# My 75 gallon stand build. All Plywood.



## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

Getting close to finishing my stand and thought I would share. 
I built it out of plywood, and only plywood. 3/4", 1.5 sheets total. Its a pretty good budget build that looks good. But if I was doing it again I would probably just do solid oak to make the routering easier, but then it would be far from a budget build. Next tank.

Total cost was pretty low, and it will be more then strong enough, I am not sure why people overbuild so much. The canopy and doors will be worked on tomorrow.

Its all glued and clamped rather then screwed. 









Good thing I have lots of clamps. The back was originally only going to have to horizontal brace in the middle, but an after thought figured a couple of the scraps in there would make it easier to mount the plumbing and other things. The sides are the structural pieces. 









Finished up and waiting for paint









And painted it up









I'll update when I get more built. 
For the canopy I will be putting two 4 foot T5 lights on an angle (otherwise they don't fit) and two 2 foot T5 lights in the space thats left. Not sure what temp bulbs yet. There will be a sump in the stand too.

should I be painting the inside of the stand with waterproof paint? or leave it unpainted? or partially painted?

Any comments or questions? Thanks for viewing.


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

Good looking build :thumb:

opcorn:


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

that still looks overbuilt. good job :thumb:


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## alexlee04 (Jul 19, 2009)

very nice! Did you design it yourself? If so could you share your plans?


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

Pali said:


> Good looking build :thumb:
> 
> opcorn:


Thanks



alexlee04 said:


> very nice! Did you design it yourself? If so could you share your plans?


Thanks!
It is my own design-ish, I had a picture from one at the LFS that I used for rough reference, so no plans, lol. Basically cut the top and bottom to be 1/4 larger then the tank, the sides are 3/4 less then the top is wide, so that the decorative part doesn't stick out. And then the rest is glued to the inside or outside and really just for show.



illy-d said:


> that still looks overbuilt. good job :thumb:


Thanks
Ya it is for sure overbuilt, I kinda wish I had a sheet of 3/8 plywood for some parts just to make things easier, and building as I went some places ended up with more wood then I was expecting. lol. 
Less overbuilt then the guys with 4x4s and 2x6s.


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## redblufffishguy (Jul 16, 2009)

Jeff,

Good work! Finally another enthusiast here that understands the concept of not overbuilding!

Nice looking design!


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

^I've always built my DIY stands out of 2x4's. Not because I 'have to overbuild' or anything, but because 2x4's are so much easier to work with when you have limited skills & tools.

For me it's not about understanding or not understanding any concepts, it's about what's the easiest way I can make something happen?

That's the case for a lot of DIYers I think.

Don't mean to derail so I'll finish with another kudos to jeff000 =D> , and a request for more pics when the tank is set-up, stocked, and running!

Cheers,

D


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

redblufffishguy said:


> Jeff,
> 
> Good work! Finally another enthusiast here that understands the concept of not overbuilding!
> 
> Nice looking design!


Thanks 
I ended up overbuilding still, but most of that is making it decorative, and a couple parts because I changed what I was doing in the middle a bit, lol. Hard to build without plans.



illy-d said:


> ^I've always built my DIY stands out of 2x4's. Not because I 'have to overbuild' or anything, but because 2x4's are so much easier to work with when you have limited skills & tools.
> 
> For me it's not about understanding or not understanding any concepts, it's about what's the easiest way I can make something happen?
> 
> ...


Thanks.
I'll keep updated with pictures for sure. Building the doors tonight.

I see lots that built a serious 2x4 frame and then cover it with 3/4" ply. The plywood is all you need. Having lost of clamps made things easier, but really clamps, table saw and router are all that are needed to make what I have.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

^The clamps, table saw & router are all that I'm missing :lol:


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

illy-d said:


> ^The clamps, table saw & router are all that I'm missing :lol:


Router is just to make things look nicer. 
How do you plan on cutting the plywood without a table saw?
You could run a couple screws instead of the clamps.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

I'm just saying that's why I didn't build with plywood... I skinned my 2x4 stand with 1/4 inch ply that I ripped with a skillsaw, but it was a PITA.

I had a mitre saw, mitre box, cordless drill, a level, a square and skillsaw. I built what I could with what I had. The stand was way, way over built and not that pretty but it worked.

