# Building ADA



## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Well some months ago I picked up an ADA 120H. Sadly, it sat on the floor in my office for almost 5 months before I got around to putting it together. When it finally came time to put it together, I needed to find a stand that would both fit the metric size of ADA as well as not take away from the sleek look of the tank. Really, the only solution that would accomplish both of those would be to get an ADA stand. Well, they are really pricey!!! ...not to mention shipping. So the next option was to build one. This is a brief account of the 40 hours it took me to build my ADA style stand over the last two weeks. I hope you enjoy.

I decided to cover the stand in formica. Here are the sheets of formica after I picked them up. ....rocking hard with the marshall cab!!!










The early stages of the build. Notice no front piece or hole in the dividing support.










Wood work is complete....next is putty, sand, and formica.










Puttied and the interior is stained.










This was the first piece of formica i ever glued and trimmed, so it was quite an accomplishment for me. I hope that you feel the same excitement just looking at the pic 










Next was the back.










The front was slick....i cut out the trim from one solid piece. No seems!!










Ready for the last piece!!










Formica is complete on the body.










Drilling the holes for the wire/tubing portals. This was challenging.










The stand is complete!!!!










Lets add the tank!!!




























Final Product!!










Final shot of the seams....for Erik (Troy McClure)










Hope you had as much fun looking as i did building!!

Oh, and my last tip...

Freshly routed Formica is very very sharp!!! My hands are completely messed up from the last two weeks.

jB


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## retoid (Jan 2, 2007)

Wow, thats is some craftsmanship! Nice job, it looks fantastic.

From this picture, your stand looks way better!


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## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

Great job! Thanks for posting this. Are you going to start building these and selling them for 800 bucks now?


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Holy moly. Great job Jason!  Looking forward to your tank setup thread. Hehe.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Very well done! Good lines, good craftmanship!

How much did it end up costing you?


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Thanks everyone for sharing my excitement!! I'm really pumped with the results. I keep going out to the garage to inspect it. HAHAHA

It cost me just over $300 in materials.

jB


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

I figured it would cost about that. worth every penny IMO. Enjoy!!


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## LeapingGnome (Apr 15, 2007)

Great looking stand, cheaper and probably better quality than the original!


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## chippie (May 9, 2007)

can u tel me what the length width height and the thickness of the wood please ?


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

That is some fantastic work Jason. I've always wanted to try working with Formica, just never got up the guts after seeing some bad cuts, and trims. 
I also like the attention to detail you put in for the black trim around the cutouts. 

Oh, and looks like you need new work boots soon.


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## Khandurian (Oct 25, 2006)

Beautiful! 

What kind of wood did you use?


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## retoid (Jan 2, 2007)

looks like maple


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## aquanut415 (Jan 21, 2006)

looks great jason! aren't you gonna paint the interior a beautiful verdent green?


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

chippie - the wood is 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together to make 1.5 inch. I used this for the whole stand except the front piece and the doors.....which i used just 3/4". The stand is 31" tall....the dimensions are cut to fit the footprint of the tank.

tazcrash - Formica really isnt that bad as long as you have a nice router bit with a ballbearing It cost me like $16 for the bit. Thanks for the kudos on the effort....i did my best to take my time. Boots....yeah those are a pair of dr martins that are about 10 years old

Khandurian - its just the highest quality plywood before you get into actual nice wood like maple. They were $25 a piece.

aquanut415 (master shake) - HAHAHA, no i think it will stay the way it is

Thanks for the kudos guys

jB


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Jason,
Excellent work. And way to go hanging the doors straight. roud:

My only question is, where's the Formica on the toe kick? :icon_lol:


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## CherylH (Jan 2, 2007)

The outside is beautiful, but with you planting it, I'm more anxious to see the inside.


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## VITARTE (Jan 28, 2005)

Jason,man you truly are " el demonio que hace trofeos de los hombres "
Great craftmanship indeed.
Rafo


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

bharada said:


> My only question is, where's the Formica on the toe kick? :icon_lol:


I think he has the stand sitting on a piece of wood, so the part that you are actually seeing isn't apart of the stand. I might be wrong though.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Cheryl - As always, thanks for the kind words

Rafo - You had me dying in laughter there brother Good memory on a signature from long ago. Thanks for dropping in with the kind words my friend

Bill - Yeah, the doors are challenging. Even putting the stand on an uneven floor will show a difference in the doors. I plan to fill the tank and let it settle on the floor, then put the doors on and set the doors then.

Originally, i was going to paint it gray to match the stand, but frankly, i think it is just too much gray. i really like the stain kick, i think it adds a great contrast to the stand, and really brings the inside together with the outside Oh, its not a different piece as John suggested.

Thanks guys

jB


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Next I had to hang the lights. I was pretty sure that i didnt want to drill into my ceiling, so i needed to make a stand. This is what i came up with.










jB


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## lansen (Feb 25, 2007)

Can u post some more pics of the stand please?


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

killer. Can you loose the coils of reinforcement wire from the lights? Takes your eyes away from the beautiful lines you have going.

