Plywood below tank or not?

[scottnj]

Looking to build a stand for a 55 gallon, and I keep going back and forth on wether or not I should put a sheet of plywood on top of the stand under the tank to help distribute the weight, or if its better to put the tank directly on the horizontal 2X4 frame.
I know most of the store bought stands do not have a sheet under the tank, and thought I remember reading this is to prevent any un-even pressure on the bottom glass.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
-Scott

 

[lobstergrabber]

Maybe a sheet of 1/4 inch styrofoam. I Didn't put anything under mine though.
Rich

 

[foxthorn]

I put a sheet of plywood on the top of mine... My thought was that my AGA tank has a black plastic frame that goes around the entire bottom of the tank. So, all of the outside edges of glass are resting and supported on this frame. So to me, it didn't seem to really matter if the tank sat on plywood or not. I liked the idea of the plywood on top and along the back to simply provide more overall strength to the stand.
HTH

 

[scottnj]

Thanks for the input folks. Still not sure which way I will go, leaning towards no ply under the tank though. I'll check out some store bought ones this weekend at the LFS as well.
_Scott

 

[foxthorn]

Thanks... but thanks should also go to RyeBread for allowing me to use a portion of one of his wonderful pictures!