Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I was wondering what stand height I should use on building my stand. I will be used for a 120g AGA tank. I was thinking around a minimum of 36" or maybe right at 36" since the tank is 24" tall. That would put the top of the tank at aprx. 5'.

Also what did you guys paint your stands with as a wood sealer? Simply use kiltz primer or some kind of water proof paint (What I was thinking)?

I plan to go in the morning and get some materials and I expect to have at least the stand done and probably painted by end of day saturday. I will be skinning it with something I just don't know what yet. I may use Birch and coat it with poly but I will have to take a look at things and see what pops in my head I guess.

What do you think?

Depends on what you want to do. I used a light coat of stain applied with a cloth, followed by very generous, multiple coats of oil-based polyurethane (because that is what the stain I had called for). I probably put about 10-12 coats, sanding lightly and dusting each time. Areas that I knew would be exposed more got thicker applications, making practically waterproof and easy to clean, too.

As far as height, that is decent. I think mine is around 33" and that's a 40g br, which is 16" tall. My stand and canopy are also birch, btw.

Take plenty of pics for us along the way if you can.

Ok sounds good.

I will take pics

Height has a lot to do with how you plan on looking at the tank. I have seen at least one tank that was maybe 24" tall. The only time anyone looked at it was sitting on a sofa. The big tank I have now is 36" but I wanted to look at it standing up. The only thing I was worried about was how much would the lighting affect the room of the tank and stand were tall.

yeah hight depends on how you want it viewed and btw you may need a step ladder to get in the top depending on how tall you make it

I am going to start a new thread on my build. I can show the progress as I slowly get things together.

The last tank and stand that I had was a 125 gallon with a 24” stand. I could not stand it. It really needed to be taller. I would either have to sit down or bend over to see all of it. If you plan on sitting down to view it all the time I would say it would be fine to have a 24” stand, but it needs to be taller if you plan on viewing while standing.