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DIY Hood, stand, LED lights

12K views 39 replies 15 participants last post by  moonshinetheslacker 
#1 ·
This whole plan got started because my wife wanted to throw out a bunch of scrap bamboo flooring we had sitting around for the past couple of years. I know I want to do a project with it, but I wasn't sure what... So as she was loading my truck up with bamboo, it came to me! An aquarium stand! Not to mention, we already have a bunch of lumber so it will be super cheap!

heh... that's how it started that is. So far I haven't touched the stand, but have spent over 200 on the hood.

The tank is a 75 gallon that I got off craigslist (I paid WAY too much, since I'm not going to need the stand or hood it came with) I'm going for an asian theme for the whole tank. I'll try to put a basic outline of what the stand will look like online tomorrow.

I've began the hood and have finished 90% of the assembly. I need to add a spring hinge somewhere inside it, or maybe a couple small gas pistons. I have two 20 watt LED flood lights on order right now, and I have a 10 Watt already. If it's not enough light, there will be plenty of room to add in more. I'm also going to get a couple computer fans to blow along the lights. After running the 10 Watt for 12 hours a day, it's pretty warm to the touch. Certainly wouldn't burn you, but it would be uncomfortable to hold in your bare hands for more than 10 seconds.

The stand is going to be mainly made out of reclaimed lumber, and will cost FAR less than the hood is going to end up costing me.:icon_cool The legs for the stand are going to be made out of 3x12's which I am cutting with a band saw to have them slope along the sides. The ends, and doors of the stand will be made out of scrap bamboo flooring that I have laying around. There will also be a piece of bamboo inlay going around the top of the 3x12's. And the aquarium will sit directly on a large DIY butcher board made out of 2x6's. My original plan was to pour a concrete counter top (Just got done building a concrete mantel) but I decided the butcher board will be less time consuming, and a LOT more forgiving.

Oh, the oak! Yeah, there will be some oak thrown in there in a couple places. But the oak is reclaimed as well. I dismantled a few old palettes at work, and sanded down the oak pieces. And the 3x12's came from an old dock that got torn down near my house. They're pressure treated, so I'm going to do a bit of practice staining on some scrap pieces, to see how the wood will turn out. I don't know what effect that green will have on the stains, other than make them a whole lot darker, and probably a little... um... green. But hey, on the upside, if my tank leaks while I'm on a 6 month vacation, and nobody notices, then my floors might rot out, but the feet for my stand will be in great shape!

The wood will be three tones. Very dark brown on the legs, and the hood. Yellow (the bamboo) and my own concoction of mixed reds to make the butcher board and a couple pieces of oak look like antique cherry.

I ran into a bit of a problem with the hood, when I discovered that my miter saw is just a hair too small to cut very large crown moulding. I was able to hold the pieces in place, but just barely, and wasn't able to keep everything perfectly in line. The result... a hood which is less than square. Most people won't notice, but the people with an eye for detain certainly will.

Nonetheless, I do have the proper tools for everything else...

I think...

In any event, here are the beginnings of the hood.


Table Wood Interior design Luggage and bags Flooring



This piece is going to be glued on to the black rim that goes around the tank. I know a lot of people like rimless, or de-rimmed tanks, but I got to thinking. Why not show off the rim, instead of get rid of it?
Table Wood Wood stain Floor Flooring


Table Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring


Wood Building Flooring Floor Wood stain


Sorry about the mess behind the aquarium. That's my son's "I love me" wall. I figured a refrigerator can only keep so much junk magneted to it. So I gave him a wall. I think he's forgiven me for sticking an aquarium in front of it, since I told him it was only temporary.

Plus I bribed him with a snickers. That probably helped too!
Wood Musical instrument Musical instrument accessory Hardwood Art



More pics will come, hopefully after this weekend. Let me know what y'all think!
 
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#28 ·
Alright folks, here is the completed stand. Still working on the hood (obviously) but here are some pics.
Before laying down the MTS, some folk get all this dolomite and potash, and stuff that can be a real PITA to find. I'm a bit more of a risk taker, and am willing to put a couple guppies lives in danger to ensure my tank isn't going to poison my fish. So I first covered the bottom with steel wool. 6 pieces, which were stretched out a bit to cover the tank. These will rust in a matter of days, and will continue to produce plenty of iron oxide for the plants. There are certainly some bad chemicals on this stuff, but by the time it leaches into the water, it won't be any worse then the chesapeake bay. I also threw in a few tablets of TUMS. I hear there is some magnesium in them, and they are mostly calcium, so the plants will have plenty of that.
A few expired multi vitamins were also thrown in there. I'm sure there's stuff in there that plants will like, right? I also tossed in probably over 100 egg shells which had been dried, smashed, and ran through a coffee grinder. Again, calcium carbonate. I was also eating a banana. What the heck? Plants might like the peal. So I tossed that in also. Some no-salt was thrown in there for a replacement to the dolomite. So all my bases should be covered. We'll see how it works.
Leg Road surface Asphalt Wood Grey


I'm planning on sticking a black ghost knife fish in here eventually, so I figured he should have a nice big cave. I made this out of a 2 litre soda bottle.
Grass Asphalt Darkness Road surface Event


After the mineralized topsoil was in, it was capped in washed playsand. I found some really grey playsand at home depot that I liked a lot, so I tossed out the yellow stuff I already had, and got the grey stuff. This next pic shows my LED flood lights. The wiring isn't currently the safest, but it'll be fine as long as the front isn't on the hood. Once the hood is completed, the wiring connections will be made inside of sealed boxes, so moisture can't accumulate on them, and there will be an extra layer of insulation between the connections and wooden hood.
Wood Gas Trunk Automotive exterior Waste


And without further ado, here is the completed stand!
Cabinetry Food Wood Floor Flooring


I still have a couple finishing touches, but I learned a really good trick from Hoppy. It's a secret that he posted on the forums. Stand far enough away, so people can't see your mistakes!

