# stand build in "raw industrial" style.



## hydrophyte

i have made a few stands in what i guess is called "raw industrial" style--construction or design rendered with sturdy, relatively low cost materials and with intentional unfinished appearance.

this one holds up a 65G Tall.










the next shot shows the corner joinery detail. these are galvanized framing connectors. the stand is rock-solid.










i took some new pictures tonight. i include several views to demonstrate specifics of stand build.

here is the whole shebang with tank and green salad on top. all of the tank system components and stand--less the Teklight--were easy to find and pretty economical.










that _Echinodorus_ flower spike is reaching way out into room. the other plants still need to grow in some more. i used Riparium Supply stuff to plant all of the emergent plants. the underwater plants are planted into pool filter sand. they get bi-weekly ferts and Excel every day. the underwater plants do more or less ok like this because the water is mostly shaded by the emergent stuff.

the aquarium is an Aqueon 65G with the top rim popped off. well, it didn't exactly pop off. i wrestled with it for the better part of an afternoon and i was lucky not to slice my hand wide open.

this is view under stand with Filstar, houseplants, electrical and chicken.










...more detail. the only equipment under here is the filter, a powerstrip and timer. the shelf is a simple rectangle--note gap on each end. i used "sanded" plywood for shelf, using primer as sanding sealer, then a layer of paint and finally several coats of oil-based polyurethane. this gave me a nice finish










this shot is from beneath shelf. four of these brackets hold it up.


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## Veloth

Very nice tank and stand. Thanks for sharing.


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## vancat

That stand is very attractive! Good job.


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## surpera1

better built than any store bought one - and looks real nice to me


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## chris_todd

That is a beautiful stand! What kind of wood is that, and what kind of finish did you use?


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## vancat

I was gonna ask that-the wood looks nicer than 2x4's.

Also- where did you get the nice galvanized connectors?


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## TAB

Your local building supply should have those brackets.


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## hydrophyte

i think that the wood western red cedar. this is used for building decks, so you should be able to find something comparable. it is important to used the fully kiln-dired material, not the still green stuff.


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## kwc1974

I am not a fan of an open stand, but I like these. Good job


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## vancat

yeah, I like a door to hide stuff, but this could be easily modified and retain the same cool look.


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## DMHdispute

I wish I saw this before I bought my stand. I was gunna build my stand and even thought of using metal braces but I wasnt sure how it would look. But your stand looks great.


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## hydrophyte

vancat said:


> yeah, I like a door to hide stuff, but this could be easily modified and retain the same cool look.


yep, you could easily enough skin it with painted plywood panels like the shelf. these could be mounted flush with the natural finished wood frame and would look real slick. you'd want to install a center brace as door stop.


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## jlo

very nice, can I be a copy cat? ^_^


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## hydrophyte

here is a quick post with a few more details.

here are the screws that i used










these are fancy screws. it took almost two boxes (about 20 bucks) to put the stand together. the important factor in selecting these was the head, which looked right with the steel connectors.

and here are the glides that i used under each leg.


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## Forgotten Path

Only one word:

NICE.


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## Tex Gal

BTW, you might want to take the price sticker off the hardware.  (The sticker is on the built stand on the left front metal brace at the top.)


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## MeioFormiga

Wow. I like this so much that I had to actually say something instead of just lurking. Well done, this is fantastic!


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## MeioFormiga

Tex Gal said:


> BTW, you might want to take the price sticker off the hardware.


What price sticker?! The SD8x1.25? Isn't that the thread size?


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## jmontee

No, Tex means the UPC sticker that is on the brace in the second pic of the first post.


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## hydrophyte

i'll remove those bar code stickers when and if i get to it. right now i need to hurry up and set it up with the tank. i will post more photos of the tank set up.

here are a few more pictures with details of the build.










glide attached.










the western red cedar is very soft wood, but i pre-drilled holes so that screws would drive in straight.










detail of inside joint. as you can see, this construction is quite sturdy.


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## vancat

What is your method of ensuring it is level, other than being as exact as possible with your measuring and cutting?


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## Diana K

Brackets similar to this are available in more decorative styles. 
One source is the Simpson 'Architectural' line, which is flat black in color.


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## hydrophyte

vancat said:


> What is your method of ensuring it is level, other than being as exact as possible with your measuring and cutting?


everything squares up pretty good with attachment of the framing connectors. the floor in here is pretty flat, but i did have to put a little 1/8" felt pad under one leg to achieve level. however, i had to adjust the stand a little bit because i found that the tank was not sitting quite level. the long 2X4's that i used for the top horizontals along the width of the stand were about 1/8" thicker than the shorter pieces. so, the aquarium was sitting just on that front horizontal support and on its corners in the back. my solution was to remove the bottom front piece and plane it down to the same size as the short pieces. i was able to leave everything else set up while i stole that bottom 2X4.










after planing and refinishing that board, i removed the tank from the stand and then switched the adjusted 2X4 for the over-sized one on top. i put that one on the bottom, where its level will be less critical.

the stand is about 2 1/2" deeper (front-to-back) than the 55 gallon tank. i had to make it deeper to leave a little bit of space between the pairs of steel connectors at the top corners. thus, the back of the aquarium was just floating without support. i decided to add a brace with a short piece of pine 2X6.










i'm not counting on this supporting a whole lot of weight: i just want to spread it around a little bit more and have something under that long span of the back of the aquarium. i used a little steel bracket beneath to hold the brace in place.


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## KCFITZ78

What are the framing connectors called that you used? Model #?


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## hydrophyte

i don't have the model #'s real handy, but they are Strongtie brand. i acquired them at Home Depot.


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## hydrophyte

Last night I installed the shelf under the 55-gallon crypts riparium .










I selected a dark green paint for this shelf, to compliment the colors of the crypts and _Anubias_ in the tank.










Finishing this shelf took a number of coats of primer, paint and varnish, but installation was easy. I used these little steel shelf brackets.










I will be glad when I can hook up that Filstar. I presently just have an airstone in there, so there is some mulm on the floor.


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## armedbiggiet

did you finished the wood befoe you put them together?


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## CraigThor

armedbiggiet said:


> did you finished the wood befoe you put them together?


I believe he did. I think it was in his post over at plantedtank where he mentioned it though.

Craig


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## Apaa

Do you think those blind screws would work like they use in cabinet making? These could be used for the inner supports and cross braces also.


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## northtexasfossilguy

I think the brackets might look nice if they were blackened using Gun Blue... that would be sweet!!! Come on, you know you want to... lol


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## kkau1

Love your stand. Makes me wish i had a little wood shop, or that I could actually fit 2x4's in my sedan haha. Good work!


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## TAB

northtexasfossilguy said:


> I think the brackets might look nice if they were blackened using Gun Blue... that would be sweet!!! Come on, you know you want to... lol


since they have a zinc coating on them, I would not recomend it.


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## vancat

what do you guys think about a door made of diamond plate? Too much?


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## Diana K

Diamond plate door would be overdoing the industrial look. I would go with a plywood or lumber that matches the rest of the stand, but use industrial type hinges and latch to keep it in the theme of the rest of it. 
I like the finish of the wood. I have Western Red Cedar stands, but they were made from resawn lumber, and finished with either a light stain or no stain, then a clear sealer. The textured surface shows, but not the grain so much.


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## Coralite

What kind of tank is that? is it just an AGA tank that has the rim removed?


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