Plywood

[MMAX]

Originally Posted by Seriak

Do most of you just put the plywood and styrofoam on the metal stand? No adhesive? Also, have any of you painted the plywood or the styrofoam under the tank? Type of paint? Or just use the skirt to hide the pink styrofoam?

Thoughts?

I painted the styrofoam under my tank but be careful what paint you use. It has to be acrylic latex or the foam will melt.

[The Grizz]

Another great idea for panels are pre made Ikea doors. If you check out Kiens build thread you will see what I mean. The first time I seen his tank in person I could not believe they were from ikea & there held on by magnets.

[sphelps]

I did a skirt for a metal stand once, it was two pieces held on with rare earth magnets from lee valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...=1,42363,42348
The 1/2" ones will be enough, I seem to recall using the 3/4 and they were a bit too strong, was a little harder than ideal to pull the skirts off.





As for plywood base, personally wouldn't bother with it unless the tank sits flat (no plastic trim). If it's a standard tank with trim just use some foam or even some thick rubber if you're worried about what it looks like. Most tanks I've seen setup including the one above didn't use anything, straight on the metal, never heard of any issues before.

If you do use plywood, make sure it's good plywood and properly sealed, I have seen problems occur from such material swelling up from moisture.

Oh and whenever possible with stands or skits I make them cover up to just above the sand level of the tank. This hides the hard to clean algae and makes cleaning the glass with a magnet easier as you don't have go right to the sand.

[Seriak]

Well what a coincedence. I bought some panels from Ikea that look great. A little bit of gorilla glue and some rare earth magnets and I should be set.

Question though. If my stand wobbles slightly should I just shim it. I could also put a sheet of plywood on the bottom. My tank is being custom made so it will being sitting flat without a trim so I will be using plywood and styrofoam on top. I have extra sheets of 5/8 plywood lying around or is it better to go with 3/4?

I went and bought marine enamel. They said it is now called Weather-it at general paint. But they said it should work, even though it says in clear wording only for metal.

[sphelps]

5/8" is fine, it really doesn't offer any additional support. The stand should be shimmed to be level and distribute the weight properly, it shouldn't wobble.

For the magnets, the link I provided comes with cups for mounting. I'm not sure I would rely on glue.

[Seriak]

The magnets are purely holding them to the stand. They will be sitting on the floor, so it should be okay.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Seriak

The magnets are purely holding them to the stand. They will be sitting on the floor, so it should be okay.

Yeah I know but the rare earths stick pretty good, the bond between the stand and magnet maybe more than the glue and the magnet. Not sure but the cup sets are cheap enough.