Homemade Double Tank Stand

[Hannah Parker]

Hello everyone!

So my dad and I are building a custom wooden double tank stand for my new 60 gallon tall goldfish tank and my existing 33 gallon gallon long betta community tank. I wanted to journal the progress here, and also get opinions on the new goldfish tank stocking. And of course take lots of pictures along the way! I drew a blueprint today of my vision: 

I'm hoping we can get it done within the next month. If anyone is interested in pricing along the way, I can start to include those details as well. Thanks in advance for any input, and I hope you guys have as much fun with this as I'm going to! 

[Guppysnail]

That is incredibly well thought out!  Sounds great. 

[Hannah Parker]

Some updates over the weekend; I bought the tank used on Facebook marketplace and it came with a lot of accessories and equipment, so I feel like I got a pretty good deal on it. My dad started the construction of the stand, and is almost done with it! He's got some supports to add and then we are going to stain it black. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by hannah662parker

[Minanora]

Beautiful stand! Your dad is pretty handy!

[Tihshho]

Great craftsmanship! 

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/9/2022 at 1:28 PM, Minanora said:

Beautiful stand! Your dad is pretty handy!

 

On 5/9/2022 at 1:29 PM, Tihshho said:

Great craftsmanship! 

My Dad is so handy, I'm super lucky. Anything from plumbing to cars to electrical to landscaping, even cooking... a man of many trades. He said before starting this that he's not a wood-worker and was worried about it 🤣 he obviously had no reason to be! 

[Tihshho]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:05 PM, hannah662parker said:

 

My Dad is so handy, I'm super lucky. Anything from plumbing to cars to electrical to landscaping, even cooking... a man of many trades. He said before starting this that he's not a wood-worker and was worried about it 🤣 he obviously had no reason to be! 

So when are you getting him to dive into the hobby of aquariums? I'm sure his jack of all trades experience would be extremely leveraged in this hobby!

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:40 PM, Tihshho said:

So when are you getting him to dive into the hobby of aquariums? I'm sure his jack of all trades experience would be extremely leveraged in this hobby!

He actually kept fish when I was a baby back in the early 2000's, he kept cichlids. Bowfront tanks with canister filters and power flow heads were his thing. He got tired of the maintenance and said he would never do it again 😂 He also had no idea about water chemistry and all the stuff I learned when I first got into the hobby, I bet his fish did so well because of what a clean freak he is! I hope when he retires the 2nd time he'll have time to do something like that again, I think he would enjoy it honestly. Hopefully he can get some vicarious enjoyment out of the sick 60 gallon tall goldfish tank I'm going to set up with this stand!

[Hannah Parker]

Does anyone have any input on filtration and stocking for the new tank? My 33 gallon is a very mature community tank that I won't be making any changes to, but the 60 gallon is completely new (bought used but I'm sure the cycle is gone). I was planning to move my current fancy goldfish, 4 nerite snails and 5 white cloud minnows to it, but that's all I have currently. I was hoping to eventually get the stock of this tank to 3 fancy goldfish, 2 dojo loaches, 10-15 white cloud minnows and possibly even 10 rainbow shiners. I'm really hoping to get the shiners someday, but I wanted to add fish gradually to see how dirty the tank actually gets/how much the fish fill up the space. For filtration I'm really wanting to stick with 2 huge sponge filters and that's it! I really love the simplicity and ease of sponge filters. For added water quality help, I was planning for anubias and hornwort, and lucky bamboo and pothos roots. Also a 12" air stone bar. 

[Tihshho]

For what is in there, I would run the sponges for biological and run a canister filter just filled with mechanical filtration. This will keep the waste stirred up as well as make it easy to pull out the solid waste. Are you planning on running substrate? Going bare bottom?

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/10/2022 at 10:32 AM, Tihshho said:

For what is in there, I would run the sponges for biological and run a canister filter just filled with mechanical filtration. This will keep the waste stirred up as well as make it easy to pull out the solid waste. Are you planning on running substrate? Going bare bottom?

Thank you!! I'm unaccustomed to canister filters, but I know I would rather not have one because of the space they take up. Do you think a HOB would accomplish something similar? I have some small gravel in my 20 gal that I wanted to transfer over, and then about 15lbs of sand so I was hoping to do mostly sand with a small section of gravel worked in there. 

[Tihshho]

I'm personally not a fan of HOB's. Once I went canister I never went back with power filtration, so I can't say much in the HOB recommendation as I'm biased. The reason I like the canisters are that the tanks and stands can be placed closer to a wall. With a HOB you need to have space for the filter, let alone enough clearance to get it in and out. Canisters offer a lot more internal volume and can take cheaper bulk materials without lots of DIY work to get those materials working in a HOB. 

