UNS 120U stand

[TheWetScape]

I wasn’t sure if this or the equipment forum was the best place to post this.i have an120U coming from my LFS and will be building the stand for it along with some built in cabinets for my living room.
I was hoping someone with a UNS 120U could post some photos of the interior of the stand? Or a 150U would also work.

I just want to get an idea for the support and bracing on the inside of the cabinet. I’ve built a stand before but nothing holding that much water lol

 

[JayP]

Paging @Koan so he can page @Naturescapes_Rocco on the courtesy phone.

 

[TheWetScape]

Photos of the walnut ply 60U stand I built because the UNS one cost double what the tank does lol

 

[BranchScape]

Photos of the walnut ply 60U stand I built because the UNS one cost double what the tank does lol

You do excellent work that's better than the UNS stands, granted I am partial to walnut. half my house is R&B walnut furniture. Is it veneer or walnut ply?

 

[TheWetScape]

You do excellent work that's better than the UNS stands, granted I am partial to walnut. half my house is R&B walnut furniture. Is it veneer or walnut ply?

Thank you! 3/4 walnut plywood

 

[TRyan]

You did a nice job!

 

[TheWetScape]

thanks everyone! I just finished setting this tank up last week, and while im excited for the big tank, its also slightly intimidating haha

 

[Minorhero]

I don't have a 120U, but I do have a 120P. I also don't have a UNS made stand, but I did make my own. So maybe this will be helpful.

Here is the finished product:

And here are some SketchUp drawings I did in the planning stages of the build:

The basic rules of aquarium stand design hold for big rimless tanks made from hardwood as those made from 2x4s. You want your vertical supports to go to a rectangle that the stand sits on. That creates compression force on the vertical legs which they are easily able to take. For wood construction you want that rectangle ontop because wood expands and contracts at different rates vertically vs width. So this evens that out.

I believe modern UNS stands have an internal frame made of aluminium and they are made in such a way as to negate the need for some of this design. Here is a video showing the construction of a UNS stand:



Hopefully that's helpful.

 

[Capraquaria]

UNS 150U stand (tank 150 x 60 x 60 footprint). The stand is black so a little difficult to photograph. You may be disappointed. No cross bracing under the tank itself. They even skipped most of the paint on the underside

Outside Front (3 door):



Doors Open. Two vertical pieces between doors principally as door stops.



Note there is no wall between door sections. The interior is completely open from left to right. The 'door stops' are oriented front to back to provide some front bracing support, though.




There is a small open rectangle (maybe about 6"x8") in the back panel toward the floor on the right hand side (I am using it for ATO cords and tubing). There is a much larger rectangular opening on the back panel on the left side about 2/3's of cabinet height. There is no additional vertical bracing on the back panel. It is flat (sorry, the filter and UPS are bit in the way). That opening is about the height of the Biomaster 600 on the left.



This is the underside of the cabinet. Possibly MDF top? Stand seems too light overall to be all MDF, though. MDF is pretty heavy. Maybe a mix of ply and MDF, not sure. I don't see any obvious grain, but it's difficult with the black laquer version to tell. NO interior under-tank horizontal bracing, other than the front brace above the doors, and minimal interior underside paint apparently Wish I had noticed that before, I would have fixed that before I installed it. I will say I was quite surprised when it arrived at just how light this cabinet is for an approximately 400lb 15mm thick glass tank! So far it's holding up, but it's not how I would have built a stand if I did it myself. Sleek, though, but you could probably mod an Ikea cabinet with interior stud bracing and have something just as sleek looking. I will say I do appreciate not having vertical walls to drill holes through between each door section. Hooking up hoses and tubing is beautifully easy. Lots of elbow room! Functionally I do like it, but it's a pretty basic box for the price.

 

[TheWetScape]

I don't have a 120U, but I do have a 120P. I also don't have a UNS made stand, but I did make my own. So maybe this will be helpful.

Here is the finished product:

And here are some SketchUp drawings I did in the planning stages of the build:

The basic rules of aquarium stand design hold for big rimless tanks made from hardwood as those made from 2x4s. You want your vertical supports to go to a rectangle that the stand sits on. That creates compression force on the vertical legs which they are easily able to take. For wood construction you want that rectangle ontop because wood expands and contracts at different rates vertically vs width. So this evens that out.

