First time building stand..Critique my design please

Z

Zachjjackson

New member
Got a 150 gallon tank and 39 gallon sump last week along with a bunch of other goodies for a steal of a deal..Just finished my first design on sketchup..was wondering if someone good give me some suggestions...I'm pretty sure it should be more than strong enough to hold the tank when its full..One of the features I added that I'm not sure if would be better with or without, is the rear compartment. I figured since I already have to have the tank and stand away from the wall to allow space for plumbing and whatnot, that I might as well try to make it look good. So basically my thought was that I'd extend the rear of the stand to be deeper than the tank and then those two side wood panels would have a plexiglass window in them and would be on hinges and open like a cabinet door, from that back panel..Either way take a look and let me know what you guys think.











 
Is this a glass tank with frame, frameless or acrylic?

Support should be directly under the sides of the tank. When the stand is deeper that the tank there should be some direct support side to side under the back of the tank.

In the first drawing the center front support is sometimes shown as being perpendicular to the front. There is no reason for this. It just takes up space under the tank.

The bottom frame is laid flat. It's usually turned on edge. Have you seen the 'rocketengineer' template here on RC?
 
woodnaquanut said:
Is this a glass tank with frame, frameless or acrylic?

Support should be directly under the sides of the tank. When the stand is deeper that the tank there should be some direct support side to side under the back of the tank.

In the first drawing the center front support is sometimes shown as being perpendicular to the front. There is no reason for this. It just takes up space under the tank.

The bottom frame is laid flat. It's usually turned on edge. Have you seen the 'rocketengineer' template here on RC?
Click to expand...

Solid advice! Supporting frame must be underneath the rim of the tank. If you want to hide the plumbing, lights and wires, just build the cabinet sides deeper as panels connecting to a canopy above. There's plenty of stand builds here on RC that use that design.
 
design looks good.

Agreed with woodnaquanaut, keep the inside of the stand as open as possible. Also, try to imagine how you will get a sump in and out of the stand, seems tight if you have a larger sump.

On a quick design concept, look into a "Flitch" beam. Sandwich a piece of steel between two 1x6 for the front header. This could eliminate the front middle vertical support. I may get heat for this but it is structurally sound and could easily span 6'. I did the structural calcs for my tank and got away with a 1x4 header and a 6' simpson strap for a 70" clear span at L/720 (deflection)

Simpson makes some good prefab steel straps for home construction with holes already punched
 
Thanks for the input guys...This tank is an all glass with a frame. Does this look a little better? I got that rear interior support parallel to the tank and also directly below the rear rims...I also removed that middle front support..What do you guys think? Will that suffice, or am I risking it by not using that front vertical support?

Also my sump has plenty of space to fit in there with this setup and also will be able to be removed if needed.

 
Should be fine as long as you use 2x6 or 2x8 for the top frame. Then I always have been a fan of vertical supports directly under the top frame.
 
Zachjjackson said:
Does this look a little better? I got that rear interior support parallel to the tank and also directly below the rear rims...I also removed that middle front support..What do you guys think? Will that suffice, or am I risking it by not using that front vertical support?


Click to expand...

Hi, I'm no rocket scientist, but I am a carpenter...
The center support in the middle of the tank needs to resting on something solid. otherwise it will bow the wood underneath it. If you move/add another under neath it it will support evenly.
It's like putting a half a sheet of sheetrock on saw horses and standing in the center of it. It's going to break. However if your feet are directly over the saw horses you will be supported. Get it?
 
hmmm...I can't edit my posts yet....

please delete the first post or move it to the trash bin. the second is the updated version. thank you.
 
ripjack13 said:
Hi, I'm no rocket scientist, but I am a carpenter...
The center support in the middle of the tank needs to resting on something solid. otherwise it will bow the wood underneath it. If you move/add another under neath it it will support evenly.
It's like putting a half a sheet of sheetrock on saw horses and standing in the center of it. It's going to break. However if your feet are directly over the saw horses you will be supported. Get it?
Click to expand...

hmm thanks I'm suprised I overlooked that haha this looks much better.

 
ripjack13 said:
there ya go....much better.
Click to expand...

Thanks ! What would you suggest in terms of wood choice? Obviously the skeleton and supports will be 2x6s and 2x4s what do you suggest for the paneling and trim ? I want to stain it a dark red oak color and I know I'll have to seal it with some sort of urethane sealant I'm guessing
 
Birch plywood is an option. Or oak plywood. Solid wood oak doors. Or even some mahogany...before you stain your wood, it helps to keep the blotching from happening, use some wood conditioner.

Both oak & birch are a little pricey. If you are looking to get a lil cheaper ply get the regular pre sanded stuff. Try to fine some without the lil football shaped patches on the good side.

Also...the higher the count of plys are stronger & less likely to warp... 5 ply vs 7 ply.
 
Seems to me all the plywood from homedepot and lowes are crap. Seems to cheap off easily when cutting or drilling and the veneer is super thin.
 
Some people attach a 1/4" skin with magnets so they can remove the panels easily for maximum access. Fairly small, good quality, sealed plywood panels attached with a few rare earth magnets shouldn't warp.

Just an opinion here, but using all 2x lumber is a lot of overkill. The problem with overkill is that it serves to limit the usable space inside your cabinet and it's difficult to spatially understand that until you're in the middle of the build. You can build a rock solid stand using 1x lumber, or plywood, or better yet a combination of both with good technique. In this case, the stand's "skin" becomes the structure rather than having a full frame inside. This permits nearly the entire volume of the stand to be usable.
 
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