Design Thoughts For Stand/Canopy for Euro-Top Braced Low Iron Tank

[Fish Fan]

Hey guys!

I'm looking for DIY stand/canopy design help, though as always I'm likely overthinking all of this lol!

I have on order and in transit an SCA 150 tank, 60"x24"x24", and I'm planning for a stand build and possibly a canopy:

150G-GO-P Starfire Aquarium 60x24x24"H 12m Shadow Overflow Peninsula

Features: Size: 60x24x24" L X W X H Starfire Glass 12mm with Eurobraced Peninsula Style Drilled for Synergy 16″ Shadow® Overflow V3 2500 GPH Two return holes drilled (2 x 1" Bulkheads included)

www.empirebilliards.com

I'd like to ask the most basic stand design questions please:

This tank is low iron glass, and has no plastic trim, but it is Euro-braced on the top. My first thought is with the stand. I imagine a stand that is more or less a table top (for lack of a better way to say it (I'm a good woodworker, no worries building it)) and the tank would just sit on top of the "tabletop". There would be no molding around the bottom edge of the tank or sand bed; the whole tank would be on "display", so to speak.

Or, I can fully support the tank with the stand, but trim it so the trim comes up an inch or so from the bottom of the tank. This would give the tank a sort of "sunk in" look that I very much like with standard rimmed tanks as it hide some of the sand bed, but I'm paying a bunch of money (for me) for this fancy tank with no plastic trim.

Last, again, this tank is Euro-braced at the top, and a Euro-braced tank would be an absolute first for me after decades of fishkeeping (granted, mostly freshwater). I think I like the look, it's new to me, and I'm incline to embrace it. I thought I'd go without a canopy, and look into hanging my lights from the ceiling above, or maybe doing some kind of floating canopy that doesn't rest on the tank.

But what would you guys do at the top of this tank? Embrace and display the Euro-bracing, or close it in with a canopy that rested on the tank?

My tank is officially on order, arriving hopefully soon, and I plan to get it going in early 2025. Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

Your tank is going to weigh 1200 lbs. full, make sure your floor can support it.

 

[Fish Fan]

Your tank is going to weigh 1200 lbs. full, make sure your floor can support it.

Cement slab floor enough for it ;-)

Thanks for the reply!

 

[FUNGI]

IMO...
Do the "tabletop" design. Skin it with 1/4" removable skin (magnets). It look clean...if you are into that look....its all end of day, its personal aesthetics. Here is my 120G build:

 

[FUNGI]

BUT, my new tank will have a distressed look to match that room (I will build matching hood):

 

[Fish Fan]

IMO...
Do the "tabletop" design. Skin it with 1/4" removable skin (magnets). It look clean...if you are into that look....its all end of day, its personal aesthetics. Here is my 120G build:

Great looking setup!

Yeah, I get that a lot of this is personal taste, but I'm definitely fishing for opinions.

For this build, I do want a "clean" look, and I am going to do panels with magnets all around.

BUT, my new tank will have a distressed look to match that room (I will build matching hood):

Nice, I'm sure that will look great! And while I'm not going for the "distressed" look here, I am going for something that matches the room and the trim in the room, which is white. Typically I stain and/or poly stands, this will be only the second I've tried to paint. I'm going for a pseudo-built-in look.

 

[FUNGI]

Yeah...that white look is good at least in the room its in....it only cost $200 (I think slightly less) to build.....and good a new tool set out of it LOL...

 

[Fish Fan]

Yeah...that white look is good at least in the room its in....it only cost $200 (I think slightly less) to build.....and good a new tool set out of it LOL...

You can't beat an excuse to get new tools lol!

 

[Fish Fan]

Bump!

Any thoughts about whether you'd go with a canopy that sits on the tank and covers the top Eurobraced seam, or go without a canopy, or maybe a floating canopy that would show the Eurobraced top?

If it was rimless, no question I'd go without the canopy, why else would you pay for a rimless tank, but what do most do with a Eurobraced top?

Thanks everyone!

 

[abc123]

Here are a few photos of my SCA150

 

[Fish Fan]

Here are a few photos of my SCA150

Nice looking tank and setup!

Looks like you are going with a canopy that hides the top Eurobrace seam, yes?

 

[abc123]

Yeah but the reason I went with a canopy was so I can mount my lights and block out light glare

 

[KrisReef]

My outside tank sits on a plywood "table top" and the tank is close to the edge all around the front and sides. I hate when cleaning and i slosh water out and it slides down the tank and wicks under the tank. I can't get the water out and salt builds up. Butt it works.

Look at the build threads on here for many great ideas and solutions that I didn't bother to investigate.

I would also caution that the edges of the tank are where bumps and cracks can happen. Having edge protection for a glass tank is a very wise precaution, imo.

 

[Fish Fan]

My outside tank sites on a plywood "table top" and the tank is close to the edge all around the front and sides. I hate when cleaning and i slosh water out and it slides down the tank and wicks under the tank. I can't get the water out and salt builds up. Butt it works.

Look at the build threads on here for many great ideas and solutions that I didn't bother to investigate.

I would also caution that the edges of the tank are where bumps and cracks can happen. Having edge protection for a glass tank is a very wise precaution, imo.

Thanks for the reply! You make good point about the water wicking under the tank. Something to think about for sure.

 

[geologeek]

Could you consider vinyl wrapping the very top of the tank just to cover the Euro brace? My aqua one cube has pelmets top and bottom to hide the braces, doubt I would want to see the braces as I would constantly be needing to clean them of salt creep and could not have a place to store my feeding pipettes etc on the braces.

 

[redfishbluefish]

My thoughts......for starters, I'm a canopy person. I don't want to see my lights and get hit with the spill over light. It also keeps the fish from carpet surfing. Now with that out of the way, let me talk stand. I DIY'ed by stand and canopy. As far as trim, check with your manufacturer, especially with a flat bottomed tank, they'll most likely call for a foam base. In my case, without going back and looking, I believe it was 3/4 inch foam (I didn't use 3/4). So if you have no trim, you'll be seeing the foam. The second thing....I too have a Euro braced tank, they more or less Euro brace the bottom glass as well. That is, you have the bottom glass, and then you have a second strip of glass on top of that....like finishing molding.....so without trim, you'd see that. One last point, my Euro braced tank came with a thin plastic trim top and bottom (Glass Cages). What I'm saying is that my vote is to trim the base. I didn't come up high with my trim, just enough to cover the foam and the black molding trim around the tank.

As far as the canopy, I wanted full open front to access the entire tank. The construction plan was to go as light as I could, so it's simple construction with fir strips and quarter ply. The easiest thing to do to show you is to send you to my build thread.....HERE.