# my sorta ghetto $30 125g tank stand



## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

just made it today, took about an hour to put togeather, the hard thing was lugging around 40-50 lb cynder blocks, 18 of them. but it is 6' long, 2' wide, and 2' tall. some 2x4 supports thrown on top, along wiht a foam pad makes it cheap and very sturdy.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

w/out styro


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## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

wow, u did a lot, for my 125g i did cinderblocks and jus put a sheet of plywood over top of it then cover with a sheet


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

whaddayamean "sorta" ghetto???

lol, it actually looks alright considering it's made out of cinderblocks


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

here is my cost list( i already had some 2x4's)

(1) 3/4" 4'x8' foam pad ---------$7.55
(18) 8"x8"x16" cinder blocks----$15.84
2"x4"x10' board------------------$4.11

subtotal $27.50

total $29.43


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

KeemCambell said:


> wow, u did a lot, for my 125g i did cinderblocks and jus put a sheet of plywood over top of it then cover with a sheet


 yeah, but id rather pay an extra $10 to insure that this $1,000 im putting into this tank and fish in it wont break


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## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

did u cut the 2x4's and nail em together and everything?


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> whaddayamean "sorta" ghetto???
> 
> lol, it actually looks alright considering it's made out of cinderblocks


 im thinkin of throwin a black sheet over it or paintin the blocks black. i dunno yet


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

KeemCambell said:


> did u cut the 2x4's and nail em together and everything?


 yeah, i got a circular saw i picked up a few months ago from lowes for $40.

i didnt nail them togeather because there is no point to doin that, theyre just restin on the blocks.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

bumpedy bump bump bumpedy bump bump


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## NavinWithPs (Apr 3, 2003)

looks alright, as long as it gets the job done.







i'd go for cheaper as well...


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

Almost looks like the stand I made for my 75 gal. It will work fine.


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## SMITZ71 (Jun 4, 2004)

Looks just fine to me and cant beat the price







..Ghetto would be using some milk crates from the back of your local grocery store or something


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

illnino there is a edit button

but nice ghetto stand


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## Enriqo_Suavez (Mar 31, 2004)

Post whore...


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## k45mac (Aug 23, 2004)

I actually like it alot.. I'd just cover it with a black sheet or somethin and let myself think it was a revolutionary DIY project lol

And yea I worked with those damn 50 lb cinder blocks all summer.. pain in the ass bendin over and pickin up about 60 of em


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## CHOMP (Nov 6, 2004)

looks nice, don't cover it with a sheet, that'll look ghetto. My friend has the blocks painted black and it looks sick. Looks better than the black iron stands.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

i was thinkin of paintin the blocks black, ill get some latex paint and give them a few coats so they have that shiny black with a rubbery feel.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

elTwitcho said:


> whaddayamean "sorta" ghetto???


 damn you!!! you stole what I was going to say









lol

even though it is made from cinder blocks it is still a descent looking stand as far as strength and sturdiness goes. puting a sheet around it would give it a nice look and no one would even ahve to know that it is just cinder blocks and 2x4's

good work


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

I like it alot man, its simple, and you can't beat the sturdiness. Throw a sheet over the whole deal and you'll have a great looking tank with some storage space under it to boot.


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## shoe997bed263 (Oct 15, 2004)

hey cheaper than getting a stand from the store i dont havethat kind of money nice set up


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## BRUTUStheOSUpiranha (Nov 18, 2004)

I heard of a nice spackle that covers cement well that absorbs paint somewhere at some homedepot type place. Didnt seem to expensive either from what I can remember.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

Phtstrat said:


> I like it alot man, its simple, and you can't beat the sturdiness. Throw a sheet over the whole deal and you'll have a great looking tank with some storage space under it to boot.


 if you look at the second pic, there isnt much space under it, the blocks takeup most of the space.


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## zygapophysis (Jul 16, 2004)

if you do the same thing on the bottom that you did on the top with the cinderblocks you can quickly nail a sheet of plywood on the front realy fast and maybe make some doors realy fast, wouldnt be too much harder like an extra half hour- hour of work adn no one would know that its cinderblock, or you can leave it cause its not to bad look at all, whats hte foam used for


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

the foam is used to even out any bumps or dinks in the wood so the tank will rest completely even. i dont want to make doors on it because if you look, it has basically no space.

thanks for all the good comments


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## seharebo (Jul 19, 2004)

Where did you buy the cinder blocks?


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

got them from lowes for $.88 a piece. 18 of them. heavy as f*ck


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## 351winsor (Aug 3, 2004)

Ghetto.Who cares atleast it works,right.


