DIY Stands Template and Calculator

[Rhodophyta]

I've got a question on my upcoming stand build. My tank footprint is 60x18. I'm going to be building my stand bigger at 70x23. I know that I need cross braces on the top for where the tank sits but my question is: Can I use a 2x6 for the length of the frame and 2x4's for the legs with no center brace?(using plans from Rocketengineer) I'm going to put a center brace in the rear.

I use a different system using offset doubled 2x4's and half inch plywood sandwiched between them. There would be a solid three and a half inch perimeter support around the top of the stand. So the opening inside would be 63x16. The 2x4's are offset so that a 3/4" plywood shelf can be dropped inside flush to the outer 2x4. I use 2x6 or 2x8 legs with a notch for the horizontals, and ripped on one corner for a plywood bracing panel. This system leaves plenty of room underneath for equipment or a tank up to equal the foot print of the tank above it. It does not count on the plywood skin of the stand contributing to stability so you can attach the decorative skin with magnets and lift it away for very full access to anything underneath.

 

[RaeGotEm]

 

[RaeGotEm]

Wanted to see controls.

 

[NEReef]

I have built quite a few basic stands based on this thread over the years but now I want to build something that is a little nicer that looks more like a piece of furniture. The stand really just needs to be built to carry the load across the top frame and straight to the floor. I sort of envision it like a load bearing wall in home construction with a header and king and jack studs. Based on that understanding I am thinking of building a simple top frame with legs that go all the way to the floor. Then either building a separate bottom frame that is a few inches off the floor on its own legs or using the screw strips to do a half lap joint to support the frame. This allows for a more furniture look when the stand is finished out with wood. I attached a picture that hopefully illustrates what I am talking about let me know what you think.

The bottom two pics show the side of the stand looking from the inside out. The shaded pieces are for support of the bottom frame either by its own legs or the half lap joint.

 

[Rhodophyta]

For some reason the photos keep getting deleted. Maybe it will let me post the URL's. And you can find the photos.


I start by building the legs out of 2 by 6's or 2 by 8's and plywood.
http://s451.photobucket.com/user/mcdaphnia/media/art_diy_stand2_01.jpg.html?o=9

Then I attach the laterals to the legs.

http://s451.photobucket.com/user/mcdaphnia/media/art_diy_stand2_02.jpg.html?o=10

Half inch (or 3/4 inch) plywood strips 3 and a half inches wide are attached inside, but dropped 3/4 inches and a second 2 by 4 lateral is attached flush to that, glued and clamped together.

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq238/mcdaphnia/art_diy_stand2_03.jpg?1424058196506&1424058197912

Then the 3/4" plywood inserts are placed into the shelf laterals to create flush shelf surfaces.

http://s451.photobucket.com/user/mcdaphnia/media/danontank.jpg.html?o=18

 

[Rhodophyta]

The advantages of this method is you don't need six or twelve inch wide lateral boards even for six foot spans giving you more access and room under the tank, the plywood inserts largely keep the pine boards from warping and twisting, and with minimal cross bracing, the cosmetic skin of the stand can be attached with magnets or tabs so that it can be lifted away for full access under the tank.

 

[Rmiles54]

design help

design help

The problem is that you don't have support directly under the corners of the tank. The stand I built for my setup had a 48" tank on a 72" stand but there were legs on either side of the front to support the corners of the tank. The result was a 42" front opening.



Hey Rocket awesome job here! A lot of info!! A lot of participants.. I was wondering if you had any instruction on how I could put together a stand for a 180 gallon aquarium. I would like to have an additional 6" on each side and 4" on the front. This would make the total dimensions 84" Long x 28" wide. I would like to have a height of around 40". I would be looking to incorporate a plywood skin and 4 doors or removable panels. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BfishLpond78]

How critical is it to have plywood on the top of the frame for the tank to sit on? Is there another option I can take? By stand builder somehow missed this and it will affect the molding on the tank.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

How critical is it to have plywood on the top of the frame for the tank to sit on? Is there another option I can take? By stand builder somehow missed this and it will affect the molding on the tank.

