info on stands presented by some astute members on stands thus far.

Sounds like a plan. I've owned several G.S.'s various sized tanks over the years. They are well built and weigh a ton. lol

I know Tom and his wife (owners of G.C.'s) and tom sent me the plans for a stand to build (could have and should have just ordered one of their stands...ugh)

I have always used oak on the stands for the G.C. tanks and recommended styrofoam between the tank and the top of the stand and have never had an issue.

My present is a custom 65g from them, low iron all the way around...built the stand with front and left side door as to my position/placement and ease to pull sump in necessary and easier to work on for sure. Just a down and dirty stand.

I'll post several pics of near completion to give more options on what you're considering. You can purchase one which will be much like the one shown from G.C. at a very reasonable cost.

GLWY DIY and please keep us updated.

 

[Big G]

Lots of terrific info on stands presented by some astute members on stands thus far.

Sounds like a plan. I've owned several G.S.'s various sized tanks over the years. They are well built and weigh a ton. lol

I know Tom and his wife (owners of G.C.'s) and tom sent me the plans for a stand to build (could have and should have just ordered one of their stands...ugh)

I have always used oak on the stands for the G.C. tanks and recommended styrofoam between the tank and the top of the stand and have never had an issue.

My present is a custom 65g from them, low iron all the way around...built the stand with front and left side door as to my position/placement and ease to pull sump in necessary and easier to work on for sure. Just a down and dirty stand.

I'll post several pics of near completion to give more options on what you're considering. You can purchase one which will be much like the one shown from G.C. at a very reasonable cost.

GLWY DIY and please keep us updated.

Very nice. Yep, I highly recommend using marine grade paints and or varnishes rather than the usual Home Depot quality paints/varnishes.

But what is the two wheeled beauty in the back right?

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

These are amazing ideas and what an awesome tank! I'm thinking of going with a welded steel frame of 1x3 tubing. The top and floor can be 1-3/16" MDF, and all of the sides 3/4" laminated foam core with the rare earth magnets recessed in the panels. I can cut the MDF and foam core on my router so everything is exact including the pockets for the magnets. Here's a drawing of the idea and a pic of the magnets I found on amazon. I appreciate all the help and keep the suggestions coming!

 

[Sod Buster]

Nice. I remembered the strong magnets name: "neodymium"

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Nice. I remembered the strong magnets name: "neodymium"

That's exactly what these are. Thanks!

 

[Ignitros]

Check out https://www.framingtech.com/solutions/aquarium-stands/

 

[Lukas75]

First let me say welcome back to the hobby! And welcome to R2R! I'm cheap I just use pine 2x4s to build a frame and skin it with plywood.I usually look at it when I'm done and say, "yup I overkilled the hell out of that one, again.." Kreg Jigs are the best thing since sliced bread for building stands.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

So I'm kind of a bonehead. I was at my shop the other day and something clicked, I already have frames for furniture consoles already built. So I measured one of the frames I've got in my inventory and it's identical to the dimensions I designed in the drawing above. I can remove the doors, create a top and the foam core skins. This is PERFECT!

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Hey everyone so I'm still in the process of designing this, crazy right? Well I say a pic of someone that had a lighting stand built onto the frame so I came up with this idea.

Will a permanent light frame get in the way of servicing the tank? I figured I would set it to 12"-14" above the tank. Do you ever need more clearance than that? Thanks!

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Bump!

 

[Big G]

Are you planning on building it out of wood? If so, the area where the light frame supports attach to the main tank structure could be an area of concern. That's a lot of stress where those supports attach to the base.