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What's the best material for an aquarium stand?

TheSwissAquarist

By TheSwissAquarist,
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TheSwissAquarist Experienced

TheSwissAquarist

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I'll be plain & brief: What's the best material to build an aquarium stand and can you build one out of it yourself? 

I'm faced with either building one or buying one...it's for a really crazy looking fish...a bichir? (Any recommendations on that are  also appreciated & I'll tag @Robert in case he has any suggestions!)

Thanks! 😁

Edited by TheSwissAquarist
French keyboard!
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Patrick_G Grand Master

Patrick_G

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It seems like most folks in the US use common building lumber. It’s readily available since the houses here are mostly all built with sticks of softwood. 
 

Here’s mine, google “raw industrial style tank stand” for plans and pics of other stands in this style. 

 

 

20B5FCF4-471A-464B-962F-647A0336BA28.jpeg

FBA57DDA-92AA-4CAD-A981-5107657BD117.jpeg

Edited by Patrick_G
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Janoš Bećar Pecaroš Enthusiast

Janoš Bećar Pecaroš

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On 11/11/2022 at 11:53 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I'll be plain & brief: What's the best material to build an aquarium stand and can you build one out of it yourself? 

I'm faced with either building one or buying one...it's for a really crazy looking fish...a bichir? (Any recommendations on that are  also appreciated & I'll tag @Robert in case he has any suggestions!)

Thanks! 😁

You can use any material you are comfortable working with. If you know welding and have access to a welder make it out of metal. If you have access to woodworking tools and have a know how, make it out of wood. 

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JettsPapa Grand Master

JettsPapa

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Are you determined to make your own?  There are many tanks out there, including most of mine, that are on various pieces of steel or solid wood furniture.  It may be a challenge to find one the right size, but it's worth looking.  Thrift stores or online sites for used items are good places to start.

There are several reasons for using furniture instead.  It often has doors or drawers for storage, and don't require any woodworking skills.

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tolstoy21 Veteran

tolstoy21

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You can build one out of many kinds of materials.  So the more important question is -- what kind of tools do you have available to work with? That's going to be your determining factor.

Unless you really enjoy building things or if you're looking to do it cheaper, I'd buy one and save yourself the hassle. 

Edited by tolstoy21
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gardenman Veteran

gardenman

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The best material is aluminum extrusions. The aluminum doesn't rot, is corrosion resistant, and lasts forever. It's relatively easy to work with using simple tools and can even be ordered in kit form from a company called Framingtech.com. Being the best material also makes it the most expensive material. Well, among common materials. There's probably a Saudi Prince somewhere who has an aquarium stand made of titanium with gold plating, but for those of us in the real world, the extruded aluminum is the upper tier of aquarium stand materials. It's what the owner of Tidal Gardens used in his new coral grow out facility. There are a lot of people selling aluminum extrusions online with every type of fitting, connector, and whatnot you can imagine. If you go to framingtech.com and click on the "Solutions" header you can see their fish tank stand options and they'll custom design one for you if need be. Once again though, these are pricey. But if you truly want the best, aluminum extrusions are the best way to go at this time. And you don't have to buy them in kit form. The extrusions are easy enough to work with that you can cut and build one yourself. The kit form is easier, but you can do it all yourself.

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Luciferkrist Collaborator

Luciferkrist

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What do you mean by 'best'? Most durable - non-ferrous metals like aluminum as gardenman suggests, but it is gonna be pricey. Price - can't beat pressure treated 2x4s and cinder blocks. For ease of use and peace of mind, you're best buying a stand made specifically for your brand of aquarium.

I have built my own for 2, bought two, improvised a rack for my 4 10gals, and also found one that was close to the correct dimensions at a thrift store for my betta tanks. I'm pretty happy with all of them, but there is a bit of pride in the ones I put together.

If you do build your own. OVERBUILD. There is no such thing as too much bracing and weight distribution.

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Pepere Mentor

Pepere

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On 11/12/2022 at 7:47 AM, gardenman said:

The aluminum doesn't rot, is corrosion resistant, and lasts forever.

Coming from a boat building background, let me adda few clarifications.   Aluminum doesnt rust, but it sure as heck corrodes readily if it gets contaminated.  Get a drop of mercury on it and the aluminum amalgamates and crumbles away incredibly quickly and it spreads quickly.  Iirc Saboteurs in WW2 used rubes of a mercury paste to destroy a fair number of German planes.

Now I will grant you this is unlikely to be a concern with a fish tank stand .

 

but, put a penny or a nickle on an aluminum fuel tank in a boat and fine a penny sized or nickle sized  hole  much faster than you might imagine.  Hence when doing electrical work in a boat you want to be very careful about not leaving small strands of copper behind…

 

and graphite from a pencil will set up the potential for a dandy galvanic cell as graphite and aluminum are very far apart on the galvanic spectrum.  For galvanic corrosion to occur you need two dissimilar metals connected electrically and an electroyte.  Fish tanks typically contain lots of electrolyte.

I have no specific knowledge of failures involving aluminum aquarium stands, but the potential is indeed there.

