Anyone have Perfecto Sedona fish tank stand??

I'm curious if anyone has this stand...and what they think about it?
I think it looks great from the pictures...but I mean how is it really.
They say it's all wood stand...and seems to be good quality, but who
knows.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h105sedona_stands.htm

Any input would be great. Thanks!!

-joe

On 29 Nov 2006 12:30:59 -0800, wrote:

I'm curious if anyone has this stand...and what they think about it?
I think it looks great from the pictures...but I mean how is it really.
They say it's all wood stand...and seems to be good quality, but who
knows.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h105sedona_stands.htm

Any input would be great. Thanks!!

-joe

I have a 55 gal Sedona red Oak Stand and Canopy. Got em both from
Drs. Foster & Smith last year for $240 delivered. It came under
Marineland packaging. It makes a wonderful appearance and looks like
a much more expensive stand. But I'd say don't get it unless it is
cheap like that.

It is as attractive as it seems in pictures. Maybe even more so. All
of the metal hardware is nice. I like having drawers in addition to
cabinet doors.

It has to be assembled, and frankly seemed kinda flimsy for wood. I
had to futz with things a little to get everything really straight and
tight. But it is solid wood and has been holding up. In the last
several months I've been noticing areas where the wood and varnish
seems to be splitting. It is on the surface and is cosmetic. I think
it is water damage. The varnish is very thin and easily scratched. If
you get the stand wipe any spills immediately and be careful around
it.

I had problems because the stand wasn't packed properly at the
factory, (at that time at least) so it kept getting delivered with a
particular broken part. After 2 failed stand deliveries they finally
decided to only ship the individual part, but it was absurdly
scratched with an amateurish attempt to cover it with non-matching
stain. The 4th time was a charm.

The canopy is attractive but functionally lousy. Instead of a proper
hinge it has two rectangular holes in it with 2 glass versa-top like
thingies. Makes it hard to mount many LEDs and impossible to mount
lighting to the canopy. A little annoying to use, especially when you
have to take it off, because you have to remove the glass tops first
and keep them from getting broken. Frankly my canopy is off much more
then it is on.

The inside drawers are very shallow from font to back, which I suppose
would be helpful if you have a really tall filter or CO2 canister. But
in reality it doesn't really help because they are in the way anyway.
The bottoms of the draws are very flimsy and not hardwood. But that
doesn't matter if all you're putting in is some flake food, air
stones, and the like.

Besides these points it is basically solid and attractive. I think it
is pretty easy to overlook the negative points if you can get a good
price. Beats the hell out of the horrible pine or flake board stands
if you can get it in that price range. Of course it is also possible
to make a compelling argument that with all the money we put in our
tanks, it doesn't cost much more to get something much more durable
with a functional matching canopy.