a nice little custom tank stand

[dagray]

Douglas Fir 2x4 frame with Oak ply wood and oak trim, center drawer, shelves on the left, space on right for canister filter, and space underneath for a sump/refugium (can just fit a 20 gallon tank in there without any lights or hood).

Stand is on eight industrial casters that each are capable of supporting 250 pounds. So the stand can support 1000 pounds easily.

I had it built on casters so that I can move it a bit to get behind it for tank maintenance and running any of the tank plumbing (air or water).

The tank on it is a standard 75 gallon tank with three inches of substrate (eco complete, and small gravel).

I have since changed the light to a Fluval LED for planted tanks.

Stand is 60 inches long, 24 inches deep, 30 something inches tall.

Dave

[jmf3460]

that is really nice. good job on the stand. tank is looking a little crowded, I am assuming the stand is longer bc you are planning an upgrade??

[dagray]

The tank doesn't have near as many fish now (only three angels, two rasboras, one tetra, and one large Raphael Striped Cat). I purchased groups of the tetras and rasboras, but that darned catfish ate them. There might be one or two clown plecostomus in there too.

The extra space is for an upgrade to a 90 gallon or bigger, or if I want to set up a refugium or a small 10 gallon quarantine tank, and for now shelf space as a working space.

I sold the discus due to needing funds, and had an issue that took out some of the angels (aggressive angel? disease?), but I didn't see any outward signs of disease or parasite. Currently this tank has three filters (two cannisters and an HOB), but I am going to upgrade to a Fluval FX6 and spray bar, and then run a small submersible low flow pump to draw water through a sponge filter and the output through a UV light (Coralife 18 watt) as we have some black beard algae that gets going (it's in the water from the city as I have tanks with no exposure to sunlight and this tank exposed to just a little sun).

This will be an Amazon biotope with plants specific to that area, and eventually I will put discus in it again (I am thinking captive bred wild strains or the Alenquers from Discus Hans), and I will start with juvenile fish (dime size or bigger) as growing out fish is fun for me and is a good science project for my son.

[jmf3460]

I love amazon biotopes, here is my attempt
withfern6.jpg

I use rooibos tea as my tannin media, the water is much darker than the picture shows, I had the white LED's on for the picture but normally the tank is much dimmer. if you choose captive bred strains I suggest going through our wild sponsors on here such as John at Freshwatertropicals.com or mark at discusorigins.com I got my 6 wild green tefes from John and could not be happier.

looking forward to following this thread.

[dagray]

I would definitely be purchasing from our sponsors here, I am looking to buy 2.5 inch or smaller fish as I love growing them out. I do have to rehome the catfish if I want to put anything in that he can fit in his mouth.

I will post shots of the tank occasionally, but this was more about the stand. If I do a sump (will be much later) it would be a refugium for plants, shrimp, small ciclids (shell dwellers? Kribs?)

I am doing this on a budget so if I can't pay cash (or have the cash to pay off the credit card purchase) it isn't going to happen. (and yes I am saving for this).

I also am keeping my bicycle maintained and training for a 25 mile group ride to benefit the American Diabetes Association in May (Spokane, WA Tour de Cure).