75g stand oversize

[geko522]

I want to build a large length aquarium stand for my 75g aquarium. The aquarium is 48" L and I want to make the stand 60" long. Question is, can I do this without a center support? I'm going to copy the stand that The king of DIY makes.

I want the stand to be 60"L x 22"W x 32"H

2x4s or 2x6s ?

The reason I'm asking is because the aquarium isn't sitting on the support legs so I wasn't sure if that is a issue. I will be wrapping it and putting plywood on as a topper. Wrap with 3/4" plywood and top.

 

[Readywriter]

If I were going to build an oversized cabinet theres two options I would go with:
1) if the tank needs to not be on the supports - over engineer the crap out of it 2x10 horizontals on 4x4 supports.
2) build a normal supported stand and then build an extra box frame on each side.

#2 is what I am currently doing for part of my build.

 

[sfin52]

I want to build a large length aquarium stand for my 75g aquarium. The aquarium is 48" L and I want to make the stand 60" long. Question is, can I do this without a center support? I'm going to copy the stand that The king of DIY makes.

I want the stand to be 60"L x 22"W x 32"H

2x4s or 2x6s ?

The reason I'm asking is because the aquarium isn't sitting on the support legs so I wasn't sure if that is a issue. I will be wrapping it and putting plywood on as a topper. Wrap with 3/4" plywood and top.

Yes you will want middle supports.

 

[geko522]

If I were going to build an oversized cabinet theres two options I would go with:
1) if the tank needs to not be on the supports - over engineer the crap out of it 2x10 horizontals on 4x4 supports.
2) build a normal supported stand and then build an extra box frame on each side.

#2 is what I am currently doing for part of my build.

I've been looking at joist brackets and corner brackets made of steel. Thanks for your ideas, building the extra box seems like a good idea.

 

[geko522]

Yes you will want middle supports.

I thought about supporting the whole back of if and letting the front without.

 

[sfin52]

I thought about supporting the whole back of if and letting the front without.

It may end up sagging in the front

 

[Readywriter]

I thought about supporting the whole back of if and letting the front without.

Im doing something like that. Stand I am building is also for a 75. Im mostly doing it for aesthetics but this thing will be way over built. I bought a bunch of 2x10s and milled out a bunch of 4x1.5" boards for legs, cut them to exactly the same length to within 1/32 and then glue them together lengthwise. Except for the front and back openings the whole thing is a solid wall of 2x4's.

But still, Id be wary about a 75 not being supported directly underneath unless it was built like an up to code raised deck. At the very least Id want a bunch of 2x4's along both sides going front to back. Which would look pretty nice on a 6 foot stand, youd have 10 inches of shelf space or what ever on either side.

 

[geko522]

Im doing something like that. Stand I am building is also for a 75. Im mostly doing it for aesthetics but this thing will be way over built. I bought a bunch of 2x10s and milled out a bunch of 4x1.5" boards for legs, cut them to exactly the same length to within 1/32 and then glue them together lengthwise. Except for the front and back openings the whole thing is a solid wall of 2x4's.

But still, Id be wary about a 75 not being supported directly underneath unless it was built like an up to code raised deck. At the very least Id want a bunch of 2x4's along both sides going front to back. Which would look pretty nice on a 6 foot stand, youd have 10 inches of shelf space or what ever on either side.

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I have a 40g breeder as a sump and I want more cabinet space for a ATO and supplies. If I keep the length at 50" it only leaves me with about 3" of free space. So I want to go bigger for the space, but also don't want a dang support in my way. I'm going to make sliding doors. Maybe I need a bigger DT

 

[geko522]

It may end up sagging in the front

Didn't think of that. Thanks

 

[Readywriter]

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I have a 40g breeder as a sump and I want more cabinet space for a ATO and supplies. If I keep the length at 50" it only leaves me with about 3" of free space. So I want to go bigger for the space, but also don't want a dang support in my way. I'm going to make sliding doors. Maybe I need a bigger DT

Thats exactly what I am doing, 75g with a 40 breeder sump. Not a lot of wiggle room for the sump. My solution is Im building the stand to out from the wall so the cabinet is gonna be 49x30 or however wide it needs to be to hide what ever ato reservoir I decide on and directly in line with my water changing station on the other side of the wall (in my wifes closet lol)

And Im making it so that the back most box/panels can be easily removed for maintence via nylon wingnuts and reassembled to look like its built into the wall.

