90 gallon stand build

[BowmanvillePhil]

I am starting to build my own stand. I got a lot of inspiration and tips from an older thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...&pp=25&page=12 I have to thank RedEDGE2k1 and his followers for my stand. Although my stand isn't going to be as detailed and big, the ideas for my stand was taken from his build.

This is the base and the top.
I doubled up the "legs" and glued and screwed them using gorilla glue and 2 1/4 deck screws. In fact I used gorilla glue on every joint, as glue is much stronger than screws. It might be over kill, but better safe than sorry. No one want a 90 gallon tank to topple in the front hall.

Sorry about the mess, I have a project Mustang on the go, the hood is in the background.
I have a 'alright' stocked workshop but I don't have a pocket hole gig so I pre-drilled hole in the legs so not to split the 2x4's. it seemed to work well.

[BowmanvillePhil]

I have the shell of the stand assembled and in its final place to get an idea of how it will look.
So far I have used 75-2 1/2 deck screws and 7-8 foot 2X4. I want to go and get the top and bottom shelf tonight but my local homedepot closed exactly when I got this far. so far this has taken about 4 hours and I have only scratched the surface of the project.
I am going to put building grade 3/4 ply on the top and bottom and 3/4 fir finished ply on the sides and front.
I am left struggling to figure out how big to make the doors. I have an opening of about 23X 20.

[cFloor]

that wood looks really straight. was that from Home Depot as well?
Great start!

[BowmanvillePhil]

Originally Posted by cFloor

that wood looks really straight. was that from Home Depot as well?
Great start!

Haha, yeah I went through the whole pile to find 8 straight ones

[richfavinger]

Are the legs and top/bottom frames simply butt joints and screws?

Thats what worries me about home build stands. Assuming once you 'skin' the stand with ply it should be fairly well locked in place I guess. (I'm not a builder). But my ability to find a suitable well build pre-made stand with NO CENTER BRACE is really driving me nuts!

[rwb500]

Originally Posted by richfavinger

Are the legs and top/bottom frames simply butt joints and screws?

i was wondering the same thing. your stand is missing the usual inside corner pieces that reinforce each joint. although if you are skinning the stand with a sturdy material it will be good enough. if not, you really need to use some steel angle braces.

[BowmanvillePhil]

Originally Posted by richfavinger

Are the legs and top/bottom frames simply butt joints and screws?

Thats what worries me about home build stands. Assuming once you 'skin' the stand with ply it should be fairly well locked in place I guess. (I'm not a builder). But my ability to find a suitable well build pre-made stand with NO CENTER BRACE is really driving me nuts!

They are butt joints. I tried to wobble it but it is sturdy. I am going to screw a diagonal brace. You could always make a center brace that is removable to allow for easy access. When I look at the flimsy metal stand that is sold with it and know that it held the weight, I know my wood stand with glued and screwed butt joints will be more than enough.



I started to fill in the rough edges and the faces with wood fill so they have a nice surface to paint.

I notched the corners of the bottom shelf and it slid into place nicely.

Here is the frame ready for a coat of prime. I considered using an oil based but went with a water based primer instead.

I picked up the tank and the two Eheim 2213's I bought used. One of the filters has a charcoal insert. I am wondering if I can still use the charcoal filter and still have it be enough filtration. If I have to buy the media it might not have been as good of a deal as I thought.
This is a monster sliver I got while selecting the plywood from the store. I pulled half of it out at the store, but needed tweezers to get the rest. It stung like you wouldn't believe.

[BowmanvillePhil]

I've started to fill in the rough edges of the plywood and the faces. Hopefully it will have a nice smooth painting surface.
I notched the corner of the bottom shelf and it slid in.

Here is the stand ready for its primer coat.
I picked up the tank and filters I bought used. One of the Eheims has a charcoal insert which left me puzzled. Will this charcoal filter be effective as the filter with regular media? I am hoping so, if not this great deal may not be so great.
My wife is still questioning what the stand is going to look like; she still sees the ugly primed 2X4 frame and said thats not going in HER house...

[BowmanvillePhil]

It has been awhile since any progress on this stand. My son has been keeping me busy with baseball 5 times a week plus hockey. Yeah you read that right hockey in June. Even up here in Canada June is late to be playing hockey.

So, I cut the door section out in one piece to avoid multiple joints on the front. I am going to put faux drawers above the doors to give it some visual interest.


I had hoped to get more done today but the skies opened up and I had to retreat indoors. however, I was able to get the prime coat and one finish coat on before.


Here is an unfortunate bug that landed on the prime coat.



I ordered a Eheim Ultra G160 - 2075 and two Jager 350 watt heater yesterday and I hope to have the stand done by thursday and the tank ready for the start its cycle because we have another ball tournament to go to this weekend.

[jgraz]

Looks awesome, im following since i'm thinking of building a stand for my upcoming 90 also. I'm going with a DeepBlue tank and those stands really scare me. I fell nervous sitting my 200 Lbs on much less 1000+lbs of water. Do you have any tips that I should keep in mind when going through this. Also are you measuring this to be exactly the same foot print as the tank or larger. Im really not mechanically savy so this could be a interesting undertaking for me.

[BowmanvillePhil]

Thanks. I would definitely recommend using screws and glue to help with the strength. I am using gorilla glue, it is one of the strongest wood glues around. Also make sure the wood you are using is straight, a 1/8 of an inch will cause the tank to sit on an un-level surface, which will stress the glass and possibly make it crack. I doubled up 2X4's, you may want to consider using 4X4's. I looked at some of the stands at TFS and honestly they frightened me. A 90 gallon will weight over 1000 lbs full and some of those stand wobble when leaned on. I'm not a carpenter by any means, but I have built some furniture before. The link to the build I put in the first post is excellent. Check that one out. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...=1213499&pp=25
The stand has the same foot print as the tank, but I will be finishing it with trim to hid the black brace on the bottom of the tank.

[reefermad619]

Lookin good so far!

[BowmanvillePhil]

Thanks Reefermad619.

I got a little more work done tonight. We had thunderstorms so ball was cancelled and I had a free night. However, I had to work inside. I got another coat of paint on and sanded it with 220 grit. Then I started to put the trim on.



I couldn't resist putting the tank on the stand as well. I figure that any more work that needs to be done can be done inside. I do have some sanding to do but I have a pretty good dust collection system in the garage and can easily bring the hose in the house. It worked really well when I did some drywalling a few years back.


I am not really happy with the way the corners turned out. I may do something different later, but they may grow on me. I know the wood fill looks really bad in this shot.


Tomorrow I am going to prime the trim and cut and paint the doors and faux draws. The wife suggested putting one of those "fancy decorations" above the doors instead. We will see. I am glad she is finally taking an interest. Up until tonight she was calling it the plywood box and saying that it wasn't going into her house.


Till tomorrow,
Phil

[BowmanvillePhil]

My Eheim Pro3 2075 and Jager heaters came in today. I am so excited, I'm like a kid on Christmas. I got them delivered to my office so I wouldn't miss the delivery. Lots of strange looks from my co-workers. Non-fish people don't understand.

[d.dog]

going to tag along with ya . i am in the middle of building a Stan and canopy for my 90

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2171635