Building A Stand...

[Fate2006]

Okay, so I'm interesrted in building a stand for my 10gallon fish tank, I'm curious to know, what kind of wood should I use? I know it needs to be strong enough to support alot of weight, but I'm also curious to know if there's a certain type of nail I should use? If anybody can give me any tips I'd be greatly appriciative...

 

[Tolak]

A 10 doesn't weigh that much as far as tanks go, probably around 100 pounds fully set up. I build racks with treated 2x4's, for a single 10 2x3's would be fine. Use screws instead of nails, much more holding power.

Check out http/garf.org/ & scroll down to the diy folder on the left. There is a stand building program in there, it gives you a cut list once you put in a few measurements.

 

[FinnMacCumhail]

I personally like the looks of red oak or cherry. They are both reasonably priced for hardwoods and are easy to work with. Pine is very easy to work with and inexpensive BUT I think using hardwoods like the ones I suggested will give you a nicer and more professional looking stand.

Poplar would also be an idea.

 

[Tolak]

I used poplar to skin this stand for a 65 gallon. Finished 1 side plywood is an economical alternative to solid woods, which can get expensive.

The framework is the garf design, you can make plain 2x4 stud grade lumber look good with a skin of something nicer.

 

[CFC]

To be honest you could use 2x2 timber to build a stand for 10g, hell you could make it two tiers and have two 10s on it and it wouldnt have any trouble holding the weight. I have used 3x2 to build stands for tanks in excess of 200 gallons (my 205g is still sitting on a 3x2 stand) but all my recent racks for multiple 55s and 75s have been built from 4x2 as i didnt feel comfortable going 4 feet high with the 3x2 due to possible warping from the humid fishroom enviroment.

All the modern "kit" aquariums come with stands built from laminated chipboard and have no troubles holding tanks of up to 150 gallons, though quite frankly they frighten the life out of me

 

[Tolak]

All the modern "kit" aquariums come with stands built from laminated chipboard and have no troubles holding tanks of up to 150 gallons, though quite frankly they frighten the life out of me

I had one of those craptacular stands long ago. It got wet & started to melt. I've been building my own ever since, I can't believe what they sell as suitable stands. Second hand furniture at a garage sale is stronger, cheaper, and better looking than most of them.

 

[Teelie]

It bothers me too. My new 40g breeder has one of those stands though if they had true wood, I would've sprung for it. As it is though, I just have that fiberboard one for now until I can get the time, materials and money to build my own unless I luck out and find a real wood one somewhere.

 

[MojoDex]

all my stands are made of steel at work i simply do not trust wood with the kind of weight a fish tank holds