Fish Tank Cabinets

Hi there
I am new to keeping tropical fish and am looking for advice on best fish tank cabinet set ups. I am looking for advice on best type of cabinet for quality and will hold up over time. I heard that wooden cabinets are better for holding the weight and the obvious storage solutions? What should I be considering in my choice? Thank you in advance of any help.

Hi and welcome to the forum

I can't help with brands in the UK, but laminated chip board/ particle board is regularly used for cabinets. It does not last that well because the moisture gets in between the wood particles and it starts to rot and fall apart after a few years.

A cabinet made from solid wood (not particle board) is more expensive but will last much longer, especially if it's painted or varnished.

Metal stands will take the weight without any problems. But if they aren't painted properly, they can rust. If you want to outlay the money, then get a stainless steel stand and it will last for decades, possibly even centuries.

Ones with cupboards are nice, but tend towards $150+ for the press board and veneer ones. The solid wood ones go upwards of $200. I like the trusty (and cheap but very sturdy) cinderblock with 3/4 inch sheet of wood (1" thick for anything over 3 feet long). I put a waterproof shower curtain over the top (with a design I like) to water proof it. You can add an extra shelf by putting a 2nd sheet between the layers of blocks.

One aquarium site I follow has steel stands, with black tinted glass panels to cover it up and for the doors. Looks super sleek. Expensive too, though.

With money and space, I'd go for the cabinet that is offered for sale with the tank. You know it'll be solid. Wooden DIY jobbies are cool...if you have the skills, or access to someone who does, but it has to be a solid piece of kit and wood isn't cheap at the mo',

The other basic DIY solution is one I used myself, as suggested by @Circus, and that's painted breeze blocks and a piece of strong board, (I used a section cut from an old door).

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

and wood isn't cheap at the mo',

Click to expand...

still much cheaper to build your own stand and buy the tools you need than buy a store-sold solid wood one

realzalio said:

still much cheaper to build your own stand and buy the tools you need than buy a store-sold solid wood one

Click to expand...

Of course it is...assuming you have the skill and the tools and the opportunity to put the two together.

I had many brick/cinderblock and board stands in the past. A couple words of caution about them: if the tank is long and needs a middle support column, it's better to use a sturdy metal/wood stand unless everything is sitting on dead flat cement/tile/etc. floor. If you're on floor boards, even if the blocks start out perfectly level, the floor can get bendy over the years and sometimes can end up pushing up in the middle and bending the board that the tank is sitting on - which is obviously bad for the tank's integrity even if it's only a slight warp. Well-built wood and and metal stands are less prone to that kind of distortion, and I've never had an issue with that when the cinderblocks were only at the sides. Cinderblocks can also add a lot of extra weight to the area on the floor, particularly compared to a wood stand.

On the topic of DIY stands, just a thought that popped into my head...with lumber prices being what they are, I wonder if prefab wood stands will end up cheaper than the raw materials in some places. It was that way with wooden chicken coops in my region earlier this year. Complete inversion of what you'd expect the prices to be. Weird times.

Thank you, that's very helpful

Colin_T said:

Hi and welcome to the forum

I can't help with brands in the UK, but laminated chip board/ particle board is regularly used for cabinets. It does not last that well because the moisture gets in between the wood particles and it starts to rot and fall apart after a few years.

A cabinet made from solid wood (not particle board) is more expensive but will last much longer, especially if it's painted or varnished.

Metal stands will take the weight without any problems. But if they aren't painted properly, they can rust. If you want to outlay the money, then get a stainless steel stand and it will last for decades, possibly even centuries.

Click to expand...