And I will post pics of the hood, and top rim cover once they are complete.

One more pic... I call this my ark of the covenant!
Cabinetry Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


I suppose I should probably put a pic of the stand over on the official sticky stand thread as well.
 
#29 ·
Very interesting looking stand! (I'm sure you aren't looking for comments about the substrate, so I will pass on that for now. Bananas?) I'm trying to figure out what would make the stand look better to my eyes, but I'm not there yet. Maybe a bigger tank???
 
#33 · (Edited)
Reybie, thank you for all your complements thus far. I really like how well folks on TPT are ready to give out complements, or advice, as needed.

Hoppy, I think you'll like it much more once all the finishing touches are complete.

Dogfish, if you look on page 1, you will see something that looks like a picture frame, made out of 1.5 inch crown moulding. I still need to stain it, but that's going to be what covers up the black frame on top. And as far as it fitting the space, I can scan the prototype pics that I drew up at work (if I can find them) and I measured, checked aquarium sizes, and re-measured, to figure out exactly how big of a tank and stand I could have. The limiting factors being the light switch on the left hand side, and the bathroom door on the right. That door doesn't open all the way as it is, so I didn't want to make it too much of a squeeze to get through. But thank you very much on the complements, I greatly appreciate it.

Dragonfish, The LEDs are pretty awesome, but I don't think they produce much PAR for the plants. We'll see how things grow. So far I know it's enough to keep crypt parva, java fern, and some stem plant alive. But none have done much growing. I'm going to put at least one more 10w LED in there, and possibly two more after that (one on each side of the hood) The shimmer effect is awesome, and without the front of the hood attached, the shimmering on the ceiling is beautiful. If I ever build another stand (what am I saying? Of course I will!), I'm going to make one that is a lot more industrial looking, and juse use conduit with the LED flood lights, so you can see the entire light, and the ceiling shimmer. It looks like I have a swimming pool in my dining room! It will pain me somewhat to finish the hood, and close it all up.
A note on the 20W floods. The only place I could find them online was through alibaba.com, or aliexpress.com I paid $75 for the two 20W floods, with free shipping. But then the bill for customs tax came about a month later, for 30 dollars. So they were approx. a dollar per watt. Also, the emitters on those 20W LEDs are HUGE!! Like, a full square inch!

Also, I'm going to need a TON of aquascaping advice. I have EXTREMELY limited knowledge on aquatic plants (come on, I threw a bloody banana peel and multi vitamins into my dirt!) so I don't know what will look right, how fast it will grow, how big things will get, etc. All I know about is the really long grass that grows in the northernmost portion of the chesapeake bay, anubias nana, and crypt parva. Oh, and I also know that I can't keep glosso alive to save my life. I'll get some pics of the way I laid the substrate out once the tannins clear up a bit. I'll need knowledge on rocks, driftwood, etc. I'll make a new thread in the aquascaping forum, and link to it from here. In the mean time, where would be a good place to research rocks? It seems like there aren't too many great rocks around me, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places?
 
#36 ·
I totally laughed at the "2x4 madness!" comment! Thanks for that! Here are a few pics of the stand and hood, at 95% complete. I just need to build the caps for the legs. But that's about it.

I used three switches for the 6 LED flood lights, so I can turn on either the outer two, middle two, or two most center. It makes for a very dramatic scene, when the sides are lit up, but the center is dark. When I get the chance, and maybe after the water clears up again, I'll put up some pics of the tank with just the side lights, or just the center lights on.

The water is all yellow, I think due to the tannins leaking out of the mineralized topsoil... at least, I hope that's what the problem is. If anyone knows, feel free to let me know.





 
#37 ·
My wife just walked by and saw this. She was very impressed! That is quite an accomplishment. So, I just did some "redesign" and decided I think the proportions would be better with a taller tank.


I think the only imperfection is the low tank - otherwise a very good looking furniture quality tank setup.
 
#38 ·
Hhhhmmmmmm... I'm not sure whether I like it tall, or short. My original plan was to have the stand about 6 inches shorter. I wanted something very squat looking. Which is probably why it doesn't quite look right. It should either have a shorter stand, or a taller tank. Maybe when I move I'll sell the 75 gallon, and pick up a 90. They're about 4 inches taller, yeah?

And thanks for the complements. They are very appreciated. I'm thinking about making a similar stand for the first 5 tanks listed on this page: http://alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm
But I want to make it out of two 8 foot 2x12s. Maybe do a how-to on it. Something small, easy to make, but still look different.

But that will be much later. AFTER I fix the roof, the window sills which have rotted due to the roof leaking for years, leveling the curtain rods, finishing the trimwork on all the base boards on the first floor, along with all the windows. re-painting the second floor, and finish painting the third floor... etc... etc... etc... :help:
 
#40 ·
Heh, I guess you didn't bother to.. um.. look? At the top? It IS covered in trim. :flick: I am considering putting trim around the bottom... but I sort of like the straight angles. I might put something very flat around it, just to cover the black... maybe... we'll see.

Short of perfection? I think I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you!
 
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