[zachawry]

My tank (4' 65 gallon) is less than a year old, and the expensive stand I bought for it is already revealing itself to be a piece of junk. The veneer is peeling extravagantly, and the particle board is warping and bulging from absorbed water.

The LFS guy I bought it from here in Japan says that's just the nature of the beast. Says I can pay $1300 for an ADA stand, but even that won't be all that much better than the one I have. He also says there just aren't many other options for a 4' tank, and that if I want something that's not particle board I'll have to make it myself (or have it made).

So, I got a bee in my bonnet to make a nice new stand. Got a DIY maniac for a friend who will help me out.

Does anybody else have experience designing a stand for a large tank? I have no idea how to calculate design and material requirements for something as heavy as a 65 gallon tank.

Thanks!

 

[Jerzeedevl]

I made a stand for my 75 gallon tank. Use 2x4s and frame it out, then wrap it in whatever plywood or material your heart desires. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of diy stands and I've even looked through some on this website. It's a fun experience. Use 2 1/2 inch wood screws not drywall screws.

 

[Aqguy]

I made a stand for my 75 gallon tank. Use 2x4s and frame it out, then wrap it in whatever plywood or material your heart desires. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of diy stands and I've even looked through some on this website. It's a fun experience. Use 2 1/2 inch wood screws not drywall screws.

I have made 3 this way now 100,50,40 gallon better than any thing you can buy, on the 100g i used 2+6 for the top plate , it does get expensive to do the finish work the one for the 50 I wrapped with laminate walnut flooring then just stained the trim.

 

[DaveK]

The trick here is to use materials that can take some water with out coming apart. Particle board is something that loves to take on water, swell, and become useless.

I built a stand for my 90 gal tank. I first constructed L girders to build the supporting frames. This was a 1x2 glues and screwed to a 1x4 to form a long L shape. This gives you a much stronger form than a 2x4 and it's much less flexible. At the time red oak wasn't that expensive, so I used that, since it's much stronger than pine.

I then constructed 2 frames the size of the tank base out of the L girders, with the 1x2 being the part the tank would rest on. They were screwed together. Cross members were also added.

Then for legs I used 2x4 that were bolted to both frames. The legs were along the frame so that the spaceing was 1/5 - leg - 3/5 - leg 1/5. This is actually stronger than placing the legs in the corners, because the long frame spans less distance. The top frame gets the tank and the lower one was about 8 inches odd the floor, and could hold either a much smaller tank or any other gear.

Since this was for the basement, I didn't bother with sides, but that could bu easily added using the wood or plywood of your choice. If your going to get that fancy, give the thing a few coats of polyurethane or spar varnish or paint to keep the moisture out.

It's really not hard to build a tank stand, even if you don't follow my method. Most people so over design stands that there is no danger of anything ever happening to them.

 

[Diana]

I have build stands 2 ways.
My favorite is to make a rectangle that matches the rim of the tank, or is just barely outside the glass or acrylic on a rim-less tank. I make this out of 2 x 4s on edge. I will include a center cross piece every 2', so my 4' long stand will have one. My 6' stand has 2.

If there is no rim, then the box is covered by a board such as 1/2" exterior grade plywood, painted.
If there is a rim, then the tank sits on the 2 x 4, but I will use Styrofoam either way to cushion it.

Legs might be built up from 2 x 4, or could be anything from 3 x 3 to 6 x 6.

Yes, everything is both glued and bolted (or screwed if there is not access to both sides of the connection.
Everything is exterior grade, then painted.

I tend to make more open stands, not enclose them.

 

[PlantedRich]

Hundreds of ways to go about it. Some miss out by trying to use lighter weight , smaller wood without experience in pricing out the materials first. Are you in Japan? Prices will be far different than US prices. But any place, it can pay big dividends if you price an item before buying. One big thing for US prices is that you can buy a 2X4 that is nice, straight and dry much cheaper than you can buy a 1X4. @X4 is a very standard item that you can find anywhere in good quality. To get the same quality in thinner material will often cost you twice as much. I build a 2X4 top and bottom ring and stand it on two 2X4 screwed and glued together to form an "L" at each corner. You will find any thickness or size of wood is plenty strong to hold the weight when stood on end but a 4X4 is far more likely to twist or warp than 2- 2X4 in an angle. Just make sure the weight is supported from top to the ground on wood stacked on top of wood. Do not go for the easy way and put the weight on a top frame which relies on the fasteners to hold it up. The first fastener snaps, they all snap! Screws and glue and no pressure treated lumber. Rotting is not a problem but treated lumber that warps will be.

 

[philipraposo1982]

i made this in less than 2 week as a full time student and never done wood working before. its easy and it it will never wear like cheap store bought crap.

if u have questions just ask me via pm i will help as i can

 

[PapHater]

I used this for building the stand for my 150g. Made a few modifications allowing my for sump but the basic build is pretty straight forward.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964

 

[zachawry]

Wow, thanks for all the ideas, photos, and links. It's all kind of overwhelming. It gives me a place to start from, though.

 

[philipraposo1982]

no problem