Questions with making a stand longer than the tank

MaccaPopEye

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So I want to build a stand out of wood and I have a couple of issues / questions that I would really appreciate some help with.

My current stand is steel (came second hand with the tank) but was not painted properly and I have noticed a couple of small bits of rust. So i want to build a new stand asap.

Here is the rough sketch up of the stand frame I want to build (using 90mmx45mm pine):
stand%201%20side%20W%20sump_zps2ezwjyae.png

stand%201%20W%20sump_zpspzbnznix.png


I want to make the new stand longer than the tank so that i can also fit in the chiller and a sectioned off electrical compartment.

This has me a bit confused with where to put the corner supports for the left hand side of the tank. The DT footprint is 48x20 and the new sump footprint is 48x14. Because the new sump is the same length as the DT I wouldn't be able to use 2 planks perpendicular to each other on each left hand corner as recommended in most stand designs. This is my main concern.

Is 1 support on each corner here OK? Or if I used 190x45mm pine as the left hand corner supports would that support the weight (bulky but I would be ok with it). If this is OK then could I also only use 1 support on each far left corner near the chiller or does it still need the 2 piece supports?

I also wanted to skin the stand with removable panels but it seems like a plywood skin secured to the stand might be required to add strength?

Cheers,

Macca
 

Luna

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You should check out Joey of diy King on YouTube. I followed some of his instructions to build a stand for my 40 B worked out grrrrreat![emoji225]
 
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MaccaPopEye

MaccaPopEye

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Yeah I've seen all of his vids. He uses the same design that everyone else seems to use and what mine is based on, which is two pieces of wood which make a right angle at each corner. These two pieces at each corner are what hold up the weight of the aquarium. Because my sump is the same length as the tank I can't fit it under the stand AND have two pieces of wood under each corner on the left hand side. So I'm worried it won't be strong enough.
 

Diesel

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That shouldn't be a problem at all.
My tank stand is 12" longer on each site.
Now that said I don't think you should install a chiller in the stand as that will hold back on the performance of the chiller in the long term and you create a lot of heat under your stand.
Chillers need a lot of ventilation.
 
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MaccaPopEye

MaccaPopEye

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So the single support will be strong enough to hold the weight of the tank?

And how does the chiller effect the skimmer? The stand will be open backed and I've been thinking about other methods of ventilation aswell (fans and possibly open on the sides as well as only the front needs to be closed for looks) . The chiller doesn't run too often anyway, it only ever needs to run for a couple of hours in the heat of the day if someone isn't home with the air con on, and due to shift work I'm home during the day more often than not.
 

Diesel

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Lol, my bad but I'm wondering the same thing, it doesn't it was a typo, lol
Meant chiller ;)
 
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MaccaPopEye

MaccaPopEye

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Ah Haha cool. I understand it will hold the chiller back a bit but it's big enough it should be able to handle it fine. With this new sump & stand I'll also be adding some fans over the sump, the DT and hopefully another just for airflow over the chill which I currently don't have and hopefully the chiller won't need to come on as much, if at all during the colder months.

If you don't mind do you have any pics of your stand and how you built it? Really just worried about that single support holding the weight of an entire corner :/
 
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MaccaPopEye

MaccaPopEye

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Ok so I think this is what I am more leaning towards now.

stand%201%20W%20sump%20-%20wide%20supports_zpsbsw2c6ea.png


I will ditch the far left double supports in favor of just the one 90x45mm in each corner as that end will bear no weight and I will change all the outside tank supports to 190x45mm. I am still a bit nervous but more confident this will hold the weight.
 

dbl

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In my opinion, your first design will be fine with a standard 2x4. I don't see a need to go with what looks like a 2X8 in your second design.

If the back of your stand is open, your chiller should perform fine. But to @Diesel's point, if it was to be closed, I would have said the same thing. Don't ask me how I know but I do!!!
 

Diesel

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d1-M.jpg


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These are pics from about 5 years ago.
The stand was build due to my own engineering design and holds 6 tons, tank, backsplash, granite, rock and all the water is about 2500lb on the moment.
 
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dbl

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d1-M.jpg


d2-M.jpg


d3-M.jpg


d16-M.jpg


d11-M.jpg


d27-M.jpg


d28-M.jpg


d88-L.jpg


These are pics from about 5 years ago.
The stand was build due to my own engineering design and holds 6 tons, tank, backsplash, granite, rock and all the water is about 2500lb on the moment.

Boom...not a piece of dimensional lumber to be seen (at least I don't see any)! Tanks not bad either Ben!!!
 
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MaccaPopEye

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In my opinion, your first design will be fine with a standard 2x4. I don't see a need to go with what looks like a 2X8 in your second design.

