The start of our tank.

[SnT]

Ok here is my start of a long journey what color should I paint the stand? Should I paint the inside of the cabinet? We are hoping to make this a reef tank. The tank is a 180g and the stand was made by my husband. (Ps don’t mind the baseboards they are being installed soon )

 

[Jekyl]

I would stain to match the flooring.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Beautiful! My advice: Absolutely paint the inside thoroughly, due to humidity (not as bad because you are open-back) and water spills. My stand is enclosed, and the sump makes it like a greenhouse in there. I used Kiltz, then thick enamel based Rustoleum. Best wishes!

 

[SnT]

Thanks everyone! Ok so the flooring will be changed to tile which will be more of a grey wood look. If I stained it should I go light or dark? And as far as the inside of the cabinet white or black? Thanks for all your help!

 

[elorablue]

Is that cherry ?

 

[SnT]

Is that cherry ? The stand is not cherry it is just plywood. The floor is dark cherry but we are changing it to tile and it will be the grey wood look.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Hubby did a great job on the stand.

Firstly, what's the material? Looks to be solid panels.

If It was built paint grade in mind, he might not have taken all the steps for aligning grain and color on the wood which is fine until you stain it or dye it.

Painting the inside and outside equally helps with water absorption and keeping everything flat and straight.

 

[SnT]

Hubby did a great job on the stand.

Firstly, what's the material? Looks to be solid panels.

If It was built paint grade in mind, he might not have taken all the steps for aligning grain and color on the wood which is fine until you stain it or dye it.

Painting the inside and outside equally helps with water absorption and keeping everything flat and straight.

Thank you. The outside material is plywood and you are right we didn’t do anything to align the grain of the wood because we thought we were going to paint it. I wonder if we stained it super dark if it would matter? Initially I was thinking of painting it white and distressing it but it looked so pretty I am afraid to do it the house is going to be redecorated into a beachy theme and there will be distressed furniture but..... just not sure of the tank stand.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Thank you. The outside material is plywood and you are right we didn’t do anything to align the grain of the wood because we thought we were going to paint it. I wonder if we stained it super dark if it would matter? Initially I was thinking of painting it white and distressing it but it looked so pretty I am afraid to do it the house is going to be redecorated into a beachy theme and there will be distressed furniture but..... just not sure of the tank stand.

White and distressed will look great. Solid wood and ply will absorb stain and dyes at different rates which will make the colors settle differently so unless it was planned from the beginning, I would stick with the paint plan.

 

[SnT]

Hubby did a great job on the stand.

Firstly, what's the material? Looks to be solid panels.

If It was built paint grade in mind, he might not have taken all the steps for aligning grain and color on the wood which is fine until you stain it or dye it.

Painting the inside and outside equally helps with water absorption and keeping everything flat and straight.

Here is the close up of the grain not a professional but it does look like the grain on the doors line up pretty good ‍

 

[SnT]

Has anyone ever seen a distressed tank stand? Now I am curious to what it could look like

 

[SnT]

Ok correction Just spoke to my husband the stand is birch sorry I thought it was plywood

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Has anyone ever seen a distressed tank stand? Now I am curious to what it could look like

Yes, distressed white is a fairly common finish going back a few decades.

I like it !

 

[flyfisher2]

I love the natural look. Nicely built.