What kind of wood did you make your stand with?

[AydenLincoln]

I’m trying to decide what kind of wood is the most affordable and best to use for someone to make me a fish tank stand. For those of you who made your stand. What kind of wood did you use? Anything but plywood lol. I was thinking pine because it’s cheaper. I like walnut but that’s a bit pricier and wood is very expensive right now.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Why not Plywood? You Should use a Marine Plywood, then laminate it. You can even use a walnut veneer to cover it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Why not Plywood? You Should use a Marine Plywood, then laminate it. You can even use a walnut veneer to cover it.

That‘s a thing? I should look that up. I should’ve said cheap and not durable plywood which is what I think of when plywood is mentioned. I looked that up it’s moisture resistant.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

That‘s a thing? I should look that up. I should’ve said cheap and not durable plywood which is what I think of when plywood is mentioned. I looked that up it’s moisture resistant.

Yes... They use it to build boats. So...probably good for your situation. Waterbox and Red Sea make their stands out of it.
I believe what you are thinking of is "Particle board" or "MDF" The stuff that IKEA style furniture is made of.

 

[Heabel7]

Depends on the size stand you need what the cost really will be. The cheapest would be pine. However, if you use clear radita pine then your cost can easily be more than fancier species of wood. If you did do marine grade plywood, with veneer that would also be far more expensive for a premium look than just buying standard plywood with the proper species already pre applied. Build a stand like a quality piece of furniture with polyurethane applied properly and there will be no need for marine grade plywood. You’re not building something that is meant to be wet or submerged. Stands get hit with water, and can be exposed to increased moisture. Nothing that polyurethane won’t easily stop. Heck even a bare plywood stand wood hold up just fine but look like . If you want it to look like a fine piece of furniture it’s going to cost you. In addition, if not building it yourself the labor will cost you more to have it built than the wood of your choosing in nearly all cases. Side note, make sure the bottom of your wood stand is held off the floor by at lest 1/8” on all sides by something that will not absorb moisture. Water is the greatest problem when it spills in large quantities and collects on the floor. If your stand is not raised up and sits in standing water. You fine furniture stand will eventually suck in water on the grain end.

walnut would be sexy if done right!

 

[Bruttall]

8 foot, 300g 1000lb empty glass cage. 2x4 stud for the support frame. This stand is over 20 years old. Just provide ample support for the Tank. It helps if you figure out how just much weight you need to support.


Here with the wall in front. In the process of moving this tank 5 feet forward to create a fish-room behind it.

 

[jsker]

Just my .02

Poplar is a very inexpensive hardwood to use. Poplar is hard enough to hold screw better than pine with a smooth grain. One can dye poplar almost any color and finish the wood with a nice water base urethane. Nice thing about the water base urethane, no fumes if you are brushing, dries very fast for addition coats.

Poplar is 1/4 of walnut.

You would also need quite a bit of tools, machinery, and clamps to make the cabinet with wood. Purchase tool would increase the cost of building the cabinet to the point that it would be less expensive to have a custom made cabinet made. Unless you know someone with the skills and machinery to help you.

Most use plywood for the reason that there is very little needed to build except an electric saw, straight edge, pocket hole jig, drill, and a couple other items.

 

[mortimersnerd]

Have you considered steel? Love mine and having one made locally shouldn't be crazy expensive.

 

[Pacific North Reef]

Yeah, just use the cheap 2x4s to build the frame. You can go back and sheet it in what ever you want and stain or paint it. I found some of the straightest 8' 2x4s I could find and will get some oak to sheet it and then seal/stain.

 

[Hjnlssmith]

I found a you-tube video for a simple design. Made the frame out of 2x4 pine and the top, sides and doors using 5/8 plywood. Then used 1x4 pine for the trim. Was very easy and I ended up happy. Tank is a 48 x 21 x 18 (75 gal).

 

[Bruttall]

I found a you-tube video for a simple design. Made the frame out of 2x4 pine and the top, sides and doors using 5/8 plywood. Then used 1x4 pine for the trim. Was very easy and I ended up happy. Tank is a 48 x 21 x 18 (75 gal).

Using a real similiar process on my 8foot. 2x4stud frame under, with a decorative exterior (wall in my case) trim. That looks really nice in your pictures.

 

[mfinn]

Not sure what you have against plywood, but my oak veneer plywood stand has been around for 17 years and it looks as if it will easily go another 17 years.
It may not qualify as fine furniture grade, but it ain't ugly.

 

[JCM]

Aluminum would be better. I would like to see a steel stand that is over a few years old with zero rust. Even if it's painted well it just takes one scratch and rust is gonna start.

My steel stand is about 3 years old with no rust so far. My LFS has steel stands that are close to 20 years old. They do have some rust spots, but nothing concerning. A little sand paper and paint and they look good again. I agree aluminum would be better, but the welding process is more difficult/expensive.

For wood, I'd use SPF timbers then just skin it with a veneered plywood of your choice.

 

[malacoda]

Wood moves ... even hardwood. It expands and contracts with the humidity changes of the seasons. The more humidity, the more it moves ... and the more prone it is to warp, bow or cup.

While a finish goes a long way toward minimizing this, it will not always prevent it. And there is a LOT of humidity in and around our stands.

Plywood is FAR more stable due to the varied grain direction of the sheets layered within it. It is also much stronger because of that same varied layering.

And, with any decent finish applied to it, it will hold up better than solid lumber.

On my last stand, I thought hardwood ... red oak ... with a good finish on it would be just a durable as plywood. So, while I made the cabinet out of oak-veneered plywood, I made the top with solid 3/4" red oak planks. Within a year the planks started to check (e.g. split starting at the ends). While still structurally stable, it was not an ideal situation.

So, when I upgraded to a 120g, and used the same stand, I replaced the top with oak-veneered plywood just like the rest of the stand. No problem since.

Also, because of it's strength, you can make a box-stand out of plywood with very minimal framing ... such as 1x3's or 1x2s ... which leaves a LOT more room in the cabinet for equipment. (You'd be surprised how much difference an extra 2 or 3 inches make when you're trying add a calcium reactor or more trace element containers, etc.

Done right, depending on tank size/load, you actually may not need any internal framing at all.

Can a cabinet be made out of solid lumber?

Sure.

But 9 times out of 10, plywood is the better choice. Far more pros than cons.

In a nutshell, think it through thoroughly before you make your decision.

Another option would be to make the box out of plywood, then add dimensional solid lumber to the outside to get the look you are going for.

That's what I ended up doing. All the strength, stability and interior space of plywood with the look of actual hardwood furniture. You can see the finished product in this old build thread — Malacoda's 65 Long (note: this is when I used solid oak for the top. It has since been switched out for oak-veneered plywood.)

My old 24g had no internal framing, just plywood.

 

[DIYreefer]

Cabinet grade 3/4" plywood. I know that that is not the answer that you're looking for, but plywood is excellent for stands. In fact, I would rather use plywood due to the simple fact that unlike any kind of solid wood, be it hard or soft, plywood is stable. Meaning that there won't be any seasonal movement (ok, there could be some but would be FAR less than solid wood). There are a couple of other reasons that I can think of that would make me choose plywood as well, but they still ultimately fall under the stability umbrella.

I think that aquarium stands are one of the few scenarios where a good plywood is actually a better choice than solid wood. With the only exception being for very large tanks. At that point I would likely go with extruded aluminum or powder coated steel anyway.

 

[DIYreefer]

My old 24g had no internal framing, just plywood.

My 125 sits on a plywood stand with no internal framing. No issues at all. Just has to be properly built and a plywood stand is extremely strong.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

I used 3/4 hardwood ply from Lowe’s for my 4” 65 gallon. No other internal bracing other than a center divider to make two halves of the stand and the allow for easier management of the doors. The vertical load limit of 3/4 ply is a ridiculous amount of weight.

 

[Indymann99]

Cabinet grade plywood.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I found a you-tube video for a simple design. Made the frame out of 2x4 pine and the top, sides and doors using 5/8 plywood. Then used 1x4 pine for the trim. Was very easy and I ended up happy. Tank is a 48 x 21 x 18 (75 gal).

Thank you!

 

[AydenLincoln]

Wood moves ... even hardwood. It expands and contracts with the humidity changes of the seasons. The more humidity, the more it moves ... and the more prone it is to warp, bow or cup.

While a finish goes a long way toward minimizing this, it will not always prevent it. And there is a LOT of humidity in and around our stands.

Plywood is FAR more stable due to the varied grain direction of the sheets layered within it. It is also much stronger because of that same varied layering.

And, with any decent finish applied to it, it will hold up better than solid lumber.

On my last stand, I thought hardwood ... red oak ... with a good finish on it would be just a durable as plywood. So, while I made the cabinet out of oak-veneered plywood, I made the top with solid 3/4" red oak planks. Within a year the planks started to check (e.g. split starting at the ends). While still structurally stable, it was not an ideal situation.

So, when I upgraded to a 120g, and used the same stand, I replaced the top with oak-veneered plywood just like the rest of the stand. No problem since.

Also, because of it's strength, you can make a box-stand out of plywood with very minimal framing ... such as 1x3's or 1x2s ... which leaves a LOT more room in the cabinet for equipment. (You'd be surprised how much difference an extra 2 or 3 inches make when you're trying add a calcium reactor or more trace element containers, etc.

Done right, depending on tank size/load, you actually may not need any internal framing at all.

Can a cabinet be made out of solid lumber?

Sure.

But 9 times out of 10, plywood is the better choice. Far more pros than cons.

In a nutshell, think it through thoroughly before you make your decision.

Another option would be to make the box out of plywood, then add dimensional solid lumber to the outside to get the look you are going for.

That's what I ended up doing. All the strength, stability and interior space of plywood with the look of actual hardwood furniture. You can see the finished product in this old build thread — Malacoda's 65 Long (note: this is when I used solid oak for the top. It has since been switched out for oak-veneered plywood.)

My old 24g had no internal framing, just plywood.

This is very similar to the stand my nano is on!