2GreenThumbs

Ok boys. I’m building a stand from scratch! Ran into a little problem and with all things considered I’ll just do the safe thing. Thanks for all the help. I’ll take those plans From @Pepere if anyone knows where to find them.

I’ve definitely heard of such a noodle. Hilarious example to think about though. This is the new goal. Today I pulled out those tiny corner supports. I measured for my new legs and cross beams. I’ll still but my plywood up against that back horizontal beam and use all the supports that are there but I’m essentially building a skeleton inside of this stand. Every corner supported straight to the ground on 2x4 and a nice frame up top for the tanks rim to sit on. The plywood and trim board on this stand is in pretty good shape still actually. I’m sure it’ll give it some type of structure but now I won’t be counting on it! I think this is the most reasonable. Save me some money, peace of mind, and it’s kinda more green I guess. I have a building buddy too so I’ll have him give it a look first. He knows way more than me about loads and engineering supports for them.

If I was gonna build one from scratch I’d use this. I’ve watched most of the videos on YouTube for building them. There are way less for reinforcing/ refurbishing. I do like that king of diy tells gives you a bit of an equation for how many supports you need. I’m not fully against the idea of building one from scratch but I like the idea of getting to use the shell of this one and save a bit of money. I’m gonna start tearing into it today. If I hit roadblocks I’ll be making a stand very similar to joeys!

So I found a good video by inventory king! He basically strips out those small corner wood pieces that run from top to bottom replace it with 2x4 that makes contact with the ground and builds more of a skeleton from there. This combined with screwing and gluing the old stand itself back together and that piece of plywood on back and it’s seeming sturdy enough I’ll try to link video.https://youtu.be/4MsRa3tRhUM?si=wy6YyNu_Z7-xaitj Please let me know if you think this is a pretty good upgrade. I’ll also be putting back all the supports that came off during moving too.

Yes there is a small amount of rot on the one side ( bottom in the picture) and yes the struts meet and staple into a foot or leg that runs the base of the stand. I’m assuming these are a little more structural than what I can get in the same size. The struts are about 1inch by 3 inch. If rebuilding is what I have to do I’ll just do it. Tell me your best opinion man. However this tank was setup for a long time as saltwater with tons of rock in it and was fine. I just wanna reuse it if I can. If you guys think it’s bad I’ll rebuild. Yeah I wish they had made this thing with all real wood not just half. And screws instead of staples!!

Yessir I’m planning to screw and glue everything I can. At least everything that will come off. The bottom plywood is only supported by some small wood blocks in back. I’m gonna run some cross beams underneath right where the sides of the 55 gallon will sit and maybe one in the middle. I’m thinking that should be enough. Those will be in contact with the floor too so I’m thinking it won’t hurt the bottom line.

Hey thank you guys I was planning on doing plywood across the back but didn’t think about it increasing rigidity. I’ll be working on it sometime this or next week and I’ll keep you posted. I’m planning to put the 55 gallon sump/ refugium in the bottom of that stand. I’m gonna reinforce the plywood in the bottom too and I’ll never have it more than 3/4 filled. Do you think in the grand scheme that’ll be too much weight to add?

Hey fish nerds! I’m new to the forum, already made my first post. I just got ahold of an old 125 gallon tank and the stand that came with it. It was a pretty good deal. This thing is about 30 years old and it still holds water but the stand does have a bit of damage. I think the water damage is pretty minimal and I’m planning on painting it all black to make it water resistant long term. There were 2 of the beams that came loose while moving and a few more are a little rickety. The plan is to screw all those back in with some good construction screws and just tighten it up all around. Here’s the problem. This thing is definitively under my par for a tank this big so I wanna run some supports. I’ll attach a couple pictures and follow with another post with even more pics in the morning. Please tell me your verdict on if this is a good salvageable stand. Also the black marks are where there are beams missing or where I’m planning on adding so far.

As for parameters I’ll probably be running temperature at 80 or so and my ph is about 7.6 after it settles out. Maybe higher out of the tap. I have a 4 to 6 gh on average and then 1 to 2 kh.

I’m mostly aware the cardinals may get eaten but I’m going to add them first so they’ll have the best chance possible to survive. I really want them but if they don’t work I’ll do a taller bodied tetra. Yes this is the experimental in a way. I wanna see how much I can fit in while still giving the fish a good habitat and enough territory. I want to see that hustle and bustle in a planted tank. Thank you I’ll take all of your points into account! I’ll be making another post I finally got the stand and tank. I need to add some support to the stand and need some advice. Thanks a lot everybody!

Any plans to make a 6 ft light? I technically have lighting but I’d love to try this light on my new 125!

Everything in here will be going in in small groups. I’ll probably buy 50 dollars or so worth of fish to add every couple weeks. I’m very patient in the hobby. I’ll look into the hybridization. Thank you for letting me know.

So I think after looking I’m gonna keep a trio of aposto borelli and a trio of aposto agassizii. I’ll make sure to provide plenty of hideouts and line of sight blocks and also gonna do a lot of plants. Also considering a small group of marble hatchetfish. Let me know what you guys think!

Thank you both for your advice. I was thinking apistogramma but I knew there were some things I have never heard of so any extra advice is appreciated. I’m sure once I house all these guys I’ve planned out I’ll get an idea of how much this tank can hold. Do you guys think I’m even pushing it? Keeping in mind I’m going to have a ton of plants and will let them grow out before adding fish all at once.

Hello fellow fish keepers. My name is Brandon. I’ve been in the hobby for almost 15 years and been watching Cory since he first started making videos on the main channel about 10 years ago. I’ve kept community aquariums and larger cichlids, but been letting my tanks kinda dwindle down as I’ve lost stock over the last couple years. I just moved my last batch of white clouds out to the ponds and rehomed a bristlenose and now I’m fish free. Of course we can’t have that and I’m finally In the market for a show tank. I’ve got some good prospects on a 125 6ft long. I’ll be using medium lighting live plants and have plenty of heaters and filters to facilitate what I need. I also have a sump and the tank already has overflows installed and all. I’ve got the scape planned but I need some advice on stocking never done a community this large and I know I can fit a lot. So here’s my list of wants. 1 blue acara( preferably not electric), 3 angelfish, 12 lemon tetras, 12 cardinal tetras, 12 yo-yo loaches and a trio of platys(maybe more if all the babies get eaten.) The sump is setup for a refugium and I plan to do some live plants in there and probably grow out shrimp and snails for cleanup and live food. My first question is can I add some smaller cichlids? I know German blue rams need a little warmer temps so they’re out and Bolivians don’t interest me. Anybody see any problems here? I’m trying to get a really nice maybe middle aggression tank here. Thanks everyone sorry for long first post!