Another option would be to run a powerhead with a prefilter. You can either go the ACO route and get one of their powerheads and attach it to sponge filter or add a prefilter, or go with the AquaClear branded ones and use their prefilter and run their pads for water polishing for clarity, or get bulk dual matted sponges and cut them to fit and replace them as needed.

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/10/2022 at 10:41 AM, Tihshho said:

I'm personally not a fan of HOB's. Once I went canister I never went back with power filtration, so I can't say much in the HOB recommendation as I'm biased. The reason I like the canisters are that the tanks and stands can be placed closer to a wall. With a HOB you need to have space for the filter, let alone enough clearance to get it in and out. Canisters offer a lot more internal volume and can take cheaper bulk materials without lots of DIY work to get those materials working in a HOB. 

Another option would be to run a powerhead with a prefilter. You can either go the ACO route and get one of their powerheads and attach it to sponge filter or add a prefilter, or go with the AquaClear branded ones and use their prefilter and run their pads for water polishing for clarity, or get bulk dual matted sponges and cut them to fit and replace them as needed.

Thank you so much for your filter insight. I had a HOB before I found out about sponge filters and I hated how nasty the inside would get. I had no idea about powerheads and after looking them up I love the sound of them. So it can be added to or alongside the sponge filters?? 

[Hannah Parker]

@Tihshho

Something like this maybe?? I think I understand the options you're listing, so basically I need something to provide mechanical filtration, but the sponge filters would provide biological filtration. 

[Tihshho]

Sponges you have would be biological, the addition of a power filter would be your mechanical. Just be sure not to have too much flow for the golfish so they don't just get blasted. The products you listed are the exact ones I was talking about. The prefilter (white pads) for the quick filter are fine and make water very very clear. The issue is that they are so fine they clog fast. This is where I would recommend getting the double ply (blue and white) filter media pads and cutting them to fit. Use the white polishing pads if you get any haze or fine particulate build up thats stubborn. Otherwise use the bulk cut pads and replace those as necessary, they won't clog as fast as the AquaClear filter pads.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I would use powerheads on sponge filters instead of these baskets that are attached to the powerhead, you get more surface area and bang for your buck. 

You could do a corner Mattenfilter which would take up minimal room, hide all your heaters and what not and be very efficient. They are easy to make and install. The advantage with the Matterfilter is you get a lot of surface area for beneficial bacteria, it is a source of food for the fish, and it they don't look bad. You can get 30 ppi foam from multiple sources I like that starts with Swiss and ends with Tropicals as a source. 

You could do an undergravel filter with or without powerheads. These work well and if you are a neat freak you can vacuum the substrate and keep it relatively clean but just don't gravel vac too deep as that's your beneficial bacteria. You can do the plenum things that Novak discusses but a regular old UGF works just fine. 

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:56 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I would use powerheads on sponge filters instead of these baskets that are attached to the powerhead, you get more surface area and bang for your buck. 

You could do a corner Mattenfilter which would take up minimal room, hide all your heaters and what not and be very efficient. They are easy to make and install. The advantage with the Matterfilter is you get a lot of surface area for beneficial bacteria, it is a source of food for the fish, and it they don't look bad. You can get 30 ppi foam from multiple sources I like that starts with Swiss and ends with Tropicals as a source. 

You could do an undergravel filter with or without powerheads. These work well and if you are a neat freak you can vacuum the substrate and keep it relatively clean but just don't gravel vac too deep as that's your beneficial bacteria. You can do the plenum things that Novak discusses but a regular old UGF works just fine. 

Thank you for your input! I'm sure it's actually not that bad but that does sound a little complicated for me right now, so maybe that's something I might upgrade to eventually 🙂 I've never seen a powerhead filter in person before so I'm going to check it out when it arrives and see if I can attach it to the sponge filter!!

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

It is very easy to add a powerfilter to any or all these methods and should not induce any anxiety. All these methods have excellent tutorials on YT and are very proven methods. I mentioned them as you were not wanting a canister filter which I consider to be a gold standard for a goldfish tank both for flow and turnover mechanically. These would fit that bill for mechanical and biofiltration but flow wise the Matten and the powerhead on sponge while the UGF is good at pulling the finer detritus to under the gravel and plate as well as creating a very favorable environment for oxygen loving beneficial bacteria. 

UGFs are about as easy as it gets - buy plates, air pump, a couple airstones and tubing, this will most likely be less than $50, put plates in the tank, decide how high you want the output tubes, put airstone on the rigid airline, attack the output tube with the airline and rigid line in place, hook up the airline to the rigid tube, and presto really good efficient whole tank filtration. 

