DIY stand for 2.5g nano

[neilanh]

So, GWAPA is having an aquascaping contest starting soon. A standard 2.5g tank is issued, along with lights, substrate, etc. One of the guys (Dave) thought it would be a cool idea to build a little stand for these nano-tanks. He drew up the designs, and a few of us got together at his house today and built 5 of these. Check it out and lemme know what you think.

Obviously, it hasn't been stained or poly coated yet, but thats coming too.

 

[Jchillin]

Looking really good Neilah. Makes for a nice project. Any thoughts now about going a bit larger? I believe building one for say, a 75 would be really cool.

 

[LandGhoti]

OMG, I love it. It's perfect for a desk or dresser. Anywhere small that you can fit a tank. How dark will you stain it?

 

[neilanh]

Looking really good Neilah. Makes for a nice project. Any thoughts now about going a bit larger? I believe building one for say, a 75 would be really cool.

75? I thought you said "larger"

OMG, I love it. It's perfect for a desk or dresser. Anywhere small that you can fit a tank. How dark will you stain it?

I dunno yet. I intend on housing it on my computer desk, which is a pre-fab dark cherry-ish color. I don't know if I want to try to match the color, or go lighter so it stands out. I'll go hit Lowe's this week and stare at stains and figure it out.


We originally thought about doing a canopy too, make it look like the big boys. But 26W over a 2.5g tank is going to probably give us heating problems as it is. I don't want to cook my plants.

 

[SparKy697]

Very nice!

You have been keeping plans for this one a secret?

Now one power cord in, a timer mounted through the back wall, both timed and non timed outlets also mounted through the back wall. That would be a nice clean unique design.

 

[Zagz]

Looks fantastic! If it were me I would go with a lighter stain than the desk to offset and highlight it.

 

[neilanh]

I'm leaning towards that too Zagz, we'll see what I go with shortly, I hope.

You have been keeping plans for this one a secret?

Not necessarily secret, but I guess I did fail to mention it.

Now one power cord in, a timer mounted through the back wall, both timed and non timed outlets also mounted through the back wall. That would be a nice clean unique design.

Liking the idea of bringing it all together like that. It's pretty tight inside there, as it's designed for a tank footprint of 12x6, so there's not much room for timers and power strips in there. But, the entire thing is hollow, as you can see.

 

[kennef]

What?!?!? No Doors?!?

how are you supposed to access the sump???

 

[tropicalfish]

What?!?!? No Doors?!?

how are you supposed to access the sump???

Use some muscles and lift the whole thing up!

 

[neilanh]

you guys are missing the point

a trap door must be cut into the tabletop it will be placed on

duh!

 

[theotheragentm]

What?!?!? No Doors?!?

how are you supposed to access the sump???

The sump is 55 gallons. It won't fit under there.

 

[ingg]

Neilanh, we could put a power line built in to the back side of it, let me know before you stain it, we'll figure it out.

There might be just enough room to put the timer inside, and literally mount an outlet with a power cord coming out the back... umm... but don't blame me if/when it sparks when you do a water change....

 

[neilanh]

Hey! welcome to AA!

ingg here designed out the plans and provided the use of his power tools and garage for this little project.

Sparky actually found an interesting timer that we could flush mount on the back of the stand, so that the timer was actually outside and flush, with all the wiring internal.