# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Im building a 55 gallon stand



## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

This weekend I am going to start working on a stand for my 55 gallon plant tank. I was wondering if anyone has any pictures of DIY stands or what the dimensions should be. I had planed on making it out of wood. I was thinking I should use 4x4s and 2x4s for the support and covering it up with some nice plywood. Also i want to put a light or two in my stand and a outlet to plut everything into. Does anyone think this is a bad idea incase of a water leak, or should I just not worry about it and use the outlets that are used in the bathroom. Any help would be greatly apreciated. I was just looking online at differnt stands and I saw one for a 10 gallon tank but under the 10 gallon there was another 10 gallon. Has anyone done this. I might put 2 10 gallon tanks under my 55 gallon in the center of my stand. I think it would probably look really well. 

Thanks Andrew


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

This weekend I am going to start working on a stand for my 55 gallon plant tank. I was wondering if anyone has any pictures of DIY stands or what the dimensions should be. I had planed on making it out of wood. I was thinking I should use 4x4s and 2x4s for the support and covering it up with some nice plywood. Also i want to put a light or two in my stand and a outlet to plut everything into. Does anyone think this is a bad idea incase of a water leak, or should I just not worry about it and use the outlets that are used in the bathroom. Any help would be greatly apreciated. I was just looking online at differnt stands and I saw one for a 10 gallon tank but under the 10 gallon there was another 10 gallon. Has anyone done this. I might put 2 10 gallon tanks under my 55 gallon in the center of my stand. I think it would probably look really well. 

Thanks Andrew


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

Just search on stands. There have been many good threads concerning stand construction and finishing.


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

I second James' suggestion to search the forums on stand construction. Use Douglas Fir or stronger for the wood. 

Install a GFCI outlet at the wall outlet that will be powering the tank. Your in-stand power strip will be safe from water leaks with a GFCI outlet. You can also get GFCI power strips.


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## Josh Simonson (Feb 4, 2004)

Well, it's alot more important that it be perfectly flat if you're using a glass tank vs an acrylic tank. I built a tank table that's got a 20 and 2 10s right now, about 2.5x6ft with 3 4x4s going the length of the top resting on 3 4x4 uprights on each end. The sheet of plywood on the back gives it support so it won't fold up on me. The top is melamine, waterproof and heavy.

If you build a stand, you should put in alot of effort to make it look good so the wife won't object to it at some point. Put trim around the edges of the top, use laminated plywood on the sides and stain/varnish it with small matching cupboard doors on the front. I'd reccomend the 4x4s though, better to take the tim taylor route than the mr bean route...


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

Would home depot or ace hardware carry bulkheads? I need 3 bulkheads for my pump. I searched on home depots site but it didnt find anything. Also does anyone have any diagrams on a diy water top off. Thursday night i am going to drain my tank, friday im getting my tank drilled out and later im going to finish the stand.


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

bulkheads hard hard to get local;
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/6885/cid/1895

Used the threaded bulkeads and used adapters as neccesary.


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 26, 2004)

If you have any friends with a stick welder build it out of steel. Here is an example of mine built several years ago.

http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/groupee/forums?a=tpc&s=4006090712&f=1306023812&m=619106746

The top is 2" angle iron with legs/support built with 1.5" or 2" box steel that is around .125" wall thickness.

Make sure you fit everything on a flat level surface and weld, beat, and grind your way to a clean tank stand. The leveling feet are some feet I stripped off of an old Nortel PBX. I capped the bottom of each leg with scrap .125 steel and drilled out for the steel nuts that are welded to the leg caps. This allows even leveling and adjustment if needed, although I would not adjust with a full tank.

I placed another scrap piece of steel in the middle of the 4' span and capped the angle iron with some .50" particle board. The middle brace is just some insurance that the side won't bend over time. We are talking about a lot of weight here. The wood was placed to allow even dispersal of weight from the tank.

Then paint after a grinding session and some solvent to prep the metal. I used a rattle can from OSH.

IMO wood stands are tough to build without some wood working experience and tooling.


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by kzr750r1:
> If you have any friends with a stick welder build it out of steel. Here is an example of mine built several years ago.
> ...


I was actually thinking about making a stand out of metal. I can weld really well but it wouldnt match the hood I made. I just got 2 bulkheads today from my lfs. Friday I am taking off work to start draining my tank and to bring and get it drilled. If I have any extra time friday im going to start with my stand but if not i will start saturday morning. I hope to have at least 2 coats of paint on it saturday night. I need to get the wood and some misc. pvc parts. Im really worried about getting my tank drilled out. The glass shop here said it would be 15 dollars a hole. I just dont want my tank to break. Id be very pissed off. Im hoping they will be responsable if it breaks.


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 26, 2004)

Good luck i'm interested in how your bulkheads turn out. What is the bottom glass thickness?


