DIY Stands Template and Calculator

[Hitch08]

Do you have a square? Are all the parts cut square in both directions. That would be square along the 4" face and 2" face. Square cuts should not be that far off. If they are not square there will be twists created. The result can be a top that is not co-planer. If the legs are square and all the same length, there is a good possibility the top frame is not co-planer. Glass boxes full of water don't like this!

You need to take some measurements to find out where the problems are. Is the 2x8 not a consistent dimension? Is the 2x8 warped? Are the cuts square? Are the legs the same length? Are the frames (top and bottom) square? (measure diagonals) Is the top frame co-planer? (use winding sticks to find out).

One other thing. (Yes I will stop soon! :thumbsup: )
The pocket holes look like they are a long way from the end of the board. How did you determine their location? Does the screw exit the middle of the board end?

Woodnaquanut - I used my square to get a better idea of what is going on with the stand. My conclusion is that piece of 2x8 is slightly warped/was cut smaller. After pondering the issue for a while, I decided to add 2x4 screw strips and move forward. Between the pocket screws and the screw strip supports - plus a 3/4" skin - I think I will be OK.

Also, when I decided to make the stand a little shorter, I checked out where the screws were coming out of the 2x4's. Looks pretty good.

 

[Pprice01]

Hi all,

Building a stand for a 60x28x24.

Figure 2x4's trimmed to about 3" to square them for the uprights/legs. Everything pocket-screwed and glued.

Question is, can I use the trimmed 2x4 for the top pieces?

I will have a 2x4 center brace/upright/leg in the front and the back; and I will build the top with multiple cross-members and a plywood top.

Tank is glass, with eurobrace and a floating bottom.

Thanks.

Paul

Anyone care to weigh-in on this? Thank you!

 

[kresDFW]

Anyone care to weigh-in on this? Thank you!

Personally I would go the 2x6 route and if you're worried about space, cut them down to 4in. Three inches just makes me worry a bit, especially with knots in the wood.

 

[canesfan44]

Just a few updates.

So for my stand, I finally got around to making a few mods to it.

To vent out the moisture in the air, I added a fan to the left side.

I also cut a 3" hole in the back to run to the electrical box. I added a 3" raceway to help hide cords. It's a center overflow, so I had to cut the raceway in two.

I added the electrical box off to the right side and mounted on the wall.

Quarantine Stand and storage box:

Quarantine Stand for my bedroom:

And for kicks I made a console table for the TV to match.

WOW!!!!! Very, very nice stand!!!

 

[woodnaquanut]

Also, when I decided to make the stand a little shorter, I checked out where the screws were coming out of the 2x4's. Looks pretty good.

That looks perfect.

 

[Pprice01]

Personally I would go the 2x6 route and if you're worried about space, cut them down to 4in. Three inches just makes me worry a bit, especially with knots in the wood.

Thank you! I plan on a tall stand, so space isn't a big deal per se. I will mill the top and bottom pieces to square the sides, maybe only down to 5".

 

[Krukerstool]

Full back and sides plywood 18mm (0,75")
All brackets 95x45mm (3,75x1,75")
My new tank has overflow only 1,5" from back wall...

Aquarium 450l 150x50x60h (cm) or ~ 5 x 1.7 x 2 (ft)

What Do You think about it? :worried:

 

[kresDFW]

WOW!!!!! Very, very nice stand!!!

Thanks canesfan!

 

[kresDFW]

Full back and sides plywood 18mm (0,75")
All brackets 95x45mm (3,75x1,75")
My new tank has overflow only 1,5" from back wall...

Aquarium 450l 150x50x60h (cm) or ~ 5 x 1.7 x 2 (ft)

What Do You think about it? :worried:

I can see your concern, I wouldn't want that back part to be unsupported. Can you do a 1x4 and maybe do a rabbeting joint between the 2x4's? That should give you 3/4in which might be enough for your buildheads. I would let Rocket weigh in on this one though.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Full back and sides plywood 18mm (0,75")
All brackets 95x45mm (3,75x1,75")
My new tank has overflow only 1,5" from back wall...

