638g

[Buccaneer]

I ordered the glass today :wink: ( 96X48X32 ) Starfire front :cool:

get it hopefully in 2 weeks ... have to start building the stand right away ... anyone have suggestions as to what type of wood joints to use as I will be making the stand from 4X4 with a 1" plywood top and 1" foam under the glass

[Invigor]

whatever you do, you -HAVE- to take a picture of you lying down in it in your swim trunks with a rubber duckie!

[Buccaneer]

:lol:

[Beverly]

Wish I could offer advice on what kind of wood joints you need, but I don't know much about that sort of stuff. By Googling "build your own aquarium stand", I found this on the net, though ....

http://bennett.com/blog/index.php/archives/2003/01/31/building-an-aquarium-stand/

Do hope you do the rubber ducky thing AND post pics of it :biggrin:

[Razz]

You may want to look at a metal stand with additional bracing eg: fish plating, 4x4's are strong and if I was supporting that much weight on wood I think I would use a dowel joint or wedged mortise and tenon joint. My opinion only but others may well know better.

[Pan]

i'd use heavy duty angle iron, welded professionally...unless you are a welder...then add wood to it afterwords..unless you like the metal, you can get some very nice, very sturdy dectrotaive wrought iron stands...no i don't mean the ones sold in fish stores...i mean a custom one.

[McNasty]

I would use a combination of 2 x 6 just like building floor joists and 4 x 4 supports or go here http://www.garf.org/

[woodcarver]

Have not had chance to locate earlier post on stands and search feature seems frozen at the present time but I strongly recommend looking into the torsion box type of stand . This is tremendously strong and rigid especially if bolted together with 3/8th "or1/2" threaded rod. I have made a bench this way which is almost immovable but could be taken down if required in the future .A frame of 2x4 with a glued and screwed skin of plywoood on both sides creates the ' box'. Stresses are then distributed along the long edge of the plywood instead of just the legs. Using large washers and nuts threaded rods can be tightened with a wrench to great effect.
Just a thought..........................
Dave.

[TheReefGeek]

Start a thread for your progress on this monster! Have any specs for what you are going to run this beast with?

I think you need a pic with full diving equipment on!

[EmilyB]

oh yah baby ! I may have some fish that could go there...:lol:

[Buccaneer]

Thanks for all the suggestions ... and I will definately do a progress thread ( with pics :wink: ) as it progresses

@ woodcarver ... any pics of what a stand like that looks like ?

@ Deb ... I may take you up on that :smile: ... if you remember my old 330 this will basically have 2.5 ft more swimming room up front with the same size reef as before at the back ( bit more open rockwork though )

[Skimmerking]

When i did mine on the old 280 i used 4x4's and 2x6's
1st I notched the 4x4's to fit the 2x6'sthe went around the base of the tank,

email me at mtw@MTS.NET AND i WILL SEND YOU SOME PICTURES of the stand that i have ok..

[KrazyKuch]

Hell I would go with Engineered beems...they sell at rona for $6 a foot!

[allincuddy]

I think you should go metal, an overflow or spill will make the wood take off or twist and over 8 feet x 4 feet a slight twist can put your tank out 1/4 inch from end to end, and from what I have been told anything over 6 feet you better make sure your bang on and stay that way. Just my 2 cents, but I would do it once, spend the money and sleep well every night.
Those stands that you see at revy and home depot, I use those in my fishroom. I bought a 8 foot long x 2 foot wide and 6 long with 2 shelf brackets for 200.00, bet you could get a 4 foot wide for 250.00 and you could park a bus on it.
Mark

[Tarolisol]

I think you should go metal, an overflow or spill will make the wood take off or twist and over 8 feet x 4 feet a slight twist can put your tank out 1/4 inch from end to end, and from what I have been told anything over 6 feet you better make sure your bang on and stay that way. Just my 2 cents, but I would do it once, spend the money and sleep well every night.
Those stands that you see at revy and home depot, I use those in my fishroom. I bought a 8 foot long x 2 foot wide and 6 long with 2 shelf brackets for 200.00, bet you could get a 4 foot wide for 250.00 and you could park a bus on it.
Mark

Or you could just cover the stand with waterproofing epoxy and it would probably cost less then a metal stand.

[jgoldsney]

My 2 cents would be to go with metal....You could then have wooden sides stick on with magnets so access would be easy

[gqlmao]

hey thats awesome !!!
Keep us informed

Stanley

[Lofus]

I would go with metal as it will probably be cheaper and take up less space. Its all covered up anyway so why mess around?

[aquanot]

Like Krazy Kuch said,engineered beams or steel .You wouldn't want any warpage or twisting. Also is this going on a concrete floor? This is going to weigh as much as a 73 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon. I know, my dad had one. Would you park one in your living room?

[StirCrazy]

I would go with a welded stand on this one.. way to big for a wood stand and still get a good nights sleep.

Steve