Need Wooden Stand for Aquarium

[PumaKrieg]

I am looking for a wooden stand for a 300 gallon aquarium with the dimensions of 96x30x24. So far, I have not had any luck finding any sites that specialize in large stands such as this. Does anybody know of any sites, or am I going to need to make this custom made? Thanks!

 

[daugherty]

you will be better off building your own stand. i think you will spend many times more than if you would build it your self.

 

[PumaKrieg]

No, I really don't want to build my own because of the fact that I am not trusting as to whether or not it would be able to support 300 gallons worth of water resting on top of it.

 

[yote]

I dont know of any place that builds stand for a tank that size.
Another option is to pay somebody else to build it.Just make them guarantee it for at least a year.

 

[runningrandy04]

Your probably gonna have to make it on your own or find a carpenter to build it for you. Since they housing market is low I'm sure they would love to make some side money. If your worried about it not being strong enough, look at doc's shark tank thread. https://www.livingreefs.com/forums/tank-showcase/13202-doc-s-shark-tank.html
He as a good design that would hold your tank, just beef it up some more above the doors and cover the whole think in plywood.

 

[fatman]

It really does not structurally take much lumber to hold up even a 300 gallon tank. The key is in holding the uprights up right. Lumber is very strong in compressive strength. If you notice commercially made cabinets are generally just a 3/4 inch thick cabinet with nailing strips in each corner and a solid rim top and bottom. With an all glass tank with rim the hole tank could be held by just one two by four on each corner and the rest of the lumber is to hold those posts upright and steady and to provide good appearance. It is not rocket science, but it is a good beginners project in stick frame carpentry.

 

[PumaKrieg]

However, commercially made cabinets normally don't hold 2400 pounds or more. :)

 

[RyanG]

FYI I have read on some structural engineering sites in researching, that a 2x4 douglas fir in a 9' interior wall is 2800lbs bearing rating.

If you build something it will be stronger than some cheap particle board piece of crap that you will buy commercially.

 

[PumaKrieg]

thanks, im just not a BIG fan of building it myself at the moment. :)

 

[dustin_P74]

well then if your not comfortable with your carpentry skills do something that is way over kill to give you peace of mind that it wont fail

 

[fatman]

Typical machine graded common lumber (typically cheap spruce) lumber, non structurul grade has a compression stress level of 1,600 to 2,200 pounds per square inch. That means just four corner posts 1.2 inches square could support your 300 gallon tank full of water. That would also mean a cabinet 72 inches long and 30 inches wide made of 3/4" plywood could hold an aquarium of that dimension that weighed 60 times as much as your tank will full of water. General carpentry is not rocket science. A general carpenter would build a cabinet probably 100 times stronger than needed, a cabinet maker would make one 30 to 40 times stronger than needed. A premade aquarium cabinet of cheap grade is about 25 times stronger than needed, where as a good quality one is about 30 to 50 times stronger than needed. An in experienced person generally builds around 100 to 200 times stronger than needed. As long as you buy lumber without a lot of splits or knots, use water proof glue on all joints, use screws and not nails, even on your covering (trimwill cover the screw holes), and finish the inside with several coats of spar varnish it will hold for up decades. For a carpenter up here to build a 2" x 4" frame covered with nice looking plywood would run maybe $50 and a six pack of beer and a couple sandwichs. And carpenters are expensive in Alaska. Really, it is not a difficualt task.