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Stand for different sizes?


treesprite

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Maybe this is a pointless idea, but I am wondering if there is a way to build a stand which will work with different tank footprints. Putting a smaller tank on a larger stand would mean the smaller tank doesnt have support under it other than a piece of plywood if the stand even has a covered top. Basically, I need to know how to build in the support structure without having to interfere with the space under the stand.

 

I'm asking because there is a degree of uncertainty about how long it will be before I move again, and I don't want to have to build multiple stands for temporary smaller tanks.

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Maybe this is a pointless idea, but I am wondering if there is a way to build a stand which will work with different tank footprints. Putting a smaller tank on a larger stand would mean the smaller tank doesnt have support under it other than a piece of plywood if the stand even has a covered top. Basically, I need to know how to build in the support structure without having to interfere with the space under the stand.

 

I'm asking because there is a degree of uncertainty about how long it will be before I move again, and I don't want to have to build multiple stands for temporary smaller tanks.

 

 

Check out my stand build. I used support beams across the top to evenly distribute the weight. I think one of the first things to decide is how big or how small you would go. Then you could easily build something that could accommodate all those stands. 

 

2x4 is pretty sturdy. it doesn't bend too easy; however if you are really concerned about weight and want to account for a wide range of tanks, then I suggest having the stand built from metal not wood. 

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(edited)

Ultimately, there will be a 120 on it. But part of the reason I haven't rushed to get it together, is the uncertainty about residence. In the meantime, I have a temporary set of little tanks sitting on the floor, 3 of which I drilled and have them plumbed together. The plumbed ones are 16H, 16 bow, and a 20L. The others are a 12g Aquapod, and a 2 or 3g tank which I had to set up to get the big hammer corals out of the other tanks when I brought home a couple large sps frags from FF (all my liverock from my 75g DT and 40g sump is crammed into these little tanks, so space is scarce and hammers kill things they touch).

 

I thought about putting planks across, but each one would require 2 supports to keep the load off of the top frame... that's a lot of added weight.

 

Maybe I should re-visit the idea of building a stand around the stand from the 75g. I wish I had not used wood glue, because it would have been real easy to take the stand apart and re-style it.

Edited by treesprite
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I'm sure you could over build the tank and have supports for most of the different tanks corners. I'm thinking if this is done, you might end up losing sump space below though.

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If you want something really solid and nice and square in my opinion nothing beats strips of plywood (provided you can cut with a circular saw in a straight line).  I don't know what kind of stand you'll make that can support everything from a 120 down stably but is still able to be taken apart aside from a metal one, perhaps.  However, if you wanted it sturdy and permanent for my money you can't beat plywood, glue, and screws. You can design the top so that it transfers the weight over to the walls for a wide range of tank sizes. 

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(edited)

I don't plan on taking the new stand apart, I just wish i could take the old one apart; it's long enough for a 120, but not wide enough.

Edited by treesprite
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Forrest, if you're looking for a temporary solution, how about building a temporary frame with cross members (it'll look like a ladder when you're done.) that sits on top of your existing stand, then laying a piece of plywood over the top? You could even screw it together since you'd not be worried about shear forces when applied this way (just torque and twist). The tanks will sit about 4 inches higher, but it'll shift the load off of the existing top over to the load-bearing structural members. The tank sizes that you're talking about really aren't that big, so it doesn't need to be more complicated than this.

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My stand is buried in a 10ft packed storage unit, with the 75g tank on top and stuff inside the tank and more stuff on top of that, furniture and boxes and stuff piled all the way up to the ceiling (couple bins of tank junk too, one of which is all pvc peices!) Building a stand would be easier than digging the old one out of there.

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What Tom is suggesting is a good idea. Look at deck construction to see how to do it. I built the stand at the science center like this and it has a 12'x40" base and has different size tanks on it. It is all about distributing load appropriately. 2 of the tanks are fiberglass so act like acrylics that need the load dispersed evenly whereas the other is a glass tank which sits on the edges (plus I have a glass sump and a rack that we walk on above).

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What Tom and Dave are describing is a sort of simplified "torsion box" and should work well. 

 

But for small tanks (16g, 29g), you don't need a particularly robust stand.  You could use just lay a piece of 3/4 melamine shelving on top of a slightly smaller stand.

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It's interesting, because it reminds me of what I have now, which is tanks sitting on various heights of cross-stacked 2x4s on the floor (the holes in the 16gs were drilled at the same level, so one can't flow to the other if I don't put one a few couple inches higher; the 20L is directly on the floor). There is no plywood on top, but the full length of the tanks is supported.

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