by I thought I had posted this but was quite rightfully corrected that I hadn't.. All my stuff is made from scrap wood.. (Vix can attest to that).. The only expense I had was the paint.
So I inherited a bunch of tanks, 2 of which were sitting on the floor of my "man-cave".. Not very enjoyable nor easy for getting a siphon going for cleaning the bottom so a stand for sure was in order. The tanks are a 75G and a 30G-L. All of the materials except for the paint was scrap lumber from various projects I've worked on. Total investment is maybe 2 bucks.
The design is as simple as I could make it while adding as much structural strength as possible.
The top portion is basically a box constructed of 2 X 6's standing on edge. The end pieces set inside of the front/back "stringers". Reason for that later.
The bottom portion is that same box utilizing 2 X 4's.
The legs are each a smidgeon under 36". That length allowed me to cut 4 legs from one 12 foot stick.
Starting at the bottom of each leg is a 5" 2 X 4 scabbed to the inside of each leg.
Then the 2 X 4 "box" is attached to the legs setting atop the scabbing.
Next, atop the lower box is 21 inch 2 X 4's scabbed to the legs.
Atop that scab, the 2 X 6 box is resting.
Here is an explanation of the structural design thoughts I put into it.
The end caps on the "boxs" are inside the length of the stringers so that the scabbed inside leg braces bear the weight of both boards of the juncture. both front to back and side to side. I didn't want to rely solely on screws done horizontally. The weight of each tank is directly supported by a floor to top - wood on wood load bearing.
The top box is constructed of 2 X 6's rather than 2 X 4's out of concern of it being a 48 inch span with no center brace. Total weight is over 700 lbs. I didn't want a center brace because of the lower tanks visibility. Prior to filling the 75G, I cut a piece of dowel the exact distance from the bottom shelf to the bottom of the upper box. I installed that dowel at the center point so that I could measure the stress in the center of the span during the fill... If the center bowed 1/64th of an inch I'll say maybe.. me? I couldn't see anything other than the dowel was a tiny bit more firmly wedged between the two spans. Pic... can't find the rest!
So I inherited a bunch of tanks, 2 of which were sitting on the floor of my "man-cave".. Not very enjoyable nor easy for getting a siphon going for cleaning the bottom so a stand for sure was in order. The tanks are a 75G and a 30G-L. All of the materials except for the paint was scrap lumber from various projects I've worked on. Total investment is maybe 2 bucks.
The design is as simple as I could make it while adding as much structural strength as possible.
The top portion is basically a box constructed of 2 X 6's standing on edge. The end pieces set inside of the front/back "stringers". Reason for that later.
The bottom portion is that same box utilizing 2 X 4's.
The legs are each a smidgeon under 36". That length allowed me to cut 4 legs from one 12 foot stick.
Starting at the bottom of each leg is a 5" 2 X 4 scabbed to the inside of each leg.
Then the 2 X 4 "box" is attached to the legs setting atop the scabbing.
Next, atop the lower box is 21 inch 2 X 4's scabbed to the legs.
Atop that scab, the 2 X 6 box is resting.
Here is an explanation of the structural design thoughts I put into it.
The end caps on the "boxs" are inside the length of the stringers so that the scabbed inside leg braces bear the weight of both boards of the juncture. both front to back and side to side. I didn't want to rely solely on screws done horizontally. The weight of each tank is directly supported by a floor to top - wood on wood load bearing.
The top box is constructed of 2 X 6's rather than 2 X 4's out of concern of it being a 48 inch span with no center brace. Total weight is over 700 lbs. I didn't want a center brace because of the lower tanks visibility. Prior to filling the 75G, I cut a piece of dowel the exact distance from the bottom shelf to the bottom of the upper box. I installed that dowel at the center point so that I could measure the stress in the center of the span during the fill... If the center bowed 1/64th of an inch I'll say maybe.. me? I couldn't see anything other than the dowel was a tiny bit more firmly wedged between the two spans. Pic... can't find the rest!
