DIY Stands Template and Calculator

[Editour2]

Rocket Engineer: I need to build a stand for a 215 Oceanic Ultimate, (72" x 24" x 29"), I am planning for an inwall installation. Based on your plans I would need 2x8's for the top portion, (yellow and red), would it be beneficial to also use 2x8's or 2x6's on the purple support areas? or would 2x4's suffice? I'd like to sleep at night. Everything else would be 2x4"s? Please confirm and thanks this thread is a great help.
Frank

 

[Editour2]

Forgot another question: Is it acceptable to screw all pieces together, (pilot holes), or is glueing also recommended? If so, then for which support structures? Do most people use deck or coated screws or lag bolts?

 

[moondoggy4]

Use coarse screws so they do not strip the wood. I like stainless sheet metal screws, but on my last stand I borrowed a Greg system. I have also used the coated deck screws they work good but still rust. Good luck

 

[RocketEngineer]

milkman55, if you put polyurethane over a white latex it will turn the white latex the yellow color of the polyurethane. Personally I think a good latex paint will do just fine without any help.

Editour2, based on the values I have for pine, even totally green wood 2X4s would hold up just about anything we can throw at it. Since most dimensional lumber is kiln dried which is even stronger, I have no worries about the legs. Also, decking screws are fine as they are coated to resist the elements. Pilot holes will prevent things from splitting but make sure they are smaller then the main part of the screw so the screw bites into the wood.

 

[Editour2]

So your saying screws alone will hold up fine? and 2"X8" for the top and everything else 2"x4" 's?

 

[milkman55]

milkman55, if you put polyurethane over a white latex it will turn the white latex the yellow color of the polyurethane. Personally I think a good latex paint will do just fine without any help.

Well, I didn't receive any feedback for a few days, so I tested a painted scrap with Minwax Poly for protective finish. Dried crystal clear satin finish. The underlaying acrylic latex was also a satin finish. We will see how it holds up.

Minwax® Polycrylic® Protective Finish is a crystal clear, fast-drying protective topcoat for use over bare wood, oil- and water-based stains, paint and wallpaper. Minwax® Polycrylic® resists damage from abrasion, scuffing, chipping, water, alcohol and other common household chemicals.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Editour2, you are correct on both accounts.

milkman55, AH Polycrylic is different then polyurethane. I will have to look into it more as it sounds like something that would be very useful for the tank stand I'm building.

 

[milkman55]

RocketEngineer -

Thanks for the help. My current stand on my 34 gal is coming apart due to water damage into the composite wood crap they use to build them, so I wanted to make sure that this new stand for the 120 gal was sealed well.

You design was very helpful and when combined with all the ideas from the "Fancy Stands" thread, made constructing the new stand a lot easier.

The AGA stand I was looking at was made of composite board and sold for $575. I think I have about $300 in this stand which is solid wood frame and hardwood trim. A higher quality piece of furniture.

Good luck with your project.

 

[madmike]

I'm going to be building one of these stands for my 12 foot long tank. The dimensions are 144"Lx16"Tx24"W, so only 240 gallons total. I am going to build 2 six foot stands so I can get them in the house easier. Would a 2x6 frame along the top of both tanks be ok with no center column support?

Thanks!

 

[RocketEngineer]

madmike, I can understand wanting to make the two stands for ease of getting them in the house but consider what would happen if they settled differently. Personally, I would build one stand and pre-fit all the pieces. Once it was all built, I would take the top and bottom frames apart and carry the frame pieces in seperately along with the legs. If need be send the long boards in through a window. Once everything is in the room, I would apply glue and reinstall the screws when the stand was in place. The end result would be a much more stable support for a tank that long. Given the size, a 2X6 upper frame with a center leg over the 12' length should be acceptable.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kevinextreme]

I have a 300 gallon tank that is 96" x 24" x 30" deep that I am going to use behind the wall of my display tank. I am wanting to build a stand that I can put a 300 gallon rubermaid tank to use as a sump below it. The sump would measure 63" x 69" x 25" tall.

If I use Rocket Engineer's template for building the stand I could use 2x8's for the upper rails to clear span the 8'. However with the tank only being 24" front to back and the stand being 63" front to back if I put 2 x 8 cross members between the two rails and put a 3/4" plywood top on the cabinet would that provide enough support for the tank?

Would it be recomended to screw the cross pieces in and also use joist hangers for additional support?

I am open to all ideas.

Thank you

Kevin

 

[eland]

Standard Size tanks:


125g-240g: For tanks 72" long, I recommend a 2X8 top frame to span the full width of the tank without a center leg.

If you are dealing with a larger tank, review this thread for similar setups and if you can't find any let me know and I will run the numbers for you.

