Aquarium stand design O.K.?

W

wanabedriver

AC Members
Mar 5, 2010
117
0
0
Hi all,

Here is my first, rough aquarium stand design. All the members are made out of 2x4s, and it has a 40b on top and a 20L on the bottom. Most, if not all, of the connections are glued and screwed together.

View from above:
aquarium stand 1.jpg
View from bellow:
aquarium stand 2.jpg

Yes, I realize it is probably overkill (I built the top and the legs, and boy it is heavy), but I wanted to be safe than sorry. It's only ~52 feet of 2x4's...

Could anyone identify a possible/significant weak point? I would like to catch it before I finish assembling it tomorrow...

Thanks!

aquarium stand 2.jpg aquarium stand 1.jpg
 
52' of 2x4's! It will hold up a house.
 
Yeah. No faults but it is way overbuilt. A 4 x 4 has a maximum compression weight of 9000 lbs. You have a 4 x 6 in each corner essentially. A 40 breeder loaded with water, gravel and decor weighs about 400 lbs. A single 2 x 4 in each corner would be more than enough.

Andy
 
I built mine like that and then skinned it with Plywood, for a 29 gallon tank. Overkill is the way to go. You sleep better at night.
 
TKOS said:
I built mine like that and then skinned it with Plywood, for a 29 gallon tank. Overkill is the way to go. You sleep better at night.
Click to expand...

While I agree that overkill doesn't hurt and does add a nice safety margin, people really look at it wrong in these types of builds. The safety margin for wood half that size is enough to make the stand failure proof. But cost-wise there isn't a huge difference so 2x4's are the easiest route. There is a thread discussing the concept on Monster Fish Keepers, but basically the idea was that a 2x4 build creates a generic template for just about any but the largest aquariums.

The factor on a custom stand that should keep a person up at night is whether the stand came out level or not. The wood isn't going to fail, but if it doesn't come out level then the tank itself can fail.
 
Look at the manufactured stands. Many are nothing more than 1x3's on end with a top and bottom frame. I have one under my 72g bowfront. And I know Aqueon has a lifetime warranty on tanks over 55g if it's on their stand. I'd say their pretty confident. That said, my 125g is on a 3/4 oak plywood stand with a 1x3 front frame, and I consider it to be overbuilt!
 
The biggest concern for me was these darn earthquakes in California, and not being too familiar with wood connections. I tried to make it so that things would not rip out, and rely a lot on pieces being stuck together rather than screw strengths. I would have like to skinned it with ply or made the entire thing out of ply, but I couldn't transport it or have enough space to cut the ply in my place. Plus I am in sort of a rush to get this built...

Ill be sure to keep an eye on its level, didn't think that would damage tanks significantly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom