Hi all, i'm new to this forum so sorry and i'm also a sucker for formatting so don't blame me for how this looks.
This is what i have done so far for my 450L (120 gallon for those of you that use the imperial system). The tank is 1500mm long, 500mm deep, and 600mm height (60" x 19.5" x 24"). There is still plenty of work to do on it and i will post updates as they come.
Anyways onto what i have done:
I started off with making the stand as the one that the tank was sitting on has water damage and was failing so it was drained and the fish moved to a different tank.
What i have here is 11 2.4m (~7.9') lengths of 35mm (1.38") x 70mm (2.76") untreated structural pine and 2 sheets of 6mm (~1/4") that are 1860mm (6.1') x 900mm (~3'). And from what i have heard about wood in America, what you get is actually cut smaller then what you get. Here in Australia what you get is the actual listed size, other then the length which can be a little over but never under.
After that i then cut them down into the sizes needed and as of this point i can't remember what they all where and i am too lazy to find out. this is a fairly common stand design, i modified it slightly to acomidate for the slightly smaller wood then would normally be used for it.
Safe to say that i made a mess in the cutting
Anyways i then proceeded to put it all together. I made the top and bottom frames from the stand making sure that they were square using the corner clamp in the previous picture.
These are held together with two 8 gauge 65mm screws. i got cheaper screws so i pre-drilled and countersunk all of the holes before screwing it all together, i didn't glue it together because the wood has a ribbed texture on it and it would require a lot of blue that i didn't have.
(yes that is blood on my toe nail, i managed to get a splinter under my toe nail while cutting all the wood. lesson learned, wear shoes!!)
After that i then added the first set of uprights, i used 4 screws on one side and then one in between in the other so that it couldn't slide out.
I then added the other frame to the top. I got a way bigger box of screws then i needed but now i have extra for other projects.
I then added the the next set of uprights that are in the corners.
Next was the first set of cross braces, these where also head in with two screws on each side.
Then followed by the the rest of the support braces, The bottom could have done with only two but because this is my first time doing this i wanted to make sure that if one side was a little uneven i could flip it and use the flat side under the tank.
(I so wish that the shed didn't have a project car in it so that i could use it and have more room to work, but you use what you have.)
Before i added the middle braces i added in a sheet of 12mm (~1/2") plywood for some structural support so that it doesn't twist
After adding in that i then next set of supports. This this on not screwed to the rest of the frame it is just screwed into the plywood at the back
I then added the front braces to to add those i cut some triangles to allow me to screw into the piece without loosing strength
For some reason i don't have a photo of that but oh well. I then cut out some plywood for the end of the frame, this is again structural so that it doesn't twist. I did this for both ends.
after that i then added some pieces in the bottom for the sump to sit on. i only did two a this point but i later added another on the other side so i didn't have stuff sitting on the floor under my stand.
I then screwed down one of the sheets of MDF and used a router with a flush trim bit on it to make it the correct size.
After that i made the cutout for the down pipe and return. I made a mistake and didn't have the guide for the router clamped hard enough so it moved. Oh well its not going to be seen.
This next bit i got impatient and just wanted to get it done and forgot to take photos. But that i did was make the front panel and cut out the bits for the doors. I used some more 12mm plywood to make the doors. I then gave all of it a coat of primer and then two coats of gray. The paint that i used was an outdoor paint and it is more resistant to water and mold which makes it good for this but also more expensive. I used some silver hinges to attach the doors. And this is what it looks like in its final resting place.
(The heater doesn't fit in the sump so it will go in the corner of the tank which is unfortunate but nothing i can do unless i want to buy multiple lower wattage heaters so they fit.)
This is what i have done so far for my 450L (120 gallon for those of you that use the imperial system). The tank is 1500mm long, 500mm deep, and 600mm height (60" x 19.5" x 24"). There is still plenty of work to do on it and i will post updates as they come.
Anyways onto what i have done:
I started off with making the stand as the one that the tank was sitting on has water damage and was failing so it was drained and the fish moved to a different tank.
What i have here is 11 2.4m (~7.9') lengths of 35mm (1.38") x 70mm (2.76") untreated structural pine and 2 sheets of 6mm (~1/4") that are 1860mm (6.1') x 900mm (~3'). And from what i have heard about wood in America, what you get is actually cut smaller then what you get. Here in Australia what you get is the actual listed size, other then the length which can be a little over but never under.
After that i then cut them down into the sizes needed and as of this point i can't remember what they all where and i am too lazy to find out. this is a fairly common stand design, i modified it slightly to acomidate for the slightly smaller wood then would normally be used for it.
Safe to say that i made a mess in the cutting
Anyways i then proceeded to put it all together. I made the top and bottom frames from the stand making sure that they were square using the corner clamp in the previous picture.
These are held together with two 8 gauge 65mm screws. i got cheaper screws so i pre-drilled and countersunk all of the holes before screwing it all together, i didn't glue it together because the wood has a ribbed texture on it and it would require a lot of blue that i didn't have.
(yes that is blood on my toe nail, i managed to get a splinter under my toe nail while cutting all the wood. lesson learned, wear shoes!!)
After that i then added the first set of uprights, i used 4 screws on one side and then one in between in the other so that it couldn't slide out.
I then added the other frame to the top. I got a way bigger box of screws then i needed but now i have extra for other projects.
I then added the the next set of uprights that are in the corners.
Next was the first set of cross braces, these where also head in with two screws on each side.
Then followed by the the rest of the support braces, The bottom could have done with only two but because this is my first time doing this i wanted to make sure that if one side was a little uneven i could flip it and use the flat side under the tank.
(I so wish that the shed didn't have a project car in it so that i could use it and have more room to work, but you use what you have.)
Before i added the middle braces i added in a sheet of 12mm (~1/2") plywood for some structural support so that it doesn't twist
After adding in that i then next set of supports. This this on not screwed to the rest of the frame it is just screwed into the plywood at the back
I then added the front braces to to add those i cut some triangles to allow me to screw into the piece without loosing strength
For some reason i don't have a photo of that but oh well. I then cut out some plywood for the end of the frame, this is again structural so that it doesn't twist. I did this for both ends.
after that i then added some pieces in the bottom for the sump to sit on. i only did two a this point but i later added another on the other side so i didn't have stuff sitting on the floor under my stand.
I then screwed down one of the sheets of MDF and used a router with a flush trim bit on it to make it the correct size.
After that i made the cutout for the down pipe and return. I made a mistake and didn't have the guide for the router clamped hard enough so it moved. Oh well its not going to be seen.
This next bit i got impatient and just wanted to get it done and forgot to take photos. But that i did was make the front panel and cut out the bits for the doors. I used some more 12mm plywood to make the doors. I then gave all of it a coat of primer and then two coats of gray. The paint that i used was an outdoor paint and it is more resistant to water and mold which makes it good for this but also more expensive. I used some silver hinges to attach the doors. And this is what it looks like in its final resting place.
(The heater doesn't fit in the sump so it will go in the corner of the tank which is unfortunate but nothing i can do unless i want to buy multiple lower wattage heaters so they fit.)
