Im attempting to build my first stand

hckycoz

hckycoz

Member
hey guys bear with me through all the questions. this is my first diy attempt. I have a feww questions too all you who have done this before.
After i have the frame built and put the plywood on it as a panel, should i glue the plywood or nail it?
Im sure there will be plenty of questions coming soon. But here is a pic of the plans i have.
I will start buying and building next week when i get the materials. So if you stick around i will post pics of the process
 
lepete

lepete

Member
def overkill. I think 1" x 1" pine can support 800 lb. For the 48" stand, 8 pieces (4 front, 4 rear) of 2x4 is the max I'll put.
 
clown52

clown52

Member
Most of the stands I have seen are overkill but there is a big investment inside the tank so better safe than sorry.
Is the diagram the front of the stand? What is the tall section on the right for, overflow and equiptment? What is the depth of the stand? Are you putting the braces in the front and back like you show there with the 4x4s at each corner of the tank?
 
hckycoz

hckycoz

Member
this is the stand looking straight at it. the tall section will be for food, medicines, electrical equipment and it will also hide the drains and overflow. Yes i will brace all 4 corners with 4x4's and the stand an tank are 18" deep and on top will be 2x4's running across the 2x6's
 
psusocr1

psusocr1

Active Member
hey i bumped my post up so maybe you can look at what i did....maybe it will help ya out but you seem like you got all the right ideas already!!
 
bob a.

bob a.

Member
If you are building this for a 110, you dont need any2x lumber at all. You can build the whole thing out of 3/4' ply that is glued and screwed together. Once the plywood forms at least a 3 sided box, it is plenty strong to support the weight. Look at most of the stands in the fish stores, they are all plywood.
Here is a stand I recently built for a 90. Its stiff enough even with the drawers right under the tank.

You could build something like this with a circular saw at a minimum but a tablesaw would be better.
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
Nice design, I used similiar on mine. Didn't use the nail glue on the frame, wanted the little bit of give the screws provided.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Very nice work Bob and Grog!!!!!!!
I agree with what Bob said about fish store stands being made of 3/4" plywood, but for piece of mind I would never just use plywood......It might be overkill, but it's also piece of mind....Granted you can put 2x lumber together and it still not hold if done incorrectly, but IMO you should depending on size of tank......
I think all the 2x4's in the middle are overkill as well as the 4x4's, but I used 4x4's on my stand, but also notched the posts to carry the weight from the 2x6's as well....You don't want to rely just on glue, nails, screws, bad things can happen from time to time. You don't have to notch your posts but you could use cripple studs to carry the weight....RobChuck did a post on his inwall build and shows good pics of using cripple studs....I went 1 step further and used lag bolts to tie things together......
 
bob a.

bob a.

Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
Very nice work Bob and Grog!!!!!!!
I agree with what Bob said about fish store stands being made of 3/4" plywood, but for piece of mind I would never just use plywood......It might be overkill, but it's also piece of mind....Granted you can put 2x lumber together and it still not hold if done incorrectly, but IMO you should depending on size of tank......
I think all the 2x4's in the middle are overkill as well as the 4x4's, but I used 4x4's on my stand, but also notched the posts to carry the weight from the 2x6's as well....You don't want to rely just on glue, nails, screws, bad things can happen from time to time. You don't have to notch your posts but you could use cripple studs to carry the weight....RobChuck did a post on his inwall build and shows good pics of using cripple studs....I went 1 step further and used lag bolts to tie things together......
Thanks for the compliment, but for sure, you dont need that construction lumber in a fish tank stand. I like to maximize the space in the stand for the equipment and storage and 2x lumber takes up a lot of space, complicates the construction and makes the stand heavy as hell. Plywood by itself would not be strong enough to support the compression load that the tank puts on it, but once it is part of a box structure where it cant rack or bow out then it is plenty strong. I see alot of guys building stands with 2x lumber cause they dont trust the plywood, but it really is unneccessary.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Again I do agree with what your saying Bob, but have never been a fan of those cheap stands you'll find in the LFS.....To much money invested to sit on top of that
 
clown52

clown52

Member
I used 1 inch finish ply on mine and it holds my 55 and canopy. Sure it doesn't look all that tough but it is more than strong enough, especially since you are talking about sheer weight. I'll see if I can get some picks of it tonight. It's just hard to photo because it's black.
Nothing wrong with more support though just heavy. Also, I would try to make your front under tank access doors as big as possible so you have more room to work though.
 
hckycoz

hckycoz

Member
well i went to the lumber yard last night and got the lumber for the drawing above. I did change the 4x4's with 2x6's. I agree with your plywood idea but im the kinda guy who needs the extra suppport for peace of mind and insurance.
oh and grog i totally copied your idea and would love to talk to you more about all the details you put into it
 
hckycoz

hckycoz

Member
also if there is anyone following this for their own stands i will keep a running total of all my expenses
Lowes
4 plastic hooks for nets $1.48
5 2x6x8 $4.51 $22.55
1 2x4x92" $2.48 $2.48
7 2x4x8 $2.96 $20.72
TOTAL $50.82
This should cover all the framing.
 
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