some of you may know that i am going to be setting up a 40 gallon labyrinth fish tank soon, so, i was wondering how i would go about making a durable stand for it, without spending 200$ on an already made one,

I am heading to the store now to get the dimensions, and here is what the total weight would be around when it is filled,

weight in U.S. LBs about 500 lbs at max-425 to 500 LBs

so i need to make a stand that is durable enough to withhold 500 lbs of an aquarium so yeah,

Dimensions are::::36" L x 18" W

EDITED| ( SP? )

here's a good link for ya'.
diy stand

hmmm...... it says my aquarium is 5 gallons more than retail words.. cool.

pretty good link...

ill post again when im done reading and workin with it

yuuugh this'll cost almost as much as a pre-built- stand

90$$... guess i aint so bad,

EDIT:: dang, its not (0, its 154 plus tax..... 165 dollars..

maybe ill just buy a stand.. sure its about $100 more but itsa proffessional job, and i've got until about febuary for this thing, so i guess waiting until january 31st and having $546+ is fine w\ me, 100 for aquarium, 300 for stand, 146 for other,
Plus the fact that i might have anywhere from another 52 to another 65 dollars ( i dont know when paper route checks come ) i should be fine, besides, if i wait and by a real one, Ill have time to find the best spot for it and.. lol, i could get it set up a few days before my birthday.

... of course this is in case i dont waste my money on other things...

This the one I built for my 42UKG tank. Cheap as chips to make.

DIY Stand

hmm, maybe i shouldnt just buy one.. besides, i need a project

Now cichlas, how thick should the wood be?, like... an inch?, or 3 centimeters? or 4 cm?

Check out this one diy stand

Have you checked out twincitiesfreemarket.net ? You could find a free stand, tanks, lumber etc.

Dope!, yeah great idea dotfree is good,

i've seen your DIY stand, thats where i got the idea of a DIY stand, but what i am looking for is more step-by-step process instructions than a story of how you did it step-by-step, get my idea?

Just curious youth, do you have a parent to help you out and the tools needed?

Just thinking here, the stand would need to be good for maybe 450-500 pounds.
What is your foot print?

Nope, nothing that drastic. The thickness is 1.8 cm, over here it is called 'conti-board' but may be called something else where you are. It is just a laminated chipboard. Same stuff that Juwel stands etc are made of. 99% of the time, people completely underestimate the strength of wood so tend to go quite overboard on thicknesses. If in doubt, go checkout stands at an LFS. Is this wood strong enough for a 40G? Absolutely. My 90USG stand is contructed the same, and the ones for 180's are also made the same. It is one of the reasons it sorta rattles my cage when I see the price of stands made like the one I did. They are ludicrously expensive considering the cost of the raw materials.

Another tip, the DIY store I got the 'conti-board' from also offer a wood cutting service for a small fee. Because I had planned it all out, I could tell them exactly what to cut them to, so all I had to do was screw the thing together and put the doors on. Check if yours have this service, they cut things a lot straighter and exact than you will yourself.

all right cichlas, i get ya

glaive, i do have the parental stuff, and my grandfather was an engineer so yeah.
the what now?, foot print, if you mean the plans on how to build it, the blue-prints, then no, thats the reason im here but the foot print is 37" x 19" ( 1 inch added for safety )

the footprint of your tank is what he meant. glaive, i think he said it was 36"x18" right?

yes, its a 40 gallon breeder by all-glass

36" add an xtra half inch for safety 18" add another half inch for safety, 16 inches tall

ha, i just thought of something on how ill make the stand look, basically just like the one in cichlas link but have the space at the bottom 20 inches long, 21" so i can put a 10 gallon hospital tank in there,

The top surface being 37x19 is good that way the load is centered on the frame. 2x4s for a frame would be plenty for carrying the load and maybe 3/8 grade (a or B)/d plywood for skinning and shear. I'll see what I can sketch, find out how much wood costs per a basic unit and decide how tall a tank you need.

Just curious is granpa was an engineer why not have him draft you some plans and help you out with it? It wouldn't matter the engineering field he would understand the needs.

This is an expensive way to build a stand Glaive unless you happen to have all lumber already. There is no need for a frame work. If you are building two boxes (cupboards), they will do all the supporting you need (compression and sheer).

It all comes down to personal preferences in the end, but I have yet to find a cheaper way to build a stand than laminated chipboard if you are buying all materials from scratch.

Suicidal, if you intend to make the gap in the centre that wide, I would recommend a solid sheet right accross the back of the whole stand, rather than just backing the cupboards as you will compromise the stability with two cupboards that are only 8" wide.

we already have plenty of 2 by 4s and other raw pieces of wood, just finished making something for a window, I have to talk my grnadfather about some things and here are some updated plans...

30" tall ( 75 cm )
18" wide ( slightly more for safety ) ( 45+ cm )
36" long ( more for saftey ) ( 90 cm )
as for the hospital tank idea, i decided that, having it be 14 inches ( 35 cm ) off the ground or less is too hard to keep an eye on sick fish so i will build another stand for a hospital tank some other time,


So yeah, basically just exactly like the Cichlas link's stand except for the dimenisons and no holes. as for the shelves, the top 2 will be 9" each ( 22-23 cm )
and the third one below it will be 12 inches ( 30 cm ), applies for both sides, as for all that middle space they shall be 2 15 inch ( 37-38 cm )

we have still yet to make blue-prints and i am hoping for more ideas, so yeah, if i can, i'd give pics of the blue-prints if am able

Cichlas while I know most if not all store bought stands are made of particle/chip board I have an aversion to using it in concert with water, laminated or not.

umm... instead of picking a fight lets get back to the topic

edited by glaive: I am quite certain cichlas realizes that this is a friendly discourse.