stand plans

Hope this helps yhbae. I've modeled up an alternative stand for you. Quite a bit of lumber! But I think you'll be happier with it in the long run. I promise it'll hold almost anything you put on it.

The lumber is standard 2x4's, which actually measure 1.5x3.5.

Length Dimensions:
Blue-49
Green-16
Red-33
Rust-46
Marble Grey-9
Yellow-11
Orange/Tan-9.5 (there's actually two stacked right next to each other, so it's essentially a 3x3.5)
Cyan-12.5

Changed the size...If you want different views, let me know and I'll be happy to post more.

Oops, forgot to resize that last pic. Sorry. But here's another view.

Oh, it also keeps your heights the same as in your original plans, so the 20 gals sit 16" off the floor and the overall height is 40".

What program did you do that in? Im planning on designing a stand for my 55g and would like to plan it out in a program like that.

carrcn, I do have a question on your design. It appears that the red vertical beams are a single 2x4 beams. Are these safe by themselves? If you look at my original proposal, I've added the "black" beams just outside of the equivalent to your "red" beams to give some additional strength. Obviously, this conclusion isn't based on any theory - the last time I took any statics course is about 20 years ago...

FloridaFishGuy: The program is Pro/Engineer. It's pretty pricey, and not very intuitive to use, but it'll handle any kind of design you want. I'm fortunate to have it here at work. Don't know your situation, but if you're in college or know someone who is, you might be able to pick up a student version for probably $300-$400. Another option would be SolidWorks. Haven't used it personally, but have heard some good things about it. Supposed to be easy to use, and it'll be a lot cheaper than Pro/E. Probably even find a student version somewhere.

yhbae: The red beams are single 2x4's. The way they're positioned under the tank supports (top rectangle) and bottom supports (bottom rectangle), they distribute the weight evenly across the footprint of the bottom rectangle. I don't know if you're going to gain much by adding the "black" beams on the outside because they're not actually supporting any weight. By screwing them on to the red beams, the only support you'll be getting is the bending strength of the screws. Again, I haven't run any numbers on this, but intuitively speaking, this is how I feel and would approach the situation.

One note on the bottom orange/tan supports. The only reason I placed these together is for spacing. Figured on using screws everywhere, and it's not easy to screw the outside orange and green supports at the same point on to the blue support. This way, you can screw the green support on to the blue, then screw the inner orange/tan support to the blue, and attach the outer orange/tan to the inner. You really don't need the outer orange/tan, but I put it in there for aesthetic reasons. Just makes it look nicer to have a uniform outer frame.

Im downloading that program on LimeWire , which is kinda illegal lol. I dont really care though its not like im using it illegaly to design houses im doing it to design my stand.

Okay yhbae, I've modified some stuff and put some cross-members in. I took a couple out, too because they weren't doing anything structurally. All are still standard 2x4's and they measure in length:

green-19
blue-46
cyan-16
red-33
rust-49
yellow-11
marble/grey-9
orange/tan-9.5

This will give it all the support it needs to keep it from swaying side to side. Kind of kills your view on the 20 gals from the side, so another option would be to put a cross member below the rust colored ones supporting your 20 gals, and another higher up above the 20 gals so you have two cross-members on each side.

FloridaFishGuy, which version are you downloading??? One thing that will help you if you get it working is hold either the shift or control key, plus press either your left, middle, or right mouse buttons to spin, pan and zoom. It all depends on the version you get. Good luck with it. Feel free to PM me if you get it up and running and want to learn how to use it. I'll explain the basics anyways. Not sure how PM works, but if I don't ever reply, my e-mail is [email protected]

Thanks for the design suggestions! That's alot of wood though!

I'm sure it will still come out cheaper than any ready-made solution. Besides, I'm sure what I need, nobody sells.

Hey Carrcn, I do not know what version it is because it is still downloading lol. I have my whole design down on paper at the moment but when I get the program loaded im going to try to put it in there. When I get it designed do you think you can help me with the structural integrity of the stand so that it will hold 55g on the top and 2 10g's on the bottom?

Just drop me a line and I'll help you out wherever I can. For a 55 with two 10's underneath, shouldn't be hard.

yhbae, the only thing I would suggest if you use this design would be to add a 2x4 directly under the rust colored ones that attach to the red supports. Looked at it again today and realized there's not much support on the rust colored beams. That's what I get for trying to rush here at work. Sorry! I'd be interested to see your final design when you get it done. Good luck.