New Tank stand Build

S

Seehag

Premium Member
Ok I am building the new stand for my tank, I decided to go ahead and build it before starting the tank because I felt there was not enough room under the old stand to get at everything.

I don't want to waste too much typing on the details of the stand, I will try to post a drawing after it is all done so you don't see my mistakes..:) The frame of the stand is made out of unistrut a strut structure readily available to us Electricians. It is 1 5/8"x 15/8" strut made in the shape of a u with the inside corners turned in, should be plenty strong enough to hold up the tank, it is galvanized for less rusting. I welded all this up this weekend basically two shelfs with the back legs extending up to catch the light assembly. I am going to sheet it with Oak Plywood or maybe Birch not sure yet on that. I am carrying removable panels up the back to cover the unsightly hoses from the side. These panels will be removable. I am putting door's on the front and the side of the bottom as I figure the more access the better. Haven't quite got the overhead figured out in my head as it matters what kind of light's I end up with, I have Flourescent's that I could hang in there but I might drop the dollar and get some better metal halide...


Couple of thought's I could use some input on....I could cover the entire back of the stand with a piece of plywood to completely enclose the inside of the stand. I am worried about heat build up but also the wife has tasked me with keeping it as quiet as posible. This would hamper rear access but I can't get there anyway as it will be against the wall. I could install fans but that might be louder than no back. Also I would like to fit the tank inside the stand with that black high density foam around the edges where the wood gets close to the acrylic. Any input on all of this would greatly be appreciated...



Seehag
 
One thing I will say is that if you are using a sump then you will want the back open or the sides ventilated pretty well. If you dont then you will be dealing with moister trapped in the stand rotting the wood and and maybe even causing a mold problem.
 
yep using a sump, so I should maybe for sure plan some fan's in wonder where I can get super quiet? Maybe I could put a fan in the atic then duct it down to the tank....Just thinking outloud...


Seehag
 
I've actually had pretty good luck with a single 4 inch 120 volt fan that I bought at Radio Shack for $25. It's pretty quiet (can't remember the decibel rating) and moves 65 cubic feet of air per minute -- I can't really hear it above the other water related sounds.

Definitely cooled things off in the closed stand, and I don't have a moisture problem in there (I coated the wood inside the stand with a couple of coats of polyurethane just in case).

The fan gets clogged with dust and dirt fairly quickly, which impedes airflow and makes things noisier until it is cleaned, but I think this will happen with any fan.

Regards,
 
Thank's Grey, I am debating now which way to put the fan. I could put it at the top and vent the air straight up, only problem with this is the top is within 12" of my cieling, not too keen on wet air directed at the cieling. Might end up putting it on the bottom and putting vents up high. It will be easy enough to coat my walls on the inside with polyurethane clear coat and that should keep the wetness out, great Idea on that.


Seehag
 
I can only make this recommendation from a computer geeks point of view. I would face the fan out which will draw out the warm air and moisture. Cool and dry air will naturally find it's way into the stand. This is the stance with computers as it's better to remove hot air, then blow cold air in and let the hot air warm it up and circulate around.
Just my 2 cents.
 
Ok I'm getting somewhere now I will put the fan on the side up high blowing out. I will put vents in the bottom close to the top of the sump.this should draw air acroos the top of the sump, up throught the back cavity behind the tank then out through the side vent at the heigh of the Lighting. I could maybe get two fans and attach them on both sides. I plan to seal around the acrylic wherever the wood get's close with neoprene or something like that. I can regulate the air flow with the size of hole I put in the shelf that holds the tank. I will post pictures of this when it get's done..


Seehag
 
If you decide to go with 2 fans, you may want to have one blowing in and the other blowing out to draw the maximum amount of air across the sump -- I thought about doing that if 1 fan didn't cut it, but 1 fan seems fine in my situation.

Regards,
 
Stand photos

Stand photos

Here is the welded sub frame. I got lot's of advice that this will rust so we will see. As long as it isn't too bad it will be fine with me. The tall leg's in the back will support the canopy and allow me to close in the sides covering all of the unsightly hoses. I painted the welds with a high zinc paint, I am thinking about cutting up some pieces of plastic from tap to pound in the bottoms of the leg's for support, any one have any ideas on that...


