# 180 gal stand refinish- from wood to black.



## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Just thought I'd share a simple stand refinish I just completed. This was a pine stand finished in the typical light stain color. Looked nice except wood grain stands and tanks just aren't for me. I love everything in black. So time to refinish my soon to be Frontosa tank.

At first I was going to sand it with a palm sander and then prime and paint. But when I got to Lowes and started reading the primers I decided upon "123 Primer" because if it did what it said "stick to any surface with no sanding needed", then it would save a lot of time and effort. 
I'm pleased to announce it performed well!

1 step was to remove the doors and hardware. Then vacuum the stand with a shop vac and wipe it down with a wet cloth.

2. simply brushed and rolled on 2 coats of primer. As I was priming it came to mind I might as well prime the inside to protect from water damage. And since the primer was grey, it will probably be easier to see underneath for filter maintainance when the tank is all set up. So I left the interior done in grey primer. NOTE: The primer comes in white only but it can be tinted. Home Depot tinted it for free as dark as they could, which made it easier to get a good black finish.

3. Apply 2-3 coats of Krylon Black Satin Sray paint.

4. Reapply doors and hardware.

Over all I'm very happy with it. One thing I will try differently next time is to use a satin that can be rolled on. Spraying results in a slightly shinier finish than rolling when it comes to satin finish paint. The result was just a little more sheen than the black pine stands that come from the factory.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

looks much better :thumb:


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## Vincent (May 7, 2004)

Thanks for sharing.


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Thanks. I expected a few to say it was a shame to cover up the nice wood tone. Even though I prefer black, I still had to think about it for a few days. But I knew I would regret leaving it wood tone once it was filled with water.


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

That is a nice tone of wood, but the black will make the tank stand out much more as a piece of "art," if you will, rather than a piece of furniture.


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

spotmonster said:


> Thanks. I expected a few to say it was a shame to cover up the nice wood tone. Even though I prefer black, I still had to think about it for a few days. But I knew I would regret leaving it wood tone once it was filled with water.


keeping my mouth shut 

but the black is nice too


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

That looks nice. I like the best of both worlds. I think it all depends on the area of the house as well as other furniture.

I am planing on soon painting my stand. I have a wooden stand with the cheap wooden decal **** on it and I have a black canopy that was given to me for the same tank. I think it would make more sense to paint the stand black instead of trying to match the canopy which I doubt would happen anyway.

Good work!


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

Looks good. Not really a shame to cover up pine. A very inexpensive wood. Not as if it was cherry or mahogany. How about a picture with fish? :thumb:


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Jwerber2- I've refished a cheap particle board laminted stand also. A 20 gal I picked up complete for 30.00. This one turned out better by using the primer.

R-DUB- work stilll in progress, and going slow I might add. So no fish in it yet. I have to paint the background black. And the tank is woodgrain also, so I will be painting the trim black to match.

I had to drain the tank when I picked it up so I know it doesn't leak, but it has some small bubbles in the silicone, so I'm thinking about resealing it with black silicone also. But I haven't made up my mind on that one. The main reason is it's in my finished family room in the basement and it's 350 lbs empty. So I don't want to reseal it inside the house, last time I did that with a 20 gal, I ended up running outside with it after choking to death, can't do that with a 180


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

Sounds like my project slow and no dough. LOL.I will have to figure something out with mine also, silicone the DIY BG to the back of a 180. 6 tubes of silicone. I think I will be choking too. And I dont want to move it again. Good Job and Good Luck!


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## Pdxmonkeyboy (Oct 17, 2016)

I have yet to find a nice wood stand that looks as good as a standard matt black stand. Of course this is just my opinion...but man oh man are there some UGLY old wood stands out there.

A couple of tips for painting a wood stand.. use latex paint.. no need to prime and it's dirt cheap and no fumes. when you are buying the paint pick up a bottle of flowtrol... it's in an orange container. It makes latex paint flow better and therefore less brush lines. Latex doesn't like to be brushed allot.. a couple of good strokes and then let it lay down.

anyways... your stand looks great!! the tank will really pop now!


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