Any videos or tutorials out there or here? its particle board so I cant trust it with all the weight from the rocks/sand added, yes I know water will soften it and make it way less safe so may I ask if I can place a sheet half plastic/half cotton(bath curtain material) on top of it running to the bottom that way if water splashes it will run down the sheet towards the carpet and never touch the stand? Or putting a sheet between the tank(filled) and the stand is a bad idea?
How to reinforce this 125 g stand?
- Thread starter Makubex
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GoM_reefs
Community Member
What is your specific concern here? Its the finish on the stand damaged or is there expansion in the MDF? The laminate coating will prevent water intrusion as long as it's undamaged and it's not submerged. The majority of commercially availible stands are MDF or some derivative.
Makubex
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Ive been told by some people that this is not safe for a filled aquarium(125-150 gallons) with an extra 300+ pounds from my live rocks/sand and I understand why... there is no support from 2x4s on each corner JUST very skinny layers of particle board, if a kid bumps into it or an earthquake happens it'll be very very dangerous, I need 2x4s support here
Makubex
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907_Reefer
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Personally, I wouldn't put a tank near that size on particle board, especially on carpet. You'll be nearing 2000 lbs with water, tank, rock. Disclaimer, I'm not a structural engineer, and do typically build overkill. But if you are grabbing 2x4s for support, might as well grab some more build it entirely 2x4s.. Lots of great stand pics/designs here if you are interested in that route. $.02
WestMI-Reefer
Active Member
I second this. The pictures are scaring me. I wouldn’t trust mdf/particle board for anything larger than a nano. I’ve seen a lot of builds that are extremely overkill on here but for that size tank, 2x4’s providing vertical support from the floor to the bottom of the tank is the minimum standard. But at that point you might as well make a couple frames for top and bottom so you aren’t trusting screws in MDF. Definitely DIY a stand, you can use the MDF as sheeting if you want.
PS: good luck finding straight lumber, I had to pick through a whole pallet to find 4 straight 8footers the other day
I guess I don't think like everyone else.
You can reinforce that stand if you want to. You don't need 2x4s. 1xs would be plenty strong. So would true plywood (not particle board). The goal would be to transfer all weight from the tank vertically to the floor with the new lumber.
Depending on how the bottom of that stand is constructed...If the bottom is solid from where those buckets are sitting to the floor, that would be pretty easy to attach some 1xs or plywood to those vertical pieces.
You can reinforce that stand if you want to. You don't need 2x4s. 1xs would be plenty strong. So would true plywood (not particle board). The goal would be to transfer all weight from the tank vertically to the floor with the new lumber.
Depending on how the bottom of that stand is constructed...If the bottom is solid from where those buckets are sitting to the floor, that would be pretty easy to attach some 1xs or plywood to those vertical pieces.
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