New Stand Build

[twentyleagues]

Thank you for the reply! Funny you say Pond Shield, I've been looking at that product recently as I'm kind of thinking about a little garden pond on the deck, and I'm thinking of basically building a wooden box. A pond liner would be cheap and easy, but leave a lot of wrinkles. It would be ideal if there was some kind of paint on solution to waterproofing the wooden box.

Yes it works well. Its kind of a pain to work with. I would also incorporate fiber glass sheets into it. Plenty of youtube videos on people building these.

 

[Freenow54]

Yes it works well. Its kind of a pain to work with. I would also incorporate fiber glass sheets into it. Plenty of youtube videos on people building these.

Don't they make moulded plastic ponds where you are?

 

[twentyleagues]

Don't they make moulded plastic ponds where you are?

Yes. Why?

 

[Freenow54]

Yes. Why?

build a bigger box put one in fill the rest with dirt add plants

 

[Freenow54]

Sorry meant for fish fan

 

[twentyleagues]

Sorry meant for fish fan

Ahh now it makes sense. I have done exactly what you say also. I currently have a 300g stock tank as a "pond" in my house those work well too. The 2- 300g plywood tanks I built were perfect for breeding the fish I wanted to breed. I just built the tanks and split each one into 5 sections with some acrylic, used air driven filtration for each section.

 

[Freenow54]

Thank you for the reply! Funny you say Pond Shield, I've been looking at that product recently as I'm kind of thinking about a little garden pond on the deck, and I'm thinking of basically building a wooden box. A pond liner would be cheap and easy, but leave a lot of wrinkles. It would be ideal if there was some kind of paint on solution to waterproofing the wooden box.

Build a bigger box buy a plastic moulded pond. Put it in the box fill box with dirt add water, plants fish

 

[Freenow54]

Ahh now it makes sense. I have done exactly what you say also. I currently have a 300g stock tank as a "pond" in my house those work well too. The 2- 300g plywood tanks I build were perfect for breed the fish I wanted to breed. I just built the tanks and split each one into 5 sections with some acrylic, used air driven filtration for each section.

I Built a pond from my 15 foot circular swimming pool when my children left. I dug a hole 12feet by 12 feet 6 foot deep at one end 4 at the other. I used Styrofoam as a liner. Tapped it all up. Then used my pool liner, and cover the cover was black. Filled it with what are called potato stones on the bottom and sides made a waterfall out of the dirt pile got shale rock from a local river bed installed a sump used decretive rock, and pink quartz 3/4 stone around perimeter. Added some feeder goldfish put sump on a timer Done. added plants too . some of the fish are now8 inches long . I lost some because I am on the migration route gor herons ( 3 Kinds, Kingfishers. Had to make a cover to keep them, and leaves out which I cant take off till June

 

[mrpontiac80]

I built my stand for my first tank and 4-5 years later I’m still happy with it. I went the unconventional way and used leveling casters for the feet. They are awesome and sure help when needed.
I also found a quartzite countertop remnant for my top. It cost about $50. That thing will never ever bow. I also got it bigger than the tank on sides and front. It really is nice when doing maintenance or frag work.
Im sure your skins and doors will be top notch but those are just some things I did.

I even went and used the leveling castors on my 180 gallon upgrade 3 years ago. I highly recommend them.

 

[Freenow54]

I have never seen casters like that. I would never have guessed that strong enough ones were available. Would have come in handy when my sump decided to stop working , and I had to move mine around to replace the floor.

 

[twentyleagues]

I built my stand for my first tank and 4-5 years later I’m still happy with it. I went the unconventional way and used leveling casters for the feet. They are awesome and sure help when needed.
I also found a quartzite countertop remnant for my top. It cost about $50. That thing will never ever bow. I also got it bigger than the tank on sides and front. It really is nice when doing maintenance or frag work.
Im sure your skins and doors will be top notch but those are just some things I did.

I even went and used the leveling castors on my 180 gallon upgrade 3 years ago. I highly recommend them.

