[PeaceHeather]

I'm looking to set up a new 55 gallon tank sometimes soon, and the LFS only seems to have one stand that fits the tank I want. Petsmart has assemble-yourself cabinets that look nice, but I'm leery of their quality and overall strength and stability. Can anyone recommend decent brands of aquarium stand for the 48x13 tank? Since the tank will be set up in the living room, I'm hoping for a cabinet style so I can hide my buckets and other equipment out of sight. Google is not helping me much, so far; I either find things that look dangerously cheap, or I find things that cost over a thousand dollars, which I do not have.

Suggestions/recs/ideas welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

[Goodwood]

I might reach out to a reputable cabinet maker/woodworker in your area. It will most likely cost a bit more, but you may be able to have design input too. Most will use plywood, which is leaps and bounds better than any of the MDF/chip board stuff you would find at the big box stores.

 

[evil8]

I feel your pain. I ended up making my own stands. Actually my sister made my first stand for me because she owed me a favor.

 

[Frshwtr]

One thing to also note is that quite a few cabinet makers don't want to take the risk and liability for a stand holding many hundreds if not thousands of pounds. Bracing/construction is quite a bit different than a traditional cabinet.

At least that was my experience when I was speccing out my latest project.

 

[ProudPapa]

My daughter-in-law put her 55 on a sideboard she bought used. It works well, has plenty of storage, and didn't cost much. Be sure to get one that is real wood. Ideally it should be an inch or two larger than the top of the tank in each direction.

 

[PeaceHeather]

My daughter-in-law put her 55 on a sideboard she bought used. It works well, has plenty of storage, and didn't cost much. Be sure to get one that is real wood. Ideally it should be an inch or two larger than the top of the tank in each direction.

I wouldn't have thought a sideboard would be strong enough to hold 600+ lbs of water, gravel, plants, etc! I'll look into that option, thank you.

 

[minorhero]

The cheapest good quality stand in my opinion is a brooklyn metal stand from petco. It's not going to blow you away with the quality of it's construction. But it is the perfect size and it's metal. Anything else close to this price range will be made from engineered wood which has the problem of falling apart when it gets wet. A particularly bad attribute for a fish tank stand. You can pretty easily modify them to include a door and sides to hide your equipment. BUT you need to have some DIY ability, even if its just getting home depot to cut some plywood to your requested dimensions, and gluing on bits of magnets etc. I did it in my high tech newt tank and built a shelf (which you could skip if you wanted). You can see that build in my signature down below.

The next cheapest I know of that's not particle board is glass cages. I've never ordered a stand from them before so I don't know what they will charge for shipping. But given that they come fully assembled, I would be surprised if freight shipping were less then a few hundred by itself. Still you could probably get an unfinished stand for a 55 for less then 1k.

 

[dfbednarek48]

I might reach out to a reputable cabinet maker/woodworker in your area. It will most likely cost a bit more, but you may be able to have design input too. Most will use plywood, which is leaps and bounds better than any of the MDF/chip board stuff you would find at the big box stores.

Going to a cabinetmaker can be cheaper and better than some of the stands out there today. The ones I made used 1/4 cabinet plywood along with 5/4 hard woods. You do not want MDF near water.

 

[Dr. Manhattan]

I made my own stand for my 120. I know that's not a viable option for everyone but for that amount of weight I just didn't trust anything else. All square cuts, followed a tutorial on YouTube by a well known DIY aquarist. With a 55 maybe you could look into one of those racks they sell at the big box home improvement stores. Switch out the particle board or wire rack with 1/2" plywood or a size thicker. They're not pretty but some are rated for 2500lbs or more.
Or just get the Brooklyn stand like minorhero suggested. I had the 36" x 18" size and it was plenty strong.

 

[[email protected]]

I am a custom cabinet maker and I've made several stands, my own and my local fish store has had me make stands for customers that had to be custom made. Some were as high as $1000.

 

[PeaceHeather]

I am a custom cabinet maker and I've made several stands, my own and my local fish store has had me make stands for customers that had to be custom made. Some were as high as $1000.

Yeah, I simply don't have the budget for that. I've found a wooden cabinet rated for up to 660 lbs, and I'll probably end up going with either that or the metal stand. I had been hoping to hide buckets and other stuff, which the metal stand doesn't let me do, but I could just as easily drape a tablecloth to conceal the front.

 

[minorhero]

Yeah, I simply don't have the budget for that. I've found a wooden cabinet rated for up to 660 lbs, and I'll probably end up going with either that or the metal stand. I had been hoping to hide buckets and other stuff, which the metal stand doesn't let me do, but I could just as easily drape a tablecloth to conceal the front.

Curtains with a pressure bar works for this purpose.

 

[PeaceHeather]

Curtains with a pressure bar works for this purpose.

Ooh, yeah, good point. Now I just need to ponder which option I prefer.