# DIY 10 Gallon Stand



## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Looking for ideas for constructing a good looking, strong, useful or practical stand for a 10 Gallon Tank. 

Or a thread to a good deal. I just have not seen one yet. 

I prefer wood cabinets or something similar.

I have seen the cast iron types for 10 Gallon tanks, and just did not find them appealing. 
Although if someone has one and likes theirs, please let me know. 

Looking for ideas.


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

I've seen some nice end tables and small TV stands at Wal-Mart that would be great for a ten gallon that cost around $50. The end tables usually have drawers in stead of a cabinet, but screws, glue and a couple hinges can solve that problem.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Thank you. I will look.

schaadrak, I love your Avatar. 

Makes me remember when my four were that size. Makes me want to look through every photo that we have of the kids and see if we have one like that of each. We did for the oldest boy. Not sure if we got that shot for the other three. 

Good looking baby! Who does the baby get their good looks from? Mom or Dad? (cheeky grin)


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## joephys (May 9, 2006)

I don't know if this is the kind of thing you are looking for or not. Petsmart has some new stands. One is a 20 gallon stand that has shelf on the bottom and a 10 fits perfectly on it. Its a wood stand that I think was 50 bucks or so. I have had it set up for a month now and works great. The only issues is that the 10 is low to the floor so draining the tank is slow if you don't have a python.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

It sounds nice. I was actually dreaming of a day when my supplies do not clutter up everything. I was thinking if it did not LOOK cluttered my wife would not get stressed. 

This may sound sexist. But on FlyLady.com they say that ladies get STRESSED when their living spaces start to LOOK cluttered. 

I can always tell when my wife has been on a Fly Lady FLING cleaning whirlwind, when I come home and the garbage in the kitchen is full and HEAVY. 

So far she has been very kind to me and has not touched my Aquarium supplies. 

I guess I also want it to look nice too. (Even on my budget). 

I saw these shelves in Wal*Mart that were steel and 5 shelves high and were supposed to hold 800 lbs, and then there was the 3 shelf one that was shiny chrome that held 300-500 lbs and looked nice ($19.99). I did not pick it up yet. Still looking......

Thanks for keeping your eyes open!


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

Be careful of the metal shelf units ,since they're usually screwed together intead of locked together like a wood unit is. The screws have a tendancy to loosen and you have to constantly keep tighten them or the the whole thing gets rickety and leans to one side. No matter how gently you try it, tightening bolts on a wobbly stand always shakes the water out of the tank.

BTW- Thanks for the baby compliment. Everyone says she looks like me, but she's way too cute for that. The only thing I can see that she shares with me is the hairlne, but she's rapidly outgrowing me on that here lately.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Good point on the metal shelving with the screws.
These babies had sturdy slots and hooks that were not ever going to move. The only drawback to this unit was the looks. 

The 3 shelf Chrome Unit though looked nice!

With a 'skirt' for the lower shelves to hide supplies, it might look very nice.


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## Rub (Jul 14, 2005)

Hi !
I built my own DIY stand for my 10 gal (sorry but my blog is in spanish.......use google translator)
I used 16mm DMF and four layers of acrylic paint (grey).

Greetings from Spain


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## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

This stand for my 29 Gallon Tank Cost me around $20


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## schaadrak (Aug 18, 2006)

That is one solid stand. You could probably put a couple more tanks on there.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

My 29 gallon stand had a similar structure, but made with 2 x 3's instead of 2 x 4's, and all of the joints were half-lapped joints. I skinned it with cheap luan door skins (1/8" plywood) from Home Depot. It thought it looked pretty good, but missed having good quality furniture grade wood. Since then I have become convinced the the best way to make a stand in the 10 - 40 gallon size is to just use 3/4 or even 1/2 plywood. Make a box, with an open front. Make doors to fit the opening. It's not quite that simple, but almost.


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