# DIY aquarium stand lots of photos - first ever woodworking project



## butacska

Hi guys, I haven't been here for a while, and the reason is that I couldn't get rid of the algae in my tank and I wasn't too proud of it, so I didn't come to post pictures.

Now, me and my husband decided to build a stand for the tank that we have empty, and tear down the 55g and put this 36g together. But as we didn't have a stand for it, we wanted to make one instead of buying one. The budget - of course - is already way over the price of the new stands but building is fun  And&#8230; this would be our first together project ever 

We bought 4 2x4-s first and made a frame, then we covered it with a ½ inch birch plywood, stained it and that is it&#8230; so far, as we could not make the doors yet&#8230; as we don't have router table or table saw&#8230; And that would be a VERY expensive stand if we bought those just for this project.

So&#8230;

*First we cut the 2x4s. the tank dimensions are 30x12x18 (30.5x11.5x~18). So we made an extra ½ inch on both side. We used my husbands miter saw for this.*


















*Then we had 2 2x4s left to the height of the frame, so we calculated out how high the stand should be*

*So we had all the pieces:*










*That is the bottom. *


















*The joint is a 1 ¾ wood dowel plus 2 3inch long drywall screws topped with woodglue.*










*Although this joint won't hold any weight, I wanted it to be massive.*










*Bottom and top:*










*When we wanted to put the legs together, we realized that we made a terrible quality cut on the wood:*










*So a little headache and 3 hours later&#8230;*


























*So now they were exactly even.*

*It is hard for me to explain how the legs are built (my first language is Hungarian), I'll try to show it in the pics. But the legs are double 2x4s:*










*Dowels are holding them together plus glue plus the screws.*


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## niko

Butascka,

Your stand is seriously overbuilt. It will hold a tank that weights 3 times as much as the one you will put on this stand. I like to overbuilt too so it's nice to see that I'm not the only one  Some time ago I made an ADA copycat stand and to this day I can't believe how heavy the thing is. But I know it will hold any tank I care to put on it without any bowing.

Here in the US the commercially available stands are build in such a way that you would think they would collapse just by looking at them. But they support the tanks fine. I guess it's physics, but it doesn't make me want to copy their construction.

What are you going to use for doors and sides? MDF and laminate?

--Nikolay


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## butacska

*So I drew the calculation for the 4x8 birch plywood. One sheet covers the whole thing.*


















* The top was added first*










*Then the bottom:*









*As we don't have compressor and nail gun, I used elbow grease and I loved doing it I loved nailing the plywood to the 2x4s. In Hungary, I have actually never seen a finishing nail punch and I just loved hiding the nails with the punch  I used 3d 1 ¼ nails. A lot *

















*Then I used wood filler to cover the tiny holes.*

















* Then we added the back:*









*The sides:*


















*And the front&#8230; that was the trickiest.*

















*As originally we wanted to cut the holes out from a whole front sheet (we cut it up into top, bottom and 3 columns instead) there was nothing to hold the center piece&#8230; So we had to make something for it.*

























*Finally it was done.*
















*
It has some kind of chicken pox&#8230; I guess&#8230; too many nails&#8230; *


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## butacska

niko said:


> Butascka,
> 
> Your stand is seriously overbuilt. It will hold a tank that weights 3 times as much as the one you will put on this stand. I like to overbuilt too so it's nice to see that I'm not the only one  Some time ago I made an ADA copycat stand and to this day I can't believe how heavy the thing is. But I know it will hold any tank I care to put on it without any bowing.
> 
> Here in the US the commercially available stands are build in such a way that you would think they would collapse just by looking at them. But they support the tanks fine. I guess it's physics, but it doesn't make me want to copy their construction.
> 
> What are you going to use for doors and sides? MDF and laminate?
> 
> --Nikolay


haha  Thanks Nikolay  My husband tried to argue about this (overbuilt) but he lost  
Now, that it is together I can see it too, it could hold probably a tank size of solid granit piece my stand under the 55g is made out of PARTICLE board (not even plywood), if the tank is not on it it is so flimsy, it has approx. an inch tilt (whobble) in it...