[Tihshho]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:56 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I would use powerheads on sponge filters instead of these baskets that are attached to the powerhead, you get more surface area and bang for your buck. 

Yes and no on that. For biological, sure I would 100% agree with you, but if she's running dual sponges too, then the need for mechanical would be more of an advantage. Being able to gather particulates in a pad to pull and throw away would simplify a lot of cleaning for high bioload species. Both have their pro's and con's, so YMMV. 

On 5/10/2022 at 1:27 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I mentioned them as you were not wanting a canister filter which I consider to be a gold standard for a goldfish tank both for flow and turnover mechanically.

This is another reason I brought up canisters. 

 

[Minanora]

I'm not going to lie, when I think about doing a goldfish tank I think about doing a plenum with a deep substrate or safe-t-sorb. But that would be an experiment. Just because a lot of us have been talking and experimenting with this. Dr. Kevin Novak has my gears turning. But I'm going to start with a 10g experiment first. Just a rabbit hole to consider.

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:02 AM, Minanora said:

I'm not going to lie, when I think about doing a goldfish tank I think about doing a plenum with a deep substrate or safe-t-sorb. But that would be an experiment. Just because a lot of us have been talking and experimenting with this. Dr. Kevin Novak has my gears turning. But I'm going to start with a 10g experiment first. Just a rabbit hole to consider.

I've always been curious about under-gravel filters, and I'm quickly learning what a rabbit hole goldfish tanks can be!! I plan to have these guys for a lot of years and am super excited, so who knows if I'll start to experiment with filtration ideas as well someday.

I'd also be super interested in reading a thread about your 10g experiment if that's something you were wanting to do!

Edited May 11, 2022 by hannah662parker

[Minanora]

Here's @R Budds adventure in plenums.

Then, @GoldyGirl has amazing tubs that follow a similar principle.

There's a few other ones but those are the most recent I can think of at the moment.

My 10 gallon experiment will be coming online in a few weeks I think. After I finish planting my garden and catch up on the rest of my projects.

 

On a side note, I was at a restaurant last night that had 6 koi that were about 5-6 inches long, plus 1 albino Cory, in a 29 gallon with very clear water. On Kauai there is only a big box pet store aside from a few feed stores. But only the Petco has stuff for aquariums here. So this tank I was looking at had normal gravel, three happy Amazon swords, several lava rocks, a very large sponge filter, a hob that was possibly a tetra one, it was not large, and the tank had a tetra in-tank filter that was large. I asked about the fish of course. The owner keeps the tank up and I'm not sure about his knowledge, the staff kinda made it seem like he was a novice. Without actually talking to the owner I can't speak on his setup. But, point is, lots of filtration and hob filters are fine for goldfish. 🤣

Here's @R Budds adventure in plenums.

Then, @GoldyGirl has amazing tubs that follow a similar principle.

There's a few other ones but those are the most recent I can think of at the moment.

My 10 gallon experiment will be coming online in a few weeks I think. After I finish planting my garden and catch up on the rest of my projects.

 

On a side note, I was at a restaurant last night that had 6 koi that were about 5-6 inches long, plus 1 albino Cory, in a 29 gallon with very clear water. On Kauai there is only a big box pet store aside from a few feed stores. But only the Petco has stuff for aquariums here. So this tank I was looking at had normal gravel, three happy Amazon swords, several lava rocks, a very large sponge filter, a hob that was possibly a tetra one, it was not large, and the tank had a tetra in-tank filter that was large. I asked about the fish of course. The owner keeps the tank up and I'm not sure about his knowledge, the staff kinda made it seem like he was a novice. Without actually talking to the owner I can't speak on his setup. But, point is, lots of filtration and hob filters are fine for goldfish. 🤣

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/11/2022 at 1:13 PM, Minanora said:

On a side note, I was at a restaurant last night that had 6 koi that were about 5-6 inches long, plus 1 albino Cory, in a 29 gallon with very clear water. On Kauai there is only a big box pet store aside from a few feed stores. But only the Petco has stuff for aquariums here. So this tank I was looking at had normal gravel, three happy Amazon swords, several lava rocks, a very large sponge filter, a hob that was possibly a tetra one, it was not large, and the tank had a tetra in-tank filter that was large. I asked about the fish of course. The owner keeps the tank up and I'm not sure about his knowledge, the staff kinda made it seem like he was a novice. Without actually talking to the owner I can't speak on his setup. But, point is, lots of filtration and hob filters are fine for goldfish. 🤣

Thank you for this tidbit! I feel a lot better with what I'm going with for filtration to start off the tank at least. I'm sticking with my 2 big sponge filters and adding an AquaClear powerhead with their pre-filter. 

