Built a stand, Need Opinions

[ChaseNet]

Hello, new to the boards here, and already I got a question, but I guess that is the whole point, isn't it? LoL

Anyways, I was hoping for opinions on strength of my stand I built. It will only be holding a small 29 gallon tank in the middle, I had attached photos of the stand and the tank.

the design is quite simple, and is as follows;

the very top is a 48" x 24" 3/4" finished fir plywood

the wood running vertical is red cedar 2x4, with 1 piece in each corner, then 8 more pieces creating "L" in the middle ( which is what the tank will be sitting directly above)

The wood running horizontal is 1x4 pine, at the bottom, middle, and top, designed to keep it strong, without any risk of lateral movements.

the very bottom is a 48" x 24" 3/4" finished fir plywood

the whole thing was put together with gorilla wood clue, and 99 screws

then it was stained black, I'm planning on putting shelves in it later.

But I want to get setting up the tank, so the question is, strong enough? overkill? (which is good, right)


Cheers


Chase

 

[don_chuwish]

Is anything supporting the span of plywood from front to back or side to side? I'm pretty sure you're fine (overkill) but I'm curious about that span. Are the edges of the tank sitting above the vertical 2x4s or 'floating' in the span?

 

[sfdan]

That will easily support 300 pounds.

 

[Windy2]

First, the pictures need to be from further back. All I see is a bunch of half stained cross pieces. Are the verticals under the rim or just screwed to the side? Almost anything will hold a 29 gal. but I can't tell what you have.

 

[davocean]

Yeah I was thinking same, plenty strong enough material as long as you have vertical support directly under the rim joist supporting outer perimeter of tank.

 

[ChaseNet]

Guess I didn't explain the setup well enough, I will try again.

The very bottom base is a two foot by 4 foot 3/4 inch plywood.

glued and screwed to that is 8 30 inch 2x4, 1 in each corner, then 4 in the middle creating 4 Ls, which is where the tank will sit.

on top of that is another 2 foot by 4 foot 3/4 inch plywood which is glued and screwed to the top of the 2x4s.

wrapped around the 2x4s, is 1x4, which is glued and screwed to all the 2x4s at the bottom, middle and top of the 2x4s. The bottom 1x4s and the top 1x4s is also glued to the bottom and top plywood.

Hope that helps clarify things a little more.

Cheers and thanks for the input this far.

 

[ChaseNet]

Iits actually 12 2x4s. One in each comer and 8 in the middle creating 4 also whcich the tank would be sitting on.

 

[South City]

That should be fine for a 29 gallon. For any future stands that would be carrying more weight, you might want the legs resting directly on top of and below the square frames. That way, the legs carry the load of the tank directly to the floor like in the picture below. With your current design, the fasteners are bearing a portion of the load which isn't optimal.

 

[bws]

its fine chase.. overkill.... dang you could rebuild and engine on that thing you made

 

[ChaseNet]

Thanks for the info everyone. Starting to set things up this week.

 

[micgloth18]

Thanks for the info everyone. Starting to set things up this week.

Keep the over all weight in mind. A guy at the LFS built a stand and with his tank and the weight of the stand....over time his floor ate it. It was a single level home but it had a crawl space, the tank feel right in it. Looks good.
I am building a stand for my 29 as well.

 

[sleepydoc]

Definitely overkill! I've got less wood supporting my 120! That said South City has a good point. As a general rule, you want the vertical support directly under the tank rather than transferred. I can't see how the vertical members are placed relative to the plywood top and the footprint of the tank, so you may have done that.