Well guys I got the 75g tank as you may have read a couple days ago. Today I went off to HD and purchased my 2x4s for my frame. I assembled all the main pieces and then my drill died on me :( I should complete this project tomorrow evening(as far as the frame goes). I have some pictures for you to view as I progress. Right now the 55 is broken down and my buddy is babysitting my fishies. He was also kind enough to loan me his camera for a few days so I could take pictures of the progress.

The first picture is the top of the frame.


This one is the base of the frame. I plan on placing a cheezy piece of ply under neath this for the sump to sit on... but then again I may leave it bare to let the carpet serve as a noise buffer.


These are the legs of the stand. I glued them up really good which you can see in the 2nd pic of the leg.




Lastly these are all the pieces next to eachother.


Enjoy the pictures! I will be posting more on this thread as well once my drill charges up and I have the frame all put together as well as once I give it some "skin" of 1/4" ply and a paint job.

I will then make another thread for a diy canopy. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions feel free to leave them.

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If its not broke dont fix it!!! If its broke save yourself the time and buy a new one!!!

ok the drill was charged and i completed the frame tonight when i got home at 1am.. lol.. wonder what the neighbors think about me drilling in the garage for an hour. So heres my finished frame and I am looking to skin this thing probably around the 20th. with 1/4" oak ply.


See this is totally an easy job. I am a novice wood worker, this may have been the 2nd thing i have built with wood in my whole life. The first being one of those mini box cars you make in boy scouts. lol.

Heres the best view.


I know the glue looks ugly but i will clean it up a bit... keep in mind its just the frame... Once again I will update this thread with the progress I make on it, including the "skinning" and the paint job. I strongly urge you to attempt this as #1 its not as tough as one may think and #2 to build this frame cost me just over 25 bucks including the 2x4s(which home depot cut to my sizes at no cost), wood glue, 3" and 2.5" screws. The drill I already had but if you dont have one you can get a decent one for the job for under $30 bucks bringing the grand total to $55(if you dont already have a drill). Which if anyone would care to post the price of a prebuilt oak stand I would love to see the price difference

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If its not broke dont fix it!!! If its broke save yourself the time and buy a new one!!!

nice build! im needing to build a stand for my 75g as well, this is very helpful

I am glad to help... make sure your inside corner 2x4s do not touch the ground... in the pic it looks like they do but they are 2 inches off the floor. These are only for structural support not for the weight support and you dont want the screws taking any of the weight. When you skin it dont use screws or nails either... I am reading that its better to build a solid frame(which is totally overkill as this stand will support over 5000lbs) and use gorilla glue or ultimate glue to add your "skin"(oak ply, pine ply, etc.). If you have any questions let me know... Also the lumber costed less than 20 bucks if you have a Home Depot in your area they will even cut it for you free of charge as long as you buy it there... good luck and I hope to see pics

__________________
If its not broke dont fix it!!! If its broke save yourself the time and buy a new one!!!