structural problem with my tank stand

[ac7av]

I think I may have a structural problem with my tank stand. I was making plans to put 3, 20 gallon tall tanks in my tank stand. I have the tanks drilled and was thinking about starting it this weekend since I have some time. I was examining the real-estate and found that the floor of the stand is not very thick and will probably bow considerably with 50 gallons of water weight on it. I don’t think this is going to be safe and unfortunately I never gave the thickness of the cabinet floor much thought before putting everything together or I would have at least put braces under it.

I have a couple of ideas and wanted some opinion of some carpenters on what to do because the tank is not coming down at this point for making changes.

My first thought was to drill 3 or 4 holes down the center and install some dry wall bolts with large butterfly wings or what ever you call them and screw the screw down to the floor to add support to the floor of the stand and cut off the bolt left sticking out of the floor and filling it in with silicone. This sounds like a good way to support the floor but not sure how drilling holes in it will really affect the integrity of it.

Another thought was to drill several much smaller holes and fill the entire base in the floor of the stand with expanding foam. This will hopefully support the entire floor in the stand.

What do you think and any other ideas are welcome.

 

[NC2WA]

Erik,

Is it bowing now OR only if the 3 tanks are added?

 

[fulkerl]

Just looked at your tank build, lots of nice pic, but none of the stand. I think foam may work or at least help. can you cut a pice of 1/2 inch plywood and lay down first then put your tanks on top of it?

 

[returnofsid]

Fulkerl's idea of adding another piece of 1/2" ply, directly on top of your existing base, is going to be your best option.

 

[ac7av]

The problem is that I don’t know how or what is holding up the bottom. If it’s only held up by staples or just a few blocks around the edges holding it up the plywood will not help. I wish I would have taken a good picture of the bottom when I was re painting it last summer. I wish I could remember what the deal is with it. If I reinforce it with plywood it will raise the tanks up enough that I may not be able to remove the skimmer cup I am already working on just shy of an inch for that and it needs ½ in to remove. . I would also have to cut it in 3 sections to fit in the doors. That’s not really a problem I guess, just a detail.

The wood is bowed a bit just with what’s in there now. I kind of noticed it when I had my head in there measuring. The bottom is week enough I could move it with my hand probably a good 1/3 inch. I’m sure all-glass never really intended anyone to put 50 gallons of tank in the stand so it’s not built for it.

 

[ac7av]

Okay, so I found some pictures of the bottom before painting it. This doesn’t look good. Stapled strips of wood that don’t go all the way to the floor and don’t support the whole bottom ether. The second pictures is after I put primer on it so you can see the piece of wood that is holding up the bottom better. By the way you are looking at the stand with the bottom up, top down.

 

[bens63imp]

dang! bro looks like we need to take your sump n stuff out and reinforce with some ripped down 2 buys. I never even thought when your sumps are in of the base holding up. forget the foam I think it will compress over time anyway. If we could tear out the bottom shelf w/o taking the front of the tank stand off it'll work even if we have to cut it up in 2-3 peices. rebuild with 1/2 or 3/4 ply with the ripped 2buys you'll never have to worry!

 

[returnofsid]

Ewww, you're right, those pictures don't bode well. Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to avoid placing anything on your base, until you're able to remove your tank and add support to the base.

 

[fulkerl]

you could cut holes in the bottom and place your tanks on the floor, other than that I would do a tear down and rebuild, don't see an easy to do that with dt in place.

 

[DonW]

This is a very easy fix. I assume you have a tank on the stand but have full access to the inside bottom. All you need is a center brace running length wise down the center. Cut a 2" wide hole 2/3 the the length of the stand down the center. Slide in a new center brace on each side of the cut, add screws. Put the cut out back and your done.

Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Is there any tanks set up on it now?
If not, just looking for easiest way to rebuild it?
If the plywood is thin, pull out those glue strips and screw 2x4s to the inside of the upright supports along the plywood top. Then screw cross members braces at each pair of supports. finally add a new sheet of plywood to the very top.

 

[TheKraken]

I have the same stand (still available!) which is very bowed thanks to the two sumps the prior user was running. For how big the stand is it has particularly bad access as a 55 gal sump will just not fit with our substantial modification. The good news however is that the gap is just about equal to a sideways 2X4 so you can place supports perpendicular when you place the stand. However if the tank is running this is not an option.

