I see a lot of people are making stands using framing lumber. This is the worst material to use because it will absorb moisture and beging to flex, bend, bow. You all should be using cabinet grade plywood (preferably hardwood) as your main structure for your stand.
I build stands for large tanks and to date never had a stand or tank fail. I make a simple box frame and a hardwood face frame, they work out perfectly. They are also way lighter than a lumber stand and probaly 3-5 times stronger and more stable. The face frame is screwed to the other three sides of the box and then two solid plywood panels are added to the left and right inside the face frame to make it strong enough to hold the weight of a tank with no bending.
In my area I just saw a tank on craigslist that had busted "for no reason" the reason is the stand was homemade and it warped just enough that it stressed the tank until it failed.
Here are some pics and anyone feel free to email me for some pointers.
240 gallon
150 gallon
5 gallon light fixture turned into a tank
Red oak stand for a 170
two stands laying down 125 size to left rear, 300 gallon to front right
300 gallon load testing
How to build a stand:
The start
Front frame
Rear box frame (removable support is added to the large opening)
What it looks like all together
The inside floor
150 gallon dry run to test fit
150 gallon on top (notice 2 darker front panels, they are solid maple plywood and screwed to the inside)
Total cost of materials for this stand less than $200
I build stands for large tanks and to date never had a stand or tank fail. I make a simple box frame and a hardwood face frame, they work out perfectly. They are also way lighter than a lumber stand and probaly 3-5 times stronger and more stable. The face frame is screwed to the other three sides of the box and then two solid plywood panels are added to the left and right inside the face frame to make it strong enough to hold the weight of a tank with no bending.
In my area I just saw a tank on craigslist that had busted "for no reason" the reason is the stand was homemade and it warped just enough that it stressed the tank until it failed.
Here are some pics and anyone feel free to email me for some pointers.
240 gallon
150 gallon
5 gallon light fixture turned into a tank
Red oak stand for a 170
two stands laying down 125 size to left rear, 300 gallon to front right
300 gallon load testing
How to build a stand:
The start
Front frame
Rear box frame (removable support is added to the large opening)
What it looks like all together
The inside floor
150 gallon dry run to test fit
150 gallon on top (notice 2 darker front panels, they are solid maple plywood and screwed to the inside)
Total cost of materials for this stand less than $200
