OP
OP
sergifed91
Valuable Member
did you lay the tank on plywood at all?
diy stand questions
- Thread starter sergifed91
- Start date
- Tagged users None
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Oh yea. I got two sheets on top, one 3/4 one 1/2 inch with a 1/4” foam spacer in between the two.
Saltysocks
Active Member
That looks awesome! Love it. Thinking that's what I want to do for the next build.I finished mine by “skinning” it with old wood from pallets. I actually dislike the way it looks, plus I should’ve made it taller and a bigger than the tank, but it was a learning lesson.
Finish carpentry is not my strong suite, but it looks okay enough and it was cheap. That is the only advantage of going with a rustic look is that any imperfections add character, for instance my cat uses it as a scratching post and I don’t even care.
92Miata
Valuable Member
Do you have a tablesaw?
The entire point of the RocketEngineer 2x4 stand was that it was super cheap, and you could build one with no real tools (just a miter/chop saw). 2x4s aren't cheap right now.
Plywood stands are generally way stronger than 2x4 stands, are less likely to have issues with wracking/twisting/etc, and have more space in them - and plywood hasn't gone up in price nearly as badly as dimensional lumber has. $60 sheets of plywood are now $80. 2x4s went from $1.25 to $8.
The entire point of the RocketEngineer 2x4 stand was that it was super cheap, and you could build one with no real tools (just a miter/chop saw). 2x4s aren't cheap right now.
Plywood stands are generally way stronger than 2x4 stands, are less likely to have issues with wracking/twisting/etc, and have more space in them - and plywood hasn't gone up in price nearly as badly as dimensional lumber has. $60 sheets of plywood are now $80. 2x4s went from $1.25 to $8.
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Yup that’s why all the new houses are switching over to plywood studs haha
92Miata
Valuable Member
Houses are built the way they're built because we've had 100 years where 2x4s were essentially free, and good quality plywood was expensive.
That's not the case right now.
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
I respect your opinion enough not to argue it with you. I’ve seen some super clean plywood stands. Personally I’d pay the money to work with 2x4 again if I had too.
Gtinnel
10K Club member
I have never built a plywood stand and from everything I’ve read I have no doubt that they are strong enough to hold an aquarium. But, I would imagine for your average diy’er with basic tools (even if they do have a table saw) plywood is much harder to work with than 2x4s.
Gtinnel
10K Club member
I was planning on using a barn style sliding door originally, but the doors are too long. I wouldn’t have been able to get them to clear the opening without hanging out past the edge of the stand. Plus once I skinned the stand I didn’t really care what the doors looked like because I hate the way it looks. It was my wife that picked the rustic look.
OP
OP
sergifed91
Valuable Member
i don't have a table saw yet. been looking into them. I don't need anything expensive. but do have a few projects that I need a table saw for. thinking about one from lowes. menards im boycotting. and home depot im not very impressed with.
NowGlazeIT
Happy to help, Ask away.
Happy wife happy life buddy. I think I looked into it too, the barn door thing. Didn’t fit my application the hardware would have gone past the stand or the doors wouldn’t have opened enough
Guns286
Community Member
IMO 2x4’s and some plywood (1/2”) will be fine. I’m not a professional carpenter, but I have been creating Wood projects for awhile. It’s a question of support and load distribution. If you look at my attached designs for a tank stand I’m about to build you’ll see that I tried to make it so every part is reinforced by one or more other parts. No area is reliant on screws to hold the weight either.
As far as bowing or twist in the wood, look for the best that you can find, trim with your tablesaw, but planing is also very important. Either hand planing or running the 2x4’s through a bench top planer (cheap at Harbor Freight) is definitely the way to go.
As far as bowing or twist in the wood, look for the best that you can find, trim with your tablesaw, but planing is also very important. Either hand planing or running the 2x4’s through a bench top planer (cheap at Harbor Freight) is definitely the way to go.
Attachments
IL Reefer
Community Member
Just wanna make a suggestion but obviously do what you wanna do, but I would use 2x6 and if your able to anchor it to floor with some tap-cons do that also. Do your cross braces to pull everything tight. 125 filled with rock and water will be very heavy and maybe 2x6 s is overkill but it better to be safe then sorry. Dm me if you have questions and ill draw you out something and take pics of the stand i built for my 225gal.When standing vertically, such as when it functions as a stud, a 2×4 can hold about 1,000 pounds. A 2×4 can hold up to 40 pounds or 300 pounds when laying on its edge without sagging when laying horizontally. If you use 2x4 make sure your vertical boards are placed and secured properly.
n2585722
2500 Club Member
I built my stand for a 42 gallon hex tank. I used no plywood at all. It is screwed and glued together. The screws were done using a Kreg pocket hole fixture. The holes were plugged and sanded down so once painted you cannot see where the screws are at. You mentioned a place for your controller built into the stand. I did this and also added ventilation to those areas with the fans blowing into the areas. I also have ventilation fans for the areas in the stand and canopy but those fans pull the air out of those areas. I did that to help keep the high humidity air and salt spray away from the electronic. The room has central air and heat so the air in the room is well circulated. Here are some photos of the tank and of the areas for the electronics. The view from the top shows the ventilation fans for canopy area above the tank and the sump area of the stands. They are located in the back cover. The fans in the center of the top are cooling fans for the lighting. The second photo is the electronics area behind the front door of the stand. The 4 side doors are to access the area with the sump. There is also a back cabinet houses the power bars. The forth photo shows the inside on one side of it when it was off the stand.I have a lot more photos and explanations of what I was doing in my build thread on R2R. Just click on my Build Thread Contributors banner in my post to get to it. It is quit a bit different that what you will be building but hopefully it will give you some ideas for your build.
Guns286
Community Member
You brought up something that I didn’t think about. In a closed in sump area, with a refugium and light, I would imagine a certain amount of heat is generated. Di you think I would need to also add some kind of exhaust fans to help regulate the heat? The plan was also to add a heater to the sump to help keep a steady tank temperature.I built my stand for a 42 gallon hex tank. I used no plywood at all. It is screwed and glued together. The screws were done using a Kreg pocket hole fixture. The holes were plugged and sanded down so once painted you cannot see where the screws are at. You mentioned a place for your controller built into the stand. I did this and also added ventilation to those areas with the fans blowing into the areas. I also have ventilation fans for the areas in the stand and canopy but those fans pull the air out of those areas. I did that to help keep the high humidity air and salt spray away from the electronic. The room has central air and heat so the air in the room is well circulated. Here are some photos of the tank and of the areas for the electronics. The view from the top shows the ventilation fans for canopy area above the tank and the sump area of the stands. They are located in the back cover. The fans in the center of the top are cooling fans for the lighting. The second photo is the electronics area behind the front door of the stand. The 4 side doors are to access the area with the sump. There is also a back cabinet houses the power bars. The forth photo shows the inside on one side of it when it was off the stand.I have a lot more photos and explanations of what I was doing in my build thread on R2R. Just click on my Build Thread Contributors banner in my post to get to it. It is quit a bit different that what you will be building but hopefully it will give you some ideas for your build.
n2585722
2500 Club Member
Yes, I belive it would be a good idea to have ventilation. My biggest issue is cooling so only 3-4 months a year do I have any heater activity. I also use fans on the sump for evaporative cooling. Those are controlled with my controller. The ventilation fans run all the time but I do have speed controls so I can turn them down some. There are 9 fans in all on my tank. I do have my heaters in the sump also.
Last edited:
OP
OP
sergifed91
Valuable Member
how tall did you build it? the stand I currently have is 28 inches. not even tall enough to do hard plumbing.My tank is a 125 and I built my stand from 2x6 and it seems way stronger than it needs to be. If I were to start over I would very likely choose to use 2x4s.
OP
OP
sergifed91
Valuable Member
after looking at this stand several time. I like it even more.I finished mine by “skinning” it with old wood from pallets. I actually dislike the way it looks, plus I should’ve made it taller and a bigger than the tank, but it was a learning lesson.
Finish carpentry is not my strong suite, but it looks okay enough and it was cheap. That is the only advantage of going with a rustic look is that any imperfections add character, for instance my cat uses it as a scratching post and I don’t even care.
Gtinnel
10K Club member
The outside of my stand is 36” but that only leaves me around 25” on the inside, unless I’m between cross supports then I have about 30”. I wish I would’ve made it a little taller, but it’s good enough that almost any skimmer will fit.
Sebastiancrab
2500 Club Member
You want to use pressure treated wood and screws instead of nails. I wish I would have made my stand wider. All the cords and equipment take up a lot of room.
