another DIY stand post

sergifed91 · Aug 27, 2019

been thinking about my next build. I could either buy a stand for a ridiculous amount of money or just build one. been watching you tube videos on it. seems pretty cut and dry. leaning on building a stand myself in January before my I do the next build. heres a pic I'm thinking about. tank deminsion for 90g. will be length 48 width 18 and height I believe will be either 24 or 28 inches. I plan on all 2x4's for the frame. length of the stand will be 49 inches. I plan on dressing up the top of the stand with plywood 1/2 or 3/4 inch along with the inside of the stand for the bottom plywood. the sides will be plywood. not sure if i'm going to cover the back or just leave it wide open. then the from I just plan on plywood with screw hinge and hook to keep it on. I think that's what there called. but I could be wrong.
I know the width and length are a little larger than the tank but I want a little more room to get the sump in and out when needed. then for protection. since it will be extremely cold out. I just plan on primer and then painting the stand black.

VB313 · Aug 27, 2019

Sounds like a good plan I would cover the back in plywood and make cut outs for what you need plywood adds strength and keeps things square

sergifed91 · Aug 27, 2019

VB313 said:
Sounds like a good plan I would cover the back in plywood and make cut outs for what you need plywood adds strength and keeps things square

what thickness do you think. half inch or 3/4 inch

Goodair · Aug 27, 2019

Either works, more importantly is to have it completely flat for the tank to sit on.

JoshH · Aug 27, 2019

new setup said:
what thickness do you think. half inch or 3/4 inch

Half inch would be plenty

VB313 · Aug 27, 2019

Half inch is always cheaper......money for coral

Goodair · Aug 27, 2019

perforated board is nice for the back since there are holes for air to ventilate aswell. Seal this inside of the tank along with the outside. It will get humid inside the cabinet when its hot.

Bigbadfishy · Aug 27, 2019

Had a friend of mine build this stand, used 2x4s and tongue and groove.

Daniel@R2R · Aug 28, 2019

Bigbadfishy said:
Had a friend of mine build this stand, used 2x4s and tongue and groove.

Nice!

TheHarold · Aug 28, 2019

Goodair said:
perforated board is nice for the back since there are holes for air to ventilate aswell. Seal this inside of the tank along with the outside. It will get humid inside the cabinet when its hot.

Isn’t perforated board basically dense cardboard? Don’t want it in extreme humidity. Unless you paint/seal it I guess.

Goodair · Aug 28, 2019

You seal it along with the whole interior of the cabinet.

AbjectMaelstroM · Aug 28, 2019

Buy some shims if you're going to be using common lumber. No matter how straight you think it is it will be warped.

I am pretty much done building my stand for which I used 2x4s and 2x6, I to use a jointing jig to get the lumber somewhat straight. At the end of the day it's still wasn't perfect but usable.

TheHarold · Aug 28, 2019

AbjectMaelstroM said:
Buy some shims if you're going to be using common lumber. No matter how straight you think it is it will be warped.

I am pretty much done building my stand for which I used 2x4s and 2x6, I to use a jointing jig to get the lumber somewhat straight. At the end of the day it's still wasn't perfect but usable.

That’s why I made my own more straighter, stronger boards by laminating plywood together.

DIY: 1-Sheet Laminated Plywood Stand

Here are some photos from my plywood laminated-style stand. The construction is made up of 3" wide birch 3/4" plywood strips, that are laminated into 1.5" beams. This strategy lets me always have side-grain to screw and glue with- I will have a photo below of what a section looks like. @JoshH I...

www.reef2reef.com

AbjectMaelstroM · Aug 28, 2019

TheHarold said:
That’s why I made my own more straighter, stronger boards by laminating plywood together.

DIY: 1-Sheet Laminated Plywood Stand

Here are some photos from my plywood laminated-style stand. The construction is made up of 3" wide birch 3/4" plywood strips, that are laminated into 1.5" beams. This strategy lets me always have side-grain to screw and glue with- I will have a photo below of what a section looks like. @JoshH I...

www.reef2reef.com

Yeah, that was a good lesson learned. For my next and if there is one, I'm going to use 80/20 aluminum extrusions or plywood.

The stand author all turned out better than I thought, it ended up being a lot more work than it should have been.