55 gallon tank stand - piano?

bawest · 01-20-2007, 05:40 PM

Okay, I may have really screwed up here. I have a problem that I would like some input from you guys on.

Let me give you some background.

I got a new 55 tank that my wife picked up at an auction. She got a real crappy used metal stand with it. that just wouldn't work to hide my sump etc. I started looking on the web and found a guy who made a fish tank stand with his piano...... I got to looking and then I found pianodesk.com which makes desks out of old upright pianos (also upright furniture . com). So anyway, as usual, I jumped the gun and pulled my old junk piano out of the garage and started tearing it apart. It seemed like a really good idea at first.

Here's where I'm at now.

The area the tank is sitting now is going to be a little pull out shelf for me to sit at with my laptop. There is a shelf that will go about 8 inches above this that will house a nice little cubby hole for my misc. junk. The bottom part has a sliding door that I can use to access my new sump that will on the bottom.

The metal frame is going to be cut down to make a sturdy flat surface for the tank to sit on and the bottom shelf of the stand will be used in the sump area.

Here's the problem. I don't know how high to set the tank. I need lights above it and the lights will generate heat, so I need some fans etc. How much room do you need if you go with VHO's? T5's?

The top of the piano is free to be used as a canopy. Can I cut 2 square holes in the top, leave 3 inches and mount 175W metal halides?

Should I just leave the top open and hang lights from the ceiling above?

Really, I don't even know what lights I really want. I want to keep mushrooms, star polyps, polyps and softies.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Blade_Runner · 01-20-2007, 08:31 PM

First thing first.

That is a way cool idea.

Now, it will be tough to get MH in there. Are you planning on a reef? Unless you are planning on putting it right on the "desk" it is going to be tight for anything other than PCs or other thin lights. There are some very thin MH lights out there, but it will be tight and hot. How many inches do you have to play with?

Can you cut holes in the top for lights?

Blade_Runner · 01-20-2007, 08:33 PM

Oh, I should read more carefully. 8" is tight if you are trying to lift the tank off the desk. It will be tight, but if you cut as you said you can just make it.

Birchell · 01-20-2007, 09:31 PM

I think it will work, just remember the tank will be around 450 lbs with just water in it. When you get sand, rock, ect... you will be looking at around 5-600 lbs. But from the pic, it is a nice sturdy desk. Good luck!!

billy31422 · 01-20-2007, 10:15 PM

as long as you have good ventilation you can have whatever lighting you want. but remember that if you go with mh's and put a lot of fans in it, your gonna have a lot of evaporation. if you can keep the mh's at least 4 inches from the water i think you vent it enough to make it work.

bawest · 01-21-2007, 06:23 AM

So if I leave 3" headroom at the top, can I fit T5's?

I can cut the top, but If I ever decide to make this a desk instead of a tank, that board would be wasted.

What kind of light allows the least headroom and how much would that be? How much crap will I get on the lights and fixtures from evaporation?

bawest · 01-21-2007, 06:27 AM

I didn't realize the tank weighed that much, but I think the piano is strong enough for that. The freggin' soundboard was heavier than hell and a royal pain to get out.

When I look at the flimsy metal stand that the tank came on, I'm not too worried about my Desk strength.

szidls · 01-21-2007, 06:54 AM

Hey bawest, It looks like this will be a very cool setup.

On the t-5 are you going to have the top of the piano enclosed or open as it is now? Depending on how much room you have you could either retro fit the t-5 or get a slim hood. Here's a link to the tec-light hood. It's a 4 bulb. My gal friend is using a 6 bulb over her 90 gal softy tank. Good luck on the project.
Scott

Aquarium Extreme: TEK T5 48 inch 4 bulb light fixture. Black

bawest · 01-21-2007, 06:58 AM

how much room is supposed to be between the lights and the water. I can't find this anywhere. On my 25, I have th odessa that has legs and puts the light about 3 inches from the tank

sssnake · 01-21-2007, 07:21 AM

That's really cool looking bawest.

If the sound board weighed more than 600 lbs you're OK. Also, IMO I would leave the top as is and perhaps cut away a rectangle of wood so as to allow light to either reach the tank if you're placing the lights above the piano top, or, allow heat to escape upwards if you will be placing the lights below this piano top. At the same time you will be keeping a perimeter of wood (a couple of inches worth) on this piano top for rigidity. I would not (again, in my opinion) remove the top completely as it may compromise the overall stability of the base. By not removing the top entirely it helps keep the the unit in a "squared state" and it should prevent the sides from starting to lean left or right (not good).

Oh yeah, ...that flimsy looking stand the tank originally came with was designed specifically to support 600 lbs of weight. It was designed for that purpose. I still look at my stand in amazement and wonder how a wooden box made of pine which I can easily move and lift is able to support my 120 gallon which weighs about 1,500 lbs (3/4 of a ton).

Great looking project!