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| Do It Yourself (DIY) This is the forum to talk about build your own reef aquarium equipment from scratch. |
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#1
March 2nd, 2008, 02:57 AM
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DIY stand
I am looking for plans for something...big. How hard is it to find plans for tank stands? any links to websites that are trust-worthy?
-Doc
__________________
 - Longest running tank in the club
Current Aquarium(s) Description: 125 gal-angel and shark tank, 90 gal-reef, building a 180 shark/ angel tank Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: long enough to know I have a lot to learn 
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#2
March 2nd, 2008, 03:38 PM
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Re: DIY stand
Heres one Doc I would go with 2x6s instead of 2x4s for that monster in your head though.
About.com: http://www.garf.org/stand.html Current Aquarium(s) Description: Empty 180 gal Future Reef 29 gal Planted Freshwater 90 fal Distant Future Project Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: Newbie to Salt, 2 years planted, Freshwater Forever and a Day! Other Intrests: hunting outdoorsy things, cars motorcycles anything that goes fast drag cars
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| The Following User Says Thank You to RyanG For This Useful Post: | ||
Doc (March 2nd, 2008) | ||
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#3
March 2nd, 2008, 08:11 PM
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Re: DIY stand
I was thinking of something like that already. Glad to know I was on the right track. I will need to use supports to brace the middle cross beams due to the weight, I think. I figure the tank will weigh somewhere around 4,000lbs. I figure if houses can be supported by 2x4s, then my tanks should as well.
-Doc
__________________
- Longest running tank in the club
Current Aquarium(s) Description: 125 gal-angel and shark tank, 90 gal-reef, building a 180 shark/ angel tank Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: long enough to know I have a lot to learn
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#4
March 3rd, 2008, 02:43 AM
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Re: DIY stand
I just tend to overbuild I guess. I figure better safe than sorry.
Current Aquarium(s) Description: Empty 180 gal Future Reef 29 gal Planted Freshwater 90 fal Distant Future Project Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: Newbie to Salt, 2 years planted, Freshwater Forever and a Day! Other Intrests: hunting outdoorsy things, cars motorcycles anything that goes fast drag cars
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#5
March 9th, 2008, 03:01 AM
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Re: DIY stand
My tank is around 750lbs. give or take and i built my own stand with 2x4's with steel brackets for support. I basicly built 2 rectangular frames (top/bottom) but put eight legs with the strong edge going in opposite directions to give strength in both directions. That also helps to spread the weight out over the entire base of the stand as opposed to just four points. I then tied the whole thing together with 3/8" steel brackets. I think the vertical strength of a 2x4 at 3' is @ 2000lbs so basicly the total vertical support capacity of my stand is 16k lbs lol. In a nutshell, there are three things that are gonna survive the apocolypse...cockroaches, twinkies and my aquarium stand
 Current Aquarium(s) Description: 75g all-glass, Nova extreme 4x54 T5, Eheim echo 80 filter, Octopus 150 skimmer, 20g sump Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: 3 months Other Intrests: Flipping houses, music, video games, beer!!
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#6
March 9th, 2008, 03:08 AM
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Re: DIY stand
Doc GARF.org is a great site for plans, but if you build one go ahead and add a few extra 2x4's for support. When I build them I way over build them.LOL But you would acctually be supprised how much weight 1 2x4 can hold. I looked it up once and can't remember now but think it was like 600 lbs per inch, so with all the weight distributed then your actually pretty good. I built the one for my 125 and was alittle scared when I set it up, however, it did great.
__________________
Bobby 
Current Aquarium(s) Description: 55 gal FOWLR CSS 125 emperor 400 and a 30 gal reef 175 watt metal halide prizim skimmer m Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: in fresh water all my life and stared salt in 08/06 Other Intrests: aquariums,remodelin houses,and cars
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#7
March 9th, 2008, 03:21 AM
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Re: DIY stand
I appreciate all the advice. I am shooting for 30 inches in total height. I will put up way too many supports for the tank. I don't want it crashing down on me or my family. I will start it the end of next month
-Doc
__________________
- Longest running tank in the club
Current Aquarium(s) Description: 125 gal-angel and shark tank, 90 gal-reef, building a 180 shark/ angel tank Experience in Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Hobby: long enough to know I have a lot to learn
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