We are having trouble with the door, as I said, no router rable no table saw, we have an idea, but we ahvn't started it yet... we'll see...  THX for your comment.


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## butacska

*The next step was the molding. Now that is a really time consuming procedure! I hadn't thought before we started it. First we added the corners: ½ in quarter round.*

























*Then we started the base. We bought pine baseboard for that. And it is a pain on the neck, to cut the 45 degrees angles and have the exact size&#8230; yuk&#8230;*


















*We used a piece of plywood as a guide, so the saw wouldn't break the molding.*


















*We made some pilot hole into the molding, because it cracked when I was trying to put a nail into a small piece. (I decided to upload smaller images, sorry if they were too big so far...)*



























*Then we started the top. We had a smaller kind of baseboard for that.*

















*
I like the way it turned out. *










*This is the top view:*


















*On the back we are missing 3 inches of baseboard, but Lowe's only sells them in whole 8' long pieces, so I am going to check HD if I can find the same kind of baseboard.*










*Then I filled all the holes with wood filler,*



















* and I let it dry for 20 minutes&#8230; it was time for a coffee break *



















*Than I sanded the whole stand, first with a 150, then with a 180 just a little bit.*

*After sanding:*









[smilie=l:


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## hoppycalif

Very, very nice job, so far! You guys work like craftsmen. Now, you need to make doors, and there are several ways to do that without using a router or table saw.

One is to use rectangles of one half inch birch plywood, slightly bigger than the openings. You can find some thin flat strips of wood in the moulding section of HD, to cut to cover the plywood edges. Those, you can just glue on and use masking tape as the "clamps" to hold it while the glue dries. Then sand off any excess width of the strips and fill the cracks.

Another way is harder: make doors like that, but make them fit into the door openings with about one thirty second of an inch clearance all around. Finding appropriate hinges and installing them for this type door is more difficult, but you can do it with hand tools.

Just don't give up! You really have a nice stand going, even if it could be used as an elephant's chair!


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## freydo

wow! that's an awesome job!

yes it's over-built, but then again, you will be supporting a few hundred pounds of water. and piece of mind is what this stand will definitely give you.

hope to see more pictures of the completed stand with your tank on top


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## butacska

*So after sanding&#8230;*








*
I have never stained anything. This is the very first one! So I was kind of nervous about it. Especially since I read that birch plywood is a pain to stain&#8230; well I guess it is. I bought some pre-stain wood conditioner, and stain, the color is gunstock. I had some extra plywood I sanded it the same (150 then 180) as the stand and tried the stain out.*









*Haha it was funny. The first two pieces got the same finish plus conditioner plus one layer stain&#8230; and they are all different:*









*So I grabbed two other pieces, and without sanding I put some conditioner then stain, on the fourth one I skipped the conditioner and used the stain right away&#8230;*










*I have no idea why I got the results I got, I didn't see the difference so I guess I just wanted to look professional with the sample *

*I cleaned the stand, first with a vacuum cleaner.*









*Then I wiped it with an old damp T-shirt.*









*You can see there was a lot of dust on it after vacuuming.*









*Then I applied the conditioner, waited 5 minutes, wiped it then stained the top first - this is the one side that's going to be the most invisible.*









*I recognized that the nail holes and the wood filler is really ugly, *








*so I tried to sand the ones on the side a little bit more&#8230;*








*It got a little bit better, but not perfect.. *








*ohh well, next time less holes, less wood filler&#8230;

Then I stained the rest of the stand.*

































*I just love the color. Unfortunately the camera does not reflect the original color and of course it is not the final stage, but I just love this gunstock stain.*

























*Then we made a "little" (2in) hole to the back for the wires:*
The inspector said it is OK  :lol

















*And installed the timer and an other search protector.*
















*
Now that is it guys.

Today, after work I sanded the whole thing with a 320 sandpaper, it got really smooth. I love it. Then I stained it again, but didn't take any pictures. Tomorrow I'll sand it with a 600 paper and do the final staining. Why? because I enjoy staining  And the darker the color get the more I love it.

