Simple stand made with 5G buckets?

[slevesque]

Anyone tried to make a simple stand using 5G buckets (with tight lids)?. Something like this:

Plywood on top of course. With a 12" tall tank I think the stand would be strong enough. Just have to skin it with fabric or something. Besides the top part, nothing is glued or screwed. So, easy in case of moving out.

For sumpless systems of course

 

[humbugy]

go for it

 

[xcreonx]

I don't know how you'd get it completely level and stable.... it wouldn't be too much harder to screw some 2x4s together and play it safe.

 

[ek9vboi]

ghetto, but w/e u feel like

 

[slevesque]

I would say stable for sure but maybe hard to level, I agree. Ghetto, yes but with a nice piece of fabric it would pretty and different.

I'm still in the design step of my next tank so this stand idea is just one of the options. I wanted to have a stand that can be taken appart in pieces for an eventual move in a year or so.

I like forums for the possibility of brainstorming.

 

[Hobster]

Going by your photo/diagram, I count 20 buckets. Do you already have these? If not, at $5-6 a bucket you have over $100 in the stand already.

 

[Fire Marshall Dave]

You realize that you have $100 in buckets in your diagram?

I guess if you're planning a move you won't need buckets.

Wait a minute. You can't get to the buckets without taking the tank down first.

 

[webdr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7905476#post7905476 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ek9vboi
ghetto, but w/e u feel like

 

[slevesque]

Buckets were not intended to be used in the moving (in fact, they can be , thanks), they were just use for pillars than don't need to be glued or screwed.

145$ for 20 new buckets+lids :eek1: . I think it would be possible to find used buckets for free if asking around otherwise it's back to the drawing board

 

[johno4]

Why not just screw together some 2x4s and cover it with a sheet? Then all you would have to do is unscrew it when you move. If you have a screwgun that would be just as easy as your bucket idea and probably cheaper.

 

[slevesque]

I'm walking away from this design now Thanks for the brainstorming. I should have a thread about my final design soon.

 

[itz frank]

depending on the size of the tank and th given amount you've already spent on buckets. I think it'd be alot easier to just build a wooden stand. Plus, the buckets might not be strong enough.

 

[slevesque]

No money spent yet so I'm going to build a wooden stand instead.

 

[xcreonx]

good idea

 

[goreefer]

I would worry about the buckets collapsing from the weight on them.

They are not designed to have that type of loading.

The next thing that you would hear is the sound of your tank cracking and the water flowing down the hallway.

You need to defiantly over engineer your stand. Don’t skimp on your stand.

 

[Vincerama2]

Too ghetto...

Simpson strong tie makes a kit that you can build a workbench with 2x4's

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=96069-72913-KWB1

That's like $40 worth of hardware, then say $10-$20 worth of 2x4s (here an 8 foot douglas fir 2x4 costs $3-$4). Then add a piece of plywood for about $10.

I mean, if you are going ghetto...

V

 

[bad santa]

Depending on the thicknes of the buckets it might collapse. I work in a paint warehouse and when we switched to thinner walled buckets the pallets started to collapse on each other(especially in the summer monthe). Picking up paint on the floor is not fun...could you imagine water,fish & corals on your floor?