First stand build, 30g Marineland cube salt tank

[s7ix]

So I've only had my tank about 2 months and already can't stand the lack of storage it has. To solve this I've decided to build a new stand as universal as possible to fit a larger stand possibly later down the road and also to be able to move to the opposite corner of the room and still function the same because I rent where I am and someday if I move again you never know what the layout may be and where the tank would have to go. So the current 30 gallon tank measures to be about 18x20x20 inches and what I have started with a new stand is going to be 48x24. The reason for the extra 4 inches in width is so I can fit my current 10g QT under the stand length ways, which I will also be building a drawer basically for the QT to ride in to make it easier for water changes and what not. Now your probably thinking ok so why the extra length... Well that is because I want to have cabinets that can sit beside the tank for extra storage as well. One of the cabinets is going to have a porthole in the side to still make the tank visible from 2 directions, so it really won't be for storage on that side but more just to keep the stand uniform in look. With that porthole idea I ran into the issue of if the tank does move to the opposite side of a room the porthole will be on the wrong side of the cabinet so that cabinet will actually have side panels that can be switched if need be. Alright enough for now with that, after searching the web for DIY stands I ended up here and got some great ideas for how to make the bottom stand support the tank and everything else I wanted it to do. It should be sturdy enough so down the road if I decide to get a bigger tank I can remove the side cabinets and have a full 48x24 tank with a sump below... Or at that point build a new stand altogether who knows...

Here is a lovely sketch of what I am sort of aiming for the end product to be, it has changed a bit from this already but still you get an idea.




Here a couple shots of the base I got started on Friday night. Ran out of 2x4 to put in the center between the 48's like whats on the outside corners.




Thats all for now, thanks for looking and let me know what you guys think.

 

[s7ix]

New Pictures! Got other supports in place, drawer made that should support the 10g QT, also the front face and doors on. Doors will be coming back off for stain just wanted to get them in place and make sure all looked good.

 

[guano]

Looks very stury! Can't wait to see the final product

 

[Redearsunfish]

Great work!!

 

[Owens]

Looks very stury! Can't wait to see the final product

+1 looks like it could hold an elephant.

GJ.

 

[s7ix]

First coat of stain, went with Bombay Mahogany




Got the second coat on today, some pics make it look really red but others you can see the darkness with a nice red tint






Thinking one more coat try to darken it a bit more and even it out some, then polyurethane to protect it. Also gotta paint the trim for the doors going with just a satin black, nothing flashy but should look nice with the deep red.

 

[s7ix]

Third coat of stain and got the trim painted black. Looks like there's alot of stuff in the stain but its just dusty and dirty from the wind.






Mock up of the trim on the doors just to see how it looks. Trim got a touch up after this cause the inside edge didn't get coated well and you could still see white.


Trim all attached and everything coated with polyurethane, as you can see I went with black trim on the stand as well think it looks real good. Also hard to tell in the stand picture but the top trim is offset up about 1.75" to hide the black trim on the tank when its sitting on it.



Today I will be installing the stand and will have pics with the tank on it. Then there will be room again in the garage to finish getting the side cabinets made and eventually the top hood. And if my figures are correct I should be able to fit a 100-120 gallon on this stand later on down the road when I'm ready. Or by then maybe I will have the ambition again to build a better one for that big of a tank. The main problem I see with this stand and a larger tank is the bottom isn't really setup to hold a sump so that would have to change, but can be done.

 

[s7ix]

All in a up and running, check it out!









Here's a couple shots of the pull out Hospital tank for easier access. I need to get new glass to the top so it will open the other direction and the filter can hang on the the back and not the side, but not a big deal for the moment.




That is all for now, I'm starting on the side cabinets now and then on to the hood. Thanks for looking and let me know what ya think so far!!

 

[SpinalFan]

FYI: This stand was the inspiration behind my 80g tank build. As much as I LOVE the black trim, it wouldn't have fit with my décor at all. I did use the same stain though, and I LOVE it. So thank you for building this gorgeous stand haha.

 

[s7ix]

That's awesome! Yeah that stain is very nice I wasn't sure at first if it would turn out to be what I wanted but it turned out even better I love it too! I'll post a new pic later today, I was gonna build side cabinets but after waiting a bit and looking around on the web I decided to go in a different direction altogether and I now have one 25 gallon on the left and soon to be another on the right of the cube tank. It was a challenge to find the 25 gallon but finally I did and had to buy a whole starter kit with filter and heater and all which I don't use in my tanks but the tank size is a prefect fit for the stand and next to the cube. So after I get the second tank up there all I will need to build is the canopy to match the stand. Then I will have a total of about 80 gallons and 3 separate tanks each of which can have different fish and what not. I chose to do this instead of one big tank because I can get a variety of things that won't get along well in one tank. That being said it does limit me on the size of the fish but there are still very nice fish that live in the 25-30 gallon range. Anyways thanks for using my stand as a inspiration haha and look for the new pics later!