Later this week we'll try to do the doors or&#8230; it has to wait until the weekend.

Any comment appreciated. *


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## butacska

hoppycalif said:


> Very, very nice job, so far! You guys work like craftsmen. Now, you need to make doors, and there are several ways to do that without using a router or table saw.
> 
> One is to use rectangles of one half inch birch plywood, slightly bigger than the openings. You can find some thin flat strips of wood in the moulding section of HD, to cut to cover the plywood edges. Those, you can just glue on and use masking tape as the "clamps" to hold it while the glue dries. Then sand off any excess width of the strips and fill the cracks.
> 
> Another way is harder: make doors like that, but make them fit into the door openings with about one thirty second of an inch clearance all around. Finding appropriate hinges and installing them for this type door is more difficult, but you can do it with hand tools.
> 
> Just don't give up! You really have a nice stand going, even if it could be used as an elephant's chair!


Thank you  We are really amateurs though.
We would like to do something like your second suggestion, so the plywood would fit into the opening and then make a little frame from a tiny molding (not wider than 1 1/4 inch and not thicker than 3/8 max 1/2 inch). Do the frame like a picture frame (with 45 degree cuts), and the overlay would be only maximum a 1/2 inch. So if i can buy a nice hinge for that it should open nicely, and not damage the frame... Well as i said, that's the plan today... We'll see...
Thank you for your comment and your encourage.



freydo said:


> wow! that's an awesome job!
> 
> yes it's over-built, but then again, you will be supporting a few hundred pounds of water. and piece of mind is what this stand will definitely give you.
> 
> hope to see more pictures of the completed stand with your tank on top


 Thanks and I hope to see my tank on the top of it too  Yeah, the idea was to build it massive, well I guess we succeeded


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## hoppycalif

It is very difficult to stain evenly where you fill nail holes or cracks. The filler just doesn't react to the stain the way wood does. You can get so called stainable wood filler, but even that shows up very boldly when you stain over it. I found you can use wood dye, instead of stain (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=760) and it covers the wood filler better. It still isn't a perfect color match, but a lot better. When I finally quit making wood furniture I was using dyes almost exclusively because I liked working with them so much better.

Your door idea should work very well, and overlay hinges are easy to get and not expensive.


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## ghengis

I am seriously impressed with this build! I make all my own stands as well, being reasonably handy with a hammer and saw, so I can fully appreciate the effort and detail in this stand. First woodwork project you say?? Pretty good for a first effort!

A trick I learnt many moons ago, is to use wood dust (from the project being worked on) mixed with glue as wood filler. Easiest way to get a perfect colour match, every time.

Any pics of the tank destined for this stand??


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## Haagenize

I think she's tricking us all, she's a veteran expert craftswoman 

I don't know much about making stands, but that looks pretty pro  Feel free to make me one too when your done with this one


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## chagovatoloco

Nice job!!! though I do think some one here does wood work. Why else have those nice tools? I wish I would of built my last stank that well.


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## butacska

hoppycalif said:


> It is very difficult to stain evenly where you fill nail holes or cracks. The filler just doesn't react to the stain the way wood does. You can get so called stainable wood filler, but even that shows up very boldly when you stain over it. I found you can use wood dye, instead of stain (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=760) and it covers the wood filler better. It still isn't a perfect color match, but a lot better. When I finally quit making wood furniture I was using dyes almost exclusively because I liked working with them so much better.
> 
> Your door idea should work very well, and overlay hinges are easy to get and not expensive.


Thanks very much for the idea on the dye, on the next project I'll consider it.
I bought the molding today for the doors, we put a "sample side" together (just a piece of plywood approx as long as the doors and we nailed on a piece of molding the way I said before... actually 5/16 overhang) so tomorrow I'll take it with me when I go to buy hinges. We don't want to put the doors together without seeing how the hinge connects to them.



ghengis said:


> I am seriously impressed with this build! I make all my own stands as well, being reasonably handy with a hammer and saw, so I can fully appreciate the effort and detail in this stand. First woodwork project you say?? Pretty good for a first effort!
> 
> A trick I learnt many moons ago, is to use wood dust (from the project being worked on) mixed with glue as wood filler. Easiest way to get a perfect colour match, every time.
> 
> Any pics of the tank destined for this stand??


