fishyfreak
Fish Fanatic
I just bought a 180 gallon aquarium and need a stand for it, so I thought I'd take some pictures along the way in an attempt to possibly educate others, I learned a few things myself during the process.
I used 2x4's for the actual construction, I'll dress it up later with some pine.
Fortunately I had all the floor joists reinforced about 7 years ago, so I'm not worried that the floor will give under the weight!
Here is a picture of stand, as you can see, being a 120 year old house, using a level I discovered the floor was a little off, 1.5 inches at the front right corner, .75" at the back right and .5" at the front left corner.
So, now I need to level the stand from the bottom. Using some scrap wood and my extra 2x4's (Always anticipate 25% more than what your plans call for, especially if you're just a basement woodworker like me) I rigged up a jig to cut my shims.
This jig worked out nicely, patience is the key. In order to distribute the weight evenly, the shims need to be in contact with the floor all the way around the base.
The shims were a success! After cutting them, I tipped the stand upside down and nailed them on. After the shims were in place I flipped the stand back over, checked the level and it was true.
The last picture shows the bottom of the stand with the shims attached. That's as far as I got this weekend, my next step is to attach .5" plywood to the bottom, then dress up the outside of the stand. My only concern now is when I fill it with water, how much will those 120 year old pine floorboards settle? I'm doing that next weekend, I'll keep you posted.
I used 2x4's for the actual construction, I'll dress it up later with some pine.
Fortunately I had all the floor joists reinforced about 7 years ago, so I'm not worried that the floor will give under the weight!
Here is a picture of stand, as you can see, being a 120 year old house, using a level I discovered the floor was a little off, 1.5 inches at the front right corner, .75" at the back right and .5" at the front left corner.
So, now I need to level the stand from the bottom. Using some scrap wood and my extra 2x4's (Always anticipate 25% more than what your plans call for, especially if you're just a basement woodworker like me) I rigged up a jig to cut my shims.
This jig worked out nicely, patience is the key. In order to distribute the weight evenly, the shims need to be in contact with the floor all the way around the base.
The shims were a success! After cutting them, I tipped the stand upside down and nailed them on. After the shims were in place I flipped the stand back over, checked the level and it was true.
The last picture shows the bottom of the stand with the shims attached. That's as far as I got this weekend, my next step is to attach .5" plywood to the bottom, then dress up the outside of the stand. My only concern now is when I fill it with water, how much will those 120 year old pine floorboards settle? I'm doing that next weekend, I'll keep you posted.
