Is this stand going to hold this tank?

ndz98 · May 22, 2017

I'm making a tank stand out of 1x6's for my 75 gallon tank. I'm making it as the picture shows below. Will it support the tank it will be holding (given all my joints are good)? I'm also going to add a few pieces of wood in the middle section to connect the front and back and keep them from any possibly swaying.

prsnlty · May 22, 2017

ndz98 said:
I'm making a tank stand out of 1x6's for my 75 gallon tank. I'm making it as the picture shows below. Will it support the tank it will be holding (given all my joints are good)? I'm also going to add a few pieces of wood in the middle section to connect the front and back and keep them from any possibly swaying.

I would do 2x4. Even though the tank isn't huge it'll be holding a lot of weight. It is a great basic stand plan [emoji1]

ndz98 · May 22, 2017

prsnlty said:
I would do 2x4. Even though the tank isn't huge it'll be holding a lot of weight. It is a great basic stand plan [emoji1]

Well I kind of asked because I made the mistake of buying 1x6's instead of 2x6's so that's kind of why I asked (beginners mistake lol). I'm trying to figure out if it will suffice or if I should sell it to someone else who maybe has a shallow tank that does not weigh nearly as much.

prsnlty · May 22, 2017

ndz98 said:
Well I kind of asked because I made the mistake of buying 1x6's instead of 2x6's so that's kind of why I asked (beginners mistake lol). I'm trying to figure out if it will suffice or if I should sell it to someone else who maybe has a shallow tank that does not weigh nearly as much.

Lol, I think we've all been there [emoji12]

I personally would rather be safe than sorry. But 2x4 should be fine. Make sure they're straight, no splits, twists or knots. If you want you can do all 2x4 but do the top frame in 2x6. Either will be fine for a 75.

prsnlty · May 22, 2017

I actually used the same plan but tweaked it a bit for a 180 peninsula .

prsnlty · May 22, 2017

Do not lay your bottom cross boards flat like I did unless you plan to put a solid1-1.5" thick floor over them. AND screwed to the sides and bottom.

Sleepydoc · May 22, 2017

Honestly, 1x6's would be just fine. 2x4's are overkill. The factory stand for my Marineland 120 was nothing more than 1x4's and ½" furniture board. Not that it was top notch construction, but it held up the tank for 4 years without any issues whatsoever until I built a better stand. If you get 1x stock, get the higher quality boards without knots, and regardless which stock you buy, take your time to find boards that aren't twisted, warped etc.

benpoole28 · May 23, 2017

I've built dozens of stands with 1x4s. 2x4s are terrible for building stands. They are rarely perfectly straight and are too bulky. You want to maximize you space under the tank. Any stand that comes with a tank will be built with 3/4" material, same as 1x's.

obfusk8r · May 23, 2017

Your design seems to be missing a solid single board sitting atop the stand- unless it sits on a completely flat solid surface, complemented by a thick rubber mat to sit the tank on, you have to worry about uneven weight disrubution. I had Biocube & stand made of particle board, tank consists of one single piece of thin glass- Just had to do a floor reinstall on the way to dispensing that advice, hope yours works out.

ndz98 · May 23, 2017

obfusk8r said:
Your design seems to be missing a solid single board sitting atop the stand- unless it sits on a completely flat solid surface, complemented by a thick rubber mat to sit the tank on, you have to worry about uneven weight disrubution. I had Biocube & stand made of particle board, tank consists of one single piece of thin glass- Just had to do a floor reinstall on the way to dispensing that advice, hope yours works out.

Yea that's something I realized almost instantly as soon as I starting assembling all the pieces to the stand. I am almost level on all sides but I'm going to throw a piece of plywood on top just to make sure it's as level as possible for the tank to sit on.

ndz98 · May 23, 2017

Knocked out quite a bit today

obfusk8r · May 23, 2017

ndz98 said:
Yea that's something I realized almost instantly as soon as I starting assembling all the pieces to the stand. I am almost level on all sides but I'm going to throw a piece of plywood on top just to make sure it's as level as possible for the tank to sit on.

As a replacement I've just gotten a Nuvo 25 lagoon- they include a rubber mat along with the tank. Distributes the weight like I couldn't have imagined. Just glad it wasn't a 150 gallon, wife may have replaced me! Let us know how it works out.

Sleepydoc · May 23, 2017

obfusk8r said:
nk consists of one single piece of thin glass- Just had to do a floor reinstall on the way to dispensing that advic

A solid top is unnecessary for a rimmed tank. The weight is distributed around the edge via the frame, so the top does nothing for support. All that is required is that the stand is flat/coplanar. If it isn't, a piece of plywood or particle board won't fix it.

As a general rule, foam is not recommended under rimmed tanks. Under rimless tanks it is used to prevent point loading and associated stresses on the bottom pane of glass. This is unnecessary with a rimmed tank and there is a slight chance that it can actually cause issues with the frame. Foam will also not fix a stand that is not flat, level and coplanar.

benpoole28 · May 23, 2017

Looks good

prsnlty · May 24, 2017

Sleepydoc said:
A solid top is unnecessary for a rimmed tank. The weight is distributed around the edge via the frame, so the top does nothing for support. All that is required is that the stand is flat/coplanar. If it isn't, a piece of plywood or particle board won't fix it.

As a general rule, foam is not recommended under rimmed tanks. Under rimless tanks it is used to prevent point loading and associated stresses on the bottom pane of glass. This is unnecessary with a rimmed tank and there is a slight chance that it can actually cause issues with the frame. Foam will also not fix a stand that is not flat, level and coplanar.

+1 I have a friend with a 125 who had several cracks in the frame because of this all across the bottom frame. A few months later he sprung a leak the bottom and a good one too.