My 125 gallon (still planning stage)

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wckdkl0wn

Feeder Fish
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May 16, 2008
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All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws
Ok, I have recently acquired a 125 gallon tank for free. =) Can beat free! Anyway it doesn't have a stand. So one of my next steps is building a stand to support it. Since I am making a terrarium out of it to hold both freshwater fish and land crabs, it wont have to support but roughly 50 gallons of water. Give or take a few gallons. I will post a picture below of my idea for what I am trying to do inside the tank.

Does anyone have plans or ideas for a stand? I am not the best carpenter and I really don't care what the stand looks like. But I need to build it cheap. Preferably $70 or less. Also a makeshift canopy for it as well. Is there a specific type of 2x4, plywood, etc to use? I need to build one asap since the tank is still outside in the elements. Lady of the house said I cant set it up until I have a proper stand for it. Either build one of buy one. But I highly doubt $70 is going to buy me a tank at a lfs. I don't think it sitting outside would hurt it any but I just don't like the fact that it is outside when anyone could walk off with it.

In the tank I am going to be housing a few Halloween crabs (moon crabs) along with some freshwater fish. Not sure what fish yet but I know the crabs will be for sure. If you have some suggestions on fish for this setup then let me know.

The tank dimensions are 72x18x22. So if I put 8 inches of water in it I am looking at roughly 44 gallons. 10 inches roughly 56 gallons. I will be building platforms above the water at both ends of the tank with ramps going down into the water. the area under the platforms will be open so fish can swim under it. Tell me your opinions on this. Also if you have a different idea for making the platforms then I am all ears.

This pic below is just a view of half the tank. It will be the same on both ends of the tank.

tankidea.png
 
Ok I have done some price checking and I think I have it mostly figured out for stand wise.

8 2x4x10 (worked it all out on paper for the entire stand structure.
1 1/4" 4x8 hardwood plywood. (to wrap stand with)

Some designs i looked at said use 3/4 plywood on top right under the tank. But others said use 1/2 plywood. Which do you recommend? 1/2" or 3/4". I dont think it needs to be a finished peice since the tank will be hiding it.
 
3/4"
 
haha cute pic. And i do like the plan.
 
sheesh... you guys side track the thread.

k. here are my 2 cents. use 4"x4" to make 6 legs (1 at each corner and 2 in the center) then run a frame of 2"x4" around the top and bottom with some cross braces and support.

now technically particle board is a type of MDF. but i think you were deciding on cross laminated vs. particle board. here are the pros and cons. particle board is lighter and will be able to hold the tanks weight, but if water were to get into the grain, you would end up with a tank on the floor and tears running down your cheek. cross laminated board is more expensive and heavier but it wont get water damaged as easy at particle board. my recommendation is 3/4" particle board with a couple layers of water resistant paint for cost efficient construction.

think simple and make sure you have support around the outer edges of the tank.


GL
 
Ok I did a little bit of work on the tank. Stripped off all the old sealant inside the tank. Going to be re siliconing it tomarrow.

Also went and measured out all of my 2x4's i need. So I will start building that tomarrow as well. I decided not to go with 4x4's for the frame. Only reason is because my corner posts when I am finished will actually be 4x6. (2 2x4 sandwiched together with a 2x4 cap) I went with a plan i found online but I am adding extra to it since it looks like it will be flimsy.
I went with this plan but I didnt like how there was no boards under the top that connected to the bottom. It only had boards on the inside. So i am going to box the corners.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_stand.php

Also something I noticed is that the tank builder hardly used any silicon on the virtical angles in the tank. My 20 gallon has more silicon on it then this one. If my silicon job holds I think I might just make the tank all freshwater and skip the crabs. I think my floor will hold since it will be crossing 4 2x10's with a metal beam right below it. The metal beam will be right in the middle of my tank. Should be just fine I think.

This will be my first large tank. The biggest tank I have used is a 20 gallon. I want to make sure I know what I am doing with a larger one before I step up even furthur. =)
 
Ok I have resealed the tank today. Its not going to sit til tomarrow night before I test if it will hold water or not.

Also have started on the stand also. I have the frame section done. Didnt build it like I was wanting but it works. Just waiting on plywood. sorry for the blurry pics. My cam is junk.

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I ran out of new wood that I bought so I used up a board I had laying around. It seems very sturdy the way it sits now. So the plywood should stiffen it up a bit more. But I think it will hold.
 
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