DIY Stands Template and Calculator

Still need a vertical member on the sides of each leg too. This adds a lot of stability to the stand and shouldn't be skipped either IMO. With mine (built per OP) with a 2x2x4 120 on it, when I'm cleaning with a mag float on the end and going front to back with it, the tank rocks on the stand. If it weren't for those side members, I'd be a lot more nervous.

(8) Purple - Uprights: Length varies:
- 2X4 Upper Rails: Length = H -7"
- 2X6 Upper Rails: Length = H-9"
- 2X8 Upper Rails: Length = H-10.75"
These 2X4s support the weight of the tank. The ones on the short sides of the stand provide a flat surface for attaching a plywood facing and while they do provide some strength, they are optional.

did i read this wrong?
 
Hmmm...I guess they are optional! I guess if you skin the entire stand, then it's no problem. For me though, it's $5 worth of material for that much most support. Like I said, when I mag float the glass the stand wobbles a bit, and it just makes sense to maximize the support for all the $ you have invested in the tank.
 
If I was going to make them optional I would have made the side be full length so they still rested on the vertical 2x4 by an inch and the front/rear rested on 2.5 inches. But I agree they way the picture is and the wording says they are optional.

But what is going on with the right side? It looks like the plywood hangs over the edge and is supported by a 2x4.
 
hello,again, sorry i am trying to win the biggest PITA award. so i need to know if i need to do anything different with my stand. i spoke to the guy making the tank and it looks like it won't have the frame thing around it so i need to use plywood and foam on top.
Question???
since the tank will be flat on the bottom do i need to put any other support in the stand other than the plywood on top. will the weight be supported just on the outside or do i need to worry that it will start caving in. it is 60x24x24. for the upper box i was planning on having 5 pieces of 2x4 21.5" long to support the plywood but do i need to have each of those supported vertically. i hope you can understand what i mean.
thanks
christine
 
But what is going on with the right side? It looks like the plywood hangs over the edge and is supported by a 2x4.
I built the stand based on the tanks dimensions, stupid me should have measured the tank myself and the trim. the stand was a little(very little) short, so instead of having a little over hang, i added the 2x6. which will come in handy when i add trim.

as far as the stand rocking,swaying,etc. i can tell you this thing is rock solid.
the added 2x6 will not support the tank, is more there to give me a little extra piece of mind.

The entire stand is built with 2x6, the bottom and top has a sheet of plywood, I can flip the stand upside down and still use it.
 
They are connected, just bad pictures i guess. But they are deff connected. Sorry about that, should have used my camera and not the wifes.

i am thinking of doing something similar to you since i'll have about 18" of space on my left. i figure i can use it for storage or top-off. are the vertical supports on the ground or the 2x6.
thanks for any info.
 
hello,again, sorry i am trying to win the biggest PITA award. so i need to know if i need to do anything different with my stand. i spoke to the guy making the tank and it looks like it won't have the frame thing around it so i need to use plywood and foam on top.
Question???
since the tank will be flat on the bottom do i need to put any other support in the stand other than the plywood on top. will the weight be supported just on the outside or do i need to worry that it will start caving in. it is 60x24x24. for the upper box i was planning on having 5 pieces of 2x4 21.5" long to support the plywood but do i need to have each of those supported vertically. i hope you can understand what i mean.
thanks
christine

I'm having a custom Miracles tank built 60x18 and I told them I was going to do 3 sets of double-2x6s running from end to end, along the front, back and the middle, no cetner support in the middle of the front, then 2 layers of 3/4" ACS plywood, then foam and they said they would extend the warranty as that stand was acceptable to them. I didn't think about putting legs down at the ends of the middle braces, but I'm thinking yes.

In your case, putting cross braces front to back, think you might want to switch to end to end and double them, then double plywood and foam.
 
I'm building my stand for my 48x24x20 tank using 2x6's. I used pocket screws to attach the legs to the base and top. Do you think this will support the weight of everything? I'm also putting in plywood at the bottom and using epoxy to waterproof it as my sump will be under there.

