Zoo-mini

Many people love to watch the bright and colorful underwater world.
Therefore, aquariums are quite often found in modern interiors of apartments and country houses. It is believed that aquarium fish have a beneficial effect on the human psyche, helping to relieve stress and relax after a hard day at work.

If you decide to install a small aquarium with 50 or 70 liters of water, it can be placed on any surface: a desk, a chest of drawers, or even on a wide windowsill. But, if the volume of the aquarium varies from 100 to 200 liters of water, you will need to think about installing a special cabinet for the aquarium.

It can be purchased at the store. But this option will not always meet all buyer requirements. Most likely, you will not find a ready-made version of the desired color, size, design features or design. Then you can make a stand for the aquarium on your own . This way, you will not only build the ideal option for you, but also save your own savings. In this article we will look at how to properly make a stand for an aquarium designed for 200 liters of water.

Made from wood?

Having decided to make cabinets for an aquarium with your own hands, you need to carefully select consumables. Over time, a heavy aquarium can bend the weak structure of the furniture and deform it if the load exerted is not first calculated. Experts recommend choosing the following materials for its manufacture:

Natural wood.
Wood has been used in the manufacture of furniture for many centuries. Its advantages include: environmental friendliness, resistance to negative factors, ability to withstand heavy loads, long service life (more than half a century), aesthetics.
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The most expensive wood is considered to be: walnut, beech and oak. Working with them is not so easy. Since these varieties are durable and difficult to process with tools. But pine or birch make durable and inexpensive cabinets .
Whatever option you choose, a wooden cabinet will delight its owners with its unique and inimitable texture, unobtrusive and pleasant smell of wood, and noble appearance. It is also worth noting that almost any wood lends itself to various types of processing, polishing, sanding, varnishing, staining and painting.
Chipboard.
This lumber is made from waste from the wood processing industry. Therefore, the material is safe and environmentally friendly. Its positive aspects include: low cost, ease of use, versatility, interesting color solutions, long service life, resistance to the formation of fungi and mold.
With chipboard you can make beautiful and durable furniture pieces that will last at least 10 years.
MDF. This material is durable and reliable. It has many advantages over other lumber. The main ones include: a special structure of the material, high density, the presence of a smooth surface, environmental friendliness, and resistance to moisture. You can make radius facades from MDF, which allows you to give the aquarium cabinet an original appearance .

All of the above materials not only cope well with heavy loads, but also have the correct structure.

In any case, when assembling a cabinet for a large aquarium, you will need to take care of reinforcing the back wall. To do this, the structure is reinforced with metal corners under the tabletop.

If we are talking about an aquarium of 200-300 liters, to make a cabinet you will need to make a rigid metal frame.
Attention : glass tabletops cannot be used for large aquariums. Since they simply will not withstand heavy loads and will crack over time.

Drawing with dimensions

Before manufacturing and assembling a cabinet for an aquarium designed for 200 liters of water, you will need to make a competent drawing with the following parameters:

The optimal height of the cabinet should vary between 60-70 cm.
The horizontal dimensions of the product are calculated taking into account the length and width of the aquarium itself.
Vertical internal partitions are installed at a distance of 30 to 50 cm . Such actions will prevent the tabletop from bending under the heavy weight of water.
When making the tabletop, 22 mm chipboard is selected.

Additional requirements:

the cabinet must easily cope with the loads placed on it and must support a weight greater than the weight of the aquarium;
for a 200-liter aquarium, a metal frame is made near the cabinet, which will take on the entire main load;
Models where the size of the tabletop is equal to the size of the bottom of the aquarium will look neat.
Metal corners are installed under the tabletop cover.

The drawing must indicate all the holes for wires and hoses that are made in the rear wall.

Attention : you must choose moisture-resistant materials as a tabletop. Since from time to time, drops of water will still fall on the surface of the cabinet and cause its damage. It is also worth considering that for a large aquarium, stands are not made on legs or wheels. The most stable products are those installed directly on the floor.

Design

Making a stand for an aquarium with your own hands begins with creating a drawing. When designing, it is taken into account that the main purpose of the structure is to support the weight of the tank and ensure its location at a height convenient for observation. If you do not have the skills to draw up diagrams, you should use special software, for example, the Astra furniture designer.

You can take ready-made sketches and adjust them to the size of your aquarium.

When creating a drawing, you should consider the following points:

The length and width of the tabletop should be slightly larger than the same parameters of the tank. The design will look neat if you don’t leave more than 3–5 cm at the edges. The cabinet that fully matches the size of the aquarium looks interesting.
The height of the stand depends on its location. The optimal value for any room is 80–90 cm. If the installation is carried out in a bedroom or living room, where aquarium inhabitants are observed while sitting or lying down, 70 cm from the floor level is sufficient.
The plan usually indicates a rectangular shape. But you can also make a corner tabletop, where the container will stand parallel to the long side.
A cabinet for an aquarium of 200 liters or larger volume must be equipped with a metal frame. For 100–150 l, reinforcement is allowed, but it is not necessary.

In addition to the main frame, the drawings may take into account additional details: shelves, drawers, doors. Partitions will help ensure the stability of a long stand; the distance between them should not exceed 30–50 cm. So, for an internal space 1.2 m long there will be at least two such elements.

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The dimensions of the cabinet and the aquarium itself must match

The optimal height of the stand is 80–90 cm

Corner cabinets look original

If the aquarium is designed for more than 200 ml, you need to take care of the metal frame of the cabinet

How to make a 200 liter stand?

