doing some research

[the_loaf]

so ive seen amny monster tanks on here and got me to thinkg i want to buld my own tank but dont want my stand to be over loaded with 2x4's as ive seen on here. the Compression stress of a 2x4 is 2100 psi per 2x4 thats 11,025 pounds of pressure each !
here is were i found that info http://www.southernpine.com/speciescomparisons2x4.shtml

 

[portabuddy]

yah.......you havent really asked a question???

well they also flex alot in that test, i think that this is the breaking strength...

When in doubt overbrace...

 

[the_loaf]

no question just posting some info

 

[Dr Joe]

If you have a flexible tank that would be ok, but since our main choices are glas and acrylic we tend to over brace (hopefully). Lateral forces have to be taken into account also.

If you don't like this look you can go with square steel tubing and have a minimalist look. Just get someone who understands that square means square.

Dr Joe

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[najiru]

You MUST take account of any possible deflection in the stand or you will have a very wet floor! The breaking stress of any material only tells half the story. What you need to know for almost any structure but particularly for a tank stand is the youngs modulus which is bassically a ratio of strength to stiffness. You can then work out how much the material will delfect under given loads.

So you can either use a very stiff material (which is likely to be extremely expensive) or use a lot of a relatively unstiff material (wood, mild steel etc). In any case I would add minimum of 50% to the load you expect the stand to see and design it to cope with that for safety.

N