Tank Stand

Rainbows

Hey everyone, starting this thread to hopefully follow the creation of my new tank stand for my 4 footer. The old one is starting to show some serious wear and tear and it won't be pretty if it fails. It may take some time as I'm going into yr 12 now but hopefully progress won't be seriously slow and this is only the first step in what I plan for a full upgrade for the tank, starting with the stand, then LED's and then sometime during uni hopefully some CO2. I'll attach some pictures with my idea for the new one. The frame will be built from 90x35mm structural pine. Just looking for any ideas or add ons that people can come up with as I'm sure I'll forget something. Thanks.

Rainbows

By the way, these drawings are only of the frame I've yet to figure out what I want to do with the lipping and covering of the rest of the frame, all ideas welcome.

Frayk

I reckon you "ve got it sussed already,nice work.

Frayk

Hang on, will the stand need to cater for filtration..etc Lighting? Praps a few holes here and there for wiring and stuff?

Rainbows

Lighting won't matter for the stand. The 3 compartments in the stand are all large enough to fit the canister I'm running so that won't be a problem, however, I can either choose to lay down a board on the inside for it too sit on or I can let it sit directly on the underlying floor, probably going to go with the first option though.

Heintz.G

Hi Rainbows,

If you're going for a floor go 9mm structural ply and don't put a back on it, that way you have more flexibility just in case you have to add other things to the tank.

Edit: Just remember to measure twice before cutting and it will all work out ok.

Rainbows

Thanks Heintz, any type of wood you would recommend for covering the rest of the stand?

Heintz.G

It all depends, if you are going to paint it like I did mine ply would be fine, but if you stain and lacquer it check out Bunnings or what ever you have around.

Frayk

I realise you wont be putting a light in the stand I simply meant space for wiring as power points are usually lower than the top of the tank, if you are trying to hide cords.
Like i said i reckon you ve got things sussed!

Rainbows

Good point Frayk, for reasons to do with space the tank actually points out into the room with only the left side against the wall with a powerpoint on it, so I will have to both cover and drill the back of the stand and the left side for chords.

Frayk

Any updates on the project olm8>

Rainbows

Unfortunately I have set it back for now, holiday homework for year 12 and uni stuff hasn't left me much time.

Frayk

Ahh...i understand, for the most of us, time is our enemy

Rainbows

Ok so it's time for a long needed update. I just finished my hsc and got back home from boarding school and plan to take a gap year working in my home town so plenty of time for fishies.
Anyway, I finally got it together and went and got the wood for my stand (18 metres of 90x45mm, cost $88) and started building. So far it's taken two days of about 3 hours work each but I am slow so it probably wouldn't take this long if you knew what you were doing. The frame is now completed, although some of the corner posts need some sanding to level out. Then I plan to paint it black and maybe add some lipping/panels.
Here's two pictures, I started by building the two rectangles and then added the uprights afterwards, not sure if this is the best way but it's how I did it. There's no glue, just a total of 80 decking screws holding it together. It's pretty heavy but really solid so I'm happy.
Here's some photos, I'll add to it as I progress with the build.

Frayk

Congrats on the HSC and good for you m8, what a great up date, stand looking good, let us know how it all goes, btw, you obviously know what your doing and slow is good. Cheers.

Rainbows

Thanks Frayk, I'll try to remember to get an updated photo of the tank as well up here. I've also got plans for maybe building a tank rack for breeding but there'll be more on that after this is done and i"m more organised.

Rainbows

Updated photo, I've sanded it down and applied two coats of gloss black paint. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up a board of marine ply which I can finish it with.

Rainbows

Well it's taken a bit longer than I expected but here is the final thing. I've boarded in the left most compartment to house the filter and reduce it's noise. Overall it's not the prettiest but I'm definitely happy with it due to it's stability. I'm pretty sure it could hold the tank with just the four corner uprights but with the two centre uprights and braces there's no way it's going to break.

