Aquarium stand - rustic (aka cheap!)

[disquatic]

Hi.

As per subject I am looking to make a cheap (i.e. using building materials) stand for an aquarium. The aquarium has a built in supporting base so the stand just needs to take the weight, not be particularly scientific about load spreading and whatnot. That said, what I have planned should be fine, I think, but I am not an experienced woodworker -hence why I'm here with some questions!

So, as a reference point, I've attached a pic of a stand I made for my TV/centre speaker/AV components - made because I could find nothing that for the space I had and accommodated my components as I wanted. I used an old roof beam a friend gave me - all joints were just routed channels with a plywood tongue and glue - probably not very professional but "it did the job". And simple routed channels for the glass shelves.

My idea for the aquarium stand is to have the same rough design but with no glass and with a wooden "shelf" at the bottom, flush with the floor (see other badly drawn pic). Because the aquarium will weigh at least 210kg filled I figured I might have a central column support too.

So, my questions are basically - what wood should I use and would dowels and glue be "good enough" for this? I've looked into what is easily available from local stores and thought I'd use Softwood Planed Carcassing Timber (T)45mm (W)220mm for the top and bottom, and either 90mm fence posts (!) or Softwood Planed Redwood Timber (T)69mm (W)94mm.

I figure dowels and glue would certainly be enough for creating the surfaces (top, bottom, supports) but would it be enough for joining it all together? I want to avoid routing if I can as I broke it and don't want to buy another at this time! :wink:

Although this is "sort of" furniture, I'm not that fussy about it being furniture quality (as per TV stand!) just that it doesn't look TOO bad so please no suggestions of fancy woods, etc, as it's not needed. But suggestions of better sizes of wood and construction methods will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of the post!

 

[AndyT]

I'm not a structural engineer, but I reckon that

a) an aquarium full of water is an easy load to support as the weight is evenly distributed over the entire area and it won't get heavier or be moved around
b) the floor underneath it will be of lighter construction but will stand this weight, just as it will stand the weight of a large bookcase or an upright piano.

So something like your design, using readily available sizes of softwood, will be plenty strong enough.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

More than adequate. If you have any unevenness on the top you can put some polystyrene between the top and the tank.
Don't forget to drill some holes through it or cut some notches at the back for power leads, filter hoses and so on if the stand is to be pushed against a wall. It's easier without a tank full of water in the way. Damhikt.

 

[disquatic]

Thanks for the advice and good point re: the house floor!

The aquarium I'm getting specifies not placing anything under it as it may void the warranty. Bit strange to mention that when the unit itself includes a "safety base frame" so you can use it on non official furniture, but I'll go along with it. I'll make sure the surface is decently level without going into micro millimetre precision.

So do you reckon dowels and glue is enough for lateral support? I was only thinking of the (hopefully never to happen) scenario where someone falls, or leans against the side of the unit. 210kg downwards is nothing, but 210kg sideways, with whatever pressure the person put against it is more significant perhaps? It's pretty low slung (one of the main reasons I'm building one rather than using the overly tall official units) and with the bottom shelf helping brace it all I think it's enough? But just wondered if I should do anything extra to solidify it.

Thanks again for the quick responses.

 

[AndyT]

Yes to dowels and glue - but if I were you I would be scaling them up to suit. So not just a pack of tiny 6mm dowels, but something more like a bit of broom handle. You could clamp/wedge bits together and drill through one piece into another, which should look ok in your 'rustic' piece or can even be a contrasting feature. Glue the dowel and hammer it in like a big wooden nail; cut it off flush when the glue has dried. Obviously you will need a decent size of drill bit - an old-style auger bit in a brace, by hand, would be my choice, but there are modern equivalents designed to use in a beefy cordless electric drill. Make sure you get something which is full diameter along the whole length, so the hole stays straight, not a cheap flatbit.

It may be possible to get matching drills and large dowelling off the shelf, but I've not needed to find them myself. Glue can be ordinary PVA wood glue. Make sure your dowel has a groove along it to let surplus glue escape - you may need to make a groove yourself.

Another approach would be to use big screws, also known as lag bolts. This could make the hole thing dismantleable, which might be an advantage as it will be quite heavy.

You are right to think about the problems of sideways loads, but with thick timber you should be able to design round them. If you make it but don't trust the joints afterwards, you could add diagonal bracing pieces or even just fix a sheet of thin plywood across the back, screwed into the edges of the horizontals and the legs.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Your cheapest large dowels will probably be sweeping brush handles.

 

[disquatic]

Yeah, I was figuring that standard 10mm dowels would be fine for creating the various surfaces out of the timber but too lightweight for the structural joins. Broom handle sized sounds about right though, especially if I use (as I'm leaning towards cos they're chunky 'n' cheap ) 100mm fence posts for the uprights. The top surface would never be seen (cos of the tank) so no worries about drilling down and that looking out of place. The only other place I'd need something in between a broom handle and a 10mm would be joining the bottom of the legs to the bottom shelf - it would only be 45mm thick so wouldn't want to overdo it... I don't think? 20mm? What's a broom handle anyway, about 30mm? Ha ha, I can't picture it, but definitely more than 20.

I did consider big screws (didn't know what they were called though) but it's not that big a unit really so, although heavy, I'd never need to dismantle it. Also, thanks for the further suggestions of strengthening if I don't trust it - ply panel sounds quite good as it won't compromise the cavity space.

Cheers, time to get started on the purchasing phase!

 

[Ransoman]

I am planning on doing an aquarium stand as well but my tank is somewhat heavier (275 liters, nearly 350kg filled).

I would definately recomend adding some mechanical fixings, not just the glue and dowels but some strong screws as well.

To eliminate the sideways stresses, give it a solid back panel, at least 9mm ply.

