John's 93 Cube Upgrade

[greengny]

Well my 34 gallon cube lasted 10 months before I changed my mind and wanted to upgrade. That's probably an average amount of time for us reef addicts.

Got a great deal on a rimless 93gal cube and stand from Rich at Aquarium Village. Great place by the way, highly recommended.

My first dilemma is the stand. The stand that came with the tank is quite low at 26". I like my stands to have a height of about 40". Here is a picture of my current set up.

In this stand I've included a side door to house all my power strips and controls. This setup works great for hiding all cables and makes for a nice clean look.

I've also included a picture of the new stand.

Was thinking of building a 14" base for the new stand to sit on. I would match the dimensions of the new stand and add some molding to make it look "almost" like a single stand.

Has anyone done something like this? Also was thinking of cutting a hole in one side to build out a little closet similar to my existing build. I've always made my stands with 1 x 3 and 2 x 4 and felt confident they were strong enough. Anyone have any thoughts on the strength of this stand with my proposed modifications? Of course the fallback is to build a new stand from scratch. That's always a fun project. Appreciate your thoughts. John

 

[noelskii]

I like that idea! Keeps the outlets in the stand but away from the water.

Do you have a picture of how it looks inside the stand?

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

I was going to go with the same idea for my custom stand but couldn't get enough balls to try to swap out stands. That is how every stand should be made!!!!

Nice job. I would go straight into replacing the stock stand because it isn't high enough and will be a pain for access and adding a big enough skimmer due to height. I have the same stand but a 70gal. I wish I did it right the first time but $$ and patience is always my issue!

 

[Bulldog5]

def want to see pics inside stand. Best to build ur own so u get what you want

 

[oh207]

I like the height on your original stand.
With the customization you want to do, it might be better to just build a new stand.

 

[greengny]

I was going to go with the same idea for my custom stand but couldn't get enough balls to try to swap out stands. That is how every stand should be made!!!!

Nice job. I would go straight into replacing the stock stand because it isn't high enough and will be a pain for access and adding a big enough skimmer due to height. I have the same stand but a 70gal. I wish I did it right the first time but $$ and patience is always my issue!

Thanks evo. Yes, the current stand worked out perfectly. Wish I had the for thought to make it handle the 30x30 cube. Oh well. I do have patience and just enough skills to build a new one. So that is probably how I will proceed. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[greengny]

I'll get a picture of the inside of the stand. The depth of the "closet" is the width of a 2x3. Perfect amount of space for 2 power strips, PH monitor, Vortech MP10 control and a few other timers. Thanks John

 

[duke62]

Build the pedestal and put a side door on that.?

 

[greengny]

Build the pedestal and put a side door on that.?

Hmmm! Possible. Maybe something like a draw that I could slide out. It would be protected from humidity by the bottom of the "real" stand. Thanks

 

[greengny]

Added pic of inside of stand for those who asked. Hidden cabinet doesn't take away any space from inside of cabinet.

 

[greengny]

Well, after careful consideration, I've decided to build a new stand. Hopefully it will come out as nice as the previous one.

Going to use the standard "RocketEngineer" stand template using 2x4s. It will be 39" tall. When you add the 24" high tank, it will be 63" tall which I think is a perfect viewing angle. Will have to pick up a small step stool to reach into the tank.

Will be adding a side closet for hiding controls and electronics.

Open to suggestions before embarking on this project. Thanks John.