Feedback appreciated.
Here are the pics:

IMG_5828.jpg


IMG_5831.jpg


IMG_5833.jpg
 
I would be a little concerned about the caster taking the weight of the tank. Part of this design spread out the weight over the lower frame. If the wheels are truly required I think that I would recommend a steel frame on the bottom and move the casters to the corners. Oh wait it is not April 1st.

Thank build looks good to me.
 
I would be a little concerned about the caster taking the weight of the tank. Part of this design spread out the weight over the lower frame. If the wheels are truly required I think that I would recommend a steel frame on the bottom and move the casters to the corners. Oh wait it is not April 1st.

Thank build looks good to me.

Thanks! Lol. I don't want to set it on my floor till i'm finished. I didn't realize how heavy it was going to be until I finished the frame.
 
i spoke to the guy making the tank and it looks like it won't have the frame thing around it so i need to use plywood and foam on top. [?]
You only need to support the entire bottom of an acrylic tank. A glass tank only needs to be supported around the edges (unless the bottom is thinner than normal, or unusually wide (not your tank)). The fact that it doesn't have the plastic frame around the bottom doesn't change this fact, so you don't need to use plywood and foam on top, and you don't need to add any 21.5" cross pieces between the horizontal supports.

Foam:
The reason foam is sometimes used under tanks is to avoid the problem of having any little high spots putting too much pressure on one tiny point of the glass bottom. Imagine if you put a flat piece of glass on a flat plywood table, but there was a little 1/8" diameter pebble under the tank. The entire weight of the tank would be resting on top of that pebble instead of spread out over the whole flat top, and the glass would break. Now imagine if you laid down a 1/2" layer of Styrofoam between the glass top and the plywood table, still with the pebble between the glass and the foam. The tank would still push down on the pebble with all it's weight, but instead of the pebble pushing back like it did before, it will simply be pushed into the foam. The foam simply absorbs any imperfections in the flatness of the plywood top, so that there are no particular points pushing up on the glass with enough force to break it, and the weight is spread equally over every square inch of the glass. If the plywood were very flat, you wouldn't need any foam, but why take the chance (foam is cheap). We're not talking about springy couch cushion type foam, but a flat sheet of semi-rigid foam like Styrofoam. If you are only supporting your tank around the edge, then just put a strip of foam around the edge, or simply make sure that your wood frame is very flat all the way around. Make absolutely sure that there is no little piece of gravel or anything hard between the glass and the wood, and that all four pieces of lumber around the edge form a perfectly flat rim, so that none of the four is taller than any other (buy good straight lumber, and/or use planer/joiner to get straight edges and uniform widths)

since the tank will be flat on the bottom do i need to put any other support in the stand other than the plywood on top.[?] will the weight be supported just on the outside or do i need to worry that it will start caving in.[?] it is 60x24x24. for the upper box i was planning on having 5 pieces of 2x4 21.5" long to support the plywood but do i need to have each of those supported vertically. i hope you can understand what i mean.
Assuming that your tank will be made of glass, and that the bottom is of the standard thickness for this dimension of tank (1/2" i think) all of the extra stuff you mention above is unnecessary over-kill, and will just make your stand heavier, more expensive, and harder to build. Notice that the design given at the beginning of this thread (with the colored lumber pieces) doesn't include any cross pieces or plywood on the top. (Instead of adding extra wood to your stand, add capital letters to the first words of your sentences, and question marks at the end of questions :))

If I were supporting an acrylic tank, then yes to all of the above: Add two 21" 2x4 cross pieces spaced 18" apart, 3/4" plywood covering the top, and either use foam over the plywood, or just sweep it, and the tank bottom, well to make sure that both surfaces are flat and smooth, with no specks of anything between them. And support the end of each cross piece with either a steel joist support, or a vertical 2x2 going all the way to the floor (I like joist holders for this, just take care to mount them so that the tops of the cross pieces are flush with the tops of the long horizontal pieces.)
 
Last edited:
I'm building my stand for my 48x24x20 tank using 2x6's. I used pocket screws to attach the legs to the base and top. Do you think this will support the weight of everything?
If you used two or three pocket screws per joint, not just one, then yes. In fact, 2x6's are over-kill, especially for the vertical pieces. 2x4's would have been sufficient.
I'm also putting in plywood at the bottom and using epoxy to waterproof it as my sump will be under there.
Making the stand waterproof inside is a great idea.

