DIY Stands Template and Calculator

I would put a piece of plywood top and go buy a yoga mat and lay the tank on top of the yoga mat. I did this with my 20 long because I had the same issue. About to build a stand for my 75 and will most likely do the same thing. Its hard to find a true flat piece of wood XD
 
jbannick18 said:
I would put a piece of plywood top and go buy a yoga mat and lay the tank on top of the yoga mat. I did this with my 20 long because I had the same issue. About to build a stand for my 75 and will most likely do the same thing. Its hard to find a true flat piece of wood XD
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I put my plywood rectangle on top of a thick bead of liquid nails, let it sit for 30 minutes, put the empty tank on it, let it sit, and then filled it 1/4th full of water. Let it sit again, and just filled it 1/2 full. Im going to let it sit overnight half full.


Took some measurements with a level and both front to back and side to side is near perfect alignment.


I do have one corner that is not touching the wood, and I can slide a playing card underneath. Ill see if it settles at all by morning. Hopefully it does because I don't know what else to do here. Everything else is sitting on my plywood rectangle perfectly. No large gaps like I had a couple days ago. This corner has about 1 1/2" up one side and 2" the other way with the exact corner being less than 1/16" of a gap.


* Just checked after typing he above and the gap is less than an inch off the corner horizontally. So if I put a playing card under the corner it would only go an inch in off the corner. Everything else looks good. On a 4' bubble level its not perfect front to back but basically I don't think worth trying to use shims. I adjusted the bubble level to where it would be perfect and basically the shim would have to barely go in to do anything. Ill just leave it as is, and check again in the next few days. No rocking and its solid pushing on it.
 
It costs you about $15 to go buy some super thin cedar underlayment shingles and gently push those in so that the corners are in contact. You will have to search through a pack to find ones that thin out enough, but they are in there. You can snap them into narrower strips and they also are soft so they will compress (although very little) so pushing them in with gentle pressure will be plenty. Remember the corners are where you really want the support. That was my mistake.
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
It costs you about $15 to go buy some super thin cedar underlayment shingles and gently push those in so that the corners are in contact. You will have to search through a pack to find ones that thin out enough, but they are in there. You can snap them into narrower strips and they also are soft so they will compress (although very little) so pushing them in with gentle pressure will be plenty. Remember the corners are where you really want the support. That was my mistake.
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Just checked again and I can only slide a playing card between 1/4" and 1/2" into the corner. I just built the plywood rectangle today so the glue on that was still soft, and it had a thick bead of liquid nails. The speepage has almost all but stopped.


I think by morning I will have 100% contact. Its certainly WAY better than it was on the 2x4's.


I just bumped it up (right now) to 2/3rds full and will do a complete fill tomorrow since its looking good with contact to the frame as well as front to back level and side to side.


If tomorrow AM I still have a slight gap at the one corner you think a shim would be a good idea? At this point the gap at the extreme edge of this corner is enough to get a playing card right around 1/4" in.
 
tchndie said:
I need to build a stand for my 250g that is being made! The tank is 72X30X26 (LxWxH). Should I use 2x4 or 2x6 or 2x8?? Please help!
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According to the OP you would use either a 2x8 top frame if you wanted no center brace or you could use 2x6 top frame with center braces. 2x4's can be used for the remaining parts.
 
Thanks for the catch James. I thought 6 foot tans were 2x6s, been to long since I read the original post.
(2) Red - Upper Rails: Length = W
These will be sized according to length: 2X4 for 48" or less for smaller tanks (Rule of thumb is 75g-90g); 2X6 up to 72" with 125g-150g being acceptable; For longer spans and larger tanks 2X8s are recommended.
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Alright this AM everything looks great, and all 4 corners are making good contact.




Thanks for the plans and everyone's help. Now comes the skinning of the stand and building the sump + plumbing.
 
anyone build a stand for a 180 gallon 6ftx2ft i can take a look at? I wanted to design it so the back side is open with easy access to sump, so prefer no center beam. is it possible?
 
90 Gallon Stand for 46 Gallon Tank

90 Gallon Stand for 46 Gallon Tank

I built a stand using these designs for a 90 gallon rectangle tank. Now I have a 46 bowfront instead of the 90. Could I get away with just putting the bowfront on top of the 90's stand? If i put the back edge of the tank along the back edge of the stand? Thanks
 
Framed glass 4 foot tank should be fine, but I would add a sheet of plywood. I was told once that for a 4 foot tank you only need to support the ends.
 
Hey guys, any time I inevitably splash a bit of water out of my tank and onto the floor, some of it gets wicked up by the base of the stand, and a puddle forms underneath the stand that I cannot get to. The laminate on my store-bought stand is already warped and falling off in some places because of this. To avoid this in the future, I want to construct a stand that is elevated slightly on 4 stubby legs. I'm talking some short, fat, beefy furniture legs that might elevate the stand about 3-4 inches high so that I can mop up any water (and vacuum) underneath the stand.

Also, I am looking to build an all plywood stand.

Does anyone have any experience or recommendations for doing this?
 
Hey guys, I’m currently working out my in wall 400 gallon build, 72x36x36. I have seen many different ways to build out the stand.
I (my wife) would like me to use as much as the existing walls as possible, can I just double up the 2x4’s and make them 12”on center, and use a double 2x6 for the top frame and then cover that with a 3/4 sheet of plywood? Also, should I use a support brace on the sump side?
 
TheFishMan65 said:
jd what kind of a tank? Accroding to the OP a single 2x6 at the top works with only 2x4 in the corners.
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TheFishMan- It's an acrylic tank, I'm building the tank into an existing wall and for the price of 2x4's I'm going to beef it up a bit. I don't want this sucker coming down. I think the wife would kill me.
 
I'm not sure if doubled-up 2x4s (side by side) would be stronger or weaker than a single 2x6. You have to think in terms of deflection, and in that respect, a 2x6 will deflect less. And I know from experience that you do NOT want any deflection under an acrylic tank. You also want 2 layers of 3/4" plywood on top once you have the stand in place, level, and flat. That suggestion is one I've seen James / Acrylics make dozens of times.
 
Two 2 by 4's with a half inch plywood strip sandwiched between them do not deflect on a six foot span enough that you can measure with a laser with my full 265 pound weight on the center. Admittedly I weigh a lot less than a tank full of water, but a tank does not put all its weight at the center of the beam.

You can borrow from wood truss design and make that plywood a triangle bending downward to its widest at the center, if you want to make something that would be almost undeflectable, within the abilities of wood, and you'd still only be using 2 by 4's not wider stock.
 
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