Thank you so much for your comment I am really happy about it And that sawdust idea sounds great, so on the nex project we will try out both (hoppycalif's dye and your sawdust) What kind of glue? regular woodglue? because it expands... or you just sand it down? 
The tank is empty at the moment.



Haagenize said:


> I think she's tricking us all, she's a veteran expert craftswoman
> 
> I don't know much about making stands, but that looks pretty pro  Feel free to make me one too when your done with this one


Haha, I wish  But this is seriously our first "together" project. I am a totally newbie to this but I definetly love it. Fortunatelly my husband has pretty good idea about putting things together, that helps a lot



chagovatoloco said:


> Nice job!!! though I do think some one here does wood work. Why else have those nice tools? I wish I would of built my last stank that well.


 Again... no experience in woodworking. My husband's profession is moldmaker. And most of our tools are from his job.And they are for metal, not wood ... That is the main reason for the fact that this project has already turned out at least twice as much $$$ as we had bought a new one (we had to buy clamps, jigsaw, sander etc) We got the miter saw from his son-in-law and this is the first time we ever used it  But other than that... yeah, he has great tools.  We used a 1/32 bit for making pilot holes for the molding  He said it is not supposed to be used in a regular drill, only in very high speed... (above 2500RPM) We used precision measuring tools for the 2x4's... it was actually funny  Especially since we found out that the door openings are NOT EVEN... 8-[ But we'll figure out how to put the door frames together so it won't be noticable


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## info scavenger

You did such an excellent job of documenting each step. The photos and infomation are detailed enough for even a novice woodworker like me to follow. I was so inspired by your success I decided to start on a stand today for a 55 gal. tank my husband surprised me with. I doubt it will turn out as beautiful as yours, but it will be much sturdier than a flimsy comercial stand. [smilie=l:.


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## hoppycalif

You used urethane glue, I think, which does expand a lot as it cures. It won't work well with sawdust mixed in. But ordinary Elmer's glue, either white or the "carpenters glue" yellow type work well with sawdust. Unfortunately I can't get stain to penetrate that either, and where the stuff smears against the wood, it shows up as light areas when stained. I have the best luck with the "stainable" wood filler.


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## butacska

info scavenger said:


> You did such an excellent job of documenting each step. The photos and infomation are detailed enough for even a novice woodworker like me to follow. I was so inspired by your success I decided to start on a stand today for a 55 gal. tank my husband surprised me with. I doubt it will turn out as beautiful as yours, but it will be much sturdier than a flimsy comercial stand. [smilie=l:.[/QUOTE]
> 
> Thank you so much!
> 
> congratulation on your new tank
> 
> I know that a couple of people here (plus my husband) said that the stand is way overbuilt, I still would put two extra 2x4 legs... one between the 2 back and one between the two front legs... for a 4 feet long tank... ours is only 30 inches long. If you chose this style (with the extra inch on the top) make sure you calculate some extra space... eg the base of my tank is exactly 30x12.5 so we made the top plywood 31x13.5. these are the frame's dimensions too, so the 2x4's are: 31''x10.5'' for the top and bottom frame. Also make sure you keep a level next to you all the time and check on the level horisontaly AND verically on the legs. Although you can correct it with shims later on, the more level the stand is, the better.
> If you have any question, just write to us and we'll answer... if we can. Good luck to you!  And make pictures for us!!! mandatory  lol just kidding  Maria and George


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## chagovatoloco

I used a minwax wood filler on my last project and I hid the holes very well. 









this was not the final stain but you can see the holes are covered.


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## butacska

hoppycalif said:


> You used urethane glue, I think, which does expand a lot as it cures. It won't work well with sawdust mixed in. But ordinary Elmer's glue, either white or the "carpenters glue" yellow type work well with sawdust. Unfortunately I can't get stain to penetrate that either, and where the stuff smears against the wood, it shows up as light areas when stained. I have the best luck with the "stainable" wood filler.


