Stand Advice Please! Twisted Stand??

Hentz · May 20, 2017

I'm building a stand and am not very wood savvy... The bottom frame is really quite square, however the top isn't... I put on a pice of plywood on top that perfectly fits my tank at 46"x24". In the picture I had the plywood sit completely flush in the front but this is what happens towards the back. Almost as if the top frame is skewed to the left... It feels insanely solid and doesn't seem to wobble or anything when I shake it from left to right. however I'd like your professional opinions before I go any farther.. Adding Plywood to the sides is also off, but I'm thinking I might add it to the slight crook it will have to be added and then shimmy heavily under neath..

I tried removing the top frame to see if I can fix it or even just rebuild, but it won't come off easy and will likely require a completely new frame if I remove the top.

What do you guys think? Will I be fine to use it or should it be a no go?

Miketay89 · May 20, 2017

Is the aquarium flat on the bottom or does it have a rim on it? If there is a rim that will be sitting on the overhang I would redo the stand. But if the entire bottom is supported by the plywood then I think it would be okay.
Can you get a picture of the entire stand?

benpoole28 · May 20, 2017

I would definitely redo it. Once you start skinning it, it will look worse, it's off by quite a bit. I find 1 x 4 allot easier to work with that 2 x4 for stands. 2 x4 are way overkill. You could park a truck on that stand.

Carlos Danger · May 20, 2017

It might work but why chance it. If the entire bottom of the tank is not adjoined equally around the entire top and back of the stand then you're playing with fire possibly a year down the road. Believe me, you would be kicking yourself in the butt if you did your entire build then said, " If only I would have fixed the stand before I did everything else." It will haunt you in the long run. My recommendation would be to fix it and be OCD about it.

benpoole28 · May 20, 2017

When building stands, I build the bottom, making sure is perfectly square, then build the top the exact same way. Stack Them on top of each other to make sure they line up perfectly. Then I cut my post making sure they are exactly the same length. Use pocket screw method to attache to top and bottom with a brace halfway up the post. Make sure your wood is perfectly straight when picking it out, a little twist in the material will throw the entire thing off.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

Another reason why 2xs are horrible for stands. I'd say start over and ONLY use 3/4" plywood.

Hentz · May 20, 2017

Miketay89 said:
Is the aquarium flat on the bottom or does it have a rim on it? If there is a rim that will be sitting on the overhang I would redo the stand. But if the entire bottom is supported by the plywood then I think it would be okay.
Can you get a picture of the entire stand?

It's a rimless tank at 46x24x20 with 1/2 glass. I do have a piece of plywood to sit on top of the frame as I'll also be adding some Neoprene to absorb and impurities in the plywood on top of the stand which was flat to begin with. I'll add photos in the post below.

Carlos Danger said:
It might work but why chance it. If the entire bottom of the tank is not adjoined equally around the entire top and back of the stand then you're playing with fire possibly a year down the road. Believe me, you would be kicking yourself in the *** if you did your entire build then said, " If only I would have fixed the stand before I did everything else." It will haunt you in the long run. My recommendation would be to fix it and be OCD about it.

This is definitely true. I'm no wood worker at all, but I just wanted something I could build and be proud of since it was DIY. But I agree, I'm very OCD with everything. I'd rather not risk me wishing it wasn't an issue a year from now. At this point I'm even considering doing T-Slot which I can get for about $500 and just covering it with some nice plywood panels.

benpoole28 said:
When building stands, I build the bottom, making sure is perfectly square, then build the top the exact same way. Stack Them on top of each other to make sure they line up perfectly. Then I cut my post making sure they are exactly the same length. Use pocket screw method to attache to top and bottom with a brace halfway up the post. Make sure your wood is perfectly straight when picking it out, a little twist in the material will throw the entire thing off.

We made sure both top and bottom were square, and they were. I even picked out the straightest boards possible with no twisting, bowing, anything. Also picked up the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig which we used. Wasn't any issues until the top and bottom frame were connected with perfectly cut legs.. Thats when something went wrong and something twisted. It sucks that the one small twist in something will throw the entire structure off!

cromag08 said:
Another reason why 2xs are horrible for stands. I'd say start over and ONLY use 3/4" plywood.

I keep reading 3/4" Plywood is so great. I can see how it is so great but still kind of freaks me out lol. Maybe its because I've just never used it or dealt with just that for a tank stand, granted the countless times I've seen VERY nice ones holding up big tanks. Or even maybe because I'm not a great wood worker and I wouldn't trust myself building it.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

Nothing but 3/4" plywood.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

Neoprene should never be used under tanks larger than a nano. they do NOT evenly distribute weight.

Hentz · May 20, 2017

This is just the tank with half water in it. It is used and has some scratches. Reason the light is on top is so I can see if the scratches are very visible or not.

Aside from that, the stand also does have a slight teeter totter rock from back left to front right. Not much, but having seen that problem from quite a few people, it seems that the weight of the tank+water would eventually fix that naturally.

This is the left side. Tank sits completely flush with the front of the tank and flush with the left side as you can see. However this has the 1/4" that the plywood hands off of the frame.

This is the right side, which is where you can see the twist. Again, the tank is sitting flush with the front and back left but not the back right.

And here was the frame at its finished point. Mostly primed.

Hentz · May 20, 2017

cromag08 said:
Nothing but 3/4" plywood.

That is seriously amazing! Holy cow. Did you glue on the crown molding or is is nailed in or something? How big is the tank?

cromag08 said:
Neoprene should never be used under tanks larger than a nano. they do NOT evenly distribute weight.

Ah glad I know. I was told by a very reputable reefer to avoid using foam and use neoprene.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

NO! lol. any teetering is bad and will not just work itself out. at the very least you'll need to shim it when it's in place.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

Glue.

Rigid foam is used under flat bottom glass.

Hentz said:
That is seriously amazing! Holy cow. Did you glue on the crown molding or is is nailed in or something? How big is the tank?

Ah glad I know. I was told by a very reputable reefer to avoid using foam and use neoprene.

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

Oh, that tank is about 250g.

Hentz · May 20, 2017

cromag08 said:
Oh, that tank is about 250g.

Good lord. Too bad you're in Pheonix. I'd have you build me one! I really like the open real estate the plywood lets you have. Would you mind PM'ing me details on building a plywood stand? What type of 3/4", what glue to use to hold them together, etc..?

Eddie Rogers · May 20, 2017

Check out this video, the stand wasn't stright and the glass cracked

Cherub · May 20, 2017

you should redo the stand. Wood is fairly inexpensive but the mess your tank can make will be very costly if it cracks

cromag27 · May 20, 2017

I would not recommend this guy's videos at all.

Eddie Rogers said:
Check out this video, the stand wasn't stright and the glass cracked

touchstone88 · Sep 20, 2017

Hentz said:
I'm building a stand and am not very wood savvy... The bottom frame is really quite square, however the top isn't... I put on a pice of plywood on top that perfectly fits my tank at 46"x24". In the picture I had the plywood sit completely flush in the front but this is what happens towards the back. Almost as if the top frame is skewed to the left... It feels insanely solid and doesn't seem to wobble or anything when I shake it from left to right. however I'd like your professional opinions before I go any farther.. Adding Plywood to the sides is also off, but I'm thinking I might add it to the slight crook it will have to be added and then shimmy heavily under neath..

I tried removing the top frame to see if I can fix it or even just rebuild, but it won't come off easy and will likely require a completely new frame if I remove the top.

What do you guys think? Will I be fine to use it or should it be a no go?

Thanks for posting this! (as well as all those who replied!!!) I've the same issue and this is the first thread to specifically address the issue of torsion