3ft stand with wood finish

LOL you could have made the stand without the steel with all that wood. Keep the pics coming like your build.

 

Thanks f-fish:bigsmile:

Lol maybe, but only realized once they told me i cant get a smaller one
oh well maybe i will have some left for my 1.5f

Not sure how long the build will take but i can tell you it WONT be done
this weekend, to much other things that need to done

 

are you going to clad the whole metal frame and make a cabinet out of it? it would look nice in shutter-ply finished of properly . if i can make a suggestion, make the wood go past the lip of the top of the stand so that if you put a soil or other plant substrate in you will hide it with the lip of the stand so you just see the top capping not the substrate underneath . just leave the back with no lip so you can slide your tank in nicely

 

Yip thats what the wood is for:blink1: Had a mind blast of ideas today...head hurts.

Making that lip is a very good idea. Its to bad i dont know how to make a 3d image to show you what i want to doush:

 

Have you tried Google SketchUp its easy to use and free , i find it very helpfull

 

i had it, but dont know how to use it....:wondering:

 

nice start.

I have the same concept running with my tank, except that impatience took over and I am STILL trying to get it finished...... After a year and a half...... but the fish are in and happy... the stand is only half clad with wood and my wife has NO sense of humour at all with the half done job.. I'll get to it one day

On the part that I have actually completed, I clad with knotty pine and then edged with pine strips from Builders Warehouse (Trimmed a bit) but due to the moisture, the knotty pine is warping. Do yourself a favour and varnish it totally before attaching the cladding to the frame, and seal the edges really well with varnish that has been diluted with thinners (a few coats) then your final coat. I must now start again from scratch.... (my wife still has no sense of humour.......)

 

Tank on steel stand

Hi there.
I know this is an older post but I was reading it and decided to put in my 2c worth.
Seriously bad idea to put the tank on the stand with just foam in between.You absolutely have to spread the load across the frame.You must use a board under that tank. It may well hold for a while but you're setting yourself up for a tragedy!

 

@Jaguar
Its time for you to get that project finished! When doing so create a thread and share with use.
Would like to see others DIY build!

@Viking
No worries, i have decide to go with a board placed under it. All makes sense
when others knock it in your head lol

Quick update start date:
Tomorrow i wont be able to do much but design
Thursday and Friday is...party day...sorry
Saturday the cutting shall begin
Sunday, more cutting if necessary
Hopefully next week it shall be done!

 

Hey. Here is what I built about a week ago. Should have documented it but will do it with the next one. What I originally planned was to just build the bottom part so I could store all my crap there. It just slides over the front of the tank. But then when I was done I decided to do the canopy as well.
You will have a lot of problems along the way but that’s how you learn. My stand is the same as yours except for the middle beam at the top so it has less support than yours is going to have and it’s been standing like that for 2 years now. Use the Styrofoam, if there are any imperfections in your frame it molds around it, wood wont and that will make it unstable. My tank is 4ft and 260 liter so you don’t have to worry about that part.
To get ideas of how to build the bottom and canopy I went to the pet shop and looked at every possible stand. Take photos, you can’t remember the smaller details.
The 4ft tank I have now goes for R895 and all the supplies and wood cost me about R600. That’s way better than paying R5995 for a setup like that.

 

Hi superprit do you need to take the whole thing away when you need to get something? Looks good anyway.

@Zoom and Troyfish, Melamien is not always presswood. You get supawood with that same melamien finish. Just thought I would mention it here as a possibility.

 

Yes. It just slides out and it’s no big hassle and very light. But to be honest I was a bit lazy when I started it. I just wanted to cover up all the junk that was down there as its standing in the reception area at my work. I’m thinking of building a proper cabinet but for now it does the job. And the other problem is that I have a 100litre container at the bottom for water changes so that wouldn’t have really fit thru a tiny door. I also had to build it around the existing tank as I didn’t want to remove all the water and my precious…

I will take some more photos and post them 2nite.

 

Hey superPrit.

Thanks for the tips. I still haven't got a design but will do as you suggested, go to
LPS and take pics, might help me a lot.

What problems did you face? I'm guessing the hardest must be the hood?
Anything else I might need to know will be much appreciated

 

The hood wasn’t that hard. Just painting and sealing it’s a real pain in the ass because you have to do it like 7 times. I guess it also depends on the wood that you decide to use.

Here’s a picture of the inside of my hood. It drops around the sides about 4cm to hide the water line. The pressed wood that I put on the inside is where it rests on the tank itself. The ones for sale are only a 2 by 2cm piece of wood keeping it from sliding all the way down but I don’t trust that.


I struggled to get a photo of the back. I just left a gap open for my hang on filter and the back part then also rests on the tank.

 

To finish it off around the sides I just put some of the wood they normally use for skirting. Make the lid about 3mm bigger on the front and the sides. I now have to take my lid off and sand the insides of the skirting because it can’t close properly.

 

Starting build tonight. Just telling my father and bro what i want done.
Going to enjoy watching with my feet up!

Will post pics as it goes along!

P.S

SuperPrit, doesnt the press wood 'swell' up?

 

I'm pretty sure that it will eventually. Pressed wood hates water at the best of times, and in winter, when the air outside it cold, and the air inside the tank is warmer, from the heated water, moisture builds up, and eventually "pops" the pressed wood. I've seen people smeer silicon on the edges of the presed wood, and then paint/varnish the flat sides. This will more than likely prevent the inevitable... but I'm not convinced that it can be stopped alltogether.

HOWEVER, that is a really stunning looking hood there.

 

Thanks Zoom.
I sealed it like you won’t believe. It sucks up the sealer so the inside is sealed as well. And I kept on doing that till it couldn’t take any more and was smooth.

 

Father only managed to cut the sides...rugby reasons. YEAH SHARKS!!!!

Anyways heres a pic. Sides have been mounted using 25mm self tapping screws



Tomorrow we should be done with the outside, excluding varnishing.

 

Remember to seal / varnish all the wood before final assembly ...