Great job, very strong and well built. It will easily support your tank (even if you fill it with lead)
 
If you used two or three pocket screws per joint, not just one, then yes. In fact, 2x6's are over-kill, especially for the vertical pieces. 2x4's would have been sufficient.
Making the stand waterproof inside is a great idea.

Great job, very strong and well built. It will easily support your tank (even if you fill it with lead)

Thanks! I'll post pics when I'm done.
 
Hmmm...I guess they are optional! I guess if you skin the entire stand, then it's no problem. For me though, it's $5 worth of material for that much most support. Like I said, when I mag float the glass the stand wobbles a bit, and it just makes sense to maximize the support for all the $ you have invested in the tank.

so i got thetank on the stand today, and decided to rock it, to see if it would move, and you are right; it does rock!
i Might just go ahead and add the extra support, I have time, no rush to get this done. plus i am not too happy with the sillicone work, might go back and re-do it. ( bought the tank as a leaker for $150, just the front pain leaked, I re-did it,but not happy with the look of the sillicone.) I think mine rocks because it's on top of floating floors which was installed over carpet. the stand does not shift, i can hear the floor when i rock it.
 
You only need to support the entire bottom of an acrylic tank. A glass tank only needs to be supported around the edges (unless the bottom is thinner than normal, or unusually wide (not your tank)). The fact that it doesn't have the plastic frame around the bottom doesn't change this fact, so you don't need to use plywood and foam on top, and you don't need to add any 21.5" cross pieces between the horizontal supports.

Foam:
The reason foam is sometimes used under tanks is to avoid the problem of having any little high spots putting too much pressure on one tiny point of the glass bottom. Imagine if you put a flat piece of glass on a flat plywood table, but there was a little 1/8" diameter pebble under the tank. The entire weight of the tank would be resting on top of that pebble instead of spread out over the whole flat top, and the glass would break. Now imagine if you laid down a 1/2" layer of Styrofoam between the glass top and the plywood table, still with the pebble between the glass and the foam. The tank would still push down on the pebble with all it's weight, but instead of the pebble pushing back like it did before, it will simply be pushed into the foam. The foam simply absorbs any imperfections in the flatness of the plywood top, so that there are no particular points pushing up on the glass with enough force to break it, and the weight is spread equally over every square inch of the glass. If the plywood were very flat, you wouldn't need any foam, but why take the chance (foam is cheap). We're not talking about springy couch cushion type foam, but a flat sheet of semi-rigid foam like Styrofoam. If you are only supporting your tank around the edge, then just put a strip of foam around the edge, or simply make sure that your wood frame is very flat all the way around. Make absolutely sure that there is no little piece of gravel or anything hard between the glass and the wood, and that all four pieces of lumber around the edge form a perfectly flat rim, so that none of the four is taller than any other (buy good straight lumber, and/or use planer/joiner to get straight edges and uniform widths)


Assuming that your tank will be made of glass, and that the bottom is of the standard thickness for this dimension of tank (1/2" i think) all of the extra stuff you mention above is unnecessary over-kill, and will just make your stand heavier, more expensive, and harder to build. Notice that the design given at the beginning of this thread (with the colored lumber pieces) doesn't include any cross pieces or plywood on the top. (Instead of adding extra wood to your stand, add capital letters to the first words of your sentences, and question marks at the end of questions :))

If I were supporting an acrylic tank, then yes to all of the above: Add two 21" 2x4 cross pieces spaced 18" apart, 3/4" plywood covering the top, and either use foam over the plywood, or just sweep it, and the tank bottom, well to make sure that both surfaces are flat and smooth, with no specks of anything between them. And support the end of each cross piece with either a steel joist support, or a vertical 2x2 going all the way to the floor (I like joist holders for this, just take care to mount them so that the tops of the cross pieces are flush with the tops of the long horizontal pieces.)
thank you
 
Here is what I have completed so far due to a slightly modified plan of Rockets. (Sorry for the bad pic)
stand5.jpg


I have one corner that I am having some problems that has a gap between the tank and the stand, about 1/32. Shown here:
stand6.jpg


Will this be something that will even out, or will I need to look at maybe a plywood top and doing something like trying to shim under the plywood on that side?
 
