75 on a 55 stand

deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i bought a 75 gallon tank for my 250 dt for a sump.well i cant fit it under my stand.i know measure twice fit once.i got it from my fish supplier for 50 bucks .it wont fit because of all the other stuff under there.skimmer ballasts etc.i have a 55 gallon qt i can use.i want to use the 75 for a new qt and the 55 for the sump.well the 75 and 55 are both 48 inches so it will fit on the stand from left to right.the 75 is 4 inches deeper so it will overhang 4 inches obviously.i was thinking of buying 3/4 inch plywood and cutting it to the 75 footprint.it will overhang 2 inches on either side .think this is safe?
 
kylev

kylev

Member
IMO I think you could be ok doing that but you would also need to build up the supports inside the tank as well to be able to bear the additional weight over time, i'd throw a few more 2x4's in there to be safe.
 
Another idea if your not super concerned with the looks of the stand. I'd feel real safe in your scenario if you added the 3/4 plywood but let the complete 4 inches over hang on the back side of the tank, then frame the additional 4" in with 2x4's down to a bottom 1/2 piece of plywood on the floor, plus doing the additional supports inside the stand????
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
Since most of the support on an aquarium is needed on the ends, you may be ok, but personally I would be very considered about the tank being top heavy on that stand and tipping over. It's not something I would do.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///forum/thread/380400/75-on-a-55-stand#post_3310712
i bought a 75 gallon tank for my 250 dt for a sump.well i cant fit it under my stand.i know measure twice fit once.i got it from my fish supplier for 50 bucks .it wont fit because of all the other stuff under there.skimmer ballasts etc.i have a 55 gallon qt i can use.i want to use the 75 for a new qt and the 55 for the sump.well the 75 and 55 are both 48 inches so it will fit on the stand from left to right.the 75 is 4 inches deeper so it will overhang 4 inches obviously.i was thinking of buying 3/4 inch plywood and cutting it to the 75 footprint.it will overhang 2 inches on either side .think this is safe?

 
NO it isn't safe. All the weight is on the seams, so the very edges must be supported.
 
Go to home depot and get some layered wood, get a panel cut the size of the tank or even an inch larger put that down on the stand and put the tank on top of that.
 
The layered wood is stronger than regular pressed wood. It will hold up under the pressure and take some water. I sealed mine with blac paint before use.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///forum/thread/380400/75-on-a-55-stand#post_3310875
layered wood? you do realize 3/4 in plywood has probably 6 layers right?

 
Its not plywood...plywood will squish down and compress. You want a panel of wood very simular, you can see the layers and each layer is sturdy, not like plywood. It will hold up under pressure. It is about 1.5 inches thick .If you tell the workers there what you want the wood for they will help you. Never use pressboard either, it absorbs water.
 
I sorry..I just am not handy and I don't know what to call this stuff. Plywood will curl on the ends and compress in the center so you don't want that.
 
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Can you show us a picture of this stand? Personally if it's only a 2" over hang on either side front/back I think you'll be fine if you wen't with a quality ply but would recommend dimmensional lumber instead.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I could understand that if it were a 2" over hang on all 4 sides but not 2 sides. I also wanted to see a pic of the stand itself because I was going to recommend probably trimming it out with some 3/4" stock around the top of the stand for extra support. But again I think dimensional lumber would be a better choice for the top than plywood. The last stand that my 120G was built by the previous owners in very much the same way. It had approximately a 1.5" overhang on the front and back and after the 2 years that they owned it there was no warping or visible signs of stress to the tank.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I'm actually on my way up to home depot right now, i'll take a look and see if I can find the stuff you're talking about Flower. Off the top of my head it doesn't ring a bell but 1.5" thick stock would deffinately be better than 3/4" without a doubt.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/380400/75-on-a-55-stand#post_3310916
I'm actually on my way up to home depot right now, i'll take a look and see if I can find the stuff you're talking about Flower. Off the top of my head it doesn't ring a bell but 1.5" thick stock would deffinately be better than 3/4" without a doubt.

 
 
Well I sure hope you can find it…LOL…I know right where to find it in that store. It was a cheap wood but not as cheap as plywood.
 
I would never leave any overhang on a tank. All the stress is on the seams when it’s filled with water. As long as the edges/seams are on a solid surface the tank is supported as it was intended.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
well not to throw a wrench in the plans but.i decided to let my wife have the 55 for her turtles and i am going to use the 30 sump in my 90 reef for the 250 probably a bit small of a sump but all i keep in it is the pump,heaters and alot of rock rubble.i am half way done emptying my 90 reef to my 250 now.got all the rock and corals in there.now i have the fish and shrinp acclimating in a bucket.next is to empty the water out of the 30 sump and put it under the dt.i have totes and buckets all over right now.the 250 now is a reef.got the rock from both tanks in there now.must have 300 lbs in there it is looking nice.not sure what i am going to do with the 90 now?
i might post a thread for ideas maybe something like a filefish tank or horse tank but not sure i want to spend the cash on a chiller.we will figure that out later.well back to my mess
 
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