 

[geko522]

Thats exactly what I am doing, 75g with a 40 breeder sump. Not a lot of wiggle room for the sump. My solution is Im building the stand to out from the wall so the cabinet is gonna be 49x30 or however wide it needs to be to hide what ever ato reservoir I decide on and directly in line with my water changing station on the other side of the wall (in my wifes closet lol)

And Im making it so that the back most box/panels can be easily removed for maintence via nylon wingnuts and reassembled to look like its built into the wall.

I was just reading about making wooden support beams, there are calculators for this. I found that if i use 2x10 for the top length pieces layer 2 on top of each other and glue, screw it will support 1200lbs. So I may kick that idea around some. Lol, tapping into the wifes closet. That could be dangerous

 

[RocketEngineer]

Mine was 72” long but same idea.

 

[geko522]

Wow, that is what I am looking for. Thanks for sharing this. Could you tell me what lumber that you used? Is this all 2x4s? Did you follow a pattern you can share?

So that is a 75g aquarium with a 40g sump?

 

[RocketEngineer]

Yes, that’s a 75g with 40B sump.

It’s basically this with extra “legs” under the corners of the 75g. I also didn’t use the green boards, going with pocket screws instead. The frame was all 5/4X4 clear pine (so furniture grade vs framing lumber). There were a few extra boards to support the sump and top I’m not showing.

 

[geko522]

Mine was 72” long but same idea.

Yes, that’s a 75g with 40B sump.

It’s basically this with extra “legs” under the corners of the 75g. I also didn’t use the green boards, going with pocket screws instead. The frame was all 5/4X4 clear pine (so furniture grade vs framing lumber). There were a few extra boards to support the sump and top I’m not showing.

Thank you for sharing. If you have any other important I would definitely appreciate it. Thank you for your help

 

[RocketEngineer]

I made my stand 4” deeper than the tank (23” instead of 19”) to give myself room. I wish I had gone 6” (25” deep) because of the overflow on a later setup. Also, I put the power strips in the top, should have put them on the sides or the back of the doors. They made getting the skimmer cup out a pain.

 

[geko522]

I made my stand 4” deeper than the tank (23” instead of 19”) to give myself room. I wish I had gone 6” (25” deep) because of the overflow on a later setup. Also, I put the power strips in the top, should have put them on the sides or the back of the doors. They made getting the skimmer cup out a pain.

I was planning on only going 22" interesting, I thought it would have been enough of plumbing for the overflow. Maybe I'll reconsider this and go to 25"

 

[RocketEngineer]

I recommend getting the overflow mounted and measure the actual spacing. Better than guessing and having to fight it later on.

 

[geko522]

I bought a HOB overflow box. I'll have to measure that out and then see where it lines up. I was going to drill a 1¼ hole to feed the plumbing through the top of the stand.

 

[TDM]

Yes, that’s a 75g with 40B sump.

It’s basically this with extra “legs” under the corners of the 75g. I also didn’t use the green boards, going with pocket screws instead. The frame was all 5/4X4 clear pine (so furniture grade vs framing lumber). There were a few extra boards to support the sump and top I’m not showing.

@RocketEngineer

I'm going to be building my own 125g stand soon.
Question about this oversize build. Why extend further back w/ the L/R 2x4? Is that for dropping any PVC "behind" the stand proper? Balance?

Would it be OK to put a plywood top/skin and then sit the tank all the way back on that extended area? (I assume the answer is no and the outer edge of the tank should sit above the 2x4's all around...but I want to be sure I get this right.