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bored and inspired


mjd271169

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After reading so many tank logs and seeing the stands people have knocked together I was putting the rubbish in the garbage and noticed I had some strips of MDF in the garage, been there about 3 years.

Anyway long story short got carried away and 2 hours later came back in.

This is not perfect and needs a fair bit of filling and sanding, had to do my cuts with a hand saw and only had a small drill bit and a larger one to try and countersink with plus some old galvanised screws. I also still need to glue this, this was a spur of the moment thing and not too much thought went in to it.

I am quite happy with it and think it may actually come up not too bad. Only bummer is because I did not really plan this I went with the size of my tank as 50cm its actually 20 inches which is about 51.5. Measure twice and cut once or better still think before you get carried away.

The back pieces stop approx 4 inches from the top so I can get all the pipes and cables through there

stand1.jpgstand3.jpg

what do you reckon do I go with the slight overhang or should I get a 50cm tank that would fit perfect. I made it deeper than the tank as I though I could put things behind it. Tank is 25 deep and stand is 32, I did think maybe get a tank put together that is 50 x 32 and maybe 30 high

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um looks good to me but I'm not sure I'm looking at it the right way....this is what my ex knocked up for me at work one afternoon

100_0898.jpg

:)

then there's this one for the barracks he built

100_1026.jpg

and this for future barracks

100_0962.jpg

He's a cabinet maker by trade so I'm showing off a little. I like your stand. I don't think the tank will hang over that much..i've got a 2.1ft tank on a stand that usually supports a 2ft and it's hanging over the slightest bit, hardly noticeable. Give it a go, if it looks odd u can always get another tank! Good excuse to get one too!

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lol@ figthers, im guessing you havent seen ADA style cabinets before :) Your looking at it right, im guessing a door will be added later.

If you know of a good tank builder who has reasonable prices you should get custom made tank for a good price.

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Looks good, man. Make sure you seal that MDF real good, though. That stuff can have a tendency to go all Weet-Bix on you at the slightest hint of moisture.

Good work, though. I reckon you should get a bunch of glass cut and have a go at making your own tank :thumbs:

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Making tanks is a lot easier than people think. As long as you get all the glass edges bevelled so they aren't sharp you shouldn't have a problem. If you can't afford to get them all bevelled just get the ones that will be exposed, minus the corners coz u can put that cornering stuff on them (can't remember the name of it for the life of me, it's on the top of my tongue!!!) and use glass gloves available at Bunnings. I watched my ex make his barracks and I've resealed my tanks before. The tip with silicone is to smooth it and remove the excess before it skins. Turps is good for this. At the very least you can always go around with a sharp blade once it's cured and remove any strays but be careful not to cut into the seals. and last but not least and most importantly - allow to cure for a FULL 7 days, rinse well and test, test then test again before adding fish etc. Fill it and leave it for a good 2 weeks to test the seals, measuring water levels and allowing for evaporation. Ok I think I've gone off on enough of a tangent. Good Luck!

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Hi All

Yes there will be a door added but I ran out of scrap MDF and as the door will be the most obvious piece to show any wobbly lines may get a piece cut size.

I will be priming, then adding a good few layers of gloss paint to really seal the MDF off, its only going to hold a 10 gallong tank so should be ok for weight etc.

I might go with the custom tank so that it fits perfect, probably should have controlled myself and actually thought about it first but sometimes when you get a bee in your bonnet away you go.

Not sure about building the tank myself though, DIY is not something I am great at but I am happy with the stand so far, once i get to filling and sanding and tidying it up, add door and out some shelving and a section for canister filter and CO2 mix, it should look good hopefully. I think aqua one make a tank that is 50 x 30x 30 which would be a good size and does not have the plastic strips down the edges. I really want a tank without those if I can get one.

As I do more I will put some more pics up and then start saving, I am going to try the ADA set up on this and thats gonna cost me a bit for the substrate.

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little update

re did the stand to be the same width as my tank and started to look at internal shelf. Had not glued it so thought I would just make it a little wider.

stand25-6.jpg

canister filter will be on left and hoses will pass up through the shelf

stand26-63.jpg

and then out the back

stand26-64.jpg

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Some nice ideas and cabinets being made.

There is a level of satisfaction you get from building your own stands, that a purchased one doesn’t give you.

I’m a big fan of re-use and recycle, so a lot of the stands and barracks that I’ve built have been made with scraps from material that was going to be thrown out.

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You just ripped apart the other cabinet and made a new one? What colour are you going to paint it?

pretty much yeah ripped the other to pieces and just used the left and right hand side then re did the bottom, top and back.

painting? black or silvery/grey but not sure yet, wjatever colour I will have to get the thumbs up from my wife as I want to put this in the lounge room

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I will have another project after this stand, I think the progress will slow a little on the stand now as I have used all I have available so now it is spending money time :thumbs:

once the stand is done I will start a new thread on the tank side, I will be embarking on what I hope to be an ADA set up but again more money and lots of saving required for that. Want to go full ADA substrate package

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Looking good. I reckon as long as the tone is muted/dark the cabinet can be any colour that matches the decoration in your lounge room. Black and gray work well but I'd love to see a colour that wasn't so traditional. I think the clean lines of the cabinet allows you to be more adventurous without drawing too much attention away from the tank.

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I found 2 hinges in the garage so the door is hung for now too. Might change them but was just wanting to see how it looked.

Gap seems pretty good, had a little jiggling to do to get it looking even but I think it is pretty close

door3.jpg

Door open again gap seems pretty even so am quite happy, will probably change hinges though

door2.jpg

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found some filler in the garage, bit dried but added some water, stirred it in for 10 mins and good as new. So started filling the screw holes and gaps.

all this from bits and pieces around the garage, all I will have to buy is paint

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