I believe modern UNS stands have an internal frame made of aluminium and they are made in such a way as to negate the need for some of this design. Here is a video showing the construction of a UNS stand:



Hopefully that's helpful.

You did a great job on yours! Honestly it looks like the UNS aluminum stands are built better than the wood ones just going by the photos Capraquaria posted lol. I am designing the entire project on sketchup as well since I will also be building 4 additional cabinets for the length of the wall, the ability to plug in for a cut list is invaluable in that situation haha. Thank you for taking the time to include some of your drafts that helps out a ton!

 

[TheWetScape]

UNS 150U stand (tank 150 x 60 x 60 footprint). The stand is black so a little difficult to photograph. You may be disappointed. No cross bracing under the tank itself. They even skipped most of the paint on the underside

Outside Front (3 door):

View attachment 16399

Doors Open. Two vertical pieces between doors principally as door stops.

View attachment 16401

Note there is no wall between door sections. The interior is completely open from left to right. The 'door stops' are oriented front to back to provide some front bracing support, though.

View attachment 16402


There is a small open rectangle (maybe about 6"x8") in the back panel toward the floor on the right hand side (I am using it for ATO cords and tubing). There is a much larger rectangular opening on the back panel on the left side about 2/3's of cabinet height. There is no additional vertical bracing on the back panel. It is flat (sorry, the filter and UPS are bit in the way). That opening is about the height of the Biomaster 600 on the left.

View attachment 16403

This is the underside of the cabinet. Possibly MDF top? Stand seems too light overall to be all MDF, though. MDF is pretty heavy. Maybe a mix of ply and MDF, not sure. I don't see any obvious grain, but it's difficult with the black laquer version to tell. NO interior under-tank horizontal bracing, other than the front brace above the doors, and minimal interior underside paint apparently Wish I had noticed that before, I would have fixed that before I installed it. I will say I was quite surprised when it arrived at just how light this cabinet is for an approximately 400lb 15mm thick glass tank! So far it's holding up, but it's not how I would have built a stand if I did it myself. Sleek, though, but you could probably mod an Ikea cabinet with interior stud bracing and have something just as sleek looking. I will say I do appreciate not having vertical walls to drill holes through between each door section. Hooking up hoses and tubing is beautifully easy. Lots of elbow room! Functionally I do like it, but it's a pretty basic box for the price.

View attachment 16404

It’s like I’m shocked there isn’t at least a central support across the top, but I’m also not lol these photos are exactly what I was looking for though! And the information about the cabinet design in general was very helpful when it comes to the functionality of it. I do think the open space is probably the best way to go about it for ease of use. Considering I plan to have an ATO, co2, auto dose fertz etc.

On a side note how is it getting to the bottom of the tank? I’m thinking of building the stand to 32 inches but I’m also all of like 5’2 lol definitely won’t be doing a carpet lmao

 

[Kwyet]

Get yourself something like this. It’s very helpful!

 

[TheWetScape]

Get yourself something like this. It’s very helpful!
View attachment 16410

Will do! Looks better than a step stool stability wise! Thanks!

 

[Capraquaria]

On a side note how is it getting to the bottom of the tank? I’m thinking of building the stand to 32 inches but I’m also all of like 5’2 lol definitely won’t be doing a carpet lmao

If I was building it, I would make the stand a little shorter. I am also 5'2". I stand on a 3' step ladder to reach into this 150U, and can still barely reach the back bottom of the tank. It's part of why I am limiting my 150U plantings to fewer stem plants, because maintenance and replanting will be more difficult. I did bank up the soil a bit, but not enough to make that much difference. Watching the ADA and Horizon Aquatics videos, I noticed their stands were much shorter. In fact, looking at ADA's specs for their cabinets shows the 120/150 cabinets are 70 cm tall (27.6 inches). If you have a standard 120 P tank (not a shallow), that 4.5 inches difference would make all the difference in the world for being able to reach the back bottom of the tank. At least now I know that Daichi Araki and Naru Uchida aren't 7 feet tall That said, make sure, whatever height you decide on, that your filter will still fit, with hoses, under the cabinet. It is pretty easy to get the Biomasters out of the UNS cabinet with that extra head height, but I need longer arms in the tank.

