What Size Timber Should I Make My Stand Out For A 4Ft Tank?

[Geordie1991]

I've just been given a 4ft tank and was wondering what size timber would hold the weight and size of this tank?

It will be in my bedroom.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Geordie.
I use simply 1x4 and 1x6 lumber to build a stand for a 4 foot tank. See my thread here for what I did to build it. It is up and running with a 4 foot tank on the bottom shelf and 2 20 gallon tanks on the top shelf.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Im also going to be following these instructions^ have seen it done many times, both with 4x1 or 4x2 depending on the size

 

[Geordie1991]

How long did it take for you to do this is it possible to do it in one day?

 

[Geordie1991]

Welcome to the forum Geordie.
I use simply 1x4 and 1x6 lumber to build a stand for a 4 foot tank. See my thread here for what I did to build it. It is up and running with a 4 foot tank on the bottom shelf and 2 20 gallon tanks on the top shelf.

I asked around today and a lad has a metal stand - which is better metal or wood? It will be in a bedroom.

 

[OldMan47]

Metal is far easier to build. You just bolt things together. Wood can give much more flexibility to your design and can be quite nice to look at when done, as I think this one is.

As far as strength, the strength of any design is based solely on design parameters, not the material of construction. People think of steel as stronger than wood but a 6 inch square beam is far stronger than 2 inch square tubing. Any decently designed stand out of wood, steel or many other materials will work fine. You could build one from reinforced fiberglass if you had a good design for it.

 

[Geordie1991]

Alright thanks alot mate.

Will a bedroom floor be able to handle the weight of a 4ft tank with a metal stand or will it cave in?

 

[OldMan47]

I do not know the particular design of your bedroom floor so I would be a fool to say yes or no. In general, floors are strongest next to a wall especially if there is a wall on the floor below. If you look at my stand design, you will see that the stand does not have tiny legs in contact with the floor. The bottom of that stand is designed to spread the weight of the tanks along the whole length of the stand. Again, without a picture of your stand, it would not be prudent to speculate on the ability of the floor to support it. There is a huge difference between a weight spread over 4 feet of length and the same weight spread over a few square inches of contact area.

 

[dgwebster]

In relation to the point over a few small legs supporting the weight is a very good point. I have a 4' supported by 3 small tables comprising of 12x 40mm x 40mm legs.

This was a temporary solution (5 years ago ) to my storage and after my 2 year old broke a tap on my external filter, its time to get the finger out and built a proper stand.

I'm going for a design that uses 40mmx70mm timber frame clad in furniture board, with loft flooring supporting the tank bottom and a camping mat between that and the tank. this will all sit on 6x "feet" on the ground, mostly because my flat has a very uneven floor (almost an inch difference from one side to the other.) The feet are a necessity to allow for the tank to be levelled properly and come with an added bonus that the design will allow for replacement with new "feet" should I even move the tank, without having to major overhaul the whole stand.

will take until probably after summer to get this done, but will be documenting and displaying the design once done.

 

[Miles_hot]

As an alternative can I suggest 18mm Marine Ply? Simple to make boxes from and hence form a cabinet. I would tend to have at least three vertical elements but apart from that you've got a free hand in terms of the design
Miles