Loaches Online Forum

Thanks for compliment and the ideas Tristan. I do have extra plywood available to assist in moving the stand. That is a good idea. For moving the aquarium, one aquarium manufacturing company said that it was easiest if you had 10" suction cups made for moving glass. I will try to rent some from a local glass company. They give you a good handle to grip so that it is easier to lift.

Yeah glasscages had the suction cup handles when helping me offload the tank into my truck. But I never got around to seeing if I could get my hands on some locally... but I couldnt fully utilize them anyhow since I painted the back of the tank and either they wouldnt stick at all or would pull up the very easy to peel of latex I used. I am sure they would make it much easier to move a tank though

We had a warm spell here on Monday and Tuesday (up to 52 degrees) so I took advantage of it and stained and varnished the stand. I was going to wait for friends to help me move it inside this weekend, but I got it into my head that I could do it right away by sliding it on plywood. It worked well.









Then I attached the newly finished facade and doors.




My wife likes it, but says that it's too big. It will take some getting used to. The aquarium will certainly dominate the room.

If you think this is off topic, imagine the loaches swimming around in the space above the stand!

really nice...

sorry if i missed this, but how big will the tank be?

It's a thing of beauty, Keith.

Now you have to get some plants that match the rug.

Holy crap! With a full-grown aquarist in the picture for scale, you can really get a good idea just how big this stand is.

The cars help too. Great! I can't wait for the next installment.

Great job

By the way, how is your back feeling? Thats got to be a few hundred pounds

That stand looks fantastic with the stain. Great job.

I'm really enjoying following this thread - fantastic job, Keith! I, too, hope that your back is ok!

Emma

It's just beautiful, Keith. I can hardly wait for the next installment on this thread.

Thanks everyone.

adamrf1126- It will be 340 gallons. 9 ft x 2.5 ft x 2 ft.

Shari- I had not thought about matching the green carpet. It is a really good quality carpet that has lasted 33 years, but shows very little wear. We have lived with it for 20 years and wish that it would wear out so that we can replace it with something we like a little better. I think that I am going to remove the carpet from under the stand. It will be easier to shim it level on bare wood and also the carpet can be replaced at a later date without moving the tank.

I think that just the frame which I moved weighs about 300 lbs. Thanks for caring about my back, but since I didn't have to lift much, my back is fine. It helps that I'm in pretty good shape since I am a running and biking junkie (32,400 miles running in 25 years and 15,000 miles biking in 2 years).

I feel like I can relax a bit now since I have until mid March when the tank will arrive. Next I need to build an acrylic R.O. tank to fit under one side of the stand. More things to learn about!

I did let my dinner getting cold for reading this - true ... amazing job Keith. I would already be happy sitting in front of such a nice and functional stand, even without tank on it yet ...

Keith Wolcott wrote: It is a really good quality carpet that has lasted 33 years, but shows very little wear. We have lived with it for 20 years and wish that it would wear out so that we can replace it with something we like a little better.

Keith,

I can bring my family over for a week or so. We're hard on carpets!!!!

Keith Wolcott wrote:

Hmm, looks a bit flimsy to me. Are you sure this will hold?

-Connor

PS:

Very nice Keith! I really like the color of the wood combined with the black hinges. (My grandfather started an antique dealership which he passed on to an uncle of mine, so I grew up with quality furniture. )