Building An aquarium stand.

[AWW]

Hey guys,

I am undergoing a large project for my 475 gallon tank. The stand, to be made of wood, 2X6's to be exact, Needs to be 8'L, 4'w, 3'T. I am worried i am going to build it to strong, and waist money on lumber. Does any one have any tips?

[gklaw]

Almost finished with Hotspike's stand. May be I am up for another challenge for a different style. Want to put that on wheels ? I have some 900 lb capacity wheels. 4x900 = 3,600 lbs. Just about made it

BTW, it better be 8ft long, not "H". Problem with 2"x6" is you loose too much depth.

It also depends on what you want to put underneath your tank.

Check out the awesome stand below:

Tenecor 300 Build

[taureandragon76]

You can save quite abit by not using 2x6, 2x4 would be just fine just double up on the corners

[AWW]

Almost finished with Hotspike's stand. May be I am up for another challenge for a different style. Want to put that on wheels ? I have some 900 lb capacity wheels. 4x900 = 3,600 lbs. Just about made it

BTW, it better be 8ft long, not "H". Problem with 2"x6" is you loose too much depth.

It also depends on what you want to put underneath your tank.

Check out the awesome stand below:

Tenecor 300 Build

Haha, yeah its not "H" is "L". The main problem i am having, is i cant bring the whole thing into my house, its too big to get in my door, or down my stairs. It needs to be build on site.
I dont mind loosing to much, i have 4' down there :P as for wheels, well i wont be moving it ahaha. I wouldn't need those.

Also, because the bottem sheet of my acrylic is only 1/2 inch i need some more support for pressure up top. Ill post my sketch up i have so far tonight.

[AWW]

You can save quite abit by not using 2x6, 2x4 would be just fine just double up on the corners

Hmm, i am just worried about the height. 3' is kinda tall....

[gklaw]

3' is not that tall really. I have a 75"x12" foot print stand that is almost that hight sitting on 7 levellers. As long as you don't allow the 2x4 to lean from the vertical and rotate at the joints, it can hold a ton - probably literally.

[AWW]

Hmmm, I am thinking of dropping the height on the stand to 2'. I am thinking 2X6's are too much... If i double the corners, how many uprights do you figure ill need on the front face?

[gklaw]

It really depends on you complete design, not just post by post. Are you just have 4 post at the corners or do you have posts in the middle as well.

The misconception is bigger the better. Stability of the post are the critical element. You can literally hold up hundreds of pounds with popsicle sticks if framed properly. They have competition on engineering school for model bridges.