RocketEngineer, I have read through the post but I haven't seen anything on a 240 gallon tank. I need to build a stand 96" L x 24" W. Should I use a 2x10 top frame or a 2x8? Can I get away with 1 upright center brace or do I need more support?

Thanks

 

[naprestsleep]

Well after a few months of planning I finally built my stands. I still need to level out the top rails, and sand them for paint. The taller stand is for a refug and one of the shorter is a sump, both are going to have 29 gallon tanks on them, and the third is a overbuild stand for my return pump.

Can I plywood over the tops, I want to do it to help get a smooth surface for the tanks, plus have a plywood lip around the tanks to hold rigid foam for insulation? I plan to use separate pieces of plywood for each stand. For the bottom shelf I plan on one piece of plywood as I want a longer water container down there.

Thanks in advance -- Joe

 

[scar_11]

Rocketengineer I used you design for a stand, I am currently in the process of skinning it-this is my first real project-I am very happy with the simplicity of your design-however I wanted to know if you though I needed a center bracket in the front(where the two doors will meet-red and orange) and if I should run one in same place in the back?-also should I run a center support between the red pieces?

my tank is a 90 gallon 48x18 footprint



I was also wondering about a center brace

 

[eros]

This is awesome. Is the stand built out of steel? How much does it cost to have a steel stand made?

for anyone who is skinning a stand i recommend considering what ive done here. simple clean and cost effective. just built this frame and covered it with marine canvas. said and done for under a hundred dollars. all attached by magnets for easy access. check it out tell me what you think. nothing ground breaking but come to think of it i havent seen too many around. going into it i figured i would be unhappy with the end result but fellas i couldnt be happier.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Kevinextreme and eland, you are both trying to span almost 8' with a single piece of lumber. Personally I do not feel this is practical. You will both need a support somewhere in the middle.

For Kevinextreme's case I would recommend either one leg off center or two legs such that either way you have a 66" wide gap. These additional legs will cut the support span down to 66" instead of 96" which is a very significant reduction. To support the 300g properly across the 66" span would be about the limit for a 2X8 but well within the capability of a 2X10.

eland, depending on what you need to fit under the tank, a single center leg with a 2X8 upper frame will be more then enough. If you were going for a 4' sump and had a 54" span you could get away with a 2X6 upper frame but be aware that the further you go from center, the more likely you are to need to 2X8 to get proper support.

naprestsleep, plywood tops help to spread the load around. If you have a plastic rim under your tank you DO NOT use foam under it. Get the top of the frames level then the plywood.

scar_11, for a 90g tank, a 2X4 is plenty strong enough without a center support.

eros, steel stands are beyond the scope of this thread. Thanks.

RocketEngineer

 

[rfd515]

One I made for my 40b frag tank:

 

[jeremyw1976]

Let me know what everyone thinks. This is a front, top, and side view of the stand I want to build. It will hold a 180 gallon acrylic tank. It will have a plywood top and also fron and back with side doors but did not include that.

Looking at the drawing I forgot to move the left front leg in the front view to the left but it will line up like the right side.

 

[Haxer]

Question for RocketEng

Question for RocketEng

RocketEng,
This is a post from before the split of the thread, no matter how much i measured and tried to cut the legs all the same length i have some gaps like in the picture below, i am trying to fill them with wood glue or epoxy as i glued all of my joints together before i screwed them together so disassembly is not an option. The stand is per your OP it is 72x24x40 , will the weight of the tank once full of water "settle out the gaps" or will it cause stress points when it does? I will try to post some pictures of my gaps later, however they are just like in the picture below some are flush and some are an 1/8" - 1/16" gap, your thoughts...???

I noticed the following picture and was curious because my stand also has these little inconsistincies. if you look at the corner that is closest to you in this picture there is a space showing between the top horizontal support and that corners 2x4 vertical supports. I assume since they are screwed to the strips that they cant settle out once the tank is on there with some water. I guess i wonder how much deflection like this is okay. I planned on firming everything up, sanding to make it level and then putting on the top frame and put the tank on half full let it sit, and then take it off and THEN I was going to sand and if nessacary plane it level. This sound okay?

Maybe i'll have to shim it... I just see a space like that and I think thats not really sitting on those 2x4's... thats sitting on those screws.

Quote:
Originally posted by patel

 

[RocketEngineer]

jeremyw1976,
I'm not 100% sure which of the colors represents the leg. Whatever it is, make sure that the top frame sits directly above the leg and that the leg sits directly on top of the bottom frame. You want the load to have a direct path to the floor.

Haxer,
If you have 4 out of 8 legs with less then a 1/16th gap, you should have no issues. Things will settle no matter how well you make the stand. To get consistent lengths you need to fixture up a stop that you cut each board from or cut them all at the same time. Not an easy job either way.

RocketEngineer