I would love everyones opinion

[tzhanks]

I am in the middle of building my 44 gallon corner tank stand and am not sure how to do the front, thats where your opinion comes in. Should I do the front main cabinet door and two small ones on the side or just the front main one.
http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx29/tzhanks/aquarium007.jpg
http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx29/tzhanks/aquarium0071.jpg

[Europhyllia]

is it going to be one big space inside or shelves?
with shelves I'd prefer more doors so you can reach your stuff.
without shelves 1 large door is probably going to be fine IMO

[Bill S]

More doors is ALWAYS better. If you don't do it now, you'll end up retro fitting them later.

[wesheltonj]

Agree with above

[Mr Cob]

Seriously...what Bill said!

you don't need cabinets and shelves...you need doors...you need as many ways to access what's inside as possible. It will help you now and in the future. If you ever sell it you will also be doing the buyer a big favor by making the stand contents easily accessible.

I vote 3 doors as big as humanly possible.

[Europhyllia]

I agree with the more doors the better. My point was though that the little double doors only make sense if you are accessing some kind of divided space like shelves.
Otherwise why bother with the small double doors things, right?
And I guess tzhanks will be the one to know what he want on the inside :)
I got a 4ft/50 gallon sump in my stand plus a little shelf and I kind of like it that way

[Goofball310]

You definitely want more doors. I had a 65 gal corner with one big door in front and it made it hard to do regular maintenance.

[jrsatx20]

if you have the room to swing open one big door. u can join the panels together with a L bracket or get a strip of aluminum or galv steel clamp it to a 2x4 and hammer it down to the angle of the front and join the panels like that. or use that idea and make two big doors that open on both sides.

[Europhyllia]

if you have the room to swing open one big door. u can join the panels together with a L bracket or get a strip of aluminum or galv steel clamp it to a 2x4 and hammer it down to the angle of the front and join the panels like that. or use that idea and make two big doors that open on both sides.
Wow. I think that would give your great access!

[Bill S]

You can also make the panels removable. I did that with mine. Used magnets to keep them in place.

[Mr Cob]

My 75 gallon had removable ends and double swing doors. The ends were also held by magnets. Super useful and came in handy several times to have that access.

[1fstlightning]

The more doors the better

[tzhanks]

is it going to be one big space inside or shelves?


I am still trying to figure out if i can get a shelf in the corner but i think it will make access to my sump impossible so i am going to go with big doors


You can also make the panels removable. I did that with mine. Used magnets to keep them in place.
I like that idea have any pics. Where did you get magnets that strong? How strong do they have to be?



if you have the room to swing open one big door. u can join the panels together with a L bracket or get a strip of aluminum or galv steel clamp it to a 2x4 and hammer it down to the angle of the front and join the panels like that. or use that idea and make two big doors that open on both sides.


Thanks for the idea if the magnets don't work out I think I may go with this one it sounds like it would give the best access.

[Bill S]

Magnets are from HD. Get the super strength ones. They are for cabinet doors. Cheap.

[Mr Cob]

^I also used this on my last canopy too. I had swing doors with magnets to access the inside of the canopy easily.

[jesserettele]

Yes, I agree, removable doors (panels) the more the better. It's all about easy access once it is filled with all of your equipment.

[marcusgonzales210]

Where I work (Alamo Aquatics) we have several large (185gallon) tanks with stands. The stands are a nice cherry cabinet sort of wood. On the SIDES of each tank each panel is a door in itself. It has a little magnetic piece that you just push and it opens. They're good for fitting lots of large equiptment underneath the tank. I would suggest doing that, along with two doors on the front. With the two doors on the front, I wouldn't have the brace inbetween so it's one large opening, the same as one large door. That's just my opinion. :)

[Big_Pun]

there are also these lil clips but i cant say it "outloud" its Carlinsa trade secret and he'll kill me if i tell, really he would he showed me the gun, lol pm him maybe you will get lucky and if hes in a good mood he might tell you