Advice On Diy Stand

[karawr]

Hi all,

I wanted to make a simple stand for a 20 long. I also want a shelf underneath where I can put another tank, a 10-15g one. So it will be open concept (ie no cabinet doors etc will be needed).

I don't need the details on how to build this but rather need help with the simple layout.

Is it safe to build this with no center brace running vertically in the middle? As a lot of stands have many vertical braces running along the length, but I don't want to do this as it would block the lower tank.

I was thinking just 4 legs with a top and bottom shelf, with horizontal braces running across to support underneath the tank. Would this be sufficient?

Basically it will look like the 2 tier metal stands, but have braces along the base of each shelf.

Thanks.

 

[Geoff-]

A 20gallon tank is 75 litres, or 75kg of water. Plus substrate, ornaments etc you are at 100kg easy. The tank itself probably weighs at least 25kg.

Your stand has to support approx 125kg with *no* bowing in the middle. If the middle section sags then the tank is unevenly supported and will crack/leak.

So the answer is yes you can build it without a centre support BUT you need to overengineer it using thick supports.

What I would suggest is that you have a vertical centre support at the back, and then have a horizontal brace running from the back to the front. It won't help anywhere near as much as having it fully supported but it will be better than nothing. It may be worth using some foam under the tank to try and give it some protection from the stand not being perfectly straight as well.

Haven't done it myself, so probably being overcautious.. it's just a matter of how strong you need to build it

 

[Meko]

You could also possibly put a higher level horizontal strut cross with a vertical support, so there's something else supporting the top tank.



A bit like

 

[CrazyAirborne]

if you do it like i did it, in my thread DIY Rack Unit , and it strong enough for me to put a tank on the bottom shelf, but i used one long 5 ft florescent light, so i put the second tank on the same shelf.

this is a 29g and it has no issues with the weight, i used dado joints, and each horizontal timber is directly supporting the each 4 edges of the tank

these are just normal 2x4 and then 3/4 inch thick plywood.

this is a crappy cell phone pic, but u get the idea

the main and most important aspect of my build, strength wise, is my dado joints. you can see them in my 3d drawing in my link.