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

Very nice, I like it. Paint it, because a sheet will fade if you ever have light in the room. You can paint it over again if the paint fades tho. Looks sturdy enough for me to drive a car on it!


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## One Bad Malafaala (Aug 6, 2003)

I did the same exact thing with my 240g. The only diffrernce is I laid six 8 foot 2x4' the length of the stand so it is more like a tabletop, but i also laid styro across the top of the 2x4's. I also have a little more space between towers (where my dual sumps are) since it is 8' instead of 6'


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## Cobra (Sep 25, 2004)

Do cinder blocks ever deteriorate, get corroded or crumble because of humidity? I dont wanna do this in my basement and have the blocks cracking after a while!


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## piranhamagnet (Jun 30, 2004)

good job


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## danieRRrr (Oct 29, 2004)

> yeah, but id rather pay an extra $10 to insure that this $1,000 im putting into this tank and fish in it wont break


 Just outa curiousity.. If you're spending $1,000 on a setup.. why not spend the extra $100< to get a stand for it.. Better looking imo, more efficient (in more ways than one), lighter, space for wet/dry filt. (if stand has a door that is







), etc.


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## ajayejayaj (Mar 20, 2004)

ghetto?? haha.. thats a lot nicer than how i did it

i just got the blocks.. a stirdy sheet of wood.. and slapped my tank on top of that bad boy.. with lifting it up to my room in all.. took me about 10 minutes.. i could do what you did.. but im just lazy like that.. very nice stand though.. when i get a bigger tank.. ill take what you did into consideration... spruce it up a little bit..








on the stand..


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## Little Waffen (Mar 13, 2004)

hey all good i did the same thing for my cichlid tank and no problems,,,


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## CraigStables (Oct 5, 2003)

I hope your going to put some ply over that wooden frame on the top before you put the tank on there? If not the weight of the tank is only going to be across those beams and could well split the tank, as the weight wont be spread out.

Other than that, looking good. I love cinderblock stands


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## blantwon (Oct 20, 2004)

if i were you i would go ahead and nail/screw those 2x4s together so they dont move on you when you are putting the tank on. you also might want to anchor the wood to the cinderblocks, again to prevent any sliding while you are setting the tank on top.


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## Cobra (Sep 25, 2004)

can some one answer my question about the bloks crumbling caus of humidity that i asked earlier?


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

CraigStables said:


> I hope your going to put some ply over that wooden frame on the top before you put the tank on there? If not the weight of the tank is only going to be across those beams and could well split the tank, as the weight wont be spread out.
> 
> Other than that, looking good. I love cinderblock stands


 it will defenitally be spread out enough asit is, trust me, i bought a stand from walmart for my 55g, all it has that is touching the tank bottom is 3 beams 13" long and .75" wide. and i never had a problem

i painted it black today, took a while but it looks great. will get pics up when i get my tank on friday, pics may be up as late as sat. but it will be the greatest


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## CraigStables (Oct 5, 2003)

illnino said:


> CraigStables said:
> 
> 
> > I hope your going to put some ply over that wooden frame on the top before you put the tank on there? If not the weight of the tank is only going to be across those beams and could well split the tank, as the weight wont be spread out.
> ...


 a 55 isnt a 125 though, it weights ALOT more. I would seriosuly consider putting some plywood over it, as 125 G of water over your floor is not worth the $20 it would cost for the plywood!


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

look at other peoples diy stands... having 2 horizontal and 6 verticle 2x4's is more than enough. ive much worse. even if i did throw a board over it, it wouldnt have even weight on the places with out a 2x4 under it as a spot with a 2x4 under it.


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## CraigStables (Oct 5, 2003)

illnino said:


> look at other peoples diy stands... having 2 horizontal and 6 verticle 2x4's is more than enough. ive much worse. even if i did throw a board over it, it wouldnt have even weight on the places with out a 2x4 under it as a spot with a 2x4 under it.


 ive seen other peoples diy stands, infact ive made a few for a 150g and 264g so kinda know what im on about.

you wont find a diy tank that doesn't have something like a 12 or preferably 18mm ply top on it to spread the weight over the beams.

you'll be putting to much stress on the areas with no support under and seriously risk it cracking over time from it.

also, did i read that your putting polestirene under the tank? if so then you cant do that with just using beams. you'll crush the polestirene between the beam and tank as the weight isnt spread , which could cause the tank to lean and crack.

i mean its upto you, but why risk it over something so simple?


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