The foundation of a solid reef. No, not the sand...

Collecting the pieces to form a nice home made reef is fun, but man... I seriously wanted this to be setup yesterday. If you ask me on any other day, you will get the same answer.

A good foundation to a home made reef is research... but once you have that, the next solid foundation for a reef is the stand. Stands are important unless you're a midget. I really wouldn't know what you'd do if you are one. I guess if you get a large enough tank you could go snorkling but sadly that's a fantasy only you can fulfill. (Please, no hate mails; I envy you.)

Unfortunately for the consumers, the manufacturers of the tanks will low ball you on the tank but list outrageous prices for their "custom stands." I'm not sure what kind of vigorous stress tests they run their stands through but painted particle board cabinets are really not worth THAT much money in my opinion. But I digress...

So this past week (2 months) after waiting, searching, waiting some more, eating ice cream and finally waiting and catching a message that someone posted for a "tank and stand for sale" I finally bought a custom made stand for $160.


Okay, so MAYBE I have to swallow my words about what I said about a stand is just a stand earlier. The stand this guy built was actually pretty cool.


At the bottom we have a solid wood stand. This particular one has been in operation for about 10 years. Very impressed. There are no clear signs of warping and it seems like there are enough electrical plugs for my needs. Not quite sure how a timer would fit with it but we'll see once we get there. Ignore the black thing in the back as it just happens to be my folded up poker table top. (For sale BTW)


Although I won't be using the canopy supplied with the unit, the whole setup was very well thought out. There is a groove in the canopy to slide over the plastic trim so it can be hidden. Also, check out the moonlights! Jon was years ahead of everyone else. As you will see on the blue pillow, there is also trim available for the bottom portion to hide the plastic trim there. I told Jon he should build these professionally and maybe sell it for $150. Ha... well, I know that won't fly but honestly, anything can be made out of real wood and can be sold for $300 or less; you got yourself a market there.

Anyway, I'm really glad this part of the search is over. My only dilema now is whether I want to paint this thing black or sand it down and paint it a cherry/almond color to match the cabinets in my house. Almond is a nice color and one that none of the current manufacturers use so it would make it different. That's so much work though... and will I really be looking at it if I'm looking at the fish tank? *Sigh* Decisions... decisions...