Fish Tank Stand

Hi, I just finished architecture school (with a masters) so I FINALLY have time to update this blog. I did a few projects since my last post so do look out for DIY fish tank lights, a cello with a broken neck and my next series of posts (right after this one) that will feature my first Kickstarter project!

Now, onto this project, it's a 2' x 1.5' fish tank stand (height: 3') made out of Kapur dimensional lumber, plywood and blockboard. 

The Kapur lumber was recycled from 2 previous fish tank stands I made (they were one of my first woodworking projects, even before the plywood bookshelves). Those creations were wayy over-engineered so I took them apart and trimmed the salvaged lumber down to size for use in this project. The plywood and lumber were spare pieces found in my school's fabrication lab so this a 100% reused wood project!

For those of you who don't know blockboard, it is a much lighter alternative to plywood (and particle board or MDF for that matter), although it does not have the strips at the side which I like to exploit in plywood for visual effect. It is not as strong as plywood, but is excellent for bracing in projects like these where the stress exerted on the material is not too high.

Structurally, the tank is held up by 4 'pillars' of solid kapur wood. The top structure is made out of kapur wood 'beams', one along each side and one across the middle of the rectangle to support the span of plywood in between. The entire structure is braced on all sides (except the bottom) with either plywood or blockboard.

Being a 2' x 1.5' tank, I would expect this stand to hold up a 2' x 1.5' x 2' fish tank, which should weigh in at around 200 - 225 kg with the weight of the glass and substrate factored in.

The stand was designed with a double leaf door and 2 openings at the side for wires, air tubes and pipes to find their way in. The openings also serve to ventilate the interior of the cabinet if a sump (a secondary tank that connects the primary aquarium, a sump serves to hold aquarium equipment and misbehaving fish) were to be placed there.

The stand has held a 1' x 1' x 1' nano reef tank for the past year or so and serves as a hub for the power chords all the rest of my aquariums use. Now I am finished with architecture school, I may consider upgrading the reef tank in the near future :)