If the back of your stand is open, your chiller should perform fine. But to @Diesel's point, if it was to be closed, I would have said the same thing. Don't ask me how I know but I do!!!
Thanks, they are certainly 2x8 equivalents. I still dunno if I can sleep at night with just one 2x4 on each corner but since a few people with awesome stands (I subbed to your build a while ago dbl :)) seem to think it would be alright I might make it a 2x6 and then know I can sleep comfortably :p

And the back and right hand side will certainly be open and at least 50mm away from the wall on the back and a good 500mm away from the wall on the right. Thinking of just putting a black screen on the left hand side as well so I can get some nice airflow going with some fans.

Is attaching a plywood skin required to add strength against twisting etc or could I just add some diagonal braces on the back of the stand?

These are pics from about 5 years ago.
The stand was build due to my own engineering design and holds 6 tons, tank, backsplash, granite, rock and all the water is about 2500lb on the moment.
Dude that is jaw dropping. The granite around the edge... wow. The stand construction is really interesting too. I have seen a few made out of just plywood, fantastic quality there! Thanks for your input too :)
 

Diesel

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Dude that is jaw dropping. The granite around the edge... wow. The stand construction is really interesting too. I have seen a few made out of just plywood, fantastic quality there! Thanks for your input too :)

Matter the fact is I'll be building almost the same stand this Saturday morning for a friend of mine @steveb here in Houston.
I hope he can keep up with making pics.
Build my stand in less than a day, silicone on all joints and applied kills paint the same day, next day move in.
 
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MaccaPopEye

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Matter the fact is I'll be building almost the same stand this Saturday morning for a friend of mine @steveb here in Houston.
I hope he can keep up with making pics.
Build my stand in less than a day, silicone on all joints and applied kills paint the same day, next day move in.

Awesome :D I would really love to see a detailed build thread of a stand like that and then showing lots of pics and where the tank sits on it if you have the time to put one together. I would probably still stick with an overbuilt 2x4 style stand but I think it would be a really interesting read.
 

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Hello Macca, The commercial stands are nothing compared to a corner built with a single 2by4. I don't see why Your 1st design wouldn't work? How heavy will the tank be? Sorry if I missed that.
 
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MaccaPopEye

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Hello Macca, The commercial stands are nothing compared to a corner built with a single 2by4. I don't see why Your 1st design wouldn't work? How heavy will the tank be? Sorry if I missed that.

Most commercial stands I have seen have been made out of plywood which is actually really strong and even stronger when built into a box like they are. I am mainly worried about the single 2x4 bowing outwards over time under the weight, pretty much every 2x4 design I have see uses the 2 boards to brace each other from bowing outwards. I have no doubt it will hold initially but it will have no other support to stop any bowing.

I haven't bothered to calculate the weight but the tank is 48Lx20Wx26H with water & rock. Maybe 40kg of rock but probably less, it's very lightweight and very porous rock.
 

Diesel

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Awesome :D I would really love to see a detailed build thread of a stand like that and then showing lots of pics and where the tank sits on it if you have the time to put one together. I would probably still stick with an overbuilt 2x4 style stand but I think it would be a really interesting read.

I hear ya, if my friend will do it he can but I won't.
I'm just not a Youtube guy.
Many friends wanted to do a video of my tank with me in it and explain all the things that I did to it and why, I just don't want make the time for it.
Many secrets will go down 6 feet with me and I'm ok with that :cool:
 
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MaccaPopEye

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I hear ya, if my friend will do it he can but I won't.
I'm just not a Youtube guy.
Many friends wanted to do a video of my tank with me in it and explain all the things that I did to it and why, I just don't want make the time for it.
Many secrets will go down 6 feet with me and I'm ok with that :cool:
Haha fair enough, I can respect that :)
 

Diesel

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Most commercial stands I have seen have been made out of plywood which is actually really strong and even stronger when built into a box like they are. I am mainly worried about the single 2x4 bowing outwards over time under the weight, pretty much every 2x4 design I have see uses the 2 boards to brace each other from bowing outwards. I have no doubt it will hold initially but it will have no other support to stop any bowing.

I haven't bothered to calculate the weight but the tank is 48Lx20Wx26H with water & rock. Maybe 40kg of rock but probably less, it's very lightweight and very porous rock.

Rock ain't the weight, it's the tank, water and sand.
One gallon is 8 pounds, you looking at a close to 120 gallon tank almost a half a ton (960 lb) in water.
Tank can weight maybe 300 lb and sand for that tank is about 150 lb, my estimate with rock is close to 1700 lb.
 

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