# Is this a good design for an aquarium stand.



## vader88 (Jun 21, 2013)

I am in the process of starting my first aquarium and want to build the stand myself. I got a 75 gallon aquarium. I made a quick design in google sketchup before getting started.










I don't have much woodworking experience and wanted to see what you guys thought first.

After that framing I would put 3/4" plywood on the top and 1/4" plywood on the sides.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

That frame is overbuilt. It will hold a pick-up truck or two, no problem with your 75.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

yeah, my Dad made something similar for my 55g years ago. I think the stand weighed more than the filled tank! :fish:


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

I like it. I would sleep peacefully knowing that it was in place. Over-building is a good thing in my book, when you're doing something you don't have experience with and the consequences of under-building are high.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Absolutely! I hope your floor is good & strong.


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## vader88 (Jun 21, 2013)

Thanks for all the input. I have changed my design a little however. I would like to use all 2x4s. Will this new design also suffice? I imagine its not a problem given how well you said the other would do.


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## Colorblizzle (May 16, 2013)

Here's a stand I built it is overkill but if I were you I'd design a little closer to this. All the weight of the tank will be in the edges. And in your design your upper frame is held to the legs by screws only. But if you add 2x4's under that upper frame it adds a ton of stability. Again mine is EXTREMELY OVERBUILT. I have 4 vertical 2x4's per corner. U could get by with 2.






.

5.5g fry tank-cynotilapia sp. white top hara; pelvacachromis pulcher.

10g planted-BN pleco; neon tetra, pelvacachromis pulcher; GBR

55g rift lake-labidochromis caeruleus; iodotropheus sprengerae; cynotilapia sp. white top hara; paralabidochromis chromogynos

60g rio xingu-IN PROGRESS


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I would add a diagonal across the back. All 90 degree connections, a square structure, can sort of fold up. A triangle stabilizes them. 

I make the box at the top sit on top of the legs, so the weight of the tank goes directly into the legs, (straight down through the box) then into the floor. No translation through screws or bolts. You can get the same effect by notching the legs and setting the box in the notches.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

You got to see a 15 year old Oceanic stand I have for a 6 ft. long tank. The stand is made by a kid using a plastic toy hammer and the thinnest plywood you will ever see. The vertical beams are made from... you guessed it - strips of the same flimsy plywood used for the walls. Everything is stapeled togeter.

I guess it's all physics but the stand by itself smacks me as a joke - it is super light and you'd never say it will hold a thick glass tank + sand + the water in it. About 2,000 lbs total, not counting the fish...

Here, alwyas wanted to know and found this:
"...A 2x4 under compression can hold over 10,000 lbs unless it buckles sideways ..."
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f14/how-much-weight-can-2x4-hold-60589

And more fascinating info:
http://www.contractortalk.com/f14/how-much-weight-can-8-2x4-stud-hold-78910


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## jseyfert3 (Apr 9, 2012)

Here's my dual 20 gallon long tank stand, Google Sketchup then built: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/87805-first-planted-tank-20l.html

Notice someone said triangle bracing, for this stand the 1/4" ply on the outside does the same thing as triangle bracing.

I will mention that a professional cabnet builder on another forum recommended I use a plywood torsion box instead of 2x4's, he said go look how commercial fish stands are built. Certianly a *lot* easier then what I did, and what I'll be looking into doing for my next tank. Especially as I'm a mechanical enginering student and have taken Mechanics of Materials (I had *not* before I started this shelf), a course where you learn how to calculate how much stess beams have and how much they bend under load, shear loads of fasteners and glued surfaces, buckling of columns (like the 2x4 Niko mentioned. They usually buckle before failing from compressive stress), etc.

Anyhow, bottom line is do to how it works, plywood is a great material to use to make stands instead of 2x4's. Niko was right, you'd think those plywood stands are not the way to do it, until you take Mechanics of Materials (and to do that you have to take Statics and Calculus first, and the Statics course needs Physics first). I'm planning to use plywood when I get a 75 gallon tank, sometime in the future...

P.S. Why so many cross 2x4's on the top and bottom? (the ones you added) The weight of the tank is only along the perimiter, it's not held up in the center. You'd only need on 2x4 in the center to keep the front and back 2x4s from boiwing outwards. And the inner 2x4's you added at the end are also useless.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

What is a "torsion box"?

