setting up 130 gallon glass aquarium

[DeadpooldP]

Hello,
this is my first post here, came here hunting for advice and suggestions on building a stand for a 130 gallon glass aquarium.

I bought the aquarium new at a store going out of business, but it had no stand and I have been having trouble finding an appropriate stand.

At this point I have decided to build my own stand and realize that it will need to be able to support 1500 lbs. I am going down to lowes today and am going to get 2x6s to build the frame and support the 4 corners with 4x4s and use a center support in the back, as well as put diagnal supports across the back and sides. I was also planning on using 3/4 plywood for the top and the bottom, and from I have been reading, the stand needs to be perfectly level and without any irregularities on the surface.

I am planning on picking up some foam as well for it. One of the main questions that I have is do I use foam for the entire surface on the stand or cut it to the dimension of the aquarium?

Any suggestions, advice or prayers would be much appreciated.

dP

 

[zennzzo]

welcome to MFK...I have mixed feelings on the foam at all...just be sure the stand is level and plumb and doesn't exert any torsional load on the tank...and you'll be fine

 

[SonsOfLeda]

The best DIY stand plans that I've found so far: DIY Stands Template and Calculator

They're what I'm going to be using shortly for my 155G. IMO, the hard part isn't the framing that supports all of the weight. The hard part is the finishing in order to make it something you're proud to look at every day.

Good luck!

 

[zennzzo]

Structural soundness is far more important than aesthetics...
Not saying it shouldn't look great, just saying it better be great in the strength and square department first...

 

[DeadpooldP]

The stand is structurally sound and looks pretty good as well. All I have left to do is

a. put my doors and the front faceing on, the sides are done, and
b. shim up one side a hair. The stand appeared to be level when I was checking it before locking everything down and even after when I put the tank on and checked it with a level. I did use some 3/4 inch foam after checking the clearance between the frame of the tank and the top surface. I considered breaking out a sander but that seemed like a miserable way to try to knock down a high spot. (I was able to slide a busines card under 3 of 4 corners, but not in the center in the front or back)

The foam appears to work ok. posting a pic

 

[xiahaolong168]

very cool! I wanna start building my own stand. so i don't have to pay so much for one.

 

[DeadpooldP]

was about 100 in materials

4 2x6x8
2 4x4x8
1 2x4x8
1 sheet 3/4 inch carpenter grade flooring
1 sheet oak veneer
1 seet 1/4 inch press board (for my doors)
about 20 lag bolts and a box or 4 inch screws

 

[ronin_man]

you could park a truck on that thing, heh

 

[DeadpooldP]

heh,

I didn't want to end up with the tank and the contents on the floor

 

[Fly River]

Thanks for this post. It gave me more ideas on building bigger stands