At BRI we build many different styles of aquarium cabinets. Many of the aquarium cabinets are customized variations of our existing line of aquarium stands. In fact our product line was developed this way. As more and more aquarium cabinets are being built at BRI, a few characteristics unique to building aquarium stands have remained the same.

First is the weight of an aquarium on top of an aquarium cabinet. It is a lot. BRI builds all of it’s aquarium furniture around this philosophy. All of our aquarium cabinets utilize cabinet/furniture grade plywoods and veneered plys through out the case work. This helps to ensure uniformity and strength. Plywoods are the most stable and reliable of all materials you can use for case work. Since the wood is comprised of cross grained layers of wood, it is incredibly strong, flat and stable. Sometimes we will further increase the strength of the aquarium stand by building a lamented interior subframe into the inside of the cabinet. We also heavily glue and fasten all joints.

BRI uses solid 3/4 plywood as the top deck material on all of it’s aquarium cabinets. Many aquarium stands have no solid decks or have very thin and weak top decks. It cost a little more to use the thicker material but we find that it provides a lot of integrity to the cabinet. The solid 3/4” deck helps to securely pass the weight to the sides efficiently for better resilience. This all provides a flatter top deck that is more supportive for the aquarium to sit on. The deck will bring the top edge to a flatter plane and stay that way longer. Acrylic aquariums require a good solid deck onto which to sit. Acrylic aquariums sit down flat across the bottom and therefore transfer the weight as such. Larger and wider acrylic aquarium cabinets receive special joisting under the top deck for extra support.

Salt water aquariums and reef fish tanks generally have built in overflows that exits the bottom of the aquarium. We will precut these openings for you if requested. You have to tell us where to cut the aquarium overflows. This will save you time and mess. Some aquarium cabinets built for acrylic fish tanks will have bracing underneath the aquarium cabinet top deck. In this situation we must know where the overflow cutouts go to properly locate the braces.

Fan holes for ventilation are another small but big concern you should have for the aquarium stand. Marine aquariums and salt water reef aquariums in particular have quite a bit of filtration equipment operating inside the aquarium cabinet. A lot of moisture is developed inside some of the cabinets. The easiest way to deal with this moisture problem is to install 2 vents. BRI generally will cutout a fan hole on each aquarium cabinet side panel. Typically one is placed low and the opposite one is placed up high in the tank stand side. We stagger the vents as such to take advantage of any naturally occurring convection to help dissipate the moisture.

BRI’s aquarium cabinets have three set deck heights. This has proven based on customer and retailer feedback to be a big issue. Aquarium stands that have 28” or 30” decks are just to short for comfortable all around viewing. It use to seem like every other order was for a custom higher deck. We switched our decks to taller heights in response to this as a standard feature of the aquarium cabinet. The number of request have now dropped to a much lower number suggesting that the customer is getting what they want.

The deck heights are unique to the aquarium cabinet series you are looking at. The Standard, Contemporary I and Bow Front aquarium stand series comes with a 34” deck height. The Plus, Deluxe, Signature, Contemporary II, & III have 36” deck heights. On the Executive series the decks are 42” tall. Since we made these changes some years ago the response has been very positive. Having said all that, we still get a lot of request for different top deck heights. However now instead of being for visual and aesthetic reasons they are more user specific for a particular application.

At BRI the standard wood material used in all cabinet manufacturing ( except Contemporary II & III, Executive and Deco ) is red oak. But you do have the option of many other select hardwoods and veneers. The most popular request are Maple, Cherry, Red Mahogany and Black Walnut. Many people who are considering a home aquarium or a office aquarium would like to be able to match the existing woods. Pricing on various hardwoods and veneers is readily available. We build a lot of home and office aquariums with matching woods. This service goes a long way in providing the customer with what they want, a matching aquatic display that they can be proud of.

Custom aquarium cabinets are also a big part of our business. Many times we receive photos of existing home or office decor that we are expected to match. BRI is always interested in this type of custom aquarium cabinetry. While it is very hard to make a exact match from a photo, we can generally come with a theme for the aquarium stand that compliments the home owner’s existing furnishings. Usually some minor custom work on an existing aquarium cabinet model will get the needed results.

All of BRI’s aquarium cabinets utilize European style hinges. This type of hinge is great to work with and delivers many years of superb service in your aquarium cabinet. The hinge is a hidden hinge. It cannot be seen outside the cabinet. Gives the cabinet a very clean look. It is also spring loaded to keep the door properly closed. The type of European hinge we use is a 6 way adjustable clip on hinge. If the door ever needs adjusting, just turn a screw or two and the door moves where you want it to. Need to do aquarium maintenance inside the cabinet? The doors unclip from the cabinet with the press of a finger giving you more work room outside in front of the cabinet. When your done the hinges clip right back into place with no adjustment needed.

Certain aquarium cabinet series have flat or raised panel doors. You are in no ways locked into that configuration. As an option, we offer all aquarium stands with any style door in the product line. Louvered doors are soon to be available.