My 75 gallon DIY Stand is complete!

[MSU Fan]

Some of you may recall, but I had a problem with my current stand. The stand was a bathroom cabinet, and that cabinet had a recessed front edge, which would not support the weight of a filled 75 gallon tank (we estimated ~700 lbs, but it really doesn't matter at that weight class). So we (my wife and I) opted to build our own stand. The structure is based on Garf.org's 2x4 design, although I modified that so the 2x4s would directly support the weight, rather than nails/screws.

I have a complete write up, but it is a word doc. PM me for a copy (980kb - lots of pics).

So here it is:

 

[roka64]

Sweet!

 

[mp3z24]

good job... looks very similar to mine, except i recessed my tank down into the stand to cover up the ugly black plastic trim. i also redesigned my stand to directly load the 2x4 legs, rather than depend on the screws/nails.

gotta love DIY!

~mike

 

[MSU Fan]

our tank already has the oak veneer on it (not the black plastic), which is why we opted for the tank to sit directly on it, instead of being recessed.

 

[justrelax]

very nice! great job matching up the grain colors. top-notch!
on a side note, good to see an msu fan from wisconsin! i lived in menominee, mi for a short period of time, and it was astounding how many michiganders up there were green bay fans. good to see we got one of theirs!! lol

 

[MSU Fan]

sorry to mislead, I live in WI because of the job...I grew up near Detroit! Go Tigers!!!

 

[QTOFFER]

Very nice! You kave TONS of room under the tank for filters, CO2, a sump, fish stuff, etc! I love the way oak looks after it's been finished.

 

[MSU Fan]

so does my wife (she is the stylist of the two of us). This tank is in our kitchen, and we have a 125g with an oak laminated stand, this oak stand, and oak cabinets...oh, and the kitchen table is oak laminated as well!

 

[Tong]

Where in wisconsin do you live? I'm in columbus (Near madison...sort of). Nice job on the stand. Definately looks much better than my DIY stands. But then again...I don't want a nice looking stand to distract the viewer from the tank...hehe...or something like that.

 

[MSU Fan]

appleton, wi - 1/2 hour south of Green Bay, 20 mins north of oshkosh...~1.5 hours from madison.

I can only hope that I can create a fascinating enough tank that the stand will not be the "thing" to look at...

 

[two11devan]

What were the doors made out of? Is there molding around them or was that routed? I made a stand for my 120 gal tank. everything is done except the doors! looking for design ideas.

 

[MSU Fan]

the doors are 1/2" BC plywood, with 1/4" Oak paneling "liquid nailed" on. There is a "stop" style trim also on the door as well.

 

[dscount]

Excellent! I love seeing how folks get creative and professional. Not to mention save a ton of dough in the process.

 

[MSU Fan]

So here it is with the canopy completed!!!

 

[chantale101]

GREAT JOB!!!

 

[MSU Fan]

Thanks!

 

[dscount]

Excellent job! Looks better than most the store bought versions.

 

[Sicklid]

Looks unbelieveable!

 

[DeFeKt]

wow that looks amazing!!
incomming pm

 

[boxxmann]

great job MSU!