28 gallon bow front stand help

I got a sweet deal on a marineland 28 gal bowfront…or so I thought. It didn’t come with a stand. Suggestions? Part of my problem is that the space I would need to put it can’t be too much wider than the 24”w of the tank. I got the tank w/top & lights for $50, I’d hate to spend over $100 on a stand (if I could even find one). What are some alternatives? I tried googling and my width seems to be a problem. Help!
I’m upgrading from a 15gal hex once I have a stand for the new one!

 

I got a sweet deal on a marineland 28 gal bowfront…or so I thought. It didn’t come with a stand. Suggestions? Part of my problem is that the space I would need to put it can’t be too much wider than the 24”w of the tank. I got the tank w/top & lights for $50, I’d hate to spend over $100 on a stand (if I could even find one). What are some alternatives? I tried googling and my width seems to be a problem. Help!
I’m upgrading from a 15gal hex once I have a stand for the new one!

Nice tank!

I don't know that you're going to find a suitable stand under $100 or so, unless you find one second-hand. It's an odd-ball size, so I'm pretty sure most big box stores won't carry stands for them, and you don't want to use a mismatched stand (like a stand made for a 36 bowfront, for example).

If you're handy, there's always the option of building one. Stand designs range from cinderblocks and 2x4's (a little bare for a living room, admittedly) to simple framed stands made from 2x4's to wrapped stands complete with a stain. These can all be done around $100 or so (cheaper for the framed stand and the cinderblock stand), but they'll certainly look bare.

There's also the option of getting something like a workbench from a hardware store that's designed to hold lots of weight.

If not, you may be stuck trying to get a stand designed for the tank, and I'd think the ticket price on something like that would be above $100.

 

Nice tank!

I don't know that you're going to find a suitable stand under $100 or so, unless you find one second-hand. It's an odd-ball size, so I'm pretty sure most big box stores won't carry stands for them, and you don't want to use a mismatched stand (like a stand made for a 36 bowfront, for example).

If you're handy, there's always the option of building one. Stand designs range from cinderblocks and 2x4's (a little bare for a living room, admittedly) to simple framed stands made from 2x4's to wrapped stands complete with a stain. These can all be done around $100 or so (cheaper for the framed stand and the cinderblock stand), but they'll certainly look bare.

There's also the option of getting something like a workbench from a hardware store that's designed to hold lots of weight.

If not, you may be stuck trying to get a stand designed for the tank, and I'd think the ticket price on something like that would be above $100.

Oh, so getting a stand for a bigger tank isn’t an option? There’s a bench at harbor freight that I thought might work, if I somehow make it better looking.
Nevermind, I just noticed that would be too narrow for me

 

Oh, so getting a stand for a bigger tank isn’t an option? There’s a bench at harbor freight that I thought might work, if I somehow make it better looking.
Nevermind, I just noticed that would be too narrow for me

Not really - the weight of a rimmed tank is supported on the four corners of the bottom rim. So most stands are designed to be structurally strong on the four corners, with not much support in the middle. If store-bought stands were of decent quality, it might be fine, but some of the stands you can buy are already questionable before you mess with the weight distribution on top of the stand. Bowfront tanks are even more odd, since that front curved panel will sometimes end up with some of the weight of the tank on it, causing the entire tank to be front-heavy. I wouldn't risk it, unfortunately.

Something like that bench would be great, if it were the right size. You might be able to shop around on Craigslist and Marketplace for old workbenches, too. I wouldn't use any old table, but I'm sure you can find something.

 

But this wouldn’t work because it’s only 14” deep, right? Or would I be able to put a board under it to get it to work? Obviously, engineering is not my strong point!

 

What's the weight limit? If it doesn't say, I wouldn't assume that it's able to handle it.

You could probably get a thick piece of plywood (at least 3/4" thick) cut to the dimensions of the tank (so, 24" long by 16" deep), and that would help spread the weight of the tank across the stand. It's not ideal, but it'd probably be okay. I might even go with 1" thick plywood. I wouldn't do it if all 4 corners were going to overhang the bench, though.

Technically that method could be used for a lot of different "stands", but I'd make sure they were very sturdy before I employed it.

 

What's the weight limit? If it doesn't say, I wouldn't assume that it's able to handle it.

You could probably get a thick piece of plywood (at least 3/4" thick) cut to the dimensions of the tank (so, 24" long by 16" deep), and that would help spread the weight of the tank across the stand. It's not ideal, but it'd probably be okay. I might even go with 1" thick plywood. I wouldn't do it if all 4 corners were going to overhang the bench, though.

Technically that method could be used for a lot of different "stands", but I'd make sure they were very sturdy before I employed it.

It says 500lbs, would it work?

 

It wouldn't offer a ton of wiggle room. Once the tank is full, it'll weigh 350-400 lbs, and it'll be water weight, which can shift back and forth, causing even more pressure on different parts of the stand. I don't know how much wiggle room aquarium stands give, but I hope it's more than 100 lbs for my own sanity, lol.

Looking at work benches online, it seems that a lot of the benches I was thinking of start a little more expensive than $100

 

I have a friend willing to build one. Any suggestions on where to get plans for it?

 

I have a friend willing to build one. Any suggestions on where to get plans for it?

My personal recommendation would be to follow a guide like this one:

He's got about a million videos detailing this stand design, so it should be easy to get all the info you need there.

You'd need to build it to the dimensions of your tank - so 24" long and 16" front to back. Instead of leaving it as a bare frame on top, you could have your friend cut 2x4's to 16" and lay them a couple inches apart across the top of the stand, similar to what this guy did:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294774738085022687/

That should be more than enough support across the front panel of the tank, and those stands are built way more sturdy than you're going to need for the tank, and will be wayyyyyy easier than trying to cut a curved piece of wood exactly to the dimensions of the front curved panel.

Staining and all that would be up to your tastes and your friend's ability. As long as you get the basic frame detailed in the video and have some support going across the top of the stand (like in the pinterest link), the style of the stand itself is up to you.

 

What are your thoughts on adding industrial lockable wheels to it? It would be nice to make it a cabinet with doors and a shelf, and it would be nice to vacuum around it. I know I wouldn’t be moving a full tank across the floor. The plug would be behind the cabinet and it would be nice to just occasionally move out of the way. Would that be ok, or would I be asking for trouble with it?

 

Another alternative is cinderblocks and a piece of 3/4” plywood then you can paint the wood and blocks or get a piece of fabric to hide it. We made these for our 20 and 29. Probably get all the material for 30-40$ max.