here's the stand i build for my 210g 7x2x2. i have a full thread on it somewhere in my old threads if you wanna read the whole thing. i spent about $100 on it total. overall im happy with it. and its been holding my tank for over a year. 
2x4 or 4x4
- Thread starter nfored
- Start date
Thats a really nice stand you got there! I like it lots!. May i ask how tall did you make it. I was thinking of 3ft for mine since im using a 10gal as a sump for my 55gal... plus i would have adequate space for supplies and a feeder tank!
There are a ton of factors to how much weight a 2x4 will support, but personally I always use 1000 pounds per 2x4 and that gives me a huge safety buffer.
If anyone cares how or why I got to 1000 per 2x4.....
Depending on species and the grade of the wood in general 2x4 will have compression rating between 500 and 2000 psi. A 2x4 is actually 1.5 x 3.5 so I round to down to 5 square inches. I take the lowest psi rating for most generally available wood of the worst grade (500) and take half of that (for extra safety) to get 250. So 250 psi and having 5 inches would give me 1250. I round that down to an even 1000 for my weight calculations and still have a ton of safety factor in what the wood will support.
Of course also have to factor in the weight on the floor which is usually a bigger issue so sometimes I add extra 2x4s along the length of the stand to distribute weight instead of having concentrated psi in only a few locations. Or use top and bottom plates.
If anyone cares how or why I got to 1000 per 2x4.....
Depending on species and the grade of the wood in general 2x4 will have compression rating between 500 and 2000 psi. A 2x4 is actually 1.5 x 3.5 so I round to down to 5 square inches. I take the lowest psi rating for most generally available wood of the worst grade (500) and take half of that (for extra safety) to get 250. So 250 psi and having 5 inches would give me 1250. I round that down to an even 1000 for my weight calculations and still have a ton of safety factor in what the wood will support.
Of course also have to factor in the weight on the floor which is usually a bigger issue so sometimes I add extra 2x4s along the length of the stand to distribute weight instead of having concentrated psi in only a few locations. Or use top and bottom plates.
You'd be surprised what plywood, wood glue and some screws can support. If you wanna be really safe, sandwich a couple 2x4s between 2 peices of ply on either end and maybe another gnarly main support in the middle, but I think you could make something plenty strong with just 3/4" ply though. I spent a fair amount of time working in a custom cabinet and furniture shop and ply boxes are usually pretty effin strong if assembled right. I have my 100 on a stand made from ply and some solid pieces of pine just for the edges and whatnot so it looks nice. It's nice looking and way stronger than it would ever need to be for this tank. Point is, not a single 2x4 and it's worked for over 10 years.
