Freestanding, triple aquarium stand

DIY triple aquarium stand for 30 gallon long (breeder) aquariums

I want to share more than just fish profiles, so I thought I'd post some pics from one of my DIY projects. First let me add the disclaimer that I'm certainly no master carpenter or engineer. I built this to hold not only the weight but to withstand any collisions from Augie, our 40 pound Australian Shepherd.

This is a freestanding, triple-deck aquarium stand, built in 2012 for three of my 30 gallon long aquariums. It's about 40 inches long, 18 inches deep and five feet tall. I wanted plenty of space between levels for getting in and out of the tanks for water changes and repairs.

My Story:

It was important to me for it to be freestanding, as I didn't want to mess with mounting it to the wall. As a result, I over constructed it a bit with an excessive amount of two by fours and wood screws. This thing probably weighs as much as a our mini-freezer and could hold up tanks with twice the weight, but I wanted to make sure it was solid and wouldn't topple over easily.

Here are the two by four frames for the shelves during construction.

Prior to this, I had these 30s sitting on metal storage shelves from Walmart (double stands). These shelves were the kind that rely on pieces of plastic for support and can be screwed together. It worked for a while, but one day I came home and found the corner of one aquarium had slipped about a half inch. I freaked and took the tanks down right away. This stand was the result.

Here is the stand after being sanded and stained. I did stain it outside and haven't moved it since. With all of those two by fours it's heavy.

In Hindsight:

If I had the project to do over again, I doubt I'd use as many two by fours, especially the vertical beams, which consists of five-foot long two by fours at each corner, with inner boards for support (these weren't necessary, or could have been replaced by smaller boards). The stand would still bear the weight and be sturdy enough not to topple over easily.

Here is a similar, double stand I built with two by fours and considerably less wood. This stand, which was also built for 30 gallon long aquariums, is 13 inches deep. If I was making it a triple or taller, I would give it added depth for stability.