Open backed 75g aquarium stand

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jrgilles

jrgilles

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Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
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Location
Seattle, Washington, United States
Hey all.

Finishing up my stand now, thought I would post pics incase anyone else was interested in doing one like this. It has an open back and front, and is very solid.

Its strength is from reinforcing the corners with gusset plates, like you'd use for roofing or they have in the corner of sky scraper I-beams. I made the plates out of the scrap from the OSB board I used for the floor. My dad is a contractor, and helped me figure it all out.

There are 2 panels on the front that you can remove, that are attached with magnets. Can't tell now without any handles on them yet. Also has a 6" shelf extending out the back for the sump to sit on.

If anyone is interested in doing something like this, let me know. I documented its construction with a bunch of photos, so I could throw together a DIY for it if anyone wants.

Staining and sealing it now.

AquariumFramed.jpg


AquariumPanelled.jpg
 
Wow, that looks very sturdy indeed - good job. Your 75-gallon tank is glass, right?

Also, does the inside floor of the stand have some support in the middle?

I am looking at the two pictures trying to figure out how the two fron t panels come off. They must fit perfectly into the front opening with no overlap.

Gary
 
Looks just like the one i built(and have for sale). But mine is 2' i belive wide so the is some extra space in the stand. Are the side doors going to open?
 
Yea 75 glass. There are 4 2x4's on the floor going longwise. The boarder of the tank, then one in the middle under the floor and one at the back edge of the sump shelf extension.

The 2 front panels fit perfectly inside the frame. I'll put magnet closures for them on the gusset plate triangles and also put a board extending down 1 inch from the top in the middle ( which is what stops them from being able to push through on the top) if that makes sense. I can post more pictures of the frame once I get home from christmas. Texting from my phone right now

Rob
 
Yea 75 glass. There are 4 2x4's on the floor going longwise. The boarder of the tank, then one in the middle under the floor and one at the back edge of the sump shelf extension.

The 2 front panels fit perfectly inside the frame. I'll put magnet closures for them on the gusset plate triangles and also put a board extending down 1 inch from the top in the middle ( which is what stops them from being able to push through on the top) if that makes sense. I can post more pictures of the frame once I get home from christmas. Texting from my phone right now

Rob
 
If you could throw together that DIY, I would much appreciate it, as I'm haveing my stepdad help me make a stand for my 90gal...
 
jrgilles said:
Sure. I'll try to throw something together this weekend. I have a ton of pictures, so I'll get them together and write something up.

rob
Click to expand...

OK, I have my pictures organized for the DIY.

Whats the best way to put this together? I was thinking I would make a PDF, but I have no hosting, so people would have to email me for a link.

Is there any way to get a pdf link hosted here? Or should I just do it over email? Thought about making it in a forum post, but PDF seems a lot easier and I would be sure the pictures are imbedded and the links not lost....

rob
 
Last edited:
very nice DIY! good pix, directions! Thank you. I do have a couple questions, what size trim did you use around the base of the tank? and what are the dimensions of your sump, and do you have any probs getting to it? (I'm guessing not) oh, yeah, and did you make the end panels removable as well? (I think I'd like to)

Thanks again for this great DIY!

Vern
 
1.) I did not make the end panels removable. One was originally going to be against a wall (although it is not now, and would be nice if it was removable) and the other is blocked by a refugium stand.

It would be simple to make them removable with magnetic closures, just like the front. Actually, there is a $30 minimum from the place I ordered the magnets from, so might as well make all the panels removable.

2.) Forgot about the trim board when I wrote that. I made it out of a 1"X8" board. It is the perfect size, with the bottom flush with the 2X6 frame board, the overhang on the top is exactly the right height to cover up the trim piece on the bottom of the aquarium. I cut an angle on the corner so the trim boards fit together nicely and you don't see the butt end of the boards. I mainly put this on for earthquake proofing the stand, so the tank can't slide off. But ended up making the stand look a lot nicer.

3.) There is plenty of room to work inside. It is nice and roomy. I have 2"-2.5" above the protein skimmer top, so if you have a big skimmer or want more room, you could make the legs a bit taller. I think it is good though. There is 11" of space between the top of the sump and the bottom of the display tank. I also have a very tall sump tank, but if yours was shorter, you would gain extra space that way. I will add a picture of the installed sump so you can see how it fits.

Here are some pictures I took awhile ago, you can kind of see how it fits, but I'll add something to the DIY.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jrgilles/AquariumConstruction?feat=directlink

4.) My sump (50 gallon breeder) is 19" tall by 18" deep by 36" wide. Again, feels like there is plenty of room inside.

Thanks for the questions/comments.

I will add in a picture of the sump, as well as the trim board and mention making the side panels removable. I'll add the revisions in tomorrow. Thanks!

rob
 
Last edited:
Rob,
I wanted to say thanks for providing these plans. I spent a long time looking for a good design that was both easy enough for my limited carpentry skills and still looked really nice. Yours met both criteria perfectly. I just finished building a new stand based on your design, and it came out great! I still need to add handles and do something around the top to prevent the tank from jiggling off in an earthquake (and some water and critters). Picture in case you're interested: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/f70/kevin-autumns-46g-bowfront-63271/index2.html#post665974
 
Awesome! Glad the plans I wrote up were used with such success :) Just checked out the pictures.

To stop the tank from sliding, I put some 1"X8" around the top rim of the tank right over the 2X6's, but extending up above them. Stop the tank from sliding off in an earthquake or something. Here are a couple of pics

https://plus.google.com/photos/104216026959215989048/albums/5748491489094986865

very stoked that someone actually used the plans and they worked well. :) Makes documenting the build so worth it.

rob
 
Very nice. I built mine with a 0.75" perimeter around the edge of the tank, instead of the 0.5" you gave yours. I had this idea of using that extra space to affix a frame that could support lights (1x something posts, which would also keep the tank from sliding around). I've since scrapped that idea, but already had the frame put together, so at least in the short term I'm just going to tack in some pieces of scrap 1x material to bracket in the corners.

Thanks again for your directions - I would never have known where to begin if I were starting from scratch.
 
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