To brace or not to brace

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R

rustyspurs

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 30, 2009
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ballynahinch n. ireland
ive built a stand with 2 by 4's and am about to build my ply tank ( 6ft L 3ft H 2ft D). i was going to brace the outside of the tank with 2 by 4s but am wondering if this is really needed. ill be using 3/4 inch plywood, glued and screwed with 4 pieces of 2 by4 as top braces to stop flex.
so what do you think folks, im going to buy wood in the morning and really need some advice?:nilly:
cheers Paul
 
I agree with Ross, 3' is a tall tank and I cant see it being successful w/o bracing. 3/4" plywood isn't thick enough for a screw to secure itself into even with glue.

I've seen guys use 1" ply and make a "box" with no bracing but I don't believe any of them were 3' tall.
 
thanks for the advice guys, i figured as much just needed to hear it from someone else.
It'll just have to be done one piece at a time, that is 2 by 4s this week plywood next week. Money's makes the world go round lol
 
I would use 2x4 bracing on the outside with your tank being so tall. 3feet is a lot of downwared pressure. It would suck to have a seem bust and all that water on the floor. I built a 3ft tall tank once without outside bracing but it was only 2ft wide and I screwed metal straps to the top and bottom of the tank just in case. I wouldn't feel good going over four feet wide at that hight with plywood alone. That might even be streching it. Garf.com wont even give you any tank figures for anything over 30 inches if I'm remembering right. They have planes for plywood only tanks.
 
well ive got the 2 by 4's for bracing and the bottom piece of ply( will get the sides and back when budget allows).
i now have the decision of either laying the 2 by 4's flat or on their side, they will be far more secure layed flat as i can screw the uprights as well as glueing them but it is eating into the tank size.
its 218 gallons with 2 by 4's on side and 211g with them flat.
Before bracing it was 283g meaning a drop of least 65g which when you consider that my current 5ft by 2ft by 18inches is 90 gallon is quite a painful one to take.
Just wish id taken bracing into acount when i built my stand, its the height of my tank which is causing all the problems. i could make it 2ft high but that would mean going to all this trouble and expense to get 1ft more width than my current setup.
pity my livingroom wasen't just a little bigger:)
 
Think I followed what your asking, the strongest way to run your 2x4's is to have them run so your walls are 3.5" thick and not 1.5". Turning your 2x4's so your walls are thinner (1.5") is only going to make your plywood a little stronger, give you something to anchor to and add to your over all weight.

Run with thick walls...
 
thanks for the reply, yes that was what i was asking lol. ive started the bracing and though im losing a lot of space in the tank ill definately sleep easier as the tank is going to be solid. :)
 
hi all, ive built the main frame of the tank and just need to price the glass, decide what to seal it with and get the back and 2 sides of ply. ive moved it into its spot in the living room to gauge the size and put my current setup inside as its likely to be a few weeks before i can gather everything up i need to finish.
hers a few build photos( the kids wanted their photo on 'my fish website' :)
SDC12460.jpg

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