[thegrandpoohbah]

I'm thinking about building my own stand to house a 26G flat back hex tank. Nothing fancy, just a 2x4 frame with a sheet of plywood on top. Probably painted white to match the decor in the room. Just curious, what is your preferred website for building plans? I've seen a few different ones that let you input desired final dimensions and it gives you a list of the materials and cuts. Just seems like some of the designs out there are a bit flimsy.

 

[Daryl]

I'm not aware of any websites that give a cut list - but I would love to check out the ones you are talking about. It would be a huge time saver!!!

I just use the old fashioned pen & paper method. I'll jot down all of the rough measurements and then meditate on how to minimize the # of cuts required to minimize waste, then draw it out on a sheet of paper.

 

[thegrandpoohbah]

Here's a couple I've encountered:

http://www.garf.org/calculators/BuildStand_2.asp

FishandTips.com: do it yourself aquarium stands

I want something like this:

DIY - Build an Aquarium Stand

 

[cpat83]

It's not that hard, measure your tank and add 1" or so to the length your stand needs to be, for the width measure your tank + whatever distance you need from the wall...the rest as far as the height and what not is up to you and what you want to store inside the stand.

a 2x4 is fine to span up to 4' in length (with support at each corner down to the floor) once you exceed that you should put a support down to the floor in the middle. I have made several stands just out of 2x4, they are inexpensive to make, and in fact, you can source a lot of the material from free pallets - even enough to make doors for the front, etc. Of course, I may think its easy cause I was/am carpenter by trade.

 

[mr ry]

I've made a stand for my 180 just 2x4 and I use 4x4 in the corners and middle little overkill but worked great.... I say worked cuz the whole backside of the 180 cracked down the backside of it

 

[KTown mbunamani]

I make my own from scratch, you might say. But then, I'm a carpenter...I start off with making a box out of 3/4" plywood. Then reinforce a little with ripped down 2x4, no sense going overkill. Remember, some people just put tanks on top of basic cabinets, noth'n much to those!

After I've cut out the doors, I cover the entire thing with rustic, old barn board. then add a matching canopy cover. My tank I just set up, I made little corner moldings of barn board to cover the ugly glass corners and silicone. Noth'n but wood and glass.

Watch for my tank set up thread soon.

 

[cpat83]

Also my stands are screwed into the wall or lag bolted in the case of my 120 gallon.... there is no movement in that case so it can't "sag" over time.