Quick 2x4 reinforcement

[DaveB]

I screwed together a stand that came with a tank. It has several vertical 2x4s that bear the load but the design of it didn't have that double 2x4 in the corner like the good Reefcentral design and I think it's kind of weak. It definitely seems to me to be leaning a bit from the back to the front.

This is a temporary tank setup while I get another one fixed. I would like it if I could keep it standing for just a week, tops. It will help me sleep more easily if I can reinforce it.

If my fear is that it's going to lean forward, should I put a crossbrace that grabs the top of the front end and attaches to the bottom of the rear end? Or should the slope be reversed?

Is it possible to strengthen this while it's standing and bearing the weight of the tank? Draining it would take forever (Only one python reaches where it's set up).

 

[DaveB]

Here are some pics of the weakness. I should've thought about it and reinforced it before I put the tank on it, but I was in a rush (for what turned out to be no reason) and didn't start to worry til it was full anyway.

The problem is that basically the two side/corner supports don't exist. So it is weak front to back. I made one to put in the center of the one side, but that's cause that side had an extra 2x4 added onto it to extend the length (the stand was built for an 84" tank and it's actually 86") and that wasn't strong at all. So you can see in the photos that the corner isn't full of vertical support.

So I decided to go be manly and went out and cut a bunch of 29" pieces and drilled them all with the kreg jig. I drilled together a nice solid strong square to slide into the photographed edge there, and had a 24" piece of 3/4" plywood that I pre-drilled to attach to the end once the jig screws were put into place. I figure that alone will be enough to reinforce it. I was pretty proud of my exacting measurements, cuts, and how square and level I got it.

As is typical of this week for me, though, I spent forever doing that and got it inside and it didn't fit. The space between top and bottom is 29" and the one leftover 2x4 I had from it was just a shade under 29, so I made my cuts at exactly 29". But the horizontal 2x4 piece and its edge narrows the gap some. And because I used phillips screws to attach all my pieces, I ended up stripping them, so I can't even take my square apart. (Now I know why Kreg recommends using the deep square drive. I didn't have any of those screws though... I just assumed it was them trying to rip me off on screws.)

So I went and wasted a ton of time trying to power sand it down. Still not even close.

Today is simply not my day.

Really it seems that simply placing one vertical support in each corner, completing the actual ReefCentral design according to plans, ought to be all it needs. I just question whether retrofitting it will give it the strength it needs.

It would be just my luck to wake up tomorrow to a flood in the basement, with the way this week has been going, fish-wise...


Time to go cut some slightly less than 29" 2x4s so I can at least put those in the corners and smack the plywood piece on there Maybe some other time I'll come up with a reason to use my nice little 36x24" 2x4 square.

 

[DaveB]

OK, I managed to get one of the little cross pieces unscrewed, which let me go and reduce the 29" vertical pieces by a blade width. I think this might let me sleep tonight. Not pretty, but ought to at least help out, right? Surely having the 3/4" ply screwed into the top support as well as the legs should help out...

 

[DaveB]

I know there's a chance that my addition actually made no difference since the load was already being borne by the stand in its current configuration (and that any boards I was able to push in afterwards are thus unable to bear a load) but it's kind of amazing how much more comfortable and confident I am just looking at the stand without that empty corner. It's just a 2x4 but it seems so much more whole and appears to have integrity now. I'm sitting here with a beer listening to music (the Discus don't seem to mind the Dead) and it just seems whole now.

Now watch... the vibrations from me drilling in the new screws to hold it will have damaged its structural integrity and I'll wake up to a flood in about 4 hours...

 

[Pharaoh]

Your retrofit should work just fine.

 

[DaveB]

Haha, if your Acei tank stand hasn't fallen down yet, I guess I didn't have that much to worry about

Bout time I finally set this thing up, eh? I started that build thread like 6 months ago...