2x4 and plywood tank stand?

[fkshiu]

A cheapy stand from any establishment ending in "mart" won't have anywhere near the strength or quality of a good DIY stand. Forget about solid pine or even ply, those stands will be made of particle board which will literally melt if you get any water on them.

Such stands are built according to the bottom line: the absolute MINIMUM necessary to get the job done.

The easiest way to DIY a cosmetic lip is simply to ring the top of the stand with crown moulding.

[phillybean]

Here's my DIY stand, for a 75 gallon. Might help you.



I screwed and glued two 2x4's together for the 4 side posts, one side was cut short so the top would sit on the 2x4's. If the top is just screwed in, it will fail sooner of later. My only regret is that I made it too small. Not enough room side to side and I wanted the pipes to come down thru the stand, but not that can't happen. When making your stand, plan for years ahead, draining a tank to put it on a bigger stand is a big job/waste of time/money. Going for bigger sump, closed loop or Auto Top Off down the road might mean a bigger stand.

[pandafishowner]

Originally Posted by phillybean

I screwed and glued two 2x4's together for the 4 side posts, one side was cut short so the top would sit on the 2x4's. If the top is just screwed in, it will fail sooner of later. My only regret is that I made it too small. Not enough room side to side and I wanted the pipes to come down thru the stand, but not that can't happen. When making your stand, plan for years ahead, draining a tank to put it on a bigger stand is a big job/waste of time/money. Going for bigger sump, closed loop or Auto Top Off down the road might mean a bigger stand.

looks good. i'm not using mine for saltwater though. my 29g is strictly freshwater. i was planning to use PL400 glue and screwing it together. we used PL400 on our dresser, headboard, and other random wooden things and they're really strong, doesn't move at all, never fallen apart