[rambolam]

Hello all;

I'm looking to see if anyone has some plans to build a stand for a 240G (96" X 24" X 24") stand. This doesn't have to be anything fancy as the stand will end up being buried in a wall. I just need to build something that will support the over 5000 Lbs, that will be the final weight of this beast.

Thanx

Rambolam

[Reefland]

You might check out vtec si's recent thread (The Money Pit) to check out what he has built. It appears to be a very stable stand for his new tank.

[scubadude]

Man I wish I had pictures of my old 240g stand....your looking for plans for the stand or the whole tank? If your wanting just the stand plans I could explain it fairly easy and probably draw up a simplistic diagram. Its basically woodscrews, 2x4's and some plywood.

[rambolam]

I tried searching for Vtec 's post, and not having much luck.

But all I need is a very basic stand only, that eventually won't even be seen, so it needs no doors or front or nothing, just the ability to support the total weight of a finished 240G tank( I figure in the 5000 Lb range).

I have very little experience with lumber, and this doesn't seem like a project that I'll get a second chance with


Rambolam

[scubadude]

Here is the frames I made for the stand I made
...you basically have to make 2 of them and then you space them apart how tall you want your stand to be.....Let me know if you want more diagrams it would probably help....gotta go to walmart 1st thoug....bbiab

[Reefland]

Here is the thread I mentioned. There is a great image of his stand which should give you some ideas, it is just the framework.
Martin's New 300 gallon Money Pit!!!!

[GaryZ]

I just happen to be a carpenter. When building your stand, the most important aspect is the transfer of the load. The goal, is to transfer the load of whatever your carrrying over as big an area as possible.

For instance:

If you built a stand with a platform and 4 legs. All of the load would be split up between the 4 legs. So, each leg would be transfering over a thousand pounds. Imagine how much damage 1000lbs of force could do from the end of a 4X4. Not good.

You want to spread out the load as much as possible. So, if you took the 4 legs and built the structure (remember, a stand that size isn't just a stand, its a structure) so that the legs transfered the load onto a continuous 4X4 frame under the legs, the weight from the legs would be spread over about 15 linear feet (I'm guessing at how many linear feet the perimeter of your tank is, but you get the point).

Now, instead of having four 4" points transfering 1000lbs+, you'll have 15 continuous feet transfering about 111lbs every 4". Much more acceptable.

If your building into a concrete slab, be careful of uneven concrete. Concrete is rarely perfect. Imperfection will compound as you go vertically or horizontally.

For instance:

Something that is 1/8" out of plumb over one foot, will be 1/4" out over two feet. 3/8" over three feet. So a six foot structure (including tank) would end up bieng 3/4" out of plumb. And since your tank is so heavy, it will be top heavy. This will change your transfer and lead towards instability. Gravity is your friend. You want all the wieght transfering straight down.

Floor Joists:

An ideal situation when building onto floor joists would be to have your floor joists below running perpendicular to your structure. This will result in transfering your load to as many joists as possible. Better yet, would be a situation where your joist are perpendicular and your right up against a retaining wall (or over a place where a retaining wall once existed). This will transfer the load right to the ground. If all of these requirements aren't met. You'll have to go below and shore things up. Remember transfer the load.

Remember that when transfering the load, you want to avoid any situations where your depending on the shear ( by shear I'm talking about the point at which a fastener will shear and break or move within the wood) strength of whatever fasteners your using. The fasteners are merely for keeping your framing members held together. All loads should be transfered directly onto another member. Over building is impossible.


The examples I gave of using 4X4's is just an example. I was trying to express the importance of transfering the load, starting with the stand. Hope this was helpful. If I told you alot of stuff that you already knew, I'm sorry.