What kind of tank - glass or acrylic?

If glass, does it have a bottom trim?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Glass. No bottom trim, I'm sure the answer is yes I need it, is there any other material I can lay down? I've hear people use foam or something similar.

 

[BfishLpond78]

My plan was to have 1/2 inch of plywood then a piece of styrofoam to keep the pressure points off the bottom panel

 

[BfishLpond78]

Next question....

Is it possible instead of using one sheet of plywood on top of the stand, but cut it up and fill in the sections between the cross members with the ply wood, then lay the foam over top.

Does that make sense?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Glass needs even support under the entire bottom panel. I think your solution may work but you need to do a few things, considering that one usually places a full continuous sheet of plywood over the top of the frame / support members, I think you would want to build some kind of frame under each "hole" that you are going to fill with plywood. After it's all together, sand it all down flush. Then put the foam on it. The foam for a glass tank is really just to eliminate any imperfections in the surface that might cause the glass to fracture. you can just use white styrofoam, which compresses a lot easier than the blue/pink insulation stuff. Or better yet, if you can find a really really thin sheet of the white styro and put that on the stand first, then a thin sheet of the blue/pink insulating foam, that would work too. One takes out the imperfections and the other evens out the load.

But I would think that it would be a good idea to at least install some kind of support under the plywood hole fillers. I'm not the expert on stands though so I'd let someone who knows a bit more about stands and rimless glass tanks confirm this.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Does the tank have a plastic trim? If it has plastic trim, you don't need a top. If it doesn't have trim, I would think a continuous top would be recommended by the tank builder.

Having a single top would be much better than filling in the spaces. The individual sections aren't going to do much because they aren't well supported compared to the frame itself.

Foam is NOT recommended for tanks with plastic trim.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Does the tank have a plastic trim? If it has plastic trim, you don't need a top. If it doesn't have trim, I would think a continuous top would be recommended by the tank builder.

Having a single top would be much better than filling in the spaces. The individual sections aren't going to do much because they aren't well supported compared to the frame itself.

Foam is NOT recommended for tanks with plastic trim.

There is no plastic rim, I am hoping to do a continuous piece of ply with foam/Styrofoam on top.

 

[RocketEngineer]

What does the tank builder recommend? I always defer to their recommendations.

 

[HunterBryan]

I built my stand this week for my rimless 45 gallon and I started filling my tank and when i put a level to it it was a tad bit unleveled but not where the bubbles goes pass the middle lines.

Question: Will my tank be alright if its a little off?

 

[wbdevers]

Okay, so I'm sure my few questions have already been answered somewhere within the almost 4,000 posts, but honestly, I do not have the time or the gumption to search through them all.

First, RocketEngineer, thank you for an awesome yet simple design. I actually saw this thread about 4 years ago but am just getting around to upgrading tanks and obviously the stand.

The tank will be a trimmed glass 125 with dual corner overflows. My questions are 1) can I add an MDF top to the stand or will this cause an issue due to the trim? Secondly, I want to make the stand roughly half again deeper than the tank itself. I want this for extra room under the tank. 2) Can I do this and if so will I need to add bracing somewhere else given that the tank will not be centered over the four corners?

Again, thanks for the awesome build thread.

 

[RocketEngineer]

You can add a PLYWOOD top to the stand no problem. MDF and water are a recipe for disintegration.

My stand has 3" behind it. The easiest way to do it with my design is to place the front and back long boards inside the ends. That way you can keep the board across the back in the correct position and extend the stand simply by making the end boards longer.

Design:

 

[Hitch08]

You can add a PLYWOOD top to the stand no problem. MDF and water are a recipe for disintegration.

Rocket - Thanks for all of your adice in this thread.

I have what is likely the first of many dumb questions for RC... Is the diagram (and related instructions) on page 1 of this thread (your post number 3), still the recommended method for constructing a custom stand? I tend to doubt that things have changed much since 2009, but thought I should check.

Also, do you recommend plywood on top of the stand? It seems to me that it would help reduce the potential impact of DIY stands being slightly off.

Thanks again!