Alternative Aquarium Stands

[Pookieq]

Hey folks!

So I’m hoping to start setting up a 55 gallon in the next couple weeks. After spending some time online looking at various aquarium stands I got to wondering what sorts of non-purpose built furniture other people use. Ideally it would have some storage or space to put a smaller tank below.

While I haven’t completely ruled out the idea of building one of wood from scratch, I must admit that it’s a little out of my skill set.

I’m also hoping for something aesthetically pleasing 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Old, modified wooden desk. Great to hold supplies, knobs clearly old my towel, lol. I have an organizer where you'd normally put a chair, and the pumps are behind it. It actually usually looks neater than this but I've got 2 hospital tanks going right now. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Pepere]

On 11/10/2022 at 12:35 PM, Pookieq said:

While I haven’t completely ruled out the idea of building one of wood from scratch, I must admit that it’s a little out of my skill set.

I’m also hoping for something aesthetically pleasing 

I created a design that is easy to modify to different tank sizes and rather forgiving to build and to my eye it is aesthetically pleasing.

 

I have looked at store bought stands and found the flimsy and scary in comparison.

 

here is a link to a post I made documenting a recent build. It is the third build I have done to this design.

 

https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/27776-building-a-2-tier-stand-with-beadboard-and-2-pine-boards/#comment-260669

 

you can see one was built with storage underneath  and the other as a 2 tier stand.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Pepere

[billango]

I used a TV console in the past. It was a long, wooden, lower to the ground one. It was not on 4 peg feet though. It was in contact with the floor along the whole lengths of all 4 edges basically and some parts in the middle. 

[JettsPapa]

My daughter-in-law has her 55 on a sideboard.

[meadeam]

I have a 20 long on an Ikea bookshelf 🤫.  I glued and screwed on a pine top, and reinforced it with 4 steel corner brackets glued and screwed to the sides, top, and bottom.  The material is plastic skinned, hollow-core honey-comb design.  I used sheet metal screws and Gorilla Glue on the brackets.  There is absolutely no movement on any axis.  It's like a single piece of material.   That said, Ikea furniture is not synonymous with strength.  I like the piece though, and for the amount of weight on it I think the modifications are more than adequate.   If I ever replace it, I may destroy it to see how strong it actually was.

Note the construction in the background... that room will house a 5 foot 120 gallon tank.  I can't really put a 6 foot tank where I want it, or I'd go larger.  I'll be building a proper stand for that one!

 

[JJenna]

Have you looked at antique stores or FB marketplace? My first stand for a 55 gal years ago was an old sideboard I got for a song at a farm auction. Cut off the legs and refinished it. I think the sideboard may have weighed more than the tank haha and it had tons of storage space. 

[Flumpweesel]

NoI had a cupboard built for my 60 but it's fitted into a fireplace so I needed very specific measurements.

I think this from IKEA is almost perfect but you should probably reinforce it. But I second the bargains you can find in the second hand market old TV stands from the big CRT days are normally very sturdy and solid wood sideboards and tallboys can be perfect.

 

[kcochran]

I couldn't find anything to suit me for the space I had. So, this is what I built. It has the storage I was after and I was able to have multiple tanks in a compact area.

[meadeam]

Side note, but I'm always fascinated by the filtration, aeration, lighting, CO2 injection and auto-change systems on aquariums.  I would love to build a large, naturalistic, biotope inspired tank with all of the systems visible but very neatly and attractively done.  The contrast of nature and technology/engineering is so interesting to me. 

[Odd Duck]

I currently have multiple small tanks on some sturdy file cabinets, but I wouldn’t recommend it for larger tanks.  If you can’t feel safe jumping on a stand and doing a jig on it, I wouldn’t recommend it for anything 55 gallon or up (roughly 625 pounds with substrate, hardscape, and water).

I’ve attached a pic of tanks on the file cabinets.  Hubs and I both sat on, and wiggled around on, these file cabinets before using them.  Let’s just say it was adequate testing between the both of us on the cabinet.  The biggest tank is only a 20 long (225 pounds) and it has its own cabinet.  Next is a 14 G cube and it shares a cabinet with a tiny 2 G cube (total of 16 G = about 150-160 pounds).  The 2 x 6G cubes are each on their own smaller cabinet (same type) about 70 pounds apiece and the cabinets held my weight (but without the wiggling cuz I’m not stupid, 😆).

So, jig testing is required and we want video of said jig testing for, um, quality control purposes.  Yeah, that’s it, quality control.  We only want to help.  Really!  Need videos of jigging on stands, now.  😉 😁 😈 

 

[Patrick_G]

I have a few tanks on a wet bar counter and one on a standing desk (yes it’s raised and lowered several times a day), one home built stand, one tank on an old radio console and two on a side table. 
 

[Rita]

So the center stand thing was designed to be either a shelf or a bench. It came with a pad to throw on it so you're not sitting right on the wood but I took it off for the fish. Needless to say I felt comfortable laying on it and I'm quite heavy so I knew it would hold up. So it became a fish stand! The only issue is its a bit low so it makes water changes kinda slow. Otherwise it's been great! Especially since it was given to us!

[nabokovfan87]

Just wanted to add it in here for the sake of it....

Petco specifically has "nice" stands.  It's nothing like the homebuilt ones, but I have really enjoyed the ones I've purchased for my 28G and 75G (both from sauder, sometimes sold under aqueon brand).  They are from Sauder, a furniture place in NY, but they also have the steel tube ones that you can heavily modify.  I've seen people use old stands as shelves, tables, and so many other mods.  They have wood ones, I have the 75G version and can recommend it.  You can usually find a sale on one of them, especially this time of year so I figured I'd mention it.

If you want a setup for "a few" nano tanks, I think getting the 40B or 75G stand is probably perfect and you just add a wood top to it.

Examples:  These are all the same stand, just modded.  One not shown that I've seen is using a curtain with magnets sewn in to block out the bottom.
 

Edited November 12, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[lefty o]

exact stand isnt super critical, main things being it is strong enough to support the weight, has a flat top, and wont bend or sag over time. 2x4's, blocks and boards, welded stand, etc. whatever tickles your fancy.

[Schuyler]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:40 PM, meadeam said:

I have a 20 long on an Ikea bookshelf 🤫.  

 

Gotta admit that sounded pretty sketch at first but it does look pretty good in that picture

[Flumpweesel]

On 11/12/2022 at 4:05 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Just wanted to add it in here for the sake of it....

Petco specifically has "nice" stands.  It's nothing like the homebuilt ones, but I have really enjoyed the ones I've purchased for my 28G and 75G (both from sauder, sometimes sold under aqueon brand).  They are from Sauder, a furniture place in NY, but they also have the steel tube ones that you can heavily modify.  I've seen people use old stands as shelves, tables, and so many other mods.  They have wood ones, I have the 75G version and can recommend it.  You can usually find a sale on one of them, especially this time of year so I figured I'd mention it.

If you want a setup for "a few" nano tanks, I think getting the 40B or 75G stand is probably perfect and you just add a wood top to it.

Examples:  These are all the same stand, just modded.  One not shown that I've seen is using a curtain with magnets sewn in to block out the bottom.
 

That is a pretty nice stand, our version of pet co (kinda a small box store) has nothing except a few small fluval stands. But then again the stores don't cater for anything above about 60l (approx 20 us gal)