New Tank!!!!!

[Nautilus291]

I finally got the 55g tank to go with all of the rest of the stuff that i have all ready bought for it. I cant wait till I have this baby set up! First im going to build my own wood stand for it. I'm so excited, its so much bigger than my 10g I have now. I told my 5 year old sister that im going to keep her in it.

[jeffs99dime]

finally got huh? that's awesome. congrats! whatever stand you build, just keep two things in mind. make sure it's level with floor and make sure it's square. very cool:thumb:

[Incredulous_Ed]

I built a stand for my 20 gal. if you are using plywood on the top of it, make sure you select the most level piece you can find. Otherwise you will have to lay a piece of styrofoam on it. pretty funny what you told your sister :)
I can relate :)

[Danny M]

That's the way to go. Building your own equippment gives the best satisfaction. I've built miself the stand for my 110 gal.
1. Make it solid enough to support ten times the weight of your tank.
2. Allways use the styrofoam under the tank, to distribute the pressure over all the surface, even if the top pane is perfect.
3. Check your floor: this also needs to be solid and completely levelled.
4. You may want to hide inside the cabinet all the cables / plugs of your electric equippment.

[Nautilus291]

If my floor isnt level can i just put slivers of wood to level out my tank? I took some plans off the internet on how to roughly build the stand, the rest I'm going to make up as I go.

[Danny M]

[QUOTE=gcnadam29] If my floor isnt level can i just put slivers of wood to level out my tank? [QUOTE]


Or you can use adjustable legs to level your cabinet. The most important is that your floor is hard and solid enough. You don't want to shake your tank every time you pass near it. I even read an article somewhere about a guy who cracked the tank just running around it with the kids.

[Nautilus291]

I have hardwood floors so it should be fine.

[blue fin]

What is below the floor, is is crawl space or another room? My house is so rickety if you walk past the fridge it groans at you, I have to go under the house and adjust floor jacks twice a year. 55 gallons is almost 600 pounds or more when you add the glass, filters...etc,

[jeffs99dime]

the best place for a tank is next to a load-bearing wall. they offer the most support

[Lady Hobbs]

If your floor is not cement I'd go with adding a sheet of styrofoam under it.

I'd also paint the stand with some waterproof paint. Oil based.

[jman]

i agree with that

[Nautilus291]

im putting it next to an outside wall if thats what a loaded bearing wall is or wtever you said. And my floors seem pretty sturdy i know its alot of weight but they should be able to handle it exp. with the stand im building. Im making it without legs like a rectangle that way it has alot of support and its not just sitting on 4 small sections of the floor.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. the exterior walls are load bearing. that's good! good choice