Hmm, the glue is actually an accessory that we didn't buy  As a matter of fact i won it through an online contest  So we thought we can use it. 
We'll try both methods out and see which one fits better for us. It is really hard though to make it look like it is untouched (like no screw or nail went ever through it...) 

By the way i sanded it today with a 600 grid sandpaper, it is so smooth, a fly could fall on it  LOL I love it. Last layer of stain is comming up and I make some new photos.


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## chagovatoloco

I also like to use steel wool as a final sanding. I dose a good job of picking up the small pieces of dust. You have done an amazing job, if you don't have an art form I believe this is it.


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## butacska

chagovatoloco said:


> I used a minwax wood filler on my last project and I hid the holes very well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this was not the final stain but you can see the holes are covered.


It looks really nice! Lovely warm dark color too! I don't even no what brand i used, but it is paintable/sandable......... i didn't think of being stainable when i bought it as I had never used wood filler before... .... Ohh well Learning from mistakes


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## butacska

chagovatoloco said:


> I also like to use steel wool as a final sanding. I dose a good job of picking up the small pieces of dust. You have done an amazing job, if you don't have an art form I believe this is it.


Thanks I didn't think of steel whool, but so far i don't know how I am going to clean this fine dust off of the stand before staining it the last time. Do you guys think just the damp t-shirt will do it? It is so smooth now i don't know if the shirt would pick the dust up...

... well i guess i'll put myself away for tomorrow now
Good nite! and thank you for your comment everybody i am soo happy about it I truly appreciate your help!


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## chagovatoloco

butacska said:


> Thanks I didn't think of steel whool, but so far i don't know how I am going to clean this fine dust off of the stand before staining it the last time. Do you guys think just the damp t-shirt will do it? It is so smooth now i don't know if the shirt would pick the dust up...
> 
> ... well i guess i'll put myself away for tomorrow now
> Good nite! and thank you for your comment everybody i am soo happy about it I truly appreciate your help!


Thank you very much for your kind comments, though my work is not as good as yours.


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## freydo

butacska said:


> Thanks I didn't think of steel whool, but so far i don't know how I am going to clean this fine dust off of the stand before staining it the last time. Do you guys think just the damp t-shirt will do it? It is so smooth now i don't know if the shirt would pick the dust up...
> 
> ... well i guess i'll put myself away for tomorrow now
> Good nite! and thank you for your comment everybody i am soo happy about it I truly appreciate your help!


you can go to a hardware store and get what is called "tack rags". they're cotton clothes with a sticky residue on them that really helps to pick up the dust particles.


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## mulita

Very Nice Job! I like the way you handle your moldings on it. Very very very strong stand, it can easily hold two-three tank on top on each other 

Your are doing an excellent job!


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## butacska

*Hello again*

*Finally we put the doors together, we used the molding on the side of the plywood as you would put a picture frame together.*

















*First we glued them, but then it expanded and became ugly, so we just nailed the rest of the molding to the plywood.*

*Then I stained the doors, but as the cabinet itself received 4x staining and sanding, that's what I have to do with the doors too. And the drying time between 2 stain coats is 24(!!!) hours. So 3 more days until we can put the doors up. Slowly but surely it's getting done  Can't wait.*
























*I don't know how even and level the doors will be though&#8230; We'll see.*


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## butacska

mulita said:


> Very Nice Job! I like the way you handle your moldings on it. Very very very strong stand, it can easily hold two-three tank on top on each other
> 
> Your are doing an excellent job!


thank you for your kind comment


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## JG06

That's a nice cabinet you've built there and one that I'm sure you'll be able to use for something else if you ever decide to take the aquarium down. From where I sit, it looks very well done. You should be proud!

One suggestion I may offer though: I think since you have that decorative trim that runs around the top of edge of your cabinet you should consider laying a piece of formica type counter top on top to finish things off. I put a piece of scrap formica on the cabinet I just finished and it was really a nice touch. Plus, I'll never have to worry about water damaging the wood under the aquarium. Again, its just a thought.