The manufacture and assembly of a cabinet for a large aquarium is carried out in the following sequence:

The production of a cabinet for a 200-liter aquarium begins with cutting out individual elements. You can cut the parts yourself using a jigsaw or order it from a specialized company .
To ensure accurate cutting of parts, it is necessary to make patterns that exactly match the drawing and transfer them to the lumber. Next, the parts are carefully cut out along the contours with a jigsaw. After all the elements have been made, you can begin assembly.
As for assembly from the frame, in this case, it is advisable to make a rigid frame from metal. It is considered the most reliable and durable. But this option is only suitable for those. Who knows how to operate a welding machine? If this option does not suit you, you can limit yourself to a wooden beam. It is also able to withstand heavy loads. In addition, wood is easy and simple to work with. When assembling the frame, it is important to check the correct fastening. All angles must not have any deviations from the drawing.
Next, the walls and internal partitions are attached to the frame. The partitions and walls are secured with euroscrews using a screwdriver.
Now let's start installing the countertop. This workflow is best done in several stages. First, two holes are made diagonally at opposite corners of the tabletop. Next, it is attached to the frame.
After this, we proceed to installing horizontal shelves and assembling drawers. When installing drawers, you will need to first install the guides .
Next we start hanging the doors.
The doors will be attached to furniture canopies. Before hanging them, you need to make preliminary markings for the nests. Next, holes of the required size are made and the doors are fixed to the hinges. Now we screw the handles to the doors.
Now you can take care of the back wall. For its manufacture, MDF or dense chipboard, 2.2 cm thick, is useful.

Advice : to ensure that the cabinet doors close smoothly, it is better to choose canopies with closers.

The final touch after assembling a piece of furniture is its proper installation. When installing the cabinet, the floor surface is checked for evenness. It is also worth considering the presence of nearby outlets. After all, the aquarium has lights, filters, heaters and other accessories powered by 220 V. Keep in mind that when installing the aquarium on a cabinet, you should take care of the substrate.

Tip : small aquariums can also be installed on a regular wooden stand or television stand.
And opposite, you can put a rocking chair, a sofa or even an ottoman and admire the result.

Manufacturing process

The manufacture of a cabinet begins with the selection of materials and drawing up a drawing. First you will need to cut the blanks to size, then assemble the frame, install the table top and legs. At the final stage, holes are drilled in the back wall for wiring, doors are hung, and decorative elements are attached.

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Material cutting

Work begins with preparing all the parts that will be attached to each other. The process of their manufacture consists of the following stages:

Frame assembly

Assembling an aquarium stand with your own hands begins with the frame. To do this, all wooden beams or metal corners are connected using the chosen method (welding or self-tapping screws). All angles and distances are accurately measured - even a 1-2 degree difference will lead to serious distortion and deformation of the table, and therefore increase the risk of the tank falling.

The walls are attached to the frame on the outside and partitions on the inside. When performing work, use a screwdriver and confirmats (euro screws). For them, you will have to prepare holes in the structural elements in advance. When choosing drills, take into account that the diameter should be 1 mm less than that of the Euroscrew.

Material marking

Drilling holes

Connecting structural elements

Assembling the stand

Tabletop installation

The next step is attaching it to the tabletop frame. The process consists of only three stages:

Make holes at diagonally opposite corners of the structure.
Install the countertop.
The element is attached to the frame.

The fastest and easiest way to secure the tabletop is with self-tapping screws on top. However, in this case, the fastener heads remain visible, so they often choose to install a horizontal surface on corners or metal figure-eight holders.

Tabletop installation

Installation of shelves, drawers, hanging doors

Making a nightstand usually involves making compartments or drawers. To protect access to the internal space, doors are used that will have to be suspended:

The process begins with the manufacture and adjustment of the doors to the dimensions of the aquarium stand blank.
Mark the installation locations for the hinge sockets.
Make the necessary holes.
The doors are fixed to hinges on the sidewall.

You can simplify the process of closing doors by using door closers. Horizontal shelves are installed inside. And one compartment is usually divided using drawers, for the correct fastening of which it is necessary to accurately install the guides in suitable places.

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Fastening the shelves

Door installation

Attaching the legs, preparing holes for cables

When the aquarium cabinet is almost ready, it is placed on its side and attached to the bottom of the stand leg. It is recommended to install them strictly along the edges of the frame to avoid deflections or subsidence. It is advisable to place heel pads under the legs to protect the floor from scratches.

The penultimate stage of manufacturing the aquarium stands serves to prepare the back wall for laying cables, water and air hoses. The surface is drilled in one or several places. In order not to make a mistake, they first determine in what places the devices will be located - lighting, compressors, filters.

Laying cables, water and air hoses

Decoration

Furniture made from unfinished materials such as chipboard should be additionally decorated. To do this, they use different techniques: painting in the desired colors, pasting with film or fabrics. Sometimes even sheet plastic is used. Before you begin, it is advisable to see what a finished cabinet for an aquarium with your own hands will look like - photos of similar designs can be found on thematic resources.

In pursuit of beauty, it is important not to forget that one of the main criteria for choosing a material is moisture resistance.

Doors can be glass. The best option is made of tempered dark glass. It is necessary to attach handles to them, which will not only allow you to easily open the resulting cabinet, but also improve its design.

Handles on the doors make it easier to open and access the contents of the cabinet

A popular design option for a cabinet is doors made of tempered dark glass.

The pattern on the doors will add originality to the product

Photo

As a result, you will receive functional furniture, ideas for decorating which can be seen in the following photos: