# 10 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting



## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

Okay, so I decided to build the stand for my 10 Gallon because well I don't want to spend 80 buck on one. I like minimalism in my stands and don't care for full cabinet styles, especially on smaller tanks as they tend to look too blocky. So here we go.

2 2"x3"x8'
1 1"x4"x4'
1 piece of solid poplar cut to size of tank.

4 1/4"x4-1/2" hex bolt with 2 washers and nut each.
8 1/4"x3-1/2" hex bolt with 2 washers and nut each.
4 1/4"x3-1/2" lag bolt with 1 washer each.
2 T-Brackets w/ screws
6 wood screws
6 Furniture floor pegs

~ $20 sanded and unfinished.

The beauty of this design is it can be adjusted for nearly any size tank by exchanging the 2"x3"'s for 2"x4"'s, 6's or a combo of the three.










I started with the table top section. First I attached the two side beams on the outer edges of the poplar table top. 2 wood screws from the top of the board. I counter-sunk the screws so the hole can be filled and sealed later.










Then I inserted a cross beam, on center. It is secured with one lag bolt on each side. As you can see below, the head of the lag bolt is recessed into the side beams. This is so it can be hidden by the 1"x4" appearance boards that will wrap the table top.










Next the base of the tank is framed. The T-brackets are used to secure the framing square and is not intended to be structural. Lag bolts will be used to provide the structural integrity as in the table top frame. These lag bolts will not be recessed, however.










The furniture pads are placed on the same side as the T-Brackets so they are not seen in the completed piece. The furniture pads used here are adjustable to insure a level tank.

Next the Vertical supports are attached to the table top.  A single 1/4" hole is drilled on center to each support. The hole extends through the side beam of the table top frame as well as the 1"x4" appearance board.










The whole side is assembled at once with the 4-1/4" hex bolts extending through each piece. It is given a quick tightening with enough give left to adjust the vertical supports square and plumb.










The frame base is attached in a similar manner except 2 hex bolts are used. They are placed at 45 degree angle to each other to insure the verticals don't pivot or buckle under the weight of the water. At this time the lag bolt is secured to the base cross-beam (not pictured).

The framing is set square and plump before the hex bolts are given the final tightening. 2 levels and a speed square remain in contact with the stand as I tightened the bolts to insure everything stays square and plumb while tightening.










This is how it looks with the final 1"x4" attached to table top frame with 2, counter-sunk, wood screws. It has been sanded as is awaiting the sealing of the 6 wood screw holes before priming and painting. I haven't done this yet.

As you can see its a very open design. Shelves can be installed if desired; it can also be adapted to have a door for a non-cube looking cabinet stand.

The lighting project will soon be in the works. I first need to figure some things out so watch for another thread for insight on that one.


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

Nice build. Very simplistic. A little sanding and some paint or stain and you might be able to market these.


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## nguyendetecting (Dec 26, 2008)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

wow awesome build, I made a 20long one also simple like. But you put a lot more thought and planning into yours. great job, great idea on the legs


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

Looks so nice! Good job!


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

wow very nice... I never know you can trasform 2x4 to this. Where the fish tank sit, how did you finished? flat?


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

No pic updates yet. I sanded the stand and I'm going to be painting it a simple black. Had I used a nicer hardwood I would stain it but since there isn't much in the way of a nice wood grain I decided to go black.

I was goign to make the verticals red to match the rest of the rooms decorating theme but decided that it would pull too much attention away from the tank itself. And since this goign to be my first trip down a fully planted tank I want the plants and fish to be the focus.

I bought the remaining materials for the lights and hope to start that build this weekend. Pics will follow.


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## snooze (Apr 10, 2008)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

I like your design! I noticed that you counterbored the holes for lag bolts in the top, but did not in the base. Was there a design reason for this? I am interested to see how you handle the lighting.


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*



snooze said:


> I like your design! I noticed that you counterbored the holes for lag bolts in the top, but did not in the base. Was there a design reason for this? I am interested to see how you handle the lighting.


A design reason? Yes, sort-of. This is actually the second stand I built. The first one (a week earlier with the same design) was built with lumber I had Lowes cut. Since the are not carpenter's and do not have a consistant saw-blade to cut line practice, the pieces were not cut squarely enough for my liking.

This worked out well because after the first "proto-type" was built I decided to add the 1"4"'s to the side and not just the front, so it had more uniformity. However, instead of buying new hardware (bolts and lag bolts) I just disassembled the proto-type and re-used them.

The Lag bolts I bought were not long enough to go through the 3/4" appearence board, 1-1/2" 2x3" (actually dimensions on dimensional lumber are now a 1/2" off their stated size; wasn't always this way though) and into the cross beam far enough to make it matter.

So I simple counter-sunk the lag bolt. There is no problem with this structurally since the table top frame has next to zero horizontal strain.

I could have counter-sunk all the bolts but I like the rustic look the hardware gives. Though admittedly, the lag bolts on the bottom could do well if counter-sunk and capped to give zero exposure, leaving the other bolts visible for the rustic feel. *shrug*

I'm looking forward to building the elevated canaopy and getting it all painted.


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## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

I actually like how it looked upside down! I might have to copy that style for a base sometime, it looks great. It definitely deserves stain and some water sealant.


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

More pics coming soon... I've completed building the light hood, filled all the cracks and gaps and sanded everything.

Today I am going to stain the stand and hood. I was g oing to use a black spray paint but decided instead to use an Ebony stain. This way I get the dark look with some of the grain.


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

Okay, so it's not quite finished yet. I've started the polyurethane and have to do some fine sanding before applying the final coat.

I used an ebony stain on the wood and it looks great. Took two coats and one full small sized can of stain but I used new shop towels to apply it so I think a lot was wasted. I would have been better off using sponges.



















Here is the light hood Those two holes are where the CF fixtures come through the top. I'm using the principles used in a thread I can't seem to find now (someone used a PAR meter on a ~5gallon and measured distance and bulb wattage to determine light intensity). If anyone know that thread please link it to me, lol.

Anyway... I'm using two 23 Watt 6500K bulbs with workshop reflectors (more pics will follow on this). The hood is going to be mounted with conduit on the left and right back sides of the stand and will be height adjustable to insure the proper distance from the water surface as the tank develops.

Maintaining my patience is difficult! But the journey is fun.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

I really love the look of your stand. I love that it's a pedestal type stand. The staining really looks nice. All this work for a 10g! Seems like it should be for a really big tank!


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## benderisawesome (Sep 10, 2008)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

Gorgeous. I love DIY projects and will probably be trying something similar to this in the future. Keep us updated!!


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

*Re: !0 Gallon Tank Stand w/ Lighting*

A little bit more progress. The lighting has been installed in the canopy. I'm not sure if I want to do more finish work on the wood or not. I'll decide as I complete the mock up of the entire stand.



















I'm using two 23 Watt 6500K CF bulbs. And the height of the light source to the water is going to be adjustable. With these reflectors I decided against painting in the inside white. If I need to later I can line the bottom half with foil but these reflectors have pretty good directionality.

The fixture screws in from top to bottom around the boards so it sits in the hood tight and level.


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## firefiend (Aug 17, 2009)

The final assembly. The hood is attached with 1/2" conduit. Still need to clean up the wires and paint the conduit black. But otherwise it's a done deal. My crappy camera phone doesn't capture the lit photo well. The light does seem to bleed a lot out to the sides but it still looks real nice.


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## benderisawesome (Sep 10, 2008)

The only thing missing is a way to hide the wires. If you used plywood to hide them it would most certainly take away from the beauty of the stand. Maybe you could run them down the legs of the stand holding them in place with some sort of fastener.


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