# 55 gallon stand and tank build - Craftsman style



## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

I've gotten a lot of ideas from this forum. Now that I'm done with my tanks (for a while), I thought I might post some of my projects. I found a 55 gallon at a large chain that periodically offers a dollar per gallon sale a little over a year ago and couldn't pass it up. So first, I began an overbuilt stand that will support my car.

I started with a 2x4 frame.



















Next, I skinned it with half inch cabinet grade oak plywood. I glued it and screwed it in place and countersunk the visible screw holes. They would later be plugged with oak dowels.



















Next, I added some oak trim.










Here is another view. Sorry for the blurry shot, I was more interested in documenting it than photographic perfection.










Clamping on some more trim. You can see where I have started to plug the holes with dowels.










Here I've cut and started to route out some doors. Sorry, but I didn't get more photos of my doing this, but I basically routed out a groove in the frame for the center part of the door. I've built a router table that fits into my radial saw. The clamp you see holds the fence in place. It looks pretty crude, but it works amazingly well.










Doors are done. I added a "floor" inside the stand which was recycled from an old table. It was already painted white, so I just went with it.










My favorite part. Staining. Tranforms it to a piece of furniture.










So, I sort of got in a groove and stopped taking pictures. Below is the final shot. I built a canopy, which is basically just a box with a hinged lid. I used 3/4 inch oak plywood throughout, and some iron on oak veneer edging. It's built like an army tank. Here is the tank, stand, and canopy installed in a guest bedroom. I'm pleased with how it matches with the furniture.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

looks sick bro!
i was looking into the same thing. but the 150 im buying comes with one. im a little upset over it. 
but thats life.

congrats on the new set-up


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Very nice. The stain does make it nice but that is the part I hate the worst! I'm more the paint grade builder!


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## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

I apologize for my lack of pictures, I get into a zone sometimes and forget to take them.

I started cutting pieces of foam for a background. A 55 gallon doesn't give you much to work with with a 12" depth, so I wanted something to hide the equipment, a slimline model.










Gorilla Glued it together and carved it



















Here it is fitted in the tank, along with plumbing for the 3 undergravel gets. I've hidden a 295gph powerhead behind the background which runs those jets, and a heater, and the intake for an Eheim 2217.

I also added egg crate to support the rocks.





































And, the final shot, with lace rocks, and fish. I have tried an open background, where water can better circulate, and fish can come and go as they please. I'll admit that this is not a great background, but it is functional and blends with the lace rock, so I'm pleased with the overall result

This is supposed to be a Tanganyika biotope tank, but I used this tank to house my ram and barb tank while I redid that, and I could not catch the red tailed black shark. And of course, he is prominent in this picture. He's not causing any problems, and is tough enough to handle the Tangs, so, I'm not overly stressed about it right now. I periodically put in a fish trap, and eventually, I'll get him.


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

Well done! I've never attempted a 55G background, but you seem to pull it off quite nicely!


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Nice! Those stand pictures are confusing me though. In pics 1 and 2, it looks like one end (top?) of the stand has "vertical" oriented boards, and the other (bottom?) has "flat" oriented boards. Yet in the rest of the pictures they both appear to be veritcally oriented? Are all of the pictures of the same stand? Did you change the bottom boards? Am I just smoking a crack rock?

I've been planning a stand framed very much like this, but I didn't thnk about doing the bottom flat.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

I'm done tanks for a while (although I'll post pics of my other projects soon), but I'm already thinking about a 6' tank with large haps - or sorry for the sacrelige here - a reef tank. Here are a few observations and things I'll do differently when I build that tank.

1) If you're getting a 4' tank, go with a 75 or 90 instead of the 55, an additional 6" of depth makes all the difference, as I also have a 75 to compare it to. The added work for a slightly deeper stand and the added lumber cost is minimal compared to the advantages. It's easier to stack rocks in a 75, you can build a better background, and most importantly, your fish have more space.

2) Forget using dimensional lumber. No matter how picky you are, it won't be perfectly straight, and you'll be clamping and working it a lot to get it true and level. I think a great stand could be built with 3/4 inch plywood, and by cutting bracing for load bearing areas you would effectively have 1.5 inch or even 2.25" thick lumber. The big advantage is that plywood doesn't have all the bows and twists of dimensional lumber. Most professionally built cabinet grade stands I've seen are built that way.

3) A straight piece of foam painted the same color as the back glass and inserted as a background could have allowed for even more tank space, and more rock work, while still hiding the equipment. I'm even thinking that something thinner like plexiglass that's not even siliconed in would be the best. You could remove it to catch fish or maintain equipment, and it would take up even less space than foam. I really like the effect lace rock gives. Anything other than a flat black or blue background detracts from that- for me anyway.

4) Since this one has been up and running for a while, and held some Mbuna while I redid my 75, I think the Eheim 2217 or a similarly sized filter is great for a 55, even though it's overfiltering a bit. It kept the water clear with around 20 3-4" mbuna, which was more fish than would be proper to put in a 55 long-term, but it worked fine for a few weeks.


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## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

Rick_Lindsey said:


> Nice! Those stand pictures are confusing me though. In pics 1 and 2, it looks like one end (top?) of the stand has "vertical" oriented boards, and the other (bottom?) has "flat" oriented boards. Yet in the rest of the pictures they both appear to be veritcally oriented? Are all of the pictures of the same stand? Did you change the bottom boards? Am I just smoking a crack rock?
> 
> I've been planning a stand framed very much like this, but I didn't thnk about doing the bottom flat.
> 
> -Rick (the armchair aquarist)


Good catch. I decided that it just wouldn't work and changed it. I can't even remember why. I started it last fall, and after I stained and varnished it, it sat for a few months before I got around to building up the tank, so some details escape me now.


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## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

Looked at my pics and now I remember - I changed the bottom framing from flat to vertical because I wanted more area to put the facing against on the front where the doors would be. 1 1/2" just didn't seem like enough, since they would be opening and closing against it. Probably would have worked either way.


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## fancycichlid (Oct 14, 2011)

*Bungalowdan*

Hi, That is great stand that you built. I am building the very similar stand. Hope you don't mind answering some of my questions.

The 2nd pic you posted, one of the leg is not flushed with the top frame. Was it not final or it was already nailed in but you use the skin to cover it up? I figured it is hard to use skin to cover that kind of non-flush joint. I always try to make things perfect. But your tank turned out great, what do I know? hehehe 

Again, great tank, stand, background.


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## fancycichlid (Oct 14, 2011)

I noticed the flat bottom change too. hahah. I am building mine stand-up style too. Mine is going to be very similar build.

I was wishing you have more of the paint progress pics.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Beautiful job on the stand and canopy!!! I also noticed the change on the bottom frame from 'face' down to 'edge' down. Much better for stability and attaching finish trim.


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## Bungalowdan (Aug 16, 2010)

fancycichlid said:


> *Bungalowdan*
> 
> Hi, That is great stand that you built. I am building the very similar stand. Hope you don't mind answering some of my questions.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I hadn't put the screws and strong ties in at that point. I think I had on the other legs, but not on that one. I didn't get another picture before I skinned it with everything trued up, but I measured and took a square and level to every corner before I proceeded, put a straight edge against joints to ensure flushness, and even made sure it didn't wobble on the shop floor, which I know to be level. I am the same way as you on getting everything aligned. If something is a litte off in the framework, it gets exaggerated further along in the project, and one can end up with a disappointing result.


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