I'll add some more photos when it's in place, just waiting on foam and then a free day to strip down the tank and rebuild it.

Heintz.G

Looking good mate, if you're worried about noise from the filter use a piece of styrofoam, or my favourite, no name kitchen sponges from the supermarket.

Frayk

Excellent! That a strong as stand m8 well done.

Rainbows

Finally got the tank in place on the new stand, it was quite a job draining and then refilling it. A couple of photos.

Sorry about the messy glass and unplanted scape, I ripped out the majority of anubias and java fern and am waiting on aquagreen to come back online for an order. I'll try get some better photos of the fishes later where the aren't washed out.


I did lose two suicidal Remu Chequered's which jumped the bucket and I didn't find until deceased. Oh well you live and learn. Current occupants are 3 Boeseman's, 9 Remu Chequered's, 3 Midgley's Carp Gudgeons, 4 SAE's, 2 Kuhli's and a male Pep.

Frayk

Good stuff olm8, looking great. Would love a photo of the midgleys carp gudgeon as they are extinct in S.A.Cheers.

Rainbows

Will try Frayk, mine are actually from the local river and seem to be the only things you can catch with a small bait net besides Macrobrachium australiense and Glass Shrimp. I'm not 100% sure whether they are Midgley's as there appear to be a number of undescribed carp gudgeons throughout the Murray Darling but they're my best bet. The three I took are a male and 2 females (sexual dimorphism is really obvious and should be visible in the photos) with the females also looking fit to burst with eggs that could be seen through the abdominal wall. The area I trapped them in was riddled with Gambusia so it's heartening to know at least some species can compete with them in the same environment as I caught at least a 100 hundred over a couple of days. Though this is likely due to the gudgeons pugnacious nature.

Interestingly, the glass shrimp actually appear to be Caridinia maccullochi rather than the more common Paratya australiensis. I've got a couple in a smaller tank I'm cycling and one displays red colouration whilst some of the others are a lot darker and kind of bluey, could be an interesting line breeding project.

I need more tanks sigh, it is infectious.

Rainbows

Ok well get ready for some photo spam here we go. The glass cleaned up well but my LED light combined with exposure times are overdoing it so I need to learn to manually control that.
To start us off we have a group photo with some of the gang members. The SAE's and peppermint love cucumber and the rainbows also pick at, particularly the Remu's (Dave Wilson makes the same observation, they must rely more on plant matter in the wild). The male Gudgeon also makes his first appearance.

Two more photos of the male, he was much darker with bluer fin edges when caught so hopefully he'll return to that once he becomes fully settled.


And then two of one of the females, the orange along her belly being the large cluster of eggs she's holding.


The one male boesemani, he's really washed out the majority of the time now. This is probably because there are no other males to compete with (I miss my three big boys) so hopefully I can get it together and breed them to get some sons to show off to.

Another group shot but take note of the extremely skinny SAE on the right, the others are happy as pigs in mud and fat so I'm not sure what's wrong with this one. There is a little but of competition amongst the group of them but from what I've seen he/she's as dominant and gets to eat as much as the others. Any suggestions?

And last but not least the lone Rummynose survivor. She's bordering on 6/7 years old and is a beast.

Frayk

Very good pics Rainbows, thanks, and they are midgleys carp gudgeons.

Mooo

I love it, beautiful job on the stand and lovely choice of inhabitants

Rainbows

Thanks Moe, not so sure about the sae's though. I threw in a local aquatic plant with small leaves today, came back to find it leafless

Rainbows

Well I had to whip out the camera quickly today, spotted my Boeseman's spawning. Unfortunately I couldn't save any eggs but here's some pics.



This is the same male as above, it's amazing how much they can turn on their colours. Definitely a reason why Rainbows aren't as popular as I think they could be, fish in store can look terribly pale and drab compared to their potential.

Mooo

Wow, that is a testament to you They must be super happy in there