 

nothing in this life is perfect.

 

asto “The Best Material” it really depends on what attributes you are desirous of.

 

I agree that Aluminum has a lot of benefits, but if Low Cost is a primary attribute one is looking for, it certainly is not Aluminums forte.

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The endler guy Mentor

The endler guy

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On 11/11/2022 at 3:34 PM, JettsPapa said:

Are you determined to make your own?  There are many tanks out there, including most of mine, that are on various pieces of steel or solid wood furniture.  It may be a challenge to find one the right size, but it's worth looking.  Thrift stores or online sites for used items are good places to start.

There are several reasons for using furniture instead.  It often has doors or drawers for storage, and don't require any woodworking skills.

Problem with making your own or using furniture is you don’t have the peace of mind that you get with a dedicated aquarium stand

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Pepere Mentor

Pepere

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On 11/13/2022 at 8:15 AM, Aiden Carter said:

Problem with making your own or using furniture is you don’t have the peace of mind that you get with a dedicated aquarium stand

I have much more peace of mind with my own built stand then I ever would with a store bought stand.  I have not been at all impressed with the stands I have seen at pet stores.

5AC235C6-8DE2-448F-9BD6-FC66D2F56594.jpeg.162b26f345800ff0a9d928c19d57cbec.jpeg5AE5F5EC-4493-4DB5-AD30-B53465745371.jpeg.7b5d4d0d9d2c77e58a28fc712c15a71f.jpegAA3F28A2-B07A-4122-83AC-2CB4A0763271.jpeg.be3d115c34411e316013ef1cff5ec59e.jpeg

Edited by Pepere
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sairving Rising Star

sairving

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Find a piece of solid wood furniture and refinish it. That's probably the cheapest way to do it. You can paint or stain it to match your decor. Another option is to find someone locally to custom build one for you. Its not cheap, but the stand would be built to your specifications.

 

Edited by sairving
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JettsPapa Grand Master

JettsPapa

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Posted
On 11/13/2022 at 7:15 AM, Aiden Carter said:

Problem with making your own or using furniture is you don’t have the peace of mind that you get with a dedicated aquarium stand

I disagree.  Someone who is knowledgeable about carpentry, or evaluating existing furniture, can have just as much peace of mind using a homemade stand or repurposed furniture as someone one who buys a dedicated stand.

I've also seen dedicated stands I wouldn't trust.

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glenn anthony Explorer

glenn anthony

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I'm in the same boat with the stand issue, I've had a 40 breeder siting  on the ground, and with that much weight I'm a little skeptical about using i solid piece of  furniture (I have a 20g long on there now, but...400+ lbs. 

I am very mechanically inclined but I'm not so sure I would trust my wood working skills (also major OCD here) so i'd probably lose sleep worrying if the tank will crack cause its not 100% straight etc and i would like one with a shelf and doors. that i could do if one i bought did not have said features

🤔🙄

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Pepere Mentor

Pepere

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@glenn anthony, if you havent seen this thread you might want to at least peruse it.

 

I document and explain how I built one of my fish stands and how to modify it if you want a cabinet with doors underneath, and how to make it bigger for larger tanks.

 

It is my own design and was intended to be forgiving and easy to modify.

I have built three stands as seen above.  It takes me about 4 hours to build one other than sanding, staining and varnishing.

 

as built above they are all rock solid with no hint of wiggling and very definitely very overbuilt for the weight they are subjected to.

 

Edited by Pepere
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Andy's Fish Den Mentor

Andy's Fish Den

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Posted

I have built many stands and racks out of common 2x4 lumber to hold tanks from 10 gallons up to 180 gallon and racks with many rows and number of tanks. As for the easiest, I would say that for me would be the cinder block and 2x4 or 2x6 stands that someone linked a video of earlier. If you have basic tools, saw, drill, screwdriver, hammer, you can build your own stand, there are plenty of videos and tutorials online of many different ways to build your own stands, so watch several and decide which method/ design you would like to use.

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Lauren A Community Regular

Lauren A

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 11/11/2022 at 12:53 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I'll be plain & brief: What's the best material to build an aquarium stand and can you build one out of it yourself? 

I'm faced with either building one or buying one...it's for a really crazy looking fish...a bichir? (Any recommendations on that are  also appreciated & I'll tag @Robert in case he has any suggestions!)

Thanks! 😁

Hi, I wish I had the woodworking skills to build a stand, and maybe I will give it a shot someday but I did buy two of these stands on Amazon.  I’ve looked at and ordered and returned a few store bought and would never put a tank on them but if you change your mind on building one, this is very sturdy and I do have complete peace of mind.  I have 10 gallons on them.  But they have different sizes.  
 

and they look nice too.  Here’s a pic of it in real life too.  
 

A3513918-D54D-46F6-ADDE-308588F05C1F.jpeg.2b4fcc39b468e51bdebcb42adab9c11b.jpeg

 

 

 

Aqueon Forge Aquarium Stand 20 by 10-inch https://a.co/d/fzvVhgx

Edited by Lauren A
Sorry so many edits
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