Dual Stand - ~75Gallon Top; 50 Gallon Bottom

[JayWho]

Having recently acquired a used 75 gallon aquarium off the boards, I'm going to be separating my South American/Asian and African fish.

Living in an apartment, with space constraints, I am planning on building a 2x4 stand, using the same design as shown here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN4Y9AYuwcQ

I'm essentially going to build the stand to slightly larger than the dimensions of the 75 gallon (it's actually closer to 80 gallons - 48 x 16 x 24). I am going to make it - 50 x 21 so that it's wide enough to fit my 50 gallon tank (48 x 13 x 21) between the legs on the side of the stand and essentially occupy the bottom of the stand. I'm going to put plywood on both top and bottom of the stand for the aquariums to sit on as they won't be aligning properly with the 2x4's if I don't.

My apartment is all concrete, so I'm not worried about the floors. My question is whether I'll have problems with the stand itself holding the weight. I don't think so, since the top tank will be supported by different 2x4's than the 2x4's supporting the weight of the bottom tank - but I'm not an engineer or much of a carpenter for that matter, so I figured I'd ask here to make sure. Should I add more lengthwise bracing somehow, or use 2x6's for the frame, or something else? Or is it ok?

Also, how much space between the top of the bottom tank and the bottom of the top of the stand would you recommend? I was thinking 13" to allow for plenty of space for lights, power bars, plumbing, hands/arms, etc. Is that more than necessary?

Edited March 25, 2014 by JayWho

[jvision]

I didn't watch the whole thing, so I'm not sure how long his tank is, but if it's 48", you'll be fine. If he's running a 36" tank, you may want to use 2x6 for the top shelf; otherwise, it looks good. If you don't want any sagging of the plywood, go with 3/4" or thicker b/c your 75gal won't be completely on the 2x4 frame - the plywood will be supporting the weight.

[JayWho]

The stand in the video is 48 x 36 if I'm not mistaken (it's been a couple days since I watched it). The design is good as you scale up as long as you add centre supports if you go longer than 6 or 8 feet. There's just no mention of adding a second tank that's almost as heavy to the integrity of the stand. I really don't think it'll be an issue.

Good call on the 3/4" plywood though. I was just going to use 1/2".

[Aho1]

Love uarujoey vids. He's got some great vids with great ideas. I specially liked his vid with the maxi-jet turned water flosser-brilliant!

I used his design for a friend's 6ft 180g last summer and it's super sturdy.

[JayWho]

Yeah, I've probably watched all his videos. Made a couple pvc overflows and a wet/dry filter, but don't have a pump to run them yet.

I'm also going to be resealing the 75 gallon tank before I set it up, using his video on resealing an aquarium as a guide.

I think I will be adding a diy overhead sump, based on his video on that too (the other reason I want 13" of space in between tank/stand - so I can fit it in between).

I've been looking forward to building my own stand, because you can tell just by looking at his design it's going to be solid.

Edited March 26, 2014 by JayWho

[thebrokenbrewer]

Just curious how the build went (or is going) and if you ran into any issues or made any changes to the blueprint.

[JayWho]

I ended up getting a free 6' tank and have just set that up and tore down the old tanks. I still made my own stand for it though, as I also DJ and my old table/desk I was using to hold my music equipment was about 6' long as well. The aquarium is sitting on a 2x4 frame on the floor, and the DJ table is over-top, combining the footprints.