Replies

1. 
   oldusty | Dec 11, 2007 09:19am | #1

       How about fish scale Oak ?

2. 
   dgreen | Dec 11, 2007 09:29am | #2

   I'm a big fan of cypress, love the look, feel and smell of it.

   Whats the rest of the wood in the room if any?

   ------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

1. 
   Taigert | Dec 11, 2007 09:51am | #3

   Cypress, White Oak,  are both great around moisture, and well priced. If moneys not a object Teak or Mahogany. I would stay away from Cedar.

   I don't think I would attach it to the glass though.

   But like someone else said what does the room call for?

2. 
   DOtto | Dec 11, 2007 03:41pm | #6

   The room has pine chair and base.  Stain is medium, not dark, not light.

   The current setup on the tank is pine.  It made it 15 years.

   The scary part:  I opened the trap door on top where they feed the fish, and there was a lamp timer above the water resting on part of the oroiginal tank lid.  Fish fry?  and it's not even lent (although I need to check if it's on a GFI).  That set up will be rectified.Dave Otto -- Otto Construction -- PA

1. 
   Soetermans | Dec 12, 2007 06:37am | #8

   Dave:

   White oak and Cypress are good choices.  If you'll be building a hood, then you can configure the top frame so that it is flush with the glass at the top.  The hood can then sit on top of that.

   Build the hood high to keep the lights off the water.  You can then separate the guts (lights, timer, all that good jazz) from the water with a sheet of polycarb or acrylic.  since the hood will be high, you can also make provisions for a small electric cooling fan.  The owner will love you for it.  Any wood left exposed on the inside of the hood can then either be painted with some sort of water proof finish or also lined with polycarb/acrylic.

   As for the outside of the stand, hood, etc. you'll want to finish that with some polyurethane.  Other finishes will definitely look better, but will require lots of maintenance.  The poly will stand up to spills, regular moisture etc.

3. 
   MikeHennessy | Dec 11, 2007 03:28pm | #4

   Ipe might also work.

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

   EDIT: Or teak. Do you mean you will build the top out of wood? I'm not sure I'd do that. I'd be inclined to make it out of some fish-safe material like plexi and cover that with wood.

   
   

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   Edited 12/11/2007 7:30 am ET by MikeHennessy

1. 
   DOtto | Dec 11, 2007 03:36pm | #5

   Thanks Mike.

   I did think about both IPE and teak as well.  The plexi is a good thought.  I was wondering about a fish friendly finish.Dave Otto -- Otto Construction -- PA

1. 
   saschafer | Dec 11, 2007 05:00pm | #7

   "I was wondering about a fish friendly finish."

   Tartar sauce.

   I would be a little hestitant to use a wood with heavy-duty extractives like ipe or teak without first verifying that it won't harm the fish (a fair number of tropical plants contain rotenone, for example). It probably wouldn't be as bad as the wood from the Florida fish-poison tree, but you never know.

   -Steve

    

4. 
   Don01 | Dec 13, 2007 10:43am | #9

   Dave,
   In the late 80's I built 12' X 2' X 18"H aquarium in my living room. I built the tank out of standard plywood, coated it with a potable grade epoxy paint. The exterior was trimmed in red oak. The top was framed in red oak but I put 1/4" polyethylene sheeting on the wet side. The light rested on top of the oak frame in another oak enclosure.
   The oak was finished with Minwax Tung Oil and over 6 years I never experienced any water problems with the oak.
   I had fallen in love with African Chiclids. They are very territorial. I read that if they had lots of room they would be OK. I gave them more room. After about 6 years I have up and shut down the aquarium. I still have some of the oak trim that I recycle.
   I should add that I live near Edmonton Alberta where it really doesn't get all that humid. That may be part of the reason I didn't experience any negative effets on the wood from water.

   Don