walmart 29 gallon tank

Four 2x4s the length of the plywood (this may be optional if you use layers of plywood but it looks nice and does not warp like plywood might). Sturdy and strong. Treated will not absorb water. Be

1 sheet of plywood cut with about 3/4 inch wider and longer than the tank (or at least as wide as the cinder blocks.) Good for distributing weight. Important: get a sheet that is flat.

Below are instructions on how we did it for a 55 gallon stand. You can easily adjust this for other sizes as I plan to do for a 29 gallon tank later. (note: 29 gallon tank is now completed. Pictures near the end.)

This is the completed tank stand for a long 55 gallon tank. The paper under the blocks was put there to protect the carpet. It will be trimmed so it cannot be seen. The paper may not be needed but we wanted to be sure. The tank is still being decorated. There is also room to tuck the wires out of the way better (and form drip loops). We chose to put in only one shelf for plenty of space and to avoid too much clutter. Check out reader stands posted towards the bottom of the blog as well!

Is it sturdy? Very. As long as your floor is level and you use flat boards. There is not any rocking with my tanks when I push on them (both 29 and 55 gallon, long tanks). Both of mine are on carpet even. I now feel safer with these than I do with store bought wood stands. And it is nice to be able customize.

This cinder block stand works very well, was inexpensive (under $50 US), and did not look too bad (well we liked it).

My husband and I did not want to deal with too much wood working. We wanted to feel secure that our work would result in something strong without too much fuss. We also needed to get this stand up soon for a fast growing . My husband did most of the work building this stand. Don’t look at me that way, this one is his tank!

Enough people had some version of a stand that they built which worked as well as, or better than a store-bought stand. After reading around the internet I came across that inspired the stand my husband and I decided to build by using cinder blocks. We made a few changes to their design, but not much.

If anyone has built this stand (or a variation of it) and has been happy with it, I would love comments. I have had an incredible number of hits on it so hopefully by now there are a few out there.   Thanks for stopping by!

NOTE: There has been some concern about how sturdy this tank stand is. There has been comment that if you bump the tank it will end up on the floor by those who have not built this. I have leaned and bumped against this stand a bit beyond than someone would do casually, unless they play football in the house. It is very sturdy. I have done the same test with a friend’s wooden one from the store and it rocked (and creaked) much more (granted it is just one test). His was also warping after a few years as well. Mine are near the wall on a level floor so I do not know if it would be different in the center of a room. The large tanks have the central column and the smaller just the outer. Adjustments can be made for equipment. The few stands shown are for ideas. I am sure people can come up with all kinds of wonderful designs. This stand may not be for everyone, but I have been extremely happy with this stand, and  not because I posted it. ha!

Note: I do respond to comments on old posts.

I decided to look into building my own.

I looked at stands for sale at pet shops and was horrified by the quality of the stands for the price that was asked. They did not look like they would last long. After checking out reviews online, it turns out many of them do not if they should get wet.  If you are like me, I tend to get sloppy during water changes no matter how hard I try to keep the water where I think it should be. Also, any doors and other accessories tended to come apart with regular use.

Fish keeping can get to be an expensive hobby. I recently, at the time of this posting, had to upgrade to a 55 gallon aquarium on a very limited budget so I needed an inexpensive stand. For my smaller tanks, I managed to use furniture on hand but this was not possible for a large, heavy tank.

Most recent update: March 2011. An idea for hiding cords and a suggestion for leveling the tank has been added. The bulk of this was written a few years ago.

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Build a Strong, Inexpensive Aquarium Stand

Build a Strong, Inexpensive Aquarium Stand « Random Bits of Projects