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## Sunstar

Very well done. My brother in law made me a stand once, but as soon as it got wet, it expanded horribly  it is nowhere as nice as what you have put together. Kudos and keep up the fantastic work.


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## butacska

Finally we finished it.:bounce:

We put on the doors, now you can tell how beginners we are...  But it's OKEY. 









Took it into the house. Its going to be in the family room.

















The inspector:









I got a little bonus at my job so I ordered two bags of eco complete from DR FnS, that was the cheapest I could find... even cheaper than my LFS which was $29.99 + tax a bag... a got them for $53 with shipping and everything.:biggrin: Some place wanted $30-40 for just shipping...









I started to put the tank together with self-collected lava rocks:








The lights are still on the 55G as I have plants in that one.
I collected a little mulm from the 55G,
I used a sponge and "seeded" (?) the filter with bacteria... obviously too much because my tank looks like there was a dust storm in it. Everything is covered with something that is similar to mulm... probably dead bacteria, but look like very fine dust... 
I pulled out dwarf sag and planted it in the new tank, and fished out 9 baby guppies and about 30 RCS to the new tank. To help cycling.
Next week I will receive plants what I'm getting for the shrimps that I sent to 5 people:bounce: trade is fun And I sill have way too many shrimps.... 









In the meantime, while the stand was delayed I quit smoking.:bounce::biggrin:.. cold turkey... 3 weeks ago:biggrin:...
so I bought a little 5G tank into my kitchen, I couldn't handle the waiting for my 29 gallon I needed to put a tank together... so I can look at it instead of going outside to have a cig. 









Thanks everybody for the comments and help!


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## chagovatoloco

Looks like you off to a good start. With the eco go with a short photo period ,say under 8 hours, you will have a lot less problems.


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## zer0zax

That stand is killer! At first I thought it looked a little plain, but the molding on the doors and the top/bottom of the stand make it look like fine furniture. Very stylish without looking overdone! This is my favorite stand I have seen, built like a tank while looking like a Ferrari! Congratulations on quitting smoking, also


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## butacska

zer0zax said:


> That stand is killer! At first I thought it looked a little plain, but the molding on the doors and the top/bottom of the stand make it look like fine furniture. Very stylish without looking overdone! This is my favorite stand I have seen, built like a tank while looking like a Ferrari! Congratulations on quitting smoking, also


Thanks for the nice comment



chagovatoloco said:


> Looks like you off to a good start. With the eco go with a short photo period ,say under 8 hours, you will have a lot less problems.


Thank you for the advise, I sure will do that! [smilie=n:


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## freydo

now that the stand is complete, which looks awesome, i'm sure you can refer to yourselves as intermediate builders 

the tank setup looks great, please post more pictures once it fills in, and congrats on quitting smoking


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## butacska

I put some more plant into the tank, and shrimp
Here are some photos:

































Riccia mat:








Shrimp

















Male guppies in my 5 gal:

































And my doggie


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## supersmirky

Looking great!! I like it...some good close ups! My favorite is the dog at the end! lol hahaha


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## info scavenger

These are pics of a stand I made using butacska's directions. I made the top flat and added center supports as butacska suggested. I'm very pleased how it turned out.


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## supersmirky

Beautiful stand Info!

Any problems with a large door with those hinges?


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## Tex Gal

You guys are great! Wonderful work! Great tanks!


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## info scavenger

The doors are not very heavy just 1/2" plywood trim out with wood stock. I had to go cheap on the wood (why its painted to hide the imperfections) but I used the best I could get for the hardware. The hinges are heavy duty self-closing. Longer hinges would have looked better but the store didn't have any in stock and I wanted to get finished so I could move on to my next project.


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## butacska

info scavenger said:


> The doors are not very heavy just 1/2" plywood trim out with wood stock. I had to go cheap on the wood (why its painted to hide the imperfections) but I used the best I could get for the hardware. The hinges are heavy duty self-closing. Longer hinges would have looked better but the store didn't have any in stock and I wanted to get finished so I could move on to my next project.


