DIY Stands Template and Calculator

[nukumjilly]

nevermind...i haven't been a member to the forums long enough and haven't had 50 posts. I can post anything for sale.

 

[EvasionOfTruth]

I've made our stand for the 180, 6'wx25"dx43"h What I'm wondering about is bracing for lateral movement. We are building a stand around the tank stand to cover a total area of 8' wide x 3' deep That stand is going to be finished with a skin. Would using 2x4s on the rear of the tank stand be sufficient to brace against lateral movement? I was thinking of using 2 on the rear, hoping not to use any on the front as it would block getting to the sump.

Thanks

 

[RokleM]

I'm going for the whole "hold two tanks" mentality... specifically M1 Abrams

I will add two diagonal pieces at some point before it's fully into production. Skinning will also occur later on (likely after it's done).

 

[RokleM]

Build pictures:

 

[randomworker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13220519#post13220519 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvasionOfTruth
I've made our stand for the 180, 6'wx25"dx43"h What I'm wondering about is bracing for lateral movement. We are building a stand around the tank stand to cover a total area of 8' wide x 3' deep That stand is going to be finished with a skin. Would using 2x4s on the rear of the tank stand be sufficient to brace against lateral movement? I was thinking of using 2 on the rear, hoping not to use any on the front as it would block getting to the sump.

Thanks

For what it's worth. I built a stand for a 180 and currently have it full of water. It only has a plywood skin on the back and it's pretty solid. When I get done the front and side will have a skin and the remaining side will have nothing since it's up against the wall.

 

[nukumjilly]

This is the start to the new build for my 90 gallon....my previous stand still has to be sold, but we went ahead and started the new one to accomodate the size of my sump and to allow for upgrades at a later date.

This is my old new stand that I worked so hard on and now need to sell

The front of the frame of the new stand (a few inches bigger than the original to allow for the oversized sump)

Starting to secure the sides

my honey keeping it square

we got a good start, but ran out of screws...the rest will be done next week

this is the cause of the design change....nice big sump

 

[Logzor]

I am also doing a 90 build and want a large sump.

What are those dimension and what size is your sump?

 

[nukumjilly]

my sump is 16" deep, 36" long, and 16" tall without plumbing. My stand is 27" deep, 50" long, and 36" tall. The stand dimensions are with it unfinished. The skins and such will make it a bit larger. With the design we are doing, it gives me a inside cabinet dimension of 21"deep, 46" long, and 29" tall. We used all 2x4 and will use 3/4 inch plywood for floor, top, and sides for added support.

The stand that I built originally only gave me a 16" inside depth. Fit the tank like a champ...but oh well. Pm if you want a list of what we used and more pics.

 

[MO Will]

Great thread!

What do people use after they have constructed the stand to protect the wood?

I have seen people recommend marine enamel or garage floor epoxy paint

Thanks!

 

[nukumjilly]

my plan is once the stand is complete, we will seal in all cracks, joints etc with silicone. then paint the floor and most the guts with either the marine enamel or epoxy (i have to find which is cheaper and easier to apply) Then skin, stain, poly...

 

[XSiVE]

corner overflows?

corner overflows?

So with this stand template, how would one go about accommodating bottom-drilled corner overflow tanks?

I built mine today and didnt even think about it but the bulkheads for the corner overflows on my 120 will run into the green piece "screw strip"

I thought about cutting them down a little, but I dont really feel comfortable with it..

This stand is in a fish room, so maybe if the screw strip pieces were mounted on the outside of the load-bearing legs? It doesnt have to look pretty, but it does have to allow my overflows to work

 

[nukumjilly]

I left the image big so you can see what we had to do. I usually try to make is smaller so it isn't overtaking the entire screen.
I didn't think about the corner overflow either...we had to cut away a piece of one board and use a second one from floor up to support the weight of that corner. I used a L bracket with a center support lower down on the corner away from the plumbing of my tank. then used both screws and a small truss plate to mesh the new support board and the original board that we had to cut down together.

Now, since I have rebuilt a new stand...we thought of this before hand and made the stand just a tad longer...there is plenty of room.

 

[Angler02]

I got mine painted tonight, I still have some touch up work to do but turned out pretty good. As far as sealing the wood I used a primer/sealer made for concrete and applied 3 coats of that to all of the wood, and then wood glued any seams where water could get into. I used an enamel for the final paint. I left the back of the stand open and just used ply on the front and the sides. The doors are held in place by magnets and I am doing a white molding around all of the stand edges and the doors.

 

[EvasionOfTruth]

Re: corner overflows?

Re: corner overflows?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13262023#post13262023 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by XSiVE
So with this stand template, how would one go about accommodating bottom-drilled corner overflow tanks?

I built mine today and didnt even think about it but the bulkheads for the corner overflows on my 120 will run into the green piece "screw strip"

I thought about cutting them down a little, but I dont really feel comfortable with it..

This stand is in a fish room, so maybe if the screw strip pieces were mounted on the outside of the load-bearing legs? It doesnt have to look pretty, but it does have to allow my overflows to work

I added about 1/2" overall length and width to accommodate mine without sacrificing the contact to the actual tank.

 

[Diffusion]

I have been lurking for quite some time on this thread and chose this design to build my new stand. I couldnt get over how much my LFS wanted to charge for a stand that didn't look very good and was a lot less strong than this design.

I modified the basic design a little bit to include 2 storage areas on either side of the stand. The tank is 36" X 18" but I made the frame 48" x 18"

Here is the top frame

Joining the top to the bottom frame

The finished frame

And the Finished stand!

This was my first ever large scale wood project, I borrowed my girlfriends fathers work area for an afternoon and enlisted the help of her brother.

Overall it went pretty well, a few small things I would do differently but very happy with the end result! Phase 2 will be to make doors for the front and sides.

Thanks RocketEngineer!

 

[mcox]

OK I probably missed it somewhere through this thread. But wondering where the calculator is.

 

[Diffusion]

First page.

The real variables come with the length of the tank which will determine the type of wood to use on the Purple Rails (2X4 , 2X6 etc)

 

[Logzor]

I am building a 90g tank stand.

Is there a max height where this stand would be unstable or does it not matter for the most part.

I like the tank to be up high as I hate to crouch down to look at it.

Is 33 inches too high?

 

[Blazer88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13282049#post13282049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Logzor
I am building a 90g tank stand.

Is there a max height where this stand would be unstable or does it not matter for the most part.

I like the tank to be up high as I hate to crouch down to look at it.

Is 33 inches too high?

I built my stand 34" tall and I used 1"x4" boards. I don't have the tank up and running quite yet but the stand seems to be extremely sturdy (more so once I attached the 3/4" top).

 

[nukumjilly]

I built mine at 36 inch high. 32" is the standard for commercially built stands, right?