and heres the first pic...

here's how...

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=2406

Thanks Caryl, why didnt i think of that?

Will post tonight when back on my home computer. (im at work-naughty eh!)

I'm at work too

ok ive added the pic. ive added plywood 'cladding' and its nearly finished now but still to take another pic.

Hehe, my nearly finished stand looks so over engineered compared to that then again it's for a 500L tank..

Looking excellent though

Thought i might have over done it. its for a 250l tank 122x45x45cm. used 4x2" s and gangnails and 16mm ply. But whats in the picture was so simple to do and hardly took an afternoon. I'm reasonably handy with tools but was even easier when Benchmark precut the 4x2 s for me.

Benchmark eh... Did you tell them what you needed it for and they helped with plans, or did you know exactly how it was going to be built first?

I'm NOT good with tools.. But maybe I could make myself a stand! It would need to hold about 450L though... :-?

hi heather,

here's some pic's of the stands I made. to add support you could have considered centre support and cross bracing as shown below. anyways hopefully these will help you out a bit or give you some ideas. best thing I did was add 3 layers of 12mm plywood to the main tank stand! expensive but it is solid AS. we demolised the kitchen with a sledge hammer after this was all in and not have a single ripple in the water!

here's the stands in the sump room (main one in view is 4 foot/holds 320 litres, small one is 3 foot/holds 180 litres):

i was testing water flow here with a temp container. note the support through the centre and cross bracing.

here's the stand for the main tank in the lounge wall (5 foot/holds 540 litres):

good to see you have put bracing along the floor - i hope the timber is tanalised (sp?) or it will rot overtime. i did this for my main tank to disperse the weight more evenly across the floor. i would recommend putting down that black rubber type of stuff (not sure what its called) under the legs.

I was *going* to make my own tank stand. Did up my plans for it. Worked out what wood I was using for which bit etc. Then my pertner came along and took over He got chatting with two builder friends and has totally changed my plans, and I'm worried now that it won't hold the tank

Plus, he is taking ages to do it and I want it done NOW

I'll watch for you on Mitre 10's DIY Rescue :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hehe, he said (after much whinging from me!) that he will get it done this week :lol:

I suppose there isn't really a rush for it, I just want it done I still need to get more gravel and stuff for the tank, and the stand will have to be painted etc.

Meantime I'm browsing Trademe for more tanks My poor neglected goldfish have a small ugly tank in the hallway, and I definately think they deserve better :lol:

Hi here is a picture of a stand that a friend has made for us.

It has 2 x 4ft tanks, one on top of the other. Each tank is 260L, 4ft x 2ft x 2ft.

The stand is 190cm high and 125cm wide

We will be varnishing the timber at a later date and adding some wood around the tops of the tanks so the light does not annoy us.

My partners tank is on the top and it contains hundreds of guppy, swordtail, and sailfin Molly fry, as well as some adults and teens

Sorry about the quality of the pictures they were taken with my camera phone..

Hi here is a picture of a stand that a friend has made for us.

It has 2 x 4ft tanks, one on top of the other. Each tank is 260L, 4ft x 2ft x 2ft.

Urm... 4x2x2ft = 430L That's some serious weight sitting in one spot.

Ahh, you beat me by 10 minutes, Misnoma!

Seems like a lot but I think about it this way, if you had 5 largeish guys standing in the corner would you be worried? Of course not, there is a building standards load weighting for house floors, I don't know for sure what this is (so please don't blame me if you use the number and end up with your tank down in the room below!) but seem to remember reading that it is 800kg per square meter.

Or another way to look at it, plently of garages are made with the same flooring but you don't ever worry about your 2 ton SUV going through the floor.

*is glad to own an 800kg MR2*

Seems like a lot but I think about it this way, if you had 5 largeish guys standing in the corner would you be worried? Of course not, there is a building standards load weighting for house floors,

Funny.. that's how we tested the floor for both my ~500L tanks :lol: :lol:

Wooden floored apartment, so there's a bit of movement, but nothing insane hehe.

Urm... 4x2x2ft = 430L That's some serious weight sitting in one spot.

It's lucky we live in a single story with concrete slab but dont worry about the weight, our friend has made the same stand for two 6ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft tanks and its still stand after about 5 years.

Yay! My stand is finally made. Just need to paint it now

Almost looks too good to paint. Have forgiven my partner for taking over the job cause he has done an excellent job. Just need to get him going on the hood now hehe

I know this is an old post, but I can't see some of the pics, is that why?

I have a couple of questions on the first pic that Heather posted.

Please forgive me, I'm a secretary NOT a carpenter in any way, shape, or form 8) and feel free to laugh :lol: :lol: , especially when I use the wrong terminology

Here goes, the top of the stand: why is it you can have the top of the "frame" :-? extending over the posts that go down (*go down* very technical huh!) I would have thought they have to be "even" with the posts for strength?

What are the metal thingies that are joining the wood????? AND, would the posts, er, how to put this, ah...ok...the wood that is "sitting" on the posts where they join, would that also be glued? nailed? screwed? in addition to the metal thingies??

...the wood that is "sitting" on the posts where they join, would that also be glued? nailed? screwed? in addition to the metal thingies??

Hey Caper!

I think it wouldn't hurt if the top of the stand would also be nailed or screwed to the posts/legs.

Sorry I don't know what those metal thingies are called either - I know they sell them in DIY stores here in NZ but I forgot what they are called...

Sorry I can't be of more help

Thanks Kim&Dan

Nails? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just caught someone mentioning about the weight the floor can hold I dont know how much reading your keen to do but this article is pretty good! I read it all before I setup my 540L tank in the lounge as I didn't want the floor in the house were renting to fall through!

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... weight.php