Diy Tank Stand

[tenohfive]

I'm planning on creating a couple of tank stands in the near future. The first one will be for a 36W 12D 18H tank - approx 125 litres, so when you add the weight of the tank, substrate etc you're probably talking about 160kg weight. I wanted to run it past someone who knows something about DIY, because I'm basically useless at it.

Plan is for four legs of dimensions 45x45mm and 740mm tall nailed into an 18mm MDF sheet cut to the right size (36 x 12 inches) then varnished/painted to keep any spillages off the wood.

Would a simple table design like that be okay to take the weight, or should I look at using some more 45x45mm to join the legs at the bottom or as horizontal cross bracing? I don't have a jigsaw so diagonal cross bracing is out of the question.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Chris

 

[jmkgreen]

I think other people have posted designs for suitable stands - could you not scale/adapt their examples perhaps?

 

[tenohfive]

Possibly, but I'm not looking for anything presentable, just something cheap, simple and easy to construct as it'll be in a garage. Which I suspect will differ from most other designs. So its likely that the time spent searching for them wouldn't be worth it.

I can't see any reason why the idea posted above shouldn't work and I personally am happy with it. I'm just looking for someone who's a bit more DIY minded than me to post a second opinion to put my mind at rest (or get me to start from scratch if its a bad idea.)

 

[degsod]

Screws are better than nails, and I would use sheets of ply or mdf at the back and sides to strengthen the whole thing.

 

[Rooster]

Screws are better than nails, and I would use sheets of ply or mdf at the back and sides to strengthen the whole thing.

If you just want a lash-up, get some "CLS" timber from one of the DIY sheds... less than £2 a length, make a frame the same size as the tank base... and add 4 legs (which will need bracing if the unit is NOT secured to a wall)
Depending on your wood working skills, a FLAT sheet of MDF or ply to top it off, then a layer of polystyrene.
"No nails" and 4 in screws sticks it together.

Ive put 5 footers on this simple setup... you could clad it with cheap wall cladding to make a more presentable job !

 

[tenohfive]

Screws are better than nails, and I would use sheets of ply or mdf at the back and sides to strengthen the whole thing.

If you just want a lash-up, get some "CLS" timber from one of the DIY sheds... less than £2 a length, make a frame the same size as the tank base... and add 4 legs (which will need bracing if the unit is NOT secured to a wall)
Depending on your wood working skills, a FLAT sheet of MDF or ply to top it off, then a layer of polystyrene.
"No nails" and 4 in screws sticks it together.

Ive put 5 footers on this simple setup... you could clad it with cheap wall cladding to make a more presentable job !

Would horizontal bracing about halfway up the legs be okay for that?

Not worried about cladding etc, its meant to be practical not pretty.
Cheers.

 

[Rooster]

Screws are better than nails, and I would use sheets of ply or mdf at the back and sides to strengthen the whole thing.

If you just want a lash-up, get some "CLS" timber from one of the DIY sheds... less than £2 a length, make a frame the same size as the tank base... and add 4 legs (which will need bracing if the unit is NOT secured to a wall)
Depending on your wood working skills, a FLAT sheet of MDF or ply to top it off, then a layer of polystyrene.
"No nails" and 4 in screws sticks it together.

Ive put 5 footers on this simple setup... you could clad it with cheap wall cladding to make a more presentable job !

Would horizontal bracing about halfway up the legs be okay for that?

Not worried about cladding etc, its meant to be practical not pretty.
Cheers.

Yea - thats what I did.... and used it as a shelf support ! But if it IS free standing, I would add crossbracing. (My main tank is attached to a wall with 2 rawl bolts through the rear legs - slots rather than holes, as its stood on carpet)

Heres a pic just after the build.... before cladding.

 

[tenohfive]

Brilliant, will get cracking on it over the weekend then.

Cheers Rooster - and thats quite a tidy looking stand in its own right. Out of interest, how does it look with the cladding?