Taking a Stand

Thanks, a 20 on top and a 10 on the bottom. I just got back from home depot. They cut most of the wood for me, but I still need to do the 45 degree angle on the top part. We bought the stuff to do it so no problem there. I even have a little extra wood if I need it.

So far so good. The only snag was when I realized that 2x4s are not really 2x4 inches. That messed up some of my pre-measured things, but I over measured enough that the twenty still has plenty of room. Unfortunately, the ten gallon will have to be built into the stand. I can get the lid off with the amount of space which is all I really need. There is enough room for it on the bottom. There just isn't enough of an opening in front to put it in due to the two front pieces. I will post a picture later to show what I mean. All I have left to do is the top and some staining and sanding. Though not necessarily in that order.

After I retired and set up my little work shop, I also assumed that lumber came in the advertised dimensions. Another mistake was thinking it's all square and straight. Still, it's fun to work with common lumber, and you can build things that fit your specific needs. Your aquarium stand looks great, and you also get an A+ for initiative.

Thanks John. I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't posted the instructions. I always figured it would be time consuming and I would need all sorts of fancy tools. I think I got it done in about four hours(not including the wood cut at the store). Your instructions are very easy to follow and I think they will make a great blog. I encourage anyone else out there who's thinking about doing this to go ahead and take the leap. It just takes a little work and a lot less money than buying a pre-made one.

Hey I wanted to add something here that I actually thought was an excellent idea... wish I could take credit for it... LOL!

If you were to make a "cabinet" stand... i.e. one with one or more doors... you can buy a cheap flourescent ( I think they may be called closet lights - but they plug in instead of wire in) and mount it to the inside top of your cabinet!

It's super nice when you have a massive problem and it's 2am and you're fumbling through your cabinet with a flash light!

Here I go again with stand number two. I am going to get the supplies today. This time I will be able to compensate for my mistakes last time. I was actually able to get the ten gallon out of the bottom and put the new one in when I broke it, but it took some tricky moves. This time I am going to add and extra inch to the length of the stand. Then it should go in very easily.

Good luck on the project. We need to put some of this in a blog.

for my 4 ft discus aquarium i use wooden stand and the legs of the stand are 2 inch by 2 inch made of wood.is it compatible?

How many legs are on your stand? Can you post a photo? I think as long as you don't see any bowing or cracking you should be ok.

okis i'll send the pic...

I use a pair of two by fours for each leg, but maybe that's a little too conservative. Most wood will take quite a bit of compression stress, but if the load gets unbalanced, other stresses are introduced.

wohhhhhhhhhhh superb mr john.how many tank u hv at present?and what are those fishes?

I'll do a count and let you know tomorrow.