Concrete Aquarium Stand

[Sinavestia]

Hey all, I'm a first time poster here but I have ordered from Aquarium Co Op several times and watch a lot of the channels videos for advice. My Aquarium started leaking Friday and I believe it was due to the stand.

   The stand was one of the imagitarium Brooklyn stands. It worked just fine for over a year but I was a paranoid about it the entire time. I hadnt replaced it yet because I didn't want to tear down my entire Aquarium.

   Well, since I had to tear it down Friday morning, I decided to do an entire new stand. I have decided for a while I wanted to do concrete block stand with lumber shelves. I followed one of Cory's videos from 7 years ago on building a concrete rack with 12 foot boards. I shortened it all down to just 3 foot wide to hold one 40 gallon aquarium.

   I have it all assembled and it's perfectly level and feels very sturdy. I have been leak testing the aquarium on it and it's all gone fine.

   In the video he has an overhang of 1 inch on either side of the blocks to make it 18 inches wide for the aquarium. I just wanted to check here on whether or not this is viable for long, long term. I had some people on reddit call me an idiot and a few others say I was completely fine without elaborating. I figured I would go straight to the source and get opinions here.

 

I have attached a picture, it's 4 concrete blocks stacked up with boards between the blocks half way up. And boards on top. The boards are 2x10s with an inch overhang. Tonight I plan on adding shelf liner under the aquarium to account for any flaws in the wood. Will all this be okay and sturdy for long term?

 

Edit: I added a picture from the YouTube video as reference.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Sinavestia

[nabokovfan87]

 

 

Welcome to the forums!

Here is another video on the same theme that may be helpful for stacking the bricks in a different way that might help you to feel safer with the setup long term.

There are also plenty of people that use the setup you're showing with a slight overhang.

 

On 6/13/2023 at 3:36 PM, Sinavestia said:

The stand was one of the imagitarium Brooklyn stands. It worked just fine for over a year but I was a paranoid about it the entire time. I hadnt replaced it yet because I didn't want to tear down my entire Aquarium.

I've got 2 of these and I've been using them for a long time. One of the biggest issues I see people struggle with is that they don't line up the beams properly. I apologize that your tank leaked. Maybe there was some sort of twisting or blowing that caused some issues. There also could've simply been some damaged seems from something like an algae scraper.

Ultimately the goal is to have this section aligned and then to tighten down the top portion of the stand where the tank will rest. As always, make sure the stand is level, then the tank, and verify it as you fill the tank and things shift.

  

 

 

[Sinavestia]

On 6/13/2023 at 7:18 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

 

Welcome to the forums!

Here is another video on the same theme that may be helpful for stacking the bricks in a different way that might help you to feel safer with the setup long term.

There are also plenty of people that use the setup you're showing with a slight overhang.

 

I've got 2 of these and I've been using them for a long time. One of the biggest issues I see people struggle with is that they don't line up the beams properly. I apologize that your tank leaked. Maybe there was some sort of twisting or blowing that caused some issues. There also could've simply been some damaged seems from something like an algae scraper.

Ultimately the goal is to have this section aligned and then to tighten down the top portion of the stand where the tank will rest. As always, make sure the stand is level, then the tank, and verify it as you fill the tank and things shift.

  

 

 

So I had that exact issue with the beam being unaligned. I received the stand from a family member already assembled, I didn't realize it was something you assembled yourself. It never even occurred to me to try to take it apart to fix it. I did try to adjust the feet to get it level but I had a lot of issues with it. I'll remember this if I decide to use it again in the future.

 

I will check out that video when I get home, I thought about doing does smaller blocks side ways on the back and I think I might go through with that, just for the extra security.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Sinavestia
I meant to add more.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/13/2023 at 4:59 PM, Sinavestia said:

I did try to adjust the feet to get it level but I had a lot of issues with it. I'll remember this if I decide to use it again in the future.

They also get turned into bookshelves quite often. There's a lot of mods people do to add wood tops and stuff to make them look nice!

If you need anything please feel free to send a DM to me. 🙂

[Peaceful Fish]

I don’t trust particle board stands either. 10 years ago I bought a 55 gallon and used cinder blocks and plywood for the stand. I only went  3 cinder blocks high.  Added some baskets for fish stuff. 
 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Peaceful Fish

[Jackson]

You can paint those blocks with what ever color spray paint you like . Look much better painted up . 😊 I have one of those stands . Been thinking of a bottom shelf , but seeing the second shelf . I think it's a done deal .

Edited June 14, 2023 by Jackson

[SugarBassJoe]

It looks like it would be ok, I remember once I had a 10G on a little end table like thing and it worked fine, though the day I broke that tank down and took it off, that thing literally folded up and fell apart, but id feel better about the blocks and 2x 10's. Just built one of these too, had to accommodate a 18" wide tank as well, but I was personally uncomfortable with the overhang. Home depot had smaller blocks, 8x8x6 I think, that I lined and stacked up, alternating the smaller blocks and the bigger 16x8x6 blocks as I went up, make the stand a total of 22" wide,  I know its quite big, but I feel better not having that overhang myself, plus it looks cool to me.

[Sweet Fish O Mine]

The overhang of the wood in your first photo is not an issue, that thick board is not going to flex a bit in that situation. Split face blocks can add a more finished look than the regular construction blocks. If you buy the corner blocks they come with two "finished" sides. I'm happy with how my design turned out and really enjoyed making it. 

[Sinavestia]

On 6/14/2023 at 11:12 AM, Sweet Fish O Mine said:

The overhang of the wood in your first photo is not an issue, that thick board is not going to flex a bit in that situation. Split face blocks can add a more finished look than the regular construction blocks. If you buy the corner blocks they come with two "finished" sides. I'm happy with how my design turned out and really enjoyed making it. 

I really wanted those but I couldn't find them. I'm wondering if there is like type of paint or spackle or something that will give a similar look.

[JettsPapa]

On 6/13/2023 at 5:36 PM, Sinavestia said:

Hey all, I'm a first time poster here but I have ordered from Aquarium Co Op several times and watch a lot of the channels videos for advice. My Aquarium started leaking Friday and I believe it was due to the stand.

Maybe I missed something, but are you putting the same tank on this new DIY stand?  If yes, have you addressed the leak?  If it was caused by the old stand, and I'm not saying it wasn't, I don't believe moving the tank to a new stand will make it stop leaking.

[Sinavestia]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:47 PM, JettsPapa said:

Maybe I missed something, but are you putting the same tank on this new DIY stand?  If yes, have you addressed the leak?  If it was caused by the old stand, and I'm not saying it wasn't, I don't believe moving the tank to a new stand will make it stop leaking.

No, I bought a new aquarium. My concern is the stability and overhang of the new stand. It seems sturdier than it was before. Previously my dogs tail hitting the imagitarium stand would make the water ripple. I gave the concrete block a good smack and nothing happened.

I was more concerned with the overhang flexing or warping over time but that doesn't seem to be a problem.

I tried to follow the advice of some linked videos and adding thinner concrete blocks to the back to make it look nicer, more stable and remove the overhang but the blocks are all the wrong height by about .15 inchets and I don't think I'll be able to make it level enough to be safe. I may try grinding down the top of the new blocks but I have doubts that will get anywhere. I'm at a point now where I am trying to make it look less sketchy than it really is.

I bought a 2x10 board and I'm going to replace one of the 2x8s with it just to have some more surface are for the aquarium but that won't eliminate the overhang. Along with a cupboard liner mat under the aquarium to prevent water dripping and to even out some of the small knots and notches in the wood.