Seehag

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05617.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05619.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
 
Pulling the moisture out instead of blowing it around is critical. That would suck if your stand fell apart from wood rot.
 
Cool frame -- nice job!

One design observation: I don't know much about metal fabrication or welding, but are those welds that attach the back legs to the top platform going to be able to hold the weight of the tank indefinitely? In the front, the platform is sitting on the tops of the legs, which looks fine. I learned (from reading lots of threads here) when building my wood framed stand that having the weight transfer on a fastener (nail, screw, glue) is less preferrable than having the weight transfer wood-to-wood -- trying to reduce the chance of structural failure.

As far as rust, would it make sense to spray paint the frame with some sort of exterior paint (Rustoleum, or something) to give it more rust protection before you put on the skin?

Regards,
 
As far as the welds go on the back leg's I thought the same thing, my brother is a welding inspector and he said should be fine. I was debating on putting a gusset in there but I am waiting to sit the tank up on it to see where everything fall's. This stand is very strong and has little to no flex on it, the strut is rated to 8000 pounds across it so I think it will hold up, we'll see.


As to the painting, this stuff is hot dipped galvanized, you have to grind it off to weld it but everywhere else is still galvinezed. I Also thought about painting it with a good coat or too but can't get a firm answer wether the paint will stick to the galvanized coat.


Seehag
 
Here is the tank on the stand for the first time. Looks ok except there is about a 1/8 of an inch difference from the middle to the sides on the bottom between the tank and the plywood.... Don't know if it is the tank or probably my stand is a little high in the middle. Does anyone know if that is too much or should I put something between the tank and the plywood to spread the load.

I am going to put some stiffeners in the back to tie the top shelf to the back leg's, I am not so worried about the weld but the strut flex's a little and they make a 90 deg elbow bracket that fit's it good.

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05620.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05621.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05622.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


Seehag
 
Hey it looks good.You can paint it you have to use a acid wash product on the whole surface first then coat with a good zinc primer then paint with what ever you want.I would deffinatly try to come up with some plastic caps for the legs.As far as the air situation I would make sure that the outflow fan has more cfm flow than the intake to help flow all air as possible out the vents.not to much difference between the 2 or thell fight eachother but allitle will make a difference I think.
 
Thank's Lola, I am going to seal up all the wood on the inside and stain the outside... I am trying to decide on iof there is any special Hose I should use or if clear hose from Orchard is ok...


Seehag
 
It really looks nice Seehag, but I wouldnt be able to sleep at night with the 2 welds being the only thing that keeps the tank from falling lol. I would go ahead and put that gusset on if I were you, or add 2 more legs in the back that support exactly where the rear of the tank ends up.

Nice metal work though, I would like to learn that one day.
 
Rjukan,

I got the gusset coming and should install it tommorrow, I will post pictures of it. We use this stuff at work for an incredible amount of weight, we connect it with spring nuts and 3/8 hardware with all these little angle pieces, inside outside corners angles and such, only thing holding it together is 3/8 hardware.

These pieces I am getting are 1/4 thick angle about 5" long on each leg they will fit nice and tight in the corner and secure it all together.

I have to figure out the oak outside now. I think that I want the grain running up and down in the front, I was just going to cut 2 doors in one 4x8 sheet and make doors for it, but that makes the grain going side to side. So now I need to cut the plywood to about 3 feet wide by 3 feet tall and join them in the middle. Any ideas on how this goes with plywood veneer? I was thinking glue and a biscuit joiner... What would Norm do..:) That is this weekend's project.....


Seehag
 
I installed the angle brackets tonight stiffened it up some but I am sure it wont break the weld now. I also picked up the Oak Veneer Plywood so this weekend I am going to try and sheet at least the bottom and sides. I will be sealing it up so it goes on then comes off to seal then back on. I also put in a pic of the Velocity T4 closed loop pump mounted up under the tank....

Going to Cabo next week so I will be seeing the real Reef up close, anyone have any good spots to snorkel....:)

the installed bracket:

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05625.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

The t4

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05626.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

Another Close up from the side:

<img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/zabad1/DSC05624.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">


Seehag
 
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