 

[TheWetScape]

If I was building it, I would make the stand a little shorter. I am also 5'2". I stand on a 3' step ladder to reach into this 150U, and can still barely reach the back bottom of the tank. It's part of why I am limiting my 150U plantings to fewer stem plants, because maintenance and replanting will be more difficult. I did bank up the soil a bit, but not enough to make that much difference. Watching the ADA and Horizon Aquatics videos, I noticed their stands were much shorter. In fact, looking at ADA's specs for their cabinets shows the 120/150 cabinets are 70 cm tall (27.6 inches). If you have a standard 120 P tank (not a shallow), that 4.5 inches difference would make all the difference in the world for being able to reach the back bottom of the tank. At least now I know that Daichi Araki and Naru Uchida aren't 7 feet tall That said, make sure, whatever height you decide on, that your filter will still fit, with hoses, under the cabinet. It is pretty easy to get the Biomasters out of the UNS cabinet with that extra head height, but I need longer arms in the tank.

I would go shorter but it’s going to have cabinets on the sides (think built in cabinets with fireplaces in the middle) but I want the center to be a tank. Still modeling it out on sketch up for the final look. I could go 30” across all the cabinets I suppose. I’ll see how that looks tonight. That’s a great tip about the filter lol I’m almost 99% sure I’m going with the aquael hyper max for the dual intake/outflows so I’ll look at the size of that beast lol

 

[BranchScape]

I would go shorter but it’s going to have cabinets on the sides (think built in cabinets with fireplaces in the middle) but I want the center to be a tank. Still modeling it out on sketch up for the final look. I could go 30” across all the cabinets I suppose. I’ll see how that looks tonight. That’s a great tip about the filter lol I’m almost 99% sure I’m going with the aquael hyper max for the dual intake/outflows so I’ll look at the size of that beast lol

It's not that tall 22 inches plus add 4 for hosing. More squat than tall compared to an Oase. Also fish tanks direct has coupons if you google for them.

 

[JayP]

That’s a great tip about the filter lol I’m almost 99% sure I’m going with the aquael hyper max for the dual intake/outflows so I’ll look at the size of that beast lol

CO2 tank with regulator installed might still be the tallest item though.

 

[TheWetScape]

It's not that tall 22 inches plus add 4 for hosing. More squat than tall compared to an Oase. Also fish tanks direct has coupons if you google for them.

Will do! Thanks

 

[Capraquaria]

I remembered one beef I have with the UNS stand. It's a bit specific to this tank's setup, but a few millimeters would have made all the difference. The side routed holes for the hose lines.



This setup has the left tank short side up against the wall. It's fairly tight because of needing to get around the tank as you come down the stairs behind the tank. Anyhoo, the issue is that I have the lily pipes and returns on that left side almost all the way against the wall (at least for now). To remove those lily pipes, I am forced to have to remove the hoses, which is a bit awkward. I have double-tap quick connects on all of the filter hoses, but I can't get the double tap through the slots on the cabinet. It's minor, and I know that it is always a trade off between access and not being able to see straight into the cabinet, but it really is just if the slots were a few millimeters wider, it would have worked. That would have made it easy to disengage the quick-connect, and pull the pipes and that half of the hose end off the tank. Then I could just open the tap to drain any water, and remove the hoses easily from the glassware where I can get a good grip on them. Instead I have to drain the line in the cabinet, go up the step ladder, and then wiggle the hoses off while on the ladder. It's not a game changer, but it is annoying. The only other option would be to make the hose lines way longer than necessary to pull the whole assembly off the tank to remove the glassware. So, if you're installing hose access on the short end of the cabinet, just a little design thing to consider for ease of maintenance.

 

[TheWetScape]

I didn’t even think of the double taps fitting through the routed slots!! I actually think I’m gonna have to run the pipes from the back of the tank since the stand will be sandwiched between the other cabinets…but that’s definitely food for thought. If I ever have an access issue the wall is opposite to my master closet but I don’t even want to think about having to cut that wall