Tank Cabinet: Support, Strength, Legs And Opinion

[dgwebster]

I've been reviewing a large number of tank cabinet builds and note that all the recent ones follow a similar format of building a frame then cladding it in whatever wood of choice.

Its been years since I have looked at this, did I miss something in between that has made this a method of choice? I am looking to make a new cabinet and hood and wonder why, other than sheer overkill strength for it?

 

[Zikofski]

obviously you mentioned strength, also most people use chipboard wood, which when wet is as good as a soggy cardboard, so the frame gives the support and the chipboard for show, unlike all the jewel cabinets and stuff i think they use the chipboard as support and looks yeah it saves money but if it gets wet over time

you can be over kill but with DIY, i guess i rather go over kill than have a wet floor

especially if the tank is huge

oh and a decent proper wood will last a lot longer than chipboard

 

[dgwebster]

I did like your pine laminated board.

Ive used melamine faced furniture board for my DIY hood for enough years that I definitely will not worry about the stand. Due to the ancient unlevel nature of my home I am also going to use adjustable cabinet feet: this is a structurally calculated weight and stress for the tank going on top though and in no way is the right or good solution for everyone.

 

[Mikey1]

here is a stand i recently built for my 100 gallon, i have built many of these using the same design, just different sizes,
 
the 6 posts are made from 3 2x4's screwed together, simple, cheap, and stronger than any stand you will buy in a store,
 
you can finish the outside with nice wood or panelling, or whatever you want really....
 
 

 

[dgwebster]

Indeed the Victorian principle works well for cheapness and design. If you then want lounge show piece, it becomes more expensive when working on a small scale. I like the design as a basis for a large tank unit though.

 

[sputnick]

From a wood worker's standpoint, you would need a strong wood for the supports, which depending on how you build the stand it could have 4 points of support (or more, but picture legs on a table) or you could have the whole footprint of the stand be the point of support. Either way your going to need some very thick wood (around 4 inches thick), which depending on the species of wood and prices in your area could be any where from $4 a board foot to $30 a board foot. Trust me with a larger stand your probably looking at around 150-200 board feet. You do the math for the price. A inner skeleton made up of 2x4's is not only stronger but cheaper and faster to make. I could make a stand in a day with 2x4's, with regular wood it would take me a week if not longer because of the glue and creating strong joints. If you had a joint fail that would mean a whole lot of water on your floor.