My first build thread

Dave3112 · Apr 15, 2010

Well here it goes!! This is my first build thread so don't beat me up too bad:bigsmile:.

I have been wanting to "organize" my fish room and enclose my stand that I got from a fellow reefer that is just painted 2X4's.

Here is a shot of when I first started to get started

And from a different angle

As you can see my set up is very messy and cluttered. I don't have room under the stand for my sump so it is on a separate wall and I want to enclose this also to make the room look more "normal"

Here are a few more pictures of the progress I have made. FYI I didn't have any plans drawn up or anything I just am kinda working on the fly. If I try to sit down and draw things up before I do them I end up way over thinking things and generally screwing them up. So I just get a picture in my mind and go with it. Which makes for ALOT of tripe to Lowes. LOL

Ok thats all for today. I will get the plywood for the top and cut it tomorrow as well as skin the sides and try to decide what kind of trim I want to put on it.

Thanks for looking................more to come.

David

LegoZ81 · Apr 16, 2010

Can you attach some more pictures of the stand? It looks like you are hanging the tank platform off of the sides of the stand. This puts the load limit at the shear strength of the fastener and the tear strength of the wood usually much lower that the maximum load capacity of the wood.
Attached is a simple way to direct the load to the floor by adding eight pieces of 2x4. You want to make sure you overlap the joints in the "box" you created to sit the tank on. The added pieces are in red.

Hopefully this makes sense other than than looks good.

fishoutofwater · Apr 16, 2010

I agree you might want to check that stand. tank looks good

Dave3112 · Apr 16, 2010

If you are talking about the stand that the tank is on already then that is the stand that I got from a fellow reefer and the tank has been sitting on it like it is for about a year now. It is very stable. Just not very appealing to the eye, that is why I am going to enclose it and put some good trim work on it. Thinking about attaching the enclosure with magnets so that everything can be accessed if need be. I will get some better pictures of the stand and the progress of today in a few minutes.