I'm guessing some smart way of putting the structure together where the parts support each other very well in every direction. Some time ago I had to demolish some kind of store display made of flimsy looking wood. I could not believe how strong the damn thing was. I ended up using both a pick and a sledge hammer on it trying to break it. All along I tried to figure out what made the joints impossible to twist and separate. There were small blocks of wood at every joint which prevented the joint from being twisted easily. And there where big panels that seemed to support everything inside exceptionally well. Even with a lot of leveraged force I was barely able to compromise the joints. Amazing how a professional can make things that don't look like much but perfrorm like nothing else.

Ah, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_box

http://www.google.com/search?q=tors...urce=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=3wDGUajOEIe09gTqkoCgAw

While we are at that here's a very good question:
The center suport for an aquarium stand is a real pain in the ass when digging under the tank. But above certain length you got to use center support or the "shelf" starts to sag (if not initially it will, eventually). So, is it possible to build the horizontal surface of the stand (on which the tank is placed) using this "torsion box" principle and do away with the center support that is always in the way?

Here's more reading. I like the design of the table that you can raise/lower. You could adjust the amount of light that hits your tank by raising the stand itself! Truly a novel idea:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?157877-Torsion-box


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## Colorblizzle (May 16, 2013)

I'm assuming u asked me why I used the extra supports? If so it was simply because I had them. I bought too much wood and I live in n apartment, nothing else around that they could be of use too. So I just cut a bunch of extra supports and put them in. 


5.5g fry tank-cynotilapia sp. white top hara; pelvacachromis pulcher.

10g planted-BN pleco; neon tetra, pelvacachromis pulcher; GBR

55g rift lake-labidochromis caeruleus; iodotropheus sprengerae; cynotilapia sp. white top hara; paralabidochromis chromogynos

60g rio xingu-IN PROGRESS


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## vader88 (Jun 21, 2013)

Well I got started on this yesterday. I added vertical beams on the edges thanks to your suggestions.

Here is the frame:









Didn't get much further than that. Probably won't get much further until next weekend.

Thanks again for the advice.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

So, shall I bring my horse over to stand on it? 

Really nice! Very sturdy!


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Have you tried to pick it up?


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## Colorblizzle (May 16, 2013)

Yeah I should have mentioned that drawback. My 55g stand I showed you weighs 140lbs


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## vader88 (Jun 21, 2013)

Its not too bad. I can get it around my garage by myself. However it will definitely take two people to get into my living room. Plus its still going to get a bunch of plywood attached which will add to the weight.


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## Neptune1937 (Apr 18, 2013)

Colorblizzle

I am a Cabinet Maker by trade 10 years then 26 years teaching cabinet making apprentices and furniture design and construction.

You have enough strength in that to hold far more than a aquarium tank.

I would guess to say its even more that massively over built.

Keith


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

The stand my Dad built for me years ago was very similar to this. I had no worries about it's strength. There were downsides to it. All the studs got in the way of a large enough door. The thing weighed a ton, like I said, probably as much as the tank. I was worried about the floor. For the next tank I just bit the bullet and bought a stand. (Oceanic 58g) I love the room it has and the 3 glass doors which are nice & big!


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I say since the stand is overbuilt why not have fun and add features that make it nearly indestructible. Just for fun. Maybe more reinforcement at the joints, L-shaped steel protectors for all corners, and a coating system that allows the tank to float in a pool of Phosphoric Acid without any harm. Lead wall panels that will protect the inside from radiation would be reasonable too but that maybe an overkill.

Tell you what is a bit less of joke than my suggestions above. You can easily procure a polyurethane coating that is used by Ferrari. A company called PPG makes it. Have someone spray that stuff for you. It will protect the stand from water perfectly, it is both durable and flexible (allows for reasonable bumping and scratching to not leave marks) and above all you can always wow people telling them what they are looking at is real exotic car material. 

By the way the same material is used in dumpy apartment complexes to resurface old nasty bathtubs and make them look new on the cheap. Don't think that anyone cares but the irony of the situation is apparent. "All bills paid and you get to bathe in style!"


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

op2:


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## Virc003 (Aug 18, 2011)

I don't know if you have finished this yet, but since the 2x4 structure is enough to hold the tank alone, why not use paneling instead of plywood on the exterior? That would cut down on the finished weight and still provide the same aesthetically pleasing effect as plywood.


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## vader88 (Jun 21, 2013)

Thanks for the advice but it is already finished (for the most part). 

There did end up being a problem. When I put the tank on top it was wobbly. Two corners of the stand where 1/4" lower than the rest of the stand. I used some shims between the top of the 2x4 posts and the top piece of 3/4" plywood. Hopefully that will be sufficient. I filled the tank with water last night and aside from a mishap with setting up the filter which resulted in some water being spilled everything has been going well for 12 hours now. I'll post a picture later.

Thanks for all the help/suggestions for the stand.


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