Two level stand, 180 on top..

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biguebs

biguebs

Dovii
MFK Member
Mar 5, 2011
568
379
102
Fort Wayne, IN
I need some input on figuring out how to build a stand that will hold my new 180, but also my 55 and 60. I have limited space and I would like to keep use of all 3. (Note: I have "space" but I promised the old lady I would keep my hobby limited to one wall in my heated garage, there is already a 125 gal on a stand occupying a large part of said wall)

The obvious problem here is the length of the tanks. The 180 is 72" long and the 55 and 60 are both 48". If I built a stand that was 96" to accommodate the 55/60 on the bottom, could I put the 180 on top safely? I can't weld, so it would have to be wood. I'm worried about not having the 180 right on the 4 corners of the stand. There would be supports in the middle obviously. Thoughts?
 
Nothing?? C'mon now, someone must have an opinion? Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot and this should not be done if thats the case.

I have been thinking about how I could beef this thing up.... maybe using 4x4's to frame the top support would help? Probably 6 of them with a 3/4" sheet of plywood on top to tie them together.
 
Wood is not advised if your not holding the tanks corners, been there done that. It WILL sag, especially if water is dripped from W/C's and fish swapping, etc...It happens.

My advise would be to build it out of metal, if that is not an option, have someone build it from your specs. If you still want to do this out of wood, use 2" angle iron to support the 180G, especially across the 96" span.

Any chance you can go up higher? Say by adding a 3rd tier fo rholding a tank (or 2).
 
Racersk;5096374; said:
Wood is not advised if your not holding the tanks corners, been there done that. It WILL sag, especially if water is dripped from W/C's and fish swapping, etc...It happens.

My advise would be to build it out of metal, if that is not an option, have someone build it from your specs. If you still want to do this out of wood, use 2" angle iron to support the 180G, especially across the 96" span.

Any chance you can go up higher? Say by adding a 3rd tier fo rholding a tank (or 2).
Click to expand...

Thanks... I know metal is ideal for something like this. I may need to re-think what I'm going to do. I'm not quite sure how going up higher would help? Can you expand on that a little?
 
IMG00067-20110403-1101.jpg


I just picked up this stand with a 125g about 3 weeks ago. It was made for a single 125g, but was not too sturdy once I set the tank on top and filled it with water. Since I have 4 different tanks and like you not a whole lot of real estate to put them all on their own stands, so what I did was built off of it to make a 3 tier stand.

stand_1.jpg

first I strengthened the original stand by adding additional welds to all the joints and installed cross straps across the back...Unfoutunately I did not measure the height of the bottom tank shelf, so I had to trim out that bottom shelf.
Here's the bottom 90G set up on the floor.
IMG00101-20110424-1346.jpg


I added 3/4" gas pipe uprights to the sides and added a 3rd shelf across the top of the 125's shelf and I ended up with a stand that looks like this.
IMG00092-20110421-0715.jpg


When I was through, this is what I have set up...
tanks.jpg



Since your 180 is taller the overall height of the stand could be shorter-allowing the 180 to be a little lower. But you could definitely stack tank(s) above you 180G as there would be about 1/3 the weight (~700lbs for a 55G)of a 180(~2100lbs), making the 96" span more realistic to accomplish.
 
Wow! Great build...That makes me wish I could weld, thanks for showing me that!

So, maybe rather than going 3 tier, I could run the 4x4's across the 96" span (maybe add some cross bracing) on top and just put the 55 and 60 on top with the 180 below? I could probably just put the 180 on cinder blocks with 2x4's and plywood running across them, then build the stand to hold the 55/60 around the 180...

Note: The 55 barely has any water in it, it houses a yearling florida snapping turtle and the water is only like 4-6" deep, depending on time since last WC.
 
I would avoid the use of 4x4's, first there is more of a tndency for these to have a twist in them, second is they are harder to cut and to work with in general.

Instead, doubling 2x4's would be easier and stronger. Make a 96x 12(or deeper) box frame with multiple cross braces and attach this to the wall and use 2x4's in an 'L' shape at each corner. If you can, run a metal strap or angle iron along the length to help lessen the chances of sagging. This can be attached to the back side of the shelves 2x4 so it doesn't show.

Top shelf should look like this if viewed from above...
_______
| | | |

And a simple 2x4 or 2x6 framed box under the 180 will keep it off the floor and fully supported too.
 
I really appreciate all your insight... I had planned on using the L-shape design on the corners (from looking through other threads on MFK), but was going have them be flush at the top of each "post" and then just use the 4x4s as the main runners for the top shelf. But I guess I might be overthinking it. Right now I have the 55/60 stacked with a cinder block based stand (very simple, very easy to assemble, very sturdy), so I'm just going to use the cinder blocks on the bottom for the 180 (I have enough blocks to cover the entire footprint of the tank if I choose too, and it doesn't get more solid than concrete).

Ok, well thanks to you I think I have some great information to get going with on this thing. Thanks again, I'll surely post a progression of pics when I get everything going.
 
one question - how are you leveling the tank if your using multiple cinder blocks?

If this is on a garage floor, the concrete will not be level, if on wood, it won't be level long...

If you create a wood box frame to set your 180 on, you can properly shim the entire tank, instead of possibly creating multiple pressure points. Besides, it'll give you wood to lag your uprights for the upper tanks too.

BTW I was using the cinder block/wood method as well prior to my new metal stand. Cinder blocks are unforgiving due to 4x8x12 construction, there is no trimming (easily) that can be done to adjust them. Sturdy, yes.
 
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