Make sure to lap your corners like this to give the best support
http://members.shaw.ca/kabong/corner1.jpg

Goggle sketch up is your friend :biggrin:

how much do you figure it would cost to get the supplies? the 2x4, nails/screws, plywood? the petsmart site has a stand i somewhat like, but it doesn't have a lip. it's got the exact same layout that i was thinking of though. i checked and it would be around $135 total for the petsmart stand. but after my ordeal with the wal-mart one, i'm wondering how good an idea the petsmart one is? it has a partition though...

Not much. Not sure how much wood you'll need. I leave that to you to calculate. I'll be building a wood stand for a 180g soon 72" x 24" x 36"H.
1 - 2x6 $3.19.
5 - 2x4 $1.69 ea.
5 sheets 3/4" ply $25.47 ea.
More than enough screws. $7.64
More than enough nails. $3.07
Wood glue. $2.98.
Total estimated ~ $175.
Savings on a prebuilt stand and the satisfaction of DIY...Priceless.

I've bought the hardware and glue, but still have to get the wood.
(Disclaimer. Lumber prices , lumber being a commodity, fluctuate. Above quotes are Home Depot from a few days ago).

I don't imagine yours would come anywhere near $100 as you wouldn't need near the amount of plywood I'll be using.

HTH,

A cheapy stand from any establishment ending in "mart" won't have anywhere near the strength or quality of a good DIY stand. Forget about solid pine or even ply, those stands will be made of particle board which will literally melt if you get any water on them.

Such stands are built according to the bottom line: the absolute MINIMUM necessary to get the job done.

The easiest way to DIY a cosmetic lip is simply to ring the top of the stand with crown moulding.

The cost will really be determined by the type of plywood you go for.
I can range in price from $26 as Mark said up to near $100 a sheet.
Remember though you don't need nice board for the back. Or the top in your case.
So you should be able to get away with one sheet and use a pressed wood for the top and back.

Of course another question is do you have the tools to do this?
Or are you gonna have to get them to do all the cutting at the store?

Here's my DIY stand, for a 75 gallon. Might help you.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...n/DSC00057.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...blackstand.jpg

I screwed and glued two 2x4's together for the 4 side posts, one side was cut short so the top would sit on the 2x4's. If the top is just screwed in, it will fail sooner of later. My only regret is that I made it too small. Not enough room side to side and I wanted the pipes to come down thru the stand, but not that can't happen. When making your stand, plan for years ahead, draining a tank to put it on a bigger stand is a big job/waste of time/money. Going for bigger sump, closed loop or Auto Top Off down the road might mean a bigger stand.

I sussed this out too. First two cuts are free. $0.25 per thereafter.

Cheers,

we have the tools to cut it ourselves :) i'd need approx 30 ft of 2x4's

i think to get that to work best, i think i'll use 4x4's for the 4 corner posts. :) this way there's a shelf already, can put the plywood and styrafoam there and it's done. my husband says it'll probably work good that way too, and 4x4s are stronger. what do you think?

looks good. i'm not using mine for saltwater though. my 29g is strictly freshwater. :) i was planning to use PL400 glue and screwing it together. we used PL400 on our dresser, headboard, and other random wooden things and they're really strong, doesn't move at all, never fallen apart :D