So how did you build the hanging fixure...lol? No materials list...no step by step...j/k

Looks great!! Truly ADA.


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

How much do those lights weigh? How big is this tank again (just so I can get a sense of scale)? Wow, amazing job.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

lansen - these are all the pics i have at this time.

gmccreedy - Yeah, i will do something about the coils soon. I am just going to get a good idea of where i want them to be before i go cutting anything. I used EMT conduit and spraypaint for materials. 

fishscale - i guess the lights are a couple pounds a piece....pretty light. The tank is about the size of a 90 gallon....48x18x24. Thanks for the kind words 

Thanks

jB


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Jason,

Is that two pieces of EMT conduit going straight up from either side of the stand connected to the third middle center piece with two 90* bends in it?

Very nice setup so far.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Here is one for scale.










She is 5' 3"

jB


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

epicfish said:


> Jason,
> 
> Is that two pieces of EMT conduit going straight up from either side of the stand connected to the third middle center piece with two 90* bends in it?
> 
> Very nice setup so far.


Exactly 

Thanks

jB


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

Did you just use conduit straps to hold the bars up?


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Yeah.....they are more like clips. They screw into the stand and wrap around the conduit. maybe we are talking about the same thing 

jB


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Ready for planting....









More in this thread.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pennsylvania/48467-dvaga-meeting-6-16-07-a.html

jB


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## Jessica (Mar 1, 2007)

Nice work Jason!!! I think you should paint your initials on a corner of the stand like you watermark your photos


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## supaflyz (Apr 4, 2006)

man that looks way better then their stand. You are very skill at carpentry. I wish to build one like that but no idea how to put it all together. Also $300 of materials is to much for me lol.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

yea, 300 hundred is a bit much, but man its banging.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Jessica said:


> Nice work Jason!!! I think you should paint your initials on a corner of the stand like you watermark your photos


HAHA Now that would be over the top  Funny idea 

gmc... and super.. - It sure beats the price of the real ADA stands. I think a stand for my size tank would be close to $1,000!! So $300 is a steal.

I have almost forgot the pain i went through, so i have been entertaining the idea of building another one.

HAHA

jB


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## vibes_jedi99 (Jun 20, 2007)

very nice tank Jason.


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## aya7med (Jul 13, 2007)

if i said thanks from now to tomorrow not enough 

Jason you made perfect work 


thanks alot


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Thanks vibes_jedi99 and aya7med 

jB


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

I get a bunch of PM's for the materials on this, so hopefully this will help some people.

*Wood*
-3 sheets of 3/4" plywood - I got the best quality i could find.
-2x2" studs for extra inside corner support.

*Formica*
2 sheets (8x4' - they actually give you an extra inch on each side, so its really 50x26") of formica from lowes. $85 each

*Construction*
I glued the plywood together to create 1.5" plywood. I used this for all of the stand except the front doors. I glued all the corners and screwed into the corner studs for extra support.

*Extras*
-Contact Cement (Gel variety)
-Formica router bit (straight)
-Wood Putty
-Plastic Oval Grommets from http://www.mockett.com/default.asp?ID=329
-Euro Hinges

*Light Stand*
-1/2" Conduit
-1/2" Conduit Set Screw coupling
-1/2" Conduit Mounting Strap

*Use a conduit bender to bend the conduit

*Tools*
-Table saw (cheap one)
-Circular Saw (good one)
-Power Drill
-Router
-Conduit Bender

*Stand Dimensions*
122x80x47cm

Hope this helps.

jB


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Great build and write up/material list Jason.:thumbsup:

You have a journal on this scaped and planted yet?


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## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

Jason,

great stand. However I'm not sure the stand can handle the tank weight during earth quake? I don't see any knee brace to resist lateral forces.

Khoi,


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

khoile said:


> Jason,
> 
> great stand. However I'm not sure the stand can handle the tank weight during earth quake? I don't see any knee brace to resist lateral forces.
> 
> Khoi,


The back wall of the tank stand covers the sides and creates a diaphragm which will resist lateral forces and racking. The top does the same.


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## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

thatguy said:


> The back wall of the tank stand covers the sides and creates a diaphragm which will resist lateral forces and racking. The top does the same.


Ok I see, I have the add those to my stand because I don't have a wall in the back. Good to know it's earth quake safe.


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## neilfishguy (Dec 16, 2007)

Yeah but no pics of the acual tank!


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Here is the final shot of this tank.










You can check out more about the layout here...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/58969-120cm-iwagumi-meander.html

jB


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice Jason. 
Been waiting to see this. Darn the busy day at work. Would love to ":meander" through your journal. Great job.

EDIT: Couldn't help myself. Thankfully it was short. NICE.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

nice work on the tall plants.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

tazcrash69 said:


> Nice Jason.
> Been waiting to see this. Darn the busy day at work. Would love to ":meander" through your journal. Great job.
> 
> EDIT: Couldn't help myself. Thankfully it was short. NICE.


  

jB


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