Plywood only stand for 180 Gallon

[Eric R.]

Nice stand JoshH!

With large tanks I wouldn't follow Red Seas stand design after there 750 XXL debacle

Yes - fortunately failure rates of commercial stands from reputable companies are low, but they aren't non-existent. Some companies may overbuild, some may cut corners unwisely.

Since I'm doing the designing and building, I'll happily err on the side of overbuilt Especially since I can't warranty my own work!

 

[don_chuwish]

Very interesting, good to know! Though if I did my calculation right, it's only about 15% stronger to increase the height of the beam (from 5.5" to 7.25") than it is to keep the height the same and double the width. Of course, I'm sure it's actually a bit more complicated when talking about real building materials than a solid hypothetical engineered beam.

I won't check your work. ;-) When I wanted added strength in mine I doubled 2x6 instead of using a 2x8 - just because I didn't want the beam to hang down so low.