DIY stand questions.....

[D.J.]

gona run to menards today to grab some lumber for my stand.....

but being a MINI TRUCK builder i like to overdo things and thought about getting some 4x4's to use as the main support legs.....but being on a budget i was wonderinf if 2x4's would be enuff to support the weight of the 90g system???

what i have planned is a stand with a 40x21 removeable panel in the front of the stand and on each side of the opening will be 2x4's that run to the ground and of course the the corner legs......i would also add a support leg on the back of the stand. there will also be support between the legs to keep them from buckling in and the main frame will be on the outside of the legs along with the plywood covering for support there.....

think that would be enuff to support the weight of the tank,sand,rock,water? im thinkin around 1100-1200lbs of dead weight.....
__________________

[Fat Tony]

yes, 2x4's will be more than enough...hre's a Sketch for you

[D.J.]

thanks for the diagram......

im trying to work some ideas out in my head and on paper......i have a ruff drawing of what i want the stand to look like....but of course i drew it up using 4x4's for the tank to rest on.....

im confusing myself as to how i want the tank to sit in the stand....the frame of the tank s gona be black....unfortuantly....so i want it to sit down into the stand 1in or so to hide the black frame....

just wondering if it would be best to use crown molding or something to hide the tank frame......

i just have basic wood workin stuff....chop saw,cordless dewalt circular saw, jig saw......so i gota work with what i have.....

makes a guy realize why people pay 300,400,500 dollars for a stand!! LOL

[Fat Tony]

If you have all that, all you really need is 3/4' plywood. My custom built 75 gallon stand was made out of all plywood . IMO, you really could get away with 1x4's for all the supports with a skin of 1/2" oak . And yes, use some sort of molding to cover the frame of the tank

Most DIY stands are way over built

HTH

[OneDummHikk]

D.J. the 2x4es are going to be fine. Its actually overbuilt. The main thing is to make sure everything is square and plumb and you will be fine. As for the band on the bottom of the tank, build the stand itself the same dimensions as the tank. Then let the "skin" of the stand go up enough to cover the tank.

And yes, its a big part of why people choose to pay for stands. The one I built is way over built but its built out of nothing but plywood except the face of the stand. The rest is pure plywood. A 90 sits on it but its built large enough for a 150Tall to sit on it (24x48) and I wouldn't flinch to put the weight of a 300 gallon tank on it, it's built that solid but I don't have 500 dollars total in it. Just a lot of time/work.

[D.J.]

heres a VERY RUFF drawing of what im thinkin about doing......ill do 2 pics and then a link in case ya wana read what i got wrote in there....
what it would look like skinned....without the access door in place

frame


and the link
http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n...stand%20ideas/

[firsthesitation]

Hey DJ, this is the one I used to make mine. I wanted to make sure everything would be solid too. I like that in this guys design the 2x4's are not holding the entire weight of the tank up by the screws, with the cut-ins its the 4x4 holding the weight up. I did mine in black though if that makes a difference.

That said, couple things I'd change. I would have put a back on the stand, I hate that I can hear the stuff inside, but something easily changed when I move the tank again sometime. I also would have used a waterproof (probly white) paint inside the whole stand. And I would have used molding around the top so the lip of the tank sat inside like Fat Tony is suggesting.

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/75g_stand/index.shtml

[D.J.]

haha....i got that one bookmarked.....been lookin at it for about a week now....not sure what im gona do yet.....still gota get the wood this week and go to building this weekend

[Fat Tony]

That's pretty much how my stand is built, which is EXTREMELY overbuilt

[jelliefish]

dj you know you are gonna mess it up...just stick to mini trucking...wait you dont have one of those either...lol

[wanareef]

DJ

Just finished my stand for an 80gal, just 2 x 4's

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7...ml#post1462649 post #10