Safe to Route 1-inch PVC Through Bored Holes in 2 Crossbeams of Aquarium Stand?

[SkyReef]

I built a DIY aquarium stand from Rocket Engineer's design, using 2x6's on the top frame of the stand. The front of the stand has a 4-foot-wide opening, with no center vertical-support stud. The vertical-support studs are positioned only at the corners of the stand. There is a center crossbeam across the top of the stand and a 3/4-inch plywood sheath on the top of the stand, to add stength. The stand will support an 80-gallon aquarium.

Can I bore a hole in the center crossbeam and in the left-end crossbeam at the top of the stand to accommodate a 1-inch PVC return line? Or will that weaken the structural integrity of the stand, making it unsafe?

Your help here is most appreciated.

 

[mcgyvr]

Will it weaken it.. Yes some..
But in general that stand design is so over build that its certainly not an issue 99% of the time..
I'm quite positive you will be just fine..

Not to mention if its a rimmed tank there is very little if any weight being applied anywhere but the edges of the tank/stand..

Also.. just a FYI... A hole in a beam is best placed in the center of the beam as thats where the least amount of stress/strain is..

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Can you just put some pipe hangers in the beams and route the pipe under them?

That said, assuming the beams are structurally sound (not junky wood, not full of knots) and the stand was typically over-designed, I personally wouldn't have a problem putting a carefully located hole in them for a single 1" line. If the 2x6 is adequate for your long run without a center support post, it's way overkill for the shorter end beam. And the only real purpose for that center brace is alignment and bracing of your long beams, there's no real weight bearing capacity there.

 

[SkyReef]

Thanks, Mcgyvr and der Willie. I'll probably back off the idea and run the plumbing just below the crossbeams, with PVC clamps.

 

[mcgyvr]

well.. ok.. don't wimp out now
drill away IMO..

 

[JTL]

That stand like most is way over built. I am currently building a stand for my 100g aquarium and it does not have any 2x4's or 2x6's. It is constructed of 3/4" birch plywood with an additional 3/4"x4" strip of plywood in each corner and a triple 3/4" x 4" header over the front opening. The opening is about 4'. This makes for clean lines and a nice finished interior space. As others have said the weight is on the sides pressing down and 3/4" plywood is plenty sufficient for that providing it goes from the bottom of the tank to the floor in one piece. The key is to make the stand so there is zero lateral movement.

 

[Lsufan]

U will be fine. The cross brace in the center isn't doing much to support the tank.

 

[Windy2]

A 1" pvc pipe will require a 1 1/2 hole. That is pretty good sized in a 2 x 6.

 

[Lsufan]

Unless I misunderstood, he is drilling the center cross brace on the top frame which isn't supporting the tank. He is also drilling one of the ends too which is helping some on the support, but imo will still be fine because the front & back of the frame takes most of the load. Now if it was the front or back of the frame then I may be a little hesitant, but even then it would more then likely still be ok with the 2 by 6 top frame on a 4' 80 gallon tank

 

[SkyReef]

Thanks, everyone. Your responses were very helpful.

So after all the back-and-forth in my head, I decided to be bold and drill the holes. I trust the engineering advice given here by Mcgyvr, Lsufan, DerWillie, and JTL: this stand is sufficiently over-built to accommodate holes drilled in the crossbeams. I tried to place the holes in middle of the crossbeams somewhat, for safety reasons, to allow the ends of the crossbeams to carry more of the weight, as suggested by Mcgyvr. Hopefully, this will work.

The holes are 1-3/8" in diameter, to accommodate a 1" PVC pipe. Running the PVC return-line run through the crossbeams, rather than directly below the crossbeams, gives me a couple of extra inches of "headroom" for the sump devices, including the skimmer. It also looks cleaner to tuck the return line into the airspace of the top frame. This placement hides the plumbing from view more than if the return line were situated below the crossbeams.

Here are some photos, without the return line installed yet. Please take a look and let me know what you think:

Drilling the holes.

Other views of the stand:

Long view, facing the backside of the electrical panel.

Long view, facing the frontside of the electrical panel. (Here, the hole in the nearside crossbeam is hard to see because it is painted white inside the hole. But you can barely make out the image of the hole, at the left corner of the power strip mounted on the electrical panel.) At this juncture, the return line will terminate into a 45-degree elbow, and the line will turn straight up, to return water to the tank.

Wide view of stand.

The stand has an extra compartment on the left end, where the electrical panel is. But the aquarium will rest on the 48"-inch portion of the stand, framed by the three right-most crossbeams depicted in the photo.

 

[sleepydoc]

Ok - so now that I've seen the picture of your stand I can say that the holes will have no effect on the integrity of the stand.

 

[SkyReef]

Ok - so now that I've seen the picture of your stand I can say that the holes will have no effect on the integrity of the stand.

Thanks, Sleepydoc. Helpful to know.

 

[ca1ore]

Plumbing codes say that you can bore a hole to not exceed 1/3 of the 'depth' of a joist, and not within 2" (if memory serves) of either edge. Equally applicable on this case, so no issues.

 

[davocean]

No big deal at all