DIY 180 Gallon Stand and Canopy

The bridging at the bottom is to support my wet/dry that will be underneath and well as a Canister filter that I will probably go with also. I plan on having a pretty big wet/dry that is the reason for the supports.

I used the four vertical scabs inside the corners to connect the corners easier and to give a little more support for the tank.

The connecting trim from the stand to the canopy is my ideal and I like it It's not going away, it's just a personal touch of mine to hide the corners where algae seems to build up at times and hard to remove without getting in there to get it. Also, I just like the cabinet look of the whole thing. I'll probably do the back also, but I was debating on doing it since you wouldn't see it.

I do plan on putting the lighting inside the canopy top. I was going to try and find a fixture at Home Depot or Lowes that already has the twist bulbs on it and just mount it to the inside of the canopy. I also want to mount a moonlight inside also.

The drawing isn't to the "T" because of my limitations to using it. But, I thought it was pretty good considering I just started using it yesterday I will be doing some things that you don't see on the drawing. I was mainly looking to get some input on the structure of the stand and making sure it would support the 180.

A few things. Make your hood open like a piano, where atleast half of the lid opens up (use a "piano hinge"). You will hate yourself trying to aquascape or the like if you have to take the hood off every time, and doing it so about half or 3/4 opens keeps one or two lights pointing down giving you light in the tank still.

Don't use a fixture with compact flourescents?!?! I would look into a ahsupply.com kit, or see what hd has--remember, a tank this long, this deep is going to need a good amount of lighting. To Help with lighting, you can paint the framing around tank white.

Some things to think about--IF that is going to cover the sides of the tank, use silicone to seal it off from the outside world. When water gets down there, you'll hate it(or, paint all 3 sides of the tank so that water spots mean nothing). That would will need to be sealed really, really well. It's going to hold a lot of moisture in. I would definately put a ventilation fan or 3 in that hood(computer fans work great)

Here is a pic with colors...maybe that will give a better ideal of the stand. My only concern is the stability of the stand really. Does it look sound for the 180 tank?

First of all I think it looks fine. Second of all I give little credibility to my opinion.

If anything people might comment on the two short yellow pieces on the top. But I am guessing that is why you have the 4 vertical blue pieces in the corner? Other than that you might say those blue pieces are not necessary.

Other than those two points its very similar to my stand - except all of my 2x4's are opposite. When I say opposite I mean that if you turned all of the 2x4's such that the 4" side became the 2" side and vice versa. For instance the light orange pieces on my stand have the 2" side facing the front instead of the 4" side, and then the dark orange pieces have the 2" side facing the front instead of the 4" side. The only disadvantage to what I did is that the inside of the tank becomes smaller. Normally I wouldn't mention it, and I have no real reason to believe what I did is any better, but I will say that the reason I did it that way is because thats how wood frames for houses are constructed, for what thats worth. I think it also makes its a little easier to assemble in terms of nailing/screwing the pieces together because in almost all cases you are nailing into the 4" side and through the 2" side instead of the other way around (unless you are going to use braces - in which case thats a moot point).

boredatwork I see what you are saying. Yes, the blue pieces are really there for added support and to also make it easier to put the corners together. I'm also adding a top to this stand and the blue pieces in the corner will give that a little more support in the corners where most of the pressure points on a tank are anyways.

Thanks for the input and i'm picking up the wood tomorrow hopefully and get started on it. I'll take some pictures as I assemble to try and give some ideals. To be honest you can build this stand several ways and it's just a matter of personal taste in how to build it. I just wanted to make sure it looked good by someone that has better knowledge in this than myself. I've never done one of these before so i'm new to this.

I went to home depot today to price everything and make sure they would cut it for me, which they will. I don't even own a tool and will have to borrow an electric screwdriver from the neighbor to even do this lol. But, wish me luck :thumb:

This is without the blue braces and with the bottom boards tuned sideways which I can put a piece of plywood on for the sump.