IMO, it's extremely important to make sure the trim is in full contact with the stand all around. It has been stated on here before that for a tank < 48" long, you only need to support the corners 6" in from each corner, but for a longer tank you need it all around.

The gap you show isn't really that bad, you could probably get away with it, but if it were my tank I would just sand down the top frame a little bit. The last thing you want is a seam to pop loose, so take the time and do it right.

You don't need the plywood on top, but IMO its a good idea. 3/4" ACS plywood makes a great top.
 
so i got thetank on the stand today, and decided to rock it, to see if it would move, and you are right; it does rock!
i Might just go ahead and add the extra support, I have time, no rush to get this done. plus i am not too happy with the sillicone work, might go back and re-do it. ( bought the tank as a leaker for $150, just the front pain leaked, I re-did it,but not happy with the look of the sillicone.) I think mine rocks because it's on top of floating floors which was installed over carpet. the stand does not shift, i can hear the floor when i rock it.

If I were you.... I WOULD add the additional vertical supports, as most have mentioned that would put all the weight ON the horizontal 2x6s that sit on the floor. Otherwise, your vertical support is sitting solely on the plywood base (= not good). Look at the new pictures of rizon25's stand, and that'll show you what your missing.

THINK... you'll have nearly 2000+ pounds on that one small area. A ton of weight that needs proper support vertical and lateral.

I also should note that your floors won't be "floating" once you put this weight atop of them (they need room to expand and contract with environmental change). When I placed my 240, I CUT OUT the floating floor around the stand base, to allow the floating floor to do just that... float. You might want to think about that too. Get that stand onto a firm base. Not carpet, or a floating floor. (and did I read that right, your laminate hardwood floor is over carpet?!)
 
So I have a tank that is 96"x36"x12"

Total volume is 160-170 gallons.

Could I build a stand out of 2x6's for this tank? What about 2x4? I'd really prefer to not have any bracing in the middle at all, as I want that area open for equipment.
 
We recently built a new sump and stand, and since we used Rocket's plan, it felt right to post here and give some well-deserved props to everyone here who has contributed to this great thread.

The first step was to draw up some plans and make sure we have all the right dimensions for stuff to fit together in the fish room properly. We needed the drain pipe coming out of the new sump to be around 26" from the floor. So we designed the stand with that as a starting point. Since we are building an acrylic sump stand, we wanted there to be a nice table top that would extend out a bit further than the tank itself (to help guard against accidental hitting of the sump, and as handy rim to set things.



We used the Rocket Engineer Stand Template for the stand plans, and of course way overbuilt the stand, but the rationale is that the the sump takes a lot of abuse with frequent cleaning, leaning on the tank and the stand, etc. It came together pretty well. Here's Q&A Supervisor Mr. Frodo Raggins inspecting our work after two coats of primer:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5994428187/" title="nt 1269 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/5994428187_e1f9e7e0e9_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1269"></a>

For the topcoat, we wanted something very rugged that will hold up to the constant splashing, drips, and general abuse of the fish room. We also need the same material to apply to our canopy (which is wearing terribly due to the constant exposure to salt water and scrapes from reaching into the display tank on a daily basis. After checking around, the material that was recommended by several experts was this water-based 2-part epoxy enamel:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5994428133/" title="nt 1268 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6011/5994428133_69b006094a_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1268"></a>

We took one of the cabinet doors from our display down to the paint store and had them match the color and finish. They did a fantastic job, and since the minimum purchase was 1 gallon, we decided to use this on the sump stand as well. It's kinda pricey, but it creates one heckuva strong finish!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5994428301/" title="nt 1270 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6130/5994428301_8f3050d8f7_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1270"></a>

Here are a few shots of the finished product, and some details of the stand and sump:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5994987388/" title="nt 1271 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6018/5994987388_c69f5bcabf_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1271"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5994428435/" title="nt 1272 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6028/5994428435_1fec4c61e8_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1272"></a>

Thanks again to everyone here keeping this thread updated and full of new ideas and great examples.
 
Back
Top