removing back-center brace on 55g. stand

Masterderrull

Masterderrull

Member
I have a stand thet was built buy somebody else that i aquired about 2 years ago. I now want to put a sump under the tank but the sump i have is the same depth as the 55. I want to know if anybody has ever removed that rear-center bace -while under load- and had succes? The structural part of the stand consists of all 2x4's, they box out the top of the stand(which supports the tank), then there are 6 2x4's on end at each of the four corners and two at front center and back center. Hopefully everybody can picture that in there head, if not i'll have to get a pic. up for all to see. I appriciate any advice that you have.
 
Aren't you the carpenter :)

I honestly don't know the answer - but I know if it was me, to be safe, I would try to re-install the brace (or some other type of bracing) once you have the sump in. You never know with that much weight and water
 
Ha ha ha very funney superstink. :)

I whould put it back in too, if i could. the sump is 12" deep and and the bottem of my cabinet is 10" deep, because of the guy that built it in the first place. But that doesn't matter anymore...once i got my answer from AWPitt I when down and pulled it out. So far so good. I let you know if it falls over in the middle of the night.
 
I just took a sawzall to the side of my stand. I cut a square of out the middle of it and then slid the new sump in that way last year. I just cut a piece to cover the side. To this day, my wife still doesn't know that I cut the side of the stand out.
 
i wish i could find the thread from a few months ago... there was a guy with a similar problem... his tank was set up and he wanted to add a sump but could not get it in because of a center brace... i believe he took two sets of 2x4's and nailed them to make an L... he set them up behind the tank and had the top part against the horizontal braces... he then used two jack stands that you would have in the back of your car and a 2x4 and jacked the tank up to relieve a little pressure from the center brace... after he installed the sump he put the brace back and removed the jack setup...
 
One of the main issues, and one that's not being addressed here that I can see, is the span of the stand. You have a 4' unsupported span in the back of the tank, so the real question is, can a 2x4 (hopefully situated so that the 3.5" dimension is vertical, and 1.5" dimension is horizontal) support the weight of a 55 gallon tank over a 4 foot span?
 
On a 55, I don't know...I might be tempted to try it :) Of course, it's ALWAYS better safe than sorry, and I very much overbuilt a 2x4 stand that is currently holding a 125...I think I have something like 18" spans. Would probably hold 2 of the tanks it is holding just because of the construction, but I'd much rather have everything overbuilt than the opposite :)
 
If I can add my .02:D

Place a 2x6 across the back and support it with 2x4's on each end. Screw the 2x6 tight against the 2x4 of the cabinet and a few screws in the 2x4 supports on each end.

I built my stand with 2x6 legs and span the 4' too. 75 gal hasn't bowed yet.

"yellow pine 2x4 (of good quality) turned on end, on a 4' span is able to support over 300 lbs."

Had to know supporting weight of various construction lumber over different spans when I got my contractors license in the state of South Carolina. :rolleyes: years back:eek2:
 
hey thanks alot both of you. I was thinking of doing the same thing just as a percaution with the 2x6' idea. And like cloakerpoked said better safe than sorry.
 
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