Last coat of the stain is done!!

 Now we let it dry, and he's bringing it over to my house Saturday and we're going to do the big set up process 😆 It could be all day event, I can't wait. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by hannah662parker

[GoldyGirl]

Hi, it’s always exciting setting up a new home for our fish , so enjoy the journey, I thought I would share my little opinion as well , Thankyou minanora 😉, have to love the Goldie’s. I have only recently experimented with the Novak system  and have personally used almost every other filter available lol, especially with goldfish, as you know they are very messy beautiful fish 🥰 most of my Goldie’s live in a patio pond now though and for me the bogs are by far the most effective for me , however this is not really that easy with a tank. So personally I am now a big fan of the plenum or undergravel filter, yes the old school ugf with baked clay and laterite substrate. I’m not sure why they are so undesirable, our substrate is one of the best forms of filtration both biological and mechanical this way and very easy to maintain from what I have found. My plants do amazing no co2 , ferts and only natural lighting ,  but also only use Java , crypts ,Anubis, a couple of your Lillie’s and Val and column feeding plants  so the more advance plants I am unsure how they would go. Goldfish tend to make fancy plants hard to keep 🤣. As for the plenum very simple to set up, light gravel vac amd 50% water change Weekly about does it for that tank. I think we are alway learning amd growing as we progress in the hobby , so go with what you are comfortable with you will find what works best for your set up as they are all different.

I will say one thing , I do prefer to keep Goldie’s with Goldie’s as they have a very large bio load and are not called water piggies for no reason, I often had to make sure my other fish were getting their fair share, especially the bottom dwellers because my Goldie’s would demolish every scrap. On a good note they sift the substrate clean of any left over food , but my issue with Goldie’s in tanks was the nitrate levels , that’s why I opted for the plenum and the bcbs, the denitrifying bacteria growth in these were a big reason I looked into them and would always recommend a little research into it 🤣🤣. 
but many way to a healthy successfull aquarium so enjoy and looking forward to seeing your journey 😻

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/13/2022 at 4:07 AM, GoldyGirl said:

Hi, it’s always exciting setting up a new home for our fish , so enjoy the journey, I thought I would share my little opinion as well , Thankyou minanora 😉, have to love the Goldie’s. I have only recently experimented with the Novak system  and have personally used almost every other filter available lol, especially with goldfish, as you know they are very messy beautiful fish 🥰 most of my Goldie’s live in a patio pond now though and for me the bogs are by far the most effective for me , however this is not really that easy with a tank. So personally I am now a big fan of the plenum or undergravel filter, yes the old school ugf with baked clay and laterite substrate. I’m not sure why they are so undesirable, our substrate is one of the best forms of filtration both biological and mechanical this way and very easy to maintain from what I have found. My plants do amazing no co2 , ferts and only natural lighting ,  but also only use Java , crypts ,Anubis, a couple of your Lillie’s and Val and column feeding plants  so the more advance plants I am unsure how they would go. Goldfish tend to make fancy plants hard to keep 🤣. As for the plenum very simple to set up, light gravel vac amd 50% water change Weekly about does it for that tank. I think we are alway learning amd growing as we progress in the hobby , so go with what you are comfortable with you will find what works best for your set up as they are all different.

I will say one thing , I do prefer to keep Goldie’s with Goldie’s as they have a very large bio load and are not called water piggies for no reason, I often had to make sure my other fish were getting their fair share, especially the bottom dwellers because my Goldie’s would demolish every scrap. On a good note they sift the substrate clean of any left over food , but my issue with Goldie’s in tanks was the nitrate levels , that’s why I opted for the plenum and the bcbs, the denitrifying bacteria growth in these were a big reason I looked into them and would always recommend a little research into it 🤣🤣. 
but many way to a healthy successfull aquarium so enjoy and looking forward to seeing your journey 😻

Thank you so much for your input! I'm very happy to hear about some insight into goldfish, as this is my first time owning one. I will be sure to monitor his tankmates closely. As for right now, the 5 white cloud minnows he is housed with in his 20gal are very fast and easily get themselves enough flake! I'm hoping dojo loaches will be as boisterous 🙂 

We are actually setting up the tank tonight! I am so nervous and excited. I think I'm going to pick up some seachem prime to use daily (I also already have Brightwell aquatics bacteria) and do daily water changes for a least a week to treat the tank like a brand new cycle. I'm hoping that's not the case and that my mature sponge filter, decor and gravel I am putting in the new tank will help the cycle to start quick, but I am still quite nervous