DIY RocketEngineer's Stand Question

[Cesar Romero]

Hi. I will be moving to a new house in the next month or so, and thought it would be a good time to redesign my stand, with the idea to have it ready for a future upgrade. I currently have a 150g, 60L x 24W x 24H, and my next future upgrade I would like a 72L x 30W x 24H. I'm contemplating building a new stand based on RocketEngineer’s stand idea, however my concern is if the weight distribution may be an issue with the 150g tank edges not being flushed with the stand.

Stand idea: 2x6 for the top, no center bracing. 2x4 everywhere else. Dimensions of 72x30x39

Thank you for your help!

 

[Michael Lane]

Are you planning to skin the top in some way? I have a couple of tanks built with oversized stands, but they are 15 and 20 gallons. Much different that what you are describing.

My stand is built using RocketEngineer's design. I believe much of the strength of that design relies on transferring the load via the vertical supports in each corner. Additionally, I think aquariums are built with the expectation of being fully supported in each corner.

The issue you may encounter would be deflection or sag in the top. You may be able to mitigate that by building a torsion box as the top.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with better responses.

 

[cvrle1]

I believe that 6 foot tank may be limit between having center brace and not. @RocketEngineer can confirm either way :)

I personaly would put center brace if I was building that stand, but thats just me.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Yeah, you really want the load directly over the legs and rails for the best/safest result. Given you are looking at 1500lbs, putting that much load between boards isn’t the path I would take.

 

[Cesar Romero]

Sorry for the late reply, but thank you guys for your help! In this case I’m going to just keep the legs under the corners.

Also to just confirm, my understand was I would be okay having no center bracing if I did 2x6 for the top and 2x4 everywhere else. Is this correct?
Would it be better if I did two 2x4 side by side on top instead of one 2x6? Or maybe even perhaps two 2x6 or one 2x8?

I guess my main question is what is the safest for a no center brace on a 6ft stand length?