Begining construction on stand..(Pics)

jgoldsney · #1 07-30-2004, 09:48 PM

Ok here are the first pictures from the construction of the stand for my new 230 gal aquarium...to save the effort of hauling the stand upstairs I caried up all the pre-cut wood and constructed it on a tarp. It is going to be a 2x4 frame with a 5/8" plywood sheeting. All joints are screwed and glued....there is no way that this baby is coming appart.

Front of stand

Extra support for front opening...I wanted at least a 36" opening so that I could esay access my sump, just to be sure I beefed up the 2x4 top beam

This is an angle shot of the end of the stand.
you can see the 2 GFI circuts on the wall that I ran in for the tank when I was building. I also have a floor drain and a water line ready to go.

THe stand will have a 36" x 77" cabinet beside it to hold my fuge and a prop tank and all other goodies.

The floor of the cabinet and the stand will be connected to the drain so that if there is a leak it goes down the drain not on to the floor.

Well that's it for now....I will update as things progress

Joel

jgoldsney · #2 07-30-2004, 09:49 PM

Oh yeah there will be another brace in the bottom LOL forgot about that till I looked at the pictures

MitchM · #3 07-30-2004, 10:00 PM

...all I see is a reef central banner....

Mitch

jgoldsney · #4 07-30-2004, 10:01 PM

Doh..I was trying to link from RC....

I will fire the pics to my galery here and re-link

Joel

jgoldsney · #5 07-30-2004, 10:04 PM

THere we go...

that's what happens when you get lazy lol

MitchM · #6 07-30-2004, 11:11 PM

How are you going to attach the plywood? (in order to prevent racking)

Mitch

MitchM · #7 07-30-2004, 11:26 PM

I hope you don't mind a critique or two.....

...
All the weight from your tank is going to bear down on the 4 corners. The 2 x 4 on flat "foundation" that the middle posts are sitting on is going to flex under any weight, unless you've already compensated for that under the floor joists, and the shear strength from the screws on the middle braces isn't a lot. Properly supported posts under those braces would help.

Mitch

kuatto · #8 07-31-2004, 03:25 AM

Mitch,what is "racking"??

MitchM · #9 07-31-2004, 04:05 AM

Like a house of cards...no lateral support, so at the slightest horizontal force, a structure without adequate lateral bracing can fall over.

If, say, the plywood was going to be attached with small finishing nails, the stand could theoretically fall over because the finishing nails are not strong enough to hold it. Screws and glue would be good here, too.

FYI, on a typical house, there is a strength axis to plywood for just that purpose and the drywall on your walls also helps to stiffen up the house.

Mitch

whaase · #10 08-01-2004, 04:34 PM

Once the 5/8" plywood is on that thing will be solid. Almost overkill

But I like overkill when I build stands.

Walter