Aquarium 450l 150x50x60h (cm) or ~ 5 x 1.7 x 2 (ft)

What Do You think about it? :worried:

Honestly I would just use plywood for the back and sides and keep the front as it its. No need for the internal braces on the ends or back, the plywood is plenty. The ones in the top wouldn't hurt but probably aren't necessary.

 

[Pprice01]

If I want to make my stand 7' long and center a 5' tank on it, how would I go about doing this without putting a 2x6 along the bottom, inside the stand, for each side post to rest on? Essentially, the only bottom side pieces would be 7' apart. The top would have cross-members directly under the sides of the tank for support.

The top and bottom frames will be 2x6, with 2x4 legs. I am thinking of 10 legs (4 corners of the stand, and one directly supporting the tank at each corner (4), as well as one centered under the tank in front and back (2).

The top would have cross-members, but there would be nothing directly beneath the sides of the tank - as the legs would only be connecting under the front and back frame pieces.

Could the lack of legs on the side be countered with 45* pieces running from the top cross members down to the legs on the front and back under each corner of the tank?

 

[Krukerstool]

RocketEngineer I have 200l tank now and front bracket is twisting tiny bit after 4 years.. but it's only 18 plywood not 95x45mm.... and nothing across!
So I made another 2 options.
Besides I don't want tank to bend in middle.
I never had any problems with back or sides even I made so many holes inc. 2x for 140mm fans and 1x 160mm for skimmer. However I was thinking to add some corners brackets just to make easier assembly.
Long time ago I also had stand for 160l tank made of MDF only and was fine, but not 2 many ppl is using that any more... I know it soaks water, but i never had this problem. Maybe I was lucky or used SUPER paint

 

[SchnauzerFace]

Sorry to ask a question that's probably been asked, but I read through MANY pages and couldn't find an answer.

I'm planning to use the design on the very first page. However, My tank is 24x12, & making the stand exactly to those dimensions will not leave enough room inside for a sump.

Can I make the stand 28"x16" and then cover the top with 3/4" plywood to distribute the weight? At these dimensions, the tank will not be sitting on the 2x4 beams at all, but I feel like 3/4" plywood securely fastened to the top would be able to distribute the weight to the support legs on the sides. am i right, or am I headed for disaster? It's a 17g glass tank, so I'm estimating a total tank weight of 200ish pounds.

Thanks everyone!

 

[woodnaquanut]

Sorry to ask a question that's probably been asked, but I read through MANY pages and couldn't find an answer.

I'm planning to use the design on the very first page. However, My tank is 24x12, & making the stand exactly to those dimensions will not leave enough room inside for a sump.

Can I make the stand 28"x16" and then cover the top with 3/4" plywood to distribute the weight? At these dimensions, the tank will not be sitting on the 2x4 beams at all, but I feel like 3/4" plywood securely fastened to the top would be able to distribute the weight to the support legs on the sides. am i right, or am I headed for disaster? It's a 17g glass tank, so I'm estimating a total tank weight of 200ish pounds.

Thanks everyone!

With a tank that small you could make it out of 1x material or just use 3/4" plywood.

 

[SchnauzerFace]

With a tank that small you could make it out of 1x material or just use 3/4" plywood.

But it's OK that the tank won't be centered over the frame? I just want to make sure the weight is distributed to the frame properly, as no part of the tank will be resting on the legs.

 

[barianto]

Big Tank

Big Tank

Hi,

Thanks for this such great thread that has been going fot 8 Years!.

Reading for old thread to this split thread make me want to ask one question to clarify thing.

In my country the measurement are in cm.
And also there is to standard lumber, i need to ask the seller to tailor made it to meet 2"x4" lumber.

The close thing i cand find ready at store is size 2.6cm x 8cm almost equal to 1" x 4" and another size is 5cm x 5cm.


