lowww stand

[kallmond]

I'm going tonight after work to pick up 2x4's and plywood..

I want to do oak, but I think i'm going to be stuck with birch. The last 2 times i've looked I haven't been able to find oak ply @ Home Depot or Lowes, and they've driven all the real lumber yards out of business around here.

Anyone have any experience with sound dampening? Is styrofoam the best/cheapest method? I'm thinking of lining the inside of the stand with foam. My canister for this tank is a cascade 1200, and its slightly quieter than a dishwasher...

 

[bob965]

You could use 3/4" ply for your structure instead of skinning 2x4's with ply. Plenty strong for a 55g.

 

[killrmack]

you could always build a double 55 stand that would be much better

 

[kallmond]

You could use 3/4" ply for your structure instead of skinning 2x4's with ply. Plenty strong for a 55g.

Its cheaper to build structure out of 2x4's. 2 x 4's are easy to cut to length. I have a nice chop saw but a crappy circular saw (and no table saw), which makes cutting 2x4 much easier/faster/nicer than trying to be precise with plywood.

At only 21" tall, there is a chance I'm going to need to remove an end panel to service the cannister. 21" tall leaves me around 14" for cabinet doors. It'll be hard to get my 17" tall cannister in/out. If the end panel is structural, then I'd have slightly taller cabinet doors, but still have a hard time getting the filter in/out.

I might build out of 2x2's though. 2x4 is way overkill.

 

[kallmond]

So... I took your advice and just built out of plywood.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.

 

[kallmond]

I have a lot of work to do still, trim around the rest of the stand and all around the canopy. I have to cut the hole for the doors to the inside of th stand, build the doors, mount them. I'll have to drill the stand for the canister hoses, get power into the stand, put a shelf in one side.

I have to aquire, wire, and switch the light fixture in the canopy.

I have to run electric to the wall behind the tank, which is going to be a trick given that my house is built on a slab. But the tank is against the wall under the stairs so it shouldn't be TOO much destruction to get power there.

Its exactly 21" to the top of the stand, and the whole unit is 55" tall. Sitting in my chair its perfectly eye level, my son is th perfect height.

 

[birmansandbettas]

For sound dampening I'd use egg crate foam. We had some left over after putting it up in the room where my husband's band practices, and it's great stuff for killing pump noise.

 

[kallmond]

I have a canister filter for this tank, its pretty quiet already. 19.5" inside dimension doesn't leave me a lot of room for extra stuff.

 

[kallmond]

Its all done, cycled, started adding stock. This tank is in my living room, its a 55g on a 21" stand. Its primarily a grow-out tank for my 110.

Current stock is 4 yellow lab cichlids that are about 6 months old and 4 clown loaches that are about 2.5 inches. Once they're all big enough they'll go into the bigger tank, and then eventually the loaches will have to go into another tank, but I think I have a couple years. Everything i've read says they slow down the growth rate after about 5"

 

[xdragonxb0i]

full tank and stand shot. you just built it our of plywood? no,2x4 or 2x2?