 

[disquatic]

If I was to use screws, where would I put them (i.e. how many)? A quick Google and it seems they go up to 100mm which would be fine for fixing the top to the legs but no use for fixing the legs to the base, if I use 100mm fence posts! There may be bigger ones - I'm guessing I'd need 200mm?

I'm always a bit wary of screws - as mentioned I'm not an accomplished wood worker and I've had a few splits and stripped threads to be happy with them.

Edit: Something I haven't mentioned, which isn't too relevant I don't think, is that the tank has a bowed front - I'll shape the unit to match. Just mentioning for completeness so when I post my "My stand has collapsed" thread with pictures you won't think I can't cut straight!

 

[Benchwayze]

Your cheapest large dowels will probably be sweeping brush handles.

Trigger probably has some spare! :mrgreen:

Hat
Coat!































John

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I built our local school a series of welly boot racks and used broom handles for the pegs. Check out Toolstations website because they were selling boxes of 12 full length handles for about £15 if I remember rightly. They were miles cheaper than anyone else. Saved me lot of time as I was going to turn them at first

 

[htf666]

Consideration should be given to the floor that the aquarium will stand on. Whilst a wooden floor will stand the weight it can also register bounce when someone walks across it.This is not good for the occupants of the tank and can severely stress them. I struggled to keep fish on a wood floor but when moved back onto concrete they thrived. Harry

 

[disquatic]

Your cheapest large dowels will probably be sweeping brush handles.

Trigger probably has some spare! :mrgreen:

Hat
Coat!


John

Oi! Keep your in-jokes off the thread! :wink:

I take it he sweeps the floors after you lot are done then? I could do with one of those - is he tame?

On topic - this is like a minefield! Looking at screws (probably not allowed to link them - I'll admit I haven't read the site rules ) and I'm now even more confused. If I were to use them instead of dowels and glue what should I choose between -

Timberfix Plus Flanged Hex Exterior Timber Screws 6.3 x 200mm
Timco In-Dex Hex Head Timber Screws 6.7 x 200mm
Spax Wirox Washer Head T-Star Screws 6 x 200mm
Timber-Tite Countersunk Joist Screws 6.5 x 200mm
Timco In-Dex Wafer Head Timber Screws 8 x 200mm

and possibly (?) the right one -

Turbo Coach Screws Yellow Zinc-Plated 12 x 200mm

 

[Benchwayze]

I dunno about tame, but he knows how to repair a broom. :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I am planning on doing an aquarium stand as well but my tank is somewhat heavier (275 liters, nearly 350kg filled).

I would definately recomend adding some mechanical fixings, not just the glue and dowels but some strong screws as well.

To eliminate the sideways stresses, give it a solid back panel, at least 9mm ply.

I had a 400lt Juwel - well heavier than that - it was on a purpose made Juwel stand. Made of 15mm chipboard and KD fittings.

 

[disquatic]

Wee update - wood purchased as per first post, chose 90mm posts (they had planed ones, for pergolas, so a bit less work to tidy them up.)

I'm gonna go screws, just for the hell of it - put my past issues with them behind, and I have some spare wood to experiment with size of pilot hole, etc. As it's 90mm posts I'm now thinking that 10 x 160mm Turbo Coach Screws would suffice, bearing in mind I'll cut a hole for the head, 10-20mm. Another quick question, sorry - Should I use a washer to spread the load on these and, if so, what size? They have a flange but not sure if it's enough, particularly for softwood?

Thanks all again, for the advice so far - I will post up finished pics.

Oh, I have a load of spare Cuprinol 5 Star Complete Wood Treatment from the TV stand project (beams had signs of rot and woodworm) - should I use it or is that just wasting time waiting for it to dry? The posts have been treated, looks like, but the carcassing timber looks raw.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'm using a Blackfriars product atm, and I wouldn't want to live with the smell of that indoors. It's a while since I used C.5 but iirc it's much the same.

 

[AndyT]

Just picking up on the preservative question - there is no need to use treatments on furniture. The fungi etc that attack wood can only do so if it is damp. Just bringing it into a dry interior room should be all it needs, even in Scotland. (Also there is probably a warning on the can about keeping it well away from fish. Hopefully they won't be touching treated wood but if you can smell it in the air it's possible some will be detectable in the water.)

 

[disquatic]

Hello.

Well, finished it and it's, erm, rustic! :lol: AKA - I got fed up of the sandpaper tearing and gave up, rubbed on some Danish Oil and called it a day. As per advice I used coach screws - 160mm for the sides and 100mm for the top and bottom, with 24mm washers... the thing ain't falling apart anytime soon!

Thanks again all, for the advice and tips, I do appreciate it.

 

[paulrockliffe]

Most tanks are about 12" deep and 18" high, that weight determines the loading per unit length. Longer aquarium spreads this weight over a larger are, so the loading isn't all that high.

I built a stand for a 2ft tank out of contiboard when I was a kid, a top, bottom, two sides. The only sop we paid to the weight was to put a solid contiboard back in to stiffen the unit. Lasted for years. A four foot tank might have wanted a central section.

In terms of your design, your only issue is that your loads are being transferred to the floor over a relatively small area. If you put your legs in the middle of a pair of joists on 18mm chipboard you may well get some deflection. Worse if the floor has been hacked about or there are unsupported board joints etc.

Do you know how/where the joists run? Ideally the tank should go perpendicular to the joists and you would have at least one joist directly under the stand. You might consider taking the load to a solid wall too, but that wouldn't be anything other than belt and braces if your floor was dodgy. If the joists run parallel to the stand and you have easy access to the floor I would consider additional support to make sure the load goes to the joists without deflecting the floor first and to avoid issues with bounce.

Definitely polystyrene (ceiling tiles) between wood and glass.