I have seen those casters thats a great idea. I could not find them at a "reasonable" price though, so I just used leveling concrete on my concrete fish room floor to level it for my 180 last summer.

 

[Freenow54]

I have seen those casters thats a great idea. I could not find them at a "reasonable" price though, so I just used leveling concrete on my concrete fish room floor to level it for my 180 last summer.

Well I wont bore you with what I had to do but No price too high in a finished basement

 

[Fish Fan]

Build a bigger box buy a plastic moulded pond. Put it in the box fill box with dirt add water, plants fish

I have thought of doing exactly that. But, I don't have a good way to get a pond insert delivered, and I would think delivery would be out of control expensive. But I haven't ruled that out yet.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I have never seen casters like that. I would never have guessed that strong enough ones were available. Would have come in handy when my sump decided to stop working , and I had to move mine around to replace the floor.

I have seen those casters thats a great idea. I could not find them at a "reasonable" price though, so I just used leveling concrete on my concrete fish room floor to level it for my 180 last summer.

I buy mine off Amazon. I can’t remember what they cost but I think an average is about $75 for 4 of them. They are each rated for several hundred pounds.

Still would never attempt to move anything with a tank full of water but if you can remove at least half of the water they are invaluable. Some have a thumb screw to raise and lower the rubber foot. Needless to say that would be tough. Others have a nut you can turn with a thin wrench. Once in place the rubber feet lift the castor off the floor.

Than at tidal gardens. Uses them on every one of his systems.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Here is an extra up close and the style I used on my 180 gallon. They have the thumb screw.

 

[twentyleagues]

I buy mine off Amazon. I can’t remember what they cost but I think an average is about $75 for 4 of them. They are each rated for several hundred pounds.

Still would never attempt to move anything with a tank full of water but if you can remove at least half of the water they are invaluable. Some have a thumb screw to raise and lower the rubber foot. Needless to say that would be tough. Others have a nut you can turn with a thin wrench. Once in place the rubber feet lift the castor off the floor.

Than at tidal gardens. Uses them on every one of his systems.

I want to say I found the ones Than uses and they were around $75 each where I found them. The others I found didnt seem like they would be strong enough to me or easy enough to set. It cost me about $100 for 2 bags of self leveling concrete and the cleaner primer stuff that a youtube video said to use. Took about 2 hrs start to finish. I know not everyone has a space like mine or would be willing to "permanently" alter their floor.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I want to say I found the ones Than uses and they were around $75 each where I found them. The others I found didnt seem like they would be strong enough to me or easy enough to set. It cost me about $100 for 2 bags of self leveling concrete and the cleaner primer stuff that a youtube video said to use. Took about 2 hrs start to finish. I know not everyone has a space like mine or would be willing to "permanently" alter their floor.

I agree 100%. I figure the most of the weight is simply held when the rubber feet are down and in use. I feel great about those. The casters look to be the weakest area. Just from some guy (me) looking at them. I probably went overkill on the 180 but figured better safe than sorry

 

[Marco_99]

Does anyone have a diagram or decent pictures of a new stand build? I build furniture as a hobby and I am looking for some designs for long aquarium stands. I recently won a Glasscages 100 gallon, (60"L x 18"W) at Reef a palooza in Orlando. The stand diagram/prints do not have to be the same dimensions as I can easy modify them.

What kind of material are you looking to build from?

 

[Marco_99]

I’m doing something like this for my next build, a 150 gallon tank. I’m glueing up multiple layers of plywood, fingers crossed this holds, but I think it will. Here’s what I have so far, I’m still working on the stand. The full weight of the tank will be supported by 3/4”+3/4”+1/2” plywood. I’m also trying to eliminate the center brace. The black pad in the photo is the tank's mat, so that's the footprint of the tank.

I thought I overbuilt lol. This is insane

 

[rtparty]

Here is my woodworking bench I made this winter. I put casters on each leg so I can move it and level if needed. They are rated at 2200 pounds per set of 4. They have beefier casters that take 3300 pounds per set. They have a built in ratchet that is super convenient

https://a.co/d/fttZn2R