I think you did a fantastic job and if I had the tools & skill (skill is involved) I would definately prefer to build a stand your way - which is still overbuilt in my opinion. A lot of people under estimate the strength of plywood 'on edge' or whatever you call it.

I'm not an engineer, or a carpenter but I base my conclusions on what I've seen commercially available in pet stores. Just about everything I've seen DIY on here is many many many times stronger then the **** you can buy in the chain pet stores (which I am currently using by the way).


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## el mucho grande (Mar 27, 2010)

Looks great, I woulld recommend painting the interior. You said "the sides are the structural pieces" I have been working wood for many years now but I am pretty new to aquariums and I will be building stands for my two 55 gal and my wifes 30 gal, are you saying the tanks only need full support on the sides and not so much on the front and back?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

All plywood certainly works for holding up aquariums. If you are one of the people who will be at the annual fish show in Akron in a few weeks, take a peek at the all-plywood stands that hold five or six hundred entries. Thousands of gallons of water supported by plywood and a sort of Tab & Slot assembly method. Everything pulls apart after the show and stacks flat until the next exhibit.


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

el mucho grande said:


> Looks great, I woulld recommend painting the interior. You said "the sides are the structural pieces" I have been working wood for many years now but I am pretty new to aquariums and I will be building stands for my two 55 gal and my wifes 30 gal, are you saying the tanks only need full support on the sides and not so much on the front and back?


I will be painting the interior, but with a cheaper latex paint, not sure I have enough good paint. Lol.
Glass doesn't sag, so it really doesn't matter where its supported as long as its supported balanced. If you are doing acrylic then you need full support as it will sag.


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

illy-d said:


> I think you did a fantastic job and if I had the tools & skill (skill is involved) I would definately prefer to build a stand your way - which is still overbuilt in my opinion. A lot of people under estimate the strength of plywood 'on edge' or whatever you call it.
> 
> I'm not an engineer, or a carpenter but I base my conclusions on what I've seen commercially available in pet stores. Just about everything I've seen DIY on here is many many many times stronger then the #%$& you can buy in the chain pet stores (which I am currently using by the way).


Oh ya I know its way over built still, but I really didn't know how else to built it to keep the look with less material.

Thanks, I am not sure how much wood working skill I have, I am an Electrician not a carpenter, lol. 
And garage sale are great for getting things cheap, the clamps I got for like 40 bucks at one a few years back.


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## el mucho grande (Mar 27, 2010)

> the clamps I got for like 40 bucks at one a few years back


WOW nice grab your clamps look like Jorgesen Pony clamps at $12 per clamp (in my area) not including pipe you got a steal at 40 bucks. Thank you for the info on support


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

Drilling the 30mm holes for the hidden ran into a little snag, seems my round over was too round, my bad, need different hinges. 









Shallow hinges all mounted differently, needed to add a 2x2 to give myself a spot to screw into. 









Got the doors on and the part to cover the gap between the doors. Can see where I needed to use wood filler to fill in where the hinge holes were. 









Finished up the bottom, just need to do some touch up painting. 









The canopy is almost done, I'll get pics up soon.


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## pistolpete (Dec 28, 2009)

I also build my stands entirely out of plywood (3/4 inch hardwood). 3/4 inch Plywood on edge has a crush strength in excess of 150 pounds per linear inch. So theoretically if you have 6 feet of plywood transferring the load to the ground you can have a 10 000 pound load on it. that's right ten thousand pounds. Of course at such weights the slenderness ratio comes into it and the box shape of the stands becomes critical for stability.

Hope that's not getting too technical, but my point is that a properly constructed plywood stand *is* in fact overbuilt for any sane sized tank.


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## redblufffishguy (Jul 16, 2009)

:thumb:


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

I built my 125g stand from 3/4 oak ply. Rock solid a year later. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to build another.


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## jeff000 (Jun 1, 2010)

Have the canopy done up now.

Doors are made too small, but my bad I'll fix that later, lol.


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## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

illy-d said:


> ^I've always built my DIY stands out of 2x4's. Not because I 'have to overbuild' or anything, but because 2x4's are so much easier to work with when you have limited skills & tools.
> 
> For me it's not about understanding or not understanding any concepts, it's about what's the easiest way I can make something happen?
> 
> ...


this is kind of my theory. Sometimes for people with less diy skillz its easier to just skin over a 2x4 frame instead of trying to glue and do pocket screws to join two pieces of plywood, or attemping biscuit joints.


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