If you have the time to cut and notch, you will be able to place a new 1/2 plywood floor in two or three sections. I would still cut the thin floor with a circular saw to open a window for 2X4 supports though. Make sure you can still get the 20g tanks in the stand first.

Fulkerl's idea of adding another piece of 1/2" ply, directly on top of your existing base, is going to be your best option.

 

[ac7av]

This stand is the one I’m using now and the tank is fully operational.
Don, I like your idea, it sounds strong and doable.
I really didn’t want to cut the bottom out. I have sealed this stand with water proof paint and filled the corners with silicon to prevent any water form leaking out of the stand if there was a minor leak. The base of the stand it self could probably contain 20 gallons of water before overflowing. I didn’t want water getting onto the floor under it and causing a problem. With Don’s idea it will be strong and I can just fill the seam back in with silicone. It will just take a little bit of work but better now then the cleanup later.

 

[jrgilles]

why don't you remove the floor of the stand and put something better in?

I have a half inch OSB board, and it is extremely strong (and inexpensive.) You could add another 2X4 brace (or whatever your tank base is made of) under the OSB too if you think you need more support.

Really not too much work to reseal it, and then you'd never have to worry. You could put on some thick coats of poly (since it will be hidden from view) and re-silicone it.

Don't think it would really be too much work, and the peace of mind.....

 

[ac7av]

I can’t really just remove the floor. I guess I can but we are talking major PITA. The plywood in it now is primered in, painted in, and siliconed into place on all sides and seams. It basically is seamless now. You can’t just cut the outside edge and lift it out. The vertical sections of the stand base are over the sheet. The stapled in pieces are holding the plywood up agents the vertical pieces. It would be just a major overtaking to try and replace the entire sheet while the tank is on the stand. And I would not be able to just put one sheet in the base, it would have to go in, in 3 pieces. Any way I look at it I need floor to bottom support. I think the plywood it has is at least thick enough to hold the weight if it had some support. Cutting a middle section out and installing braces into it would work great. Heck once a 4 foot by 2 inch opening is cut I could even mount the braces front to back instead of parallel to the seam. That way I could have support front to back and side to side under the stand bottom. Lay the cut out piece back into place and silicone it back into place. This should give all the support and more that I would need I think.

 

[jrgilles]

yea, sounds like a good plan

 

[TheKraken]

Cutting a middle section out and installing braces into it would work great.

A circular saw is your friend. You can set the depth to just greater than the board and make a clean fast cut.

 

[ac7av]

Update !

Update on the bottom supporting.
So I had some time to myself today and you know what happens when a guy has too much time. They tend to due so damage to something or get in to trouble. Well I did some damage. I used the method that DonW recommended but placed the supports from front to back. I only did the left side of the stand today to see how it was going to go and see what I needed exactly since I had no idea before cutting how much space between the bottom and the floor there would be. Turns out it was an odd size. Not suppressing since knowing how the bottom was installed. At least they used good plywood on the bottom, ½ inch 7 ply. So I cut a strip out that was 4 inch wide just incase a nice 2X4 would work for the job. I ended up using 2X2’s with a door molding screwed to it to make the exact measurement to fill the space. I had to use a pry bar to insert the one on the right because the currant sump is on that side and bowing down the bottom a good 1/3 inch. The 3 strips are 20 inches long, the space available front to back is 22 inches. The left and right side pieces are half over the seam to support the cut out section. Then as you can see I silicone the edges of the seam and center support and placed the cut out piece back into its hole. Now I silicone the seams and used a flat edge to smooth the silicone and placed a block on it to hold into place while the silicone dries. The bottom is definitely tough now. No worries about weight bowing the bottom now. I also have installed the baffles into the sump and refrugium and hopefully I will have time to get it all in this weekend. I have already water tested the new sump and refrugium put together outside and it looks good. I had to make a slight change to the skimmer compartment. I put a 90 on the drain into the skimmer compartment to stop the splashing what was happening with the water shooting striate out of the tube. I think that the 90 with a tube connected to