So i want to build stand with length = 213cm, width = 60 and height 70 cm to hold tank with size in width,legth and height
213cm, 60cm and 50cm.


With lumber option above i plan to make stand with 8 legs, (2 on left -- double leg as rocketengineer design-- , 2 on middle left, 2 on middle right, and 2 on right -- double leg as rocketengineer design--). I'm not going to use sump on the bottom.

On top will be cover with , 18mm plywood, and bottom also will be cover with 18mm plywood. On side left and right also with be cover with 18mm plywood wich going to be support on top/cover plywood.

Please help, with your suggestion. Can my stand hold the tank? is it sufficient?
Please give mee advice to tighten thing up if the only option i have is two kind of lumber above?

Thanks guys.

 

[rphaunef]

60 gallon cube stand

60 gallon cube stand

So... I'm almost done, just need to paint (dark grey) and find a piece of granite to go on the lower tier. Oh and trim around the tank on the top tier...

2x4 frame -
top tier to hold 60g cube (24x24)
lower tier - just plane counter top to place supplies, pictures, whatever... mainly just wanted an extended base cabinet to hold all the goodies

I really like this 60 gallon cube stand. Do you have a materials list (cut list) for it? Or even total dimensions? Thanks

 

[Jackie Blue]

Hello all. After a long time of my completed stand sitting unused I'm finally setting up my tank. My question is that I have a standard 120g and the stand is going to be on an old oak floor. The stand is supported by four legs instead of whole bottom resting on the floor. My question is do I have to worry about the four legs denting or damaging the oak floor. It seems to be a long of weight resting on four points.

Thanks,

 

[RocketEngineer]

Hi,

Thanks for this such great thread that has been going fot 8 Years!.

Reading for old thread to this split thread make me want to ask one question to clarify thing.

In my country the measurement are in cm.
And also there is to standard lumber, i need to ask the seller to tailor made it to meet 2"x4" lumber.

The close thing i cand find ready at store is size 2.6cm x 8cm almost equal to 1" x 4" and another size is 5cm x 5cm.


So i want to build stand with length = 213cm, width = 60 and height 70 cm to hold tank with size in width,legth and height
213cm, 60cm and 50cm.


With lumber option above i plan to make stand with 8 legs, (2 on left -- double leg as rocketengineer design-- , 2 on middle left, 2 on middle right, and 2 on right -- double leg as rocketengineer design--). I'm not going to use sump on the bottom.

On top will be cover with , 18mm plywood, and bottom also will be cover with 18mm plywood. On side left and right also with be cover with 18mm plywood wich going to be support on top/cover plywood.

Please help, with your suggestion. Can my stand hold the tank? is it sufficient?
Please give mee advice to tighten thing up if the only option i have is two kind of lumber above?

Thanks guys.

For the unit challenged: The tank is 83.8" X 23.6" X 19.7". To me that would be a great set of dimensions for a reef.

OP: If I were looking at the front of your stand, you would have three openings and four legs. The back looks the same as the front and each end also has two legs. If that is the case, the 2.6X8 lumber you call out is just fine because with that many vertical supports, there is only slightly more than 60cm between legs.

Personally, I would make the stand slightly bigger than the tank. If the boards truly are 8cm wide and not 7.9 or something silly, three spaces 61cm wide plus four legs 8cm wide gives you 215cm which is gives you 1cm on each side. Same for the width, give yourself room for error.

One other thing, you may want the stand to be a little taller but that is a personal preference more than anything. I don't like bending down to look into my tank. Now if this were open top and you were looking down into it, the stand height would be just fine. Its all a matter of what you are aiming for.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Thanks for the compliments. That is one thing that stuck out to me when looking at stands and builds over the years is the electronics were always in the same compartment as the water and humidity. I wanted to do what I could to avoid any future problems and corrosion, that stuff isn't cheap after all.

Hi,
How is your wiring routed to the sump area? Do you have a slit or something? I am hoping to do something similar.

THanks