Sorry for not answering sooner, I couldn't get to do it...
Your stand is awesome! I am so glad you were able to finish when I posted mine :clap2: Congratulation to you! Great job.


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## goldfishes

I am smitten by this project! I actually have it printed out and stacked neatly in my husband's chair for when he gets home tonight as a subtle hint. Great job, Maria!


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## butacska

sewingalot said:


> I am smitten by this project! I actually have it printed out and stacked neatly in my husband's chair for when he gets home tonight as a subtle hint. Great job, Maria!


Thank you


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## nirutlee

Very Good stand...


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## Pinto

Awesome job on your first woodworking project.


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## gwendal

Nice work.
Good photos.
The final pics were nice.


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## rhodophyta

I would add some drain holes, either in the top shelf or in the back edging, because spilled water does sometimes happen and it should not become trapped under the tank.


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## phantom1bc

heck, i had to register just to complement you on your stand. I have made a few stands, with my welder , tig and stainless steel,lol. I'm not much of a carpenter.Looks awesome!!


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## scottyboy76194

I know I'm a couple years late on this thread but....... It looks good! woodworking isn't hard if you just take your time and have patience you can make some nice looking stuff. You guys did a nice job.


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## scottyboy76194

Most wood should be finish sanded with 220 grit before staining. Getting all the dust off prior to staining isn't critical. Blow the piece with an air tip and the rest will come off while rubbing with the stain. You need to be careful wiping with a damp cloth because the water will raise the grain on most woods enough to cause "blotchy" staining, I personally prefer oil based stain for this very reason. 220 grit after a seal coat just to remove the roughness only, then I use a scotchbrite pad after a base coat then a finish coat. Another thing I do when I'm finished spraying the top coat is, I will fill the gun with lacquer thinner and spray a light coat over the piece a few times, this will help give you an almost glass-like finish, melt all overspray and clean the gun at the same time. Lowe's has a small gun perfect for furniture for about $40 and a small compressor will work just fine with it. Hope this will help some people, I know there is nothing worse than putting a lot of time and effort into something only to have the last step not turn out as nice as the rest.


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## RickRS

scottyboy76194 said:


> Lowe's has a small gun perfect for furniture for about $40 and a small compressor will work just fine with it.


They do? Works with a pancake compressor (Porter Cable 6 gallon, 2.6 scfm @ 90 psi)? Tell me more.


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## WHOPSTER

I was looking on the computer to get some Ideals on stands for aquqriums. somehow I got to this web site and really like the way you built yours Buy the way it is very good not to be a craftsman brfore I have since built one close to your but change the size and trim and framework.


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## skyhigh

Wow, just wow. This stand is amazing and is built like a tank! I'm also planning to build one. Again, great stand Bustacka! What kind of wood did your husband and you use (for the frame)? 

rayer:


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## Victorlee

Just a suggestion on the nail hole/filler problem. save some of your sanding waste, mix it with a clear setting glue like Elmers, and counter sink the nails a bit, put the resulting paste in the holes and when dry sand and stain, being the same wood it should take the stain the same way.


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## rhodophyta

Victorlee said:


> Just a suggestion on the nail hole/filler problem. save some of your sanding waste, mix it with a clear setting glue like Elmers, and counter sink the nails a bit, put the resulting paste in the holes and when dry sand and stain, being the same wood it should take the stain the same way.


Is this an idea, or have you actually tried this?

If you get any Elmer's anywhere on any part of the wood before staining, the stain will not penetrate. A drip, a streak near a join, any speck of glue will seal the wood pores and prevent any stain from working. You can use paints and solid (deck) stains because those are films on the surface of the wood.

If anyone wants to try this idea, test it on a waste piece, or inside the stand out of sight. If you are using a very light stain, or natural wood, it might work. I tend to think not even then, depending on your awareness of finishes. Four or five coats of gloss black, fine steel-wooled between each ought to fix anything you are not pleased with.


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## jawahar

Not able to view the images


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## Hillbilly Homer

jawahar said:


> Not able to view the images


No one can Photobucket is holding photos for *"Ransom"*


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