My 75G DIY Stand

[Jon770]

Well...I hope I can help.

To be honest, I have no idea what you should do as far as support for a 120. As you can see, I went WAY overboard with my 75...b/c I like to err on the side of caution. I'm sure the same basic design will be fine for a 120...but don't quote me on that. my advice would be to look through some other people's DIY Stands for 120s and see what they did. That's how I came up with my 75 design...I just took little bits and peices that I liked from other designs.

I bought the doors exactly how you see them from HD. They came pre-stained and match my skin pretty well (although not perfect). I ended up doing a couple sets of skins b/c I couldn't get a good enough match with the doors, so if you can get them unstained I would do that. I'm not sure HD offers unstained, ready-made doors, though. And yes, when they are closed they come very close together...they are touching. Personally, I think they could be a little farther apart...but I'm not about to redo the doors to give myself a millimeter of space between them.

Hope that helps...

 

[jdhanover]

Thanks - sounds like forthe120 I might need a center brace of some sort. If it is removable I guess it wont be a problem.

 

[sales weasel]

jon,
Try this for a stand calculator. Go to garf.org

click on the How To Pages link on the left side
Then select Aquarium construction tips
Next, select the diy stand building link. Plug in your dimensions and it will calculate the materials and even show you a design.

 

[trmiv]

Very nice! You could park a truck on that thing!

 

[jdhanover]

thanks, sales weasel. Have seen that before. Gives me some confidence that I will vastly overbuild...but that is what I want 9serious piece of mind.
I like the idea of the corner vertical 2x4s going from plywood to plywood and then doubling it up with one going bottom rame to top frame. Seems to me that that is pretty good overkill.
Then I will make the front center brace either removable or put in 2 with 24 inches between them (so they are about 12 inches from the edge). And a third (in the center) in the back, just for giggles.

 

[blfuller123]

Ky_Yaker
I actually built my doors. They were the first doors I had made. I wont point out the flaw in them.