Metal stand experts please advise....

[Canuck007]

Tank is glass eurobraced 66x36x25h 260 gallons.

Stand will be with no center brace...2" tubing with corner braces and 11 gauge steel...ok design?

Really like not having the center brace but if stability is an issue I'm fine with the brace.

 

[DLHDesign]

You're looking at ~2300lbs of water weight alone. I don't think that 2" tubing @ 11 gauge could support that without a center brace, but I'm not an engineer to say for sure. The internet seems to indicate that the max load of that beam at that length would be ~1,000lbs - but I'm not sure if that would be divided amongst the entire frame or not...

 

[SeaJay]

I would be confident building a 66" span using 2x4 steel or even 2x3, but not 2x2. Not saying it won't work, but I wouldn't do it. This is based solely on my experience building chassis. I've built truck chassis with 2x4 and use 2x3 for crossmembers and other structural components. 2x2 would be a weak point.

 

[SeaJay]

You're looking at ~2300lbs of water weight alone. I don't think that 2" tubing @ 11 gauge could support that without a center brace, but I'm not an engineer to say for sure. The internet seems to indicate that the max load of that beam at that length would be ~1,000lbs - but I'm not sure if that would be divided amongst the entire frame or not...

This is true, but much like a floor joist, if he ran multiple beams the length of the span and welded some blocks in between, he could spread that load over 3-4+ pieces.

I would still just use 2x4 on those long spans and not have to listen for the sounds of cracks and rushing water at night. But if 2x2 is what he has and he doesn't want to buy more, I know it could be done. I believe that 2 vertical braces in the back, 3 tubes run the full span for the top and blocking in between those horizontal spans would give you plenty of strength. Maybe just get one piece of 2x3 for the front most horizontal top for peace of mind.

 

[DLHDesign]

Here's the stand I just built out using 8020. Obviously a different material with different loads and such, but it's a pretty standard design from what I could find.

It's actually upside down - the 2x2 bars are the top. This is for a 72x24x24 tank.

 

[guero130]

Here's the stand I just built out using 8020. Obviously a different material with different loads and such, but it's a pretty standard design from what I could find.

It's actually upside down - the 2x2 bars are the top. This is for a 72x24x24 tank.

What was the cost of this stand? I would love to do mine out of the extruded aluminum also but not to sure i want to know the price tag. It would be going under a 470g. 96"×30"tall×40" deep.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I’m no engineer but that stand looks like it could use some corner bracing

 

[DLHDesign]

What was the cost of this stand?

Came out around $2200. Not the cheapest option by far. It likely would have been cheaper to use 20-series instead of 25-series; were I doing it again I'd use that.

I’m no engineer but that stand looks like it could use some corner bracing

I ended up actually attaching it to the wall via some L-brackets, which stabilized it. I added some corner bracing as well, but it wasn't really needed at that point. Had it been free-standing; yes - it would have needed corner bracing for sure.

 

[SeaJay]

Came out around $2200. Not the cheapest option by far. It likely would have been cheaper to use 20-series instead of 25-series; were I doing it again I'd use that.


I ended up actually attaching it to the wall via some L-brackets, which stabilized it. I added some corner bracing as well, but it wasn't really needed at that point. Had it been free-standing; yes - it would have needed corner bracing for sure.

Jeez. That’s over 10x what it would cost to build that stand out of steel.

 

[DLHDesign]

Jeez. That’s over 10x what it would cost to build that stand out of steel.

I'm sure it's factors times higher; yeah. I had a friend-of-a-friend who offered to fabricate me a steel stand for cost, but neither of us knew of a way to get it powder-coated - it was too big for him to do (it was just a hobby for him) and he didn't know of a shop that had the ability to do so either. In the end, I was happy to have the stand in pieces as it made it easier to move from one house to the other when we finally moved.
For me, it also became a matter of the cost of my time. I work as a contractor paid by the hour, so every hour I spent trying to deal with finding/building a stand took time away from my ability to make money. When I hit the point where I'd "spent" ~$5k on trying to make the steel stand work, I threw in the towel and went with the 80/20 stand I had designed. I'm sure that had I spent a bit more time on it, I could have reduced the cost a great deal. I'd never built anything like this before, so wasn't sure about all the various pieces that I could use. I ended up going with everything pre-cut and pre-drilled. I'm sure that had I spent some time, I could have learned a bit more about the material and dropped my costs. But, as I said - it was costing me money in the time I was spending.

Even still; these kinds of materials aren't inexpensive - no amount of effort or knowledge will make them so. If you want inexpensive; go with wood. I almost went with a wood stand (I consider them perfectly valid options - ideal in many ways, in fact), but I decided that I wanted the openness that the aluminum frame offered more than I wanted to save the money. Given how cramped everything turned out (see my build thread below, if interested), I'm glad I did...