Caper Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I was just browsing the web and came across a cool looking stand made with cinder blocks. http://virtuallyamy.wordpress.com/2008/ ... ium-stand/ I have a couple of questions, I posted them to the site but don't know if they are still replying, anyway I'd always check with you folks. AND you must know by now I haven't a clue when it comes to making things! :lol: 1) Doesn't plywood come in different thicknesses? If so, what would you suggest? (this would be for my 55 gallon, 4' tank) 2) I don't know off hand how high I would like the stand. But what would your best recommendations be, 3 high or 4 high, or just a personal preference? 3) Would putting the 2 shelves between the cinder blocks make it unsteady? 4) One person, instead of using the plywood for the shelves used shelving, what do you think of this? 5) There is a picture showing the sides where you can see the 2x4's. Would they not all have to sit right on the cinder blocks, looks like the last one isn't but I could just be tired and not seeing right :-? 6) Styrofoam under tank or not???? Thanks, Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I was just browsing the web and came across a cool looking stand made with cinder blocks. http://virtuallyamy.wordpress.com/2008/ ... ium-stand/ I have a couple of questions, I posted them to the site but don't know if they are still replying, anyway I'd always check with you folks. AND you must know by now I haven't a clue when it comes to making things! :lol: 1) Doesn't plywood come in different thicknesses? If so, what would you suggest? (this would be for my 55 gallon, 4' tank) Yes, it does. You'd want the ply as thick as you could easily get. 1/2" or better. 2) I don't know off hand how high I would like the stand. But what would your best recommendations be, 3 high or 4 high, or just a personal preference? Personal preference, shorter is more stable. 3) Would putting the 2 shelves between the cinder blocks make it unsteady? No, why would it do that? It will make it more...Umm...What's the opposite of unsteady? 4) One person, instead of using the plywood for the shelves used shelving, what do you think of this? Depends on what the shelving is made of. 5) There is a picture showing the sides where you can see the 2x4's. Would they not all have to sit right on the cinder blocks, looks like the last one isn't but I could just be tired and not seeing right :-? Doesn't really matter much if it's not fully on the block. 6) Styrofoam under tank or not???? Definitely. You should pretty much always have styrofoam under the tank. Especially when you're DIYing something with horribly imprecise materials like lumps of concrete and chunks of rough wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I have made a stand this way before and it worked really well, but there are some down sides. You need to be able to bolt the cinder blocks and shelves which means you'll need a hammer drill and masonry drill bits The stand will end up being very very heavy, really you will need to make it in place. The blocks are rough on your hands, sound silly but you'll be surprised how many times I took skin off getting stuff from under the tank. The blocks take up lots of space. If you do decide to go ahead put a shelf on the bottom as well, this will spread the load out over a bigger area and save the blocks from damaging whatever the tank is siting on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thanks guys Ira wrote: No, why would it do that? It will make it more...Umm...What's the opposite of unsteady? As I said, I know nothing about making things. So, know nothing about cinder blocks; therefore, hehe, I wasn't sure if putting something between them would make them, ah, maybe uneven would have been a better word to use :-? :-? Suphew wrote: You need to be able to bolt the cinder blocks and shelves Uh, :oops: why? Wouldn't the weight keep them in place? Thanks again Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Uh, :oops: why? Wouldn't the weight keep them in place? Thanks again Caper Mostly in case of earthquakes, I don't think canada has those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 No, Ira, we don't earthquakes where I live. So, in that case would it be ok NOT do bolt cinder blocks and shelves together? Thanks, Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Personally I would still bolt them, or maybe just glue them with "No more nails". I'm guessing you would need to have a stack of 3-4 blocks to get the height you want? They wouldn't be that stable a decent push and they might topple over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 my mother has my old tank and stand now ant it was 1.5m long sitting on 3 stacks of cinderblocks, each one 3 high for a "normal" looking height. its also got a shelf in it that only runs half way along the tank, the wood was quite thick (20mm i think) pine in all the brown bits and i didnt use glue at all. her house is raised and recently the tank survived having a van roll into the frount of it which shook the whole house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 It's not likely to topple if you have shelves between them, at that point you'd have to put enough force on them to either slide the blocks or get them to tip over about 45°. Not super stable for an earthquake, but it'll be more than good enough to handle people bumping into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 I made a fast stop at a hardware store just to get an idea of prices. The cinder blocks that were used in the site I posted, she stated that they are, oh shoot, I don't know what's supposed to be the top :oops: :-? Anyway, the way they are stacked you don't see the holes. But when I was looking at them (at the store) the side with the holes were really rough well, at least one side couldn't find anyone to help me and because of my back I didn't dare lift one. Soooooooo, the question is if the sides are rough wouldn't that make them less stable because they wouldn't be sitting smoothly on top of one another??? Ah gee, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say :oops: :oops: diver21, the bottom of the stand does the brown represent the floor or wood placed there??? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 if the blocks have holes in them you could line them up and slide a length of steel rod or pipe in them that would tie the whole lot together just drill a hole in the shelving to accomodate the rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 the brown on the bottom was another set of boards that made just to spread the weight. the bricks i used whernt that rough, looked like these: http://www.reallyreallygoodthings.com/s ... ckPile.jpg as you can see i didnt have the rough edges problem and i stacked them so you couldnt see the holes. i also had a bed sheet draped over the whole thing under the polystyrene to hide all the fish stuff under there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just remember plywood is a hell of a lot more flexible than glass. The dimensions of your tank, the thickness of the glass, and the thickness of the ply will determine the gay you can afford to leave between the blocks. IMO this kind of stand is pretty risky unless the ply is supported by a timber frame (3x2 or 4x2 depending on tank size and spacing between blocks), and I'd only recommend using it as a cheap temporary option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 diver21, the blocks that I saw (only 1 store though) were not smooth looking like that on the sides. Thanks all for your advice! I would love to build a stand but I just don't know how. I've looked at lots of diy stands but looking and knowing how to do it are 2 different things One of the hardware/lumber places already said they would cut the wood to whatever dimensions I needed. But I'm just not sure about the actual structure, how to go about putting what where, if you know what I mean :-? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 in your case i would highly recomend doing the cinderblock stand, i found it great and you could even have custom shelving! it just looks ugly compared to a nice wooden one but thats what the bed sheet was for. its even got space to hold a sump (if used and mums has a cannister filter fitted) i could try to draw up a 'how to' for one if you want to go down that track or atleast give you dimentions and details for what i did, possible change it for you. with the roughness issue you could try a diffrent hardware store or stack the bricks so that you could see the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Thanks Diver, I haven't checked out other stores yet to see what kind of condition their cinder blocks were in because I wouldn't use the ones I saw the other day, they were so rough that even I wouldn't take a chance with them. I was reading somewhere on the web where someone used the cinder blocks and something happened and the tank broke. Can't recall off hand what the circumstances were though :-? I really want a wooden stand but I'll see what happens. Thanks to all again, Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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