Please survey my 300g stand!

[HenryC]

My 300g is pretty much finished! While waiting for the silicone to finish curing, I wanted to see what people think of my stand. It's made with 20 2x4's, triple on the corners and doubles on the center legs. I think I will be ok, but as I live in earthquake area, I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to reinforce it even furtuer (if needed). I am kinda uneasy on the smaaaaall wobble that remains when I push it a bit (can be seen in the video at the end).

I was thinking on putting more 2x4's across the center, uniting the center legs with each other. Kind of like "bridges"

Like so:

| o |--------------------| o | <-------- horizontal lines: 2x4 "bridge" connecting center legs on both sides
| o |--------------------| o | vertical lines: center legs
o: screws

Any suggestions:

 

[Backfromthedead]

Looks adequate. You seem to have built about a 1/2" short though. I'm guessing you used 2x4x8's and the tanks trim made it slightly longer. Should not be an issue though.

If it were me, I would've placed the laterally spaced 2x4 studs right up against the vertical column 2x4s and run some screws into the columns, providing a bit more support to prevent the stand "racking" if either of the ends were pushed on hard enough. I've noticed my stands feel much sturdier when I box in the columns like this and it wouldn't take much effort to add these studs into your frame at this point. Sorta like this:


Other than those nitpicky little gripes your stand should handle the tank easily and your design is solid.

 

[HenryC]

Looks adequate. You seem to have built about a 1/2" short though. I'm guessing you used 2x4x8's and the tanks trim made it slightly longer. Should not be an issue though.

If it were me, I would've placed the laterally spaced 2x4 studs right up against the vertical column 2x4s and run some screws into the columns, providing a bit more support to prevent the stand "racking" if either of the ends were pushed on hard enough. I've noticed my stands feel much sturdier when I box in the columns like this and it wouldn't take much effort to add these studs into your frame at this point. Sorta like this:
View attachment 1499744

Other than those nitpicky little gripes your stand should handle the tank easily and your design is solid.

Thank you for the advice! I will just go ahead and add more studs laterally to the columns, as I have some left.

 

[TUCCI]

Very nice, you can park a car on that bad boy. I was going to build mine the same way but I needed something resembling furniture (cuz of the Mrs) so I went with something different. Still braced the center and corners with 2x4s just in case...

 

[TUCCI]

My 300g is pretty much finished! While waiting for the silicone to finish curing, I wanted to see what people think of my stand. It's made with 20 2x4's, triple on the corners and doubles on the center legs. I think I will be ok, but as I live in earthquake area, I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to reinforce it even furtuer (if needed). I am kinda uneasy on the smaaaaall wobble that remains when I push it a bit (can be seen in the video at the end).

I was thinking on putting more 2x4's across the center, uniting the center legs with each other. Kind of like "bridges"

Like so:

| o |--------------------| o | <-------- horizontal lines: 2x4 "bridge" connecting center legs on both sides
| o |--------------------| o | vertical lines: center legs
o: screws

Any suggestions:

Looks adequate. You seem to have built about a 1/2" short though. I'm guessing you used 2x4x8's and the tanks trim made it slightly longer. Should not be an issue though.

If it were me, I would've placed the laterally spaced 2x4 studs right up against the vertical column 2x4s and run some screws into the columns, providing a bit more support to prevent the stand "racking" if either of the ends were pushed on hard enough. I've noticed my stands feel much sturdier when I box in the columns like this and it wouldn't take much effort to add these studs into your frame at this point. Sorta like this:
View attachment 1499744

Other than those nitpicky little gripes your stand should handle the tank easily and your design is solid.

Very nice work gents....beautiful engineering ?

 

[jjohnwm]

Even a tiny wobble is not something I would tolerate in an aquarium stand. I agree with Backfromthedead that some additional laterals would be a good idea, but I think that what you really need is a few diagonal braces. One at each end, running from the bottom front to the top rear (or vice versa) and a couple along the back running from the top corners at each end, down to the bottom near the center support.

Your wobble will disappear, guaranteed, along with any possibility of the stand "folding up" under load. Make absolutely certain that it is standing perfectly level, plumb and square as you are installing these supports. If the tank is at the wrong end of its current wobble when you add the diagonals, you will have locked it into that position. This might be easier to accomplish if you have someone to help you by applying a tiny bit of pressure in the direction required to achieve perfection while you add the braces.