I had great intentions of building my own stand using the templates we probably all have seen on the forums. I even got about 60% done when reality hit and my skills started to get the better of me. I am no cabinet finisher!
Anyone with a spouse who likes the fish tanks we have, but insist that it be a neat and tidy affair that does not look like a fish warehouse will relate. My stand for the 120 had to look good and fit in with the rest of the house.
So, I went looking on canreef for a used stand that I could perhaps fix up for minimal cost. The Grizz helped out and had a 48x24 Marineland stand that I bought for minimal cost. I bought it and it definitely needed some TLC, but it had been sitting in his shop for a long time.
The pics below show the progression of what it looked like when I got it to how it looks now - I will see if one more coat of paint is needed once this last coat dries. There were about three coats of primer to get it ready to take a real top coat. Going from black to white takes some serious sanding and priming to get it ready.
Pic #1 - Black stand with some pretty ready for some TLC
Pic#2 - Two coats of high-gloss
Pic#3 - Reinforcement built to help handle the load
In addition to the above, I am actually going to be adding some additional height to the stand via three rows of 2x6's as well as a top sheet of plywood (no pics on that yet). This will bring the tank height up about 5.5 inches which in my opinion will be a better viewing angle. The stand was a bit low for what I had in my mind. I will have pictures of that down the line.