Calculating aquarium stand strength...
- Thread starter Orthopod
- Start date
If you haven't actually built your stand yet and you're a little concerned whether it's going to be right or not i'd strongly recommend joeys youtube stuff on stand builds. His basic design is as strong as hell and you can use that design on any size tank. I think he actually mentions in his videos about weight capacities for various wood dimensions.
Follow an existing and successful design. New designs that use more than enough material often fail because of design flaws. Otherwise, the whole process is somewhat trial and error, not a calculation issue. Yes, we know how strong wood can be, but a design flaw can cancel that out.
Wood properly structured can easily hold that much weight. But placing the fasterners or supports in the wrong way can often doom something that otherwise looks fine. People often discover that after a catastrophic failure. Even professionals make that mistake too often (which is why some buildings collapse or structures fail.)
Wood properly structured can easily hold that much weight. But placing the fasterners or supports in the wrong way can often doom something that otherwise looks fine. People often discover that after a catastrophic failure. Even professionals make that mistake too often (which is why some buildings collapse or structures fail.)
joey's diy page gives a great stand design can hold a lot of weight and easily modified for larger tanks
I'm wondering about this as well. Joey's video is great but I'd like to know the exact numbers when it comes to the strength of the stand.. his video is a little bit vague when it comes to getting those numbers.
I think I understand the pressure one verticle 2x6 can hold and it's easy to add shear strength of the screws.. but I'm unsure how much strength is added when you add the horizontal supports and plywood wood piece for the top. I think this adds strength too but I don't know the maths needed to determine exact numbers for those pieces.
Maybe I just have to go back and watch the video more carefully in case I missed something.
I think I understand the pressure one verticle 2x6 can hold and it's easy to add shear strength of the screws.. but I'm unsure how much strength is added when you add the horizontal supports and plywood wood piece for the top. I think this adds strength too but I don't know the maths needed to determine exact numbers for those pieces.
Maybe I just have to go back and watch the video more carefully in case I missed something.
I am always perplexed on the old Partical board stands that they made years ago and the amount of weight they can withstand....
I'm not sure they do add any strength at for resisting vertical weight. But I think it's safest if you assume they add no strength, and any they do would be a bonus. I'd build to hold at least 2 times the tank's weight, you can easily see 2+ gees vertical or lateral acceleration in a moderate quake.
Horizontal and angled supports would of course add lateral strength.