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

Im not sure the thickness. Its a regular 55 gallon tank so im assuming its like 1/4 inch or something around that. A friend of mine told me that my tank was made out of tempered glass. I was givin the tank as a gift. I didnt think it was tempered glass. Is there any way i could have it drilled out professionaly or am i going to have to replace the bottom piece of glass and then get it drilled? I was under the influence that when you drill through tempered glass sussecfuly it weakens the glass. If that is the case, what if i put a piece of mdf under the tank inbetwen that and the top of the stand? I really want to drill my tank out so im up for anything.


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

I just found out that my tank bottom was tempered glass for sure. The local glass shop said that they could cut the bottom out without any problem. I called all the loacal fish stores they all said that it may work for a short time but it would bust over time. So I am now thinking about getting the back right side of the tank drilled out. What do you guys think? or is that tempered glass also? I was useing a peat/spagma moss mixture under my gravel. Would i do better by getting a bag of aquatic soil? I saw this at Home depot. The peat/spagma moss mixture i was using worked great but i saw the soil and started to wonder if that would work out better. Also i noticed that people have very fine gravel in there tanks. I have not so small gravel. Where can i get gravel that is smaller than the gravel at most pet stores and home depot? The gravel i have is about the size of sunflower seeds.


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

Its 1232. I just finished draining my tank, putting all my fish in a different tank, putting all my plants in 4 5 gallon buckets and putting moon lights in my hood. Tomorrow I have to drop my tank off at the glass shop for 8 am and then i get to work on my stand for the rest of the day. Bad news is, I think I threw my back out carrying my 55 gallon tank outside by myself. Ill see in the morning if my back can still move


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

Everything is now done. I brought my tank to the glass shop last Friday at 8 am, picked it up at 5 pm. While the tank was at the glass shop I started to build my stand. I finished it off before 5. I picked the tank up and brought my stand to my house. I painted the stand friday night. Saturday I finished off the plumbing in my tank. While installing the bulkheads I noticed that the holes where a little big. I somewhat ignored it and put everything together. I filled the tank up outside and it was leaking out of both holes. The glass shop cut the holes 1 1/2 inches. My holes where supposed to be 1 1/8 inches wide. I siliconed the tank up really well, inside and out. Sunday I started to set the tank up thinking the silicone was dry. It had a little dribble of water coming out so I went to homedepot to find something to put on the inside and outside that would either dry in water or would hold the water out so I can let the silicone cure. The guy gave me plumbers putty. That **** didnt work, but it did cloud my tank up. I drained the tank and resealed the tank. Monday after work and school I went to fill the tank up, it still had a little leak. Smaller than the leak before. I got pissed off so i ripped all the silicone off and resealed it with some black silicone, the black looks better anyways. Today when I came home I put some more silicone over the other coat just to make sure. I am almost fed up with these bulkheads. I am going to try to fill it up tomorrow after I get out of work, is that a good idea. The clear silicone says it is tack free in 30 mins and dry in 24 hours. The black says that it takes 7 to 14 days to fully cure. I have a blow dryer hooked up blowing over the silicone right now. I dont know if thats a good idea. Any suggestions?


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

If you continue to have leaks then maybe you should just get bulkhead fittings that fit the holes.


Roger Miller


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

I ripped the bulkheads out and scraped all the silicone off. I measured the holes and the inside diameter is about 1 1/4. What size bulkhead would fit in that? I was thinking a 3/4.


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

From the dimensions here:

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/bulkhead.html

It looks like you need a fitting for 1/2" pipe to fit into a 1 1/4" hole. You might double check that by looking for other sites similar to the one I linked.

Roger Miller


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

I just finished my tank. Plumbing is done. I got 3/4 inch bulkheads to install yesterady. My pump is running great, my stand is looking good. My plants look happy and my fish are zipping around. I will take some pics as soon as I get back from eating dinner.


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 26, 2004)

Excellent! Nice to hear your having sucess sealing the bulkheads. I look forward to seeing the pictures. Please include the canister filter....Sounds interesting.


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

The first three pics are of my tank two days after setup. The fourth one is of my stand, tank and hood. The fifth one is my food and parts bin for my fish tank







. The sixth and seventh are of my canister filter. I took these pictures in a rush so they didnt come out so great. My canister filter is being pushed with a mag drive 500. I am going to take some better pictures when I get back home monday night. I also added two red cold cathode lights to my hood for moon lighting. It looks pretty cool.


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

How do you like those canisters?


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## cheesehazard (Mar 2, 2004)

The was using the white one by itself for a while and it was working really well. I didnt have to do much modifcations to them to get them to work like a regular canister. They are pretty cheap compared to a canister filter. The white one was like 20 and the clear one was 30. They have differnet types of filters that are made for them. Im using a carbon one and a wooven one. I made a spary bar, some what, for the outtake in my tank. I was supprised how much water flow im getting with it. Im going to take some really good pictures monday night. I might make a differnt type of intake. I want to make one with a surface skimmer.


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