DIY Biocube 14 Stand - pic heavy

[Jeff721]

I was able to pick up a Biocube 14 for cheap recently. So one thing that the setup was missing was a stand. I decided to make my own.

 

I started with a half sheet of 1/2" plywood. Through careful planning and ingenuity I was able to cut all of the pieces I would need from this sheet. Here are the cutouts. There was VERY little left of the board left after I got everything cut. I sat the tank onto the top and bottom pieces and traced the perimeter to get and accurate base, then attacked them with the jigsaw and sander.

 

 

Took some fanagling but I was able to use a 90 degree clamp and more ingenuity to put it together with wood screws and glue where appropriate. I typically overbuild things, but this I wanted to be a little nicer, like a cabinet rather than a "rustic" shelf system. All of the screws were countersunk so that I could paint over them. I planned to paint this all along, so I didn't pay much attention to hiding the fasteners.

 

 

 

This one shows the door panel in place, but not attached.

 

With the tank on for fitting.

 

[YHSublime]

Looks good! Saved yourself $100.

[Jeff721]

So then I moved on to the finishing stage. I painted the sides, top and back; and decided that I wanted to stain/whitewash the front. The inside got 2 heavy coats of white for light reflectivity and waterproofing in case I want to add a sump or something crazy later.

 

Example of the stain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stained panels got 2 coats of polyurethane. The painted portions, 2 coats of "black". I went back and edged everything after these photos were taken.

[Jeff721]

When I was staining the front, I realized that I had the perfect thing to use as a door handle, a fossilized shell that I got at a rock and mineral show a couple of years ago. I purchased the cheaped brushed nickel cabinet handle I could get, ground it to the best shape and gorilla glued the shell to it. Turned out pretty good.

 

 

I know it looks metal, but it is stone, trust me.

 

The closure system is one of those magnetic push to lock and push to release spring loaded units.

 

All told, this whole thing cost around $40-ish to build. Minus the shell.

[YHSublime]

Very cool, and looks great! Well done!

[countryboy]

Nice job!

[Jeff721]

Thanks!

[Origami]

Great work!

[Hilary]

Very slick! Now I know who to turn to when I'm ready for a cabinet for my custom 10 gallon!

[Jeff721]

Very slick! Now I know who to turn to when I'm ready for a cabinet for my custom 10 gallon!

 

Happy to help. I'm not that far away in MD either.