DIY 125 gallon stand build question

[PacoPetty]

I am building a stand for my 125 gallon long tank. I would like opinions on what to do about the interior base. Should I put two or more cross supports in the bottom topped with plywood or just put plywood in the bottom. I will caulk the entire interior of the stand and seal it with white flex seal. (I would do them the same as the crossmembers on the top but I am trying to add more room inside the stand. Without the crossmembers adds 3 inches)

 

[Johnd651]

I am building a stand for my 125 gallon long tank. I would like opinions on what to do about the interior base. Should I put two or more cross supports in the bottom topped with plywood or just put plywood in the bottom. I will caulk the entire interior of the stand and seal it with white flex seal. (I would do them the same as the crossmembers on the top but I am trying to add more room inside the stand. Without the crossmembers adds 3 inches)

Personally I would do what you have in your first picture so that its pulling the front and back of that stand together, but its below the door opening so if you have a spill it will bathtub a little.

 

[PacoPetty]

Personally I would do what you have in your first picture so that its pulling the front and back of that stand together, but its below the door opening so if you have a spill it will bathtub a little.

I agree so I’m going to lay three 2”x4”s flat on the floor and secure them to the bottom before I put plywood in the base. That will still give me 1 1/2” more than if I had stood them up on their sides.

 

[divermike_99]

i agree with the first picture, it's always nice to have extra support

 

[Johnd651]

I agree so I’m going to lay three 2”x4”s flat on the floor and secure them to the bottom before I put plywood in the base. That will still give me 1 1/2” more than if I had stood them up on their sides.

Also, if you put a piece of plywood on the very bottom of the entire stand, you will distribute the weight of the 125 even more

 

[divermike_99]

yes a good piece of 3/4" plywood would tie the frame togeather very nicely and you would not need the 2x4

 

[PacoPetty]

yes a good piece of 3/4" plywood would tie the frame togeather very nicely and you would not need the 2x4

I’m going to put 3/4” plywood on the top and the bottom before trimming it out.

 

[divermike_99]

looks like you are on your way, when i was at this point in my build this is where i decided to build a side box to the frame to install electroincs, and added pvc to the interior

 

[Johnd651]

looks like you are on your way, when i was at this point in my build this is where i decided to build a side box to the frame to install electroincs, and added pvc to the interior

Are you making your own doors or buying premade doors?

 

[divermike_99]

doors are made from scratch by me

 

[PacoPetty]

Are you making your own doors or buying premade doors?

I am lucky. My buddy owns a cabinet shop so he has a bunch of spare doors. I think I am going to put three panels on this stand that way I can remove all three and open up the entire front when I am working on the sump.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Framer here, with a 125g tank you are looking at about 1200lbs in just water weight and tank (no rocks no sand) just 2 2x4s does not seam like enough support over what I am assuming is a 5-6 foot span. With no center support these will 100 percent sag specially because you have 2 different plains of support in the corners (also bad) . If you care to test it have a buddy sit on the center and measure the difference to floor between weight and no weight. If it is more than a 32nd it's already way too much and realize this will only get worse with time and humidity remembering that your buddy weighs significantly less than the tank.

 

[PacoPetty]

Framer here, with a 125g tank you are looking at about 1200lbs in just water weight and tank (no rocks no sand) just 2 2x4s does not seam like enough support over what I am assuming is a 5-6 foot span. With no center support these will 100 percent sag specially because you have 2 different plains of support in the corners (also bad) . If you care to test it have a buddy sit on the center and measure the difference to floor between weight and no weight. If it is more than a 32nd it's already way too much and realize this will only get worse with time and humidity remembering that your buddy weighs significantly less than the tank.

I’m putting two or three vertical supports in the front and back I just don’t want to put the man before I lay the three-quarter inch plywood down caulk it and seal it because it is much easier to get to it without the vertical braces being in place.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I’m putting two or three vertical supports in the front and back I just don’t want to put the man before I lay the three-quarter inch plywood down caulk it and seal it because it is much easier to get to it without the vertical braces being in place.

Gotcha! My apologies for the misunderstanding. You could get away with doubled up single center supports, less clutter.

 

[PacoPetty]

Gotcha! My apologies for the misunderstanding. You could get away with doubled up single center supports, less clutter.

Since the front will be my access point to the sump I will probably use one double support in the front and three spread out across the back. I will err to the side of caution and over build it.

 

[Johnd651]

Not to thread jack... but i was going to build the same design as you for my 150. Are the doubling up like you did in the corner? or side by side?

I was going to use a 40B as a sump in mine, and if they are doubled up like in the corners I might not have enough room to fit it in there.

 

[DanTheReefer]

You could do a wide opening that would help in making it easier to remove a sump if needed if you use 2x6’s going horizontal on the top. Having the additional vertical braces along entire back will help and adding 2 additional vertical pieces to the front will help. You would just leave a 38” opening that could fit a 40B.

 

[PacoPetty]

Not to thread jack... but i was going to build the same design as you for my 150. Are the doubling up like you did in the corner? or side by side?

I was going to use a 40B as a sump in mine, and if they are doubled up like in the corners I might not have enough room to fit it in there.

I’m putting two braces on the back side and one on the front plus wrapping it with plywood. I got a great deal on an Eshopps S200 sump for $100 it is 36 x 14 x 14 and it fits. I don’t know how deep a 40B tank is front to back. The backside will be completely open except for the two vertical braces.

 

[don_chuwish]

Formica over the plywood works well:

 

[PacoPetty]

After taking a good look at the used 125 gallon tank I have decided not to use it because it just isn’t up to par for a display tank. I’m going to put it on Facebook Marketplace and sell it. With that being said I removed all of the cross braces which were 16” and replaced them with 21” cross braces so now the tank will hold a 180 gallon long or 210 gallon tank. I was able to use scrap pieces for the 16” cross braces to begin with so the switch only wound up costing me one extra 8 foot 2 x 4. I am waiting to put the vertical supports in the front and back until after I prime, caulk, install the plywood bottom, and then paint it with flexseal. It is so much easier to do all of that without the vertical supports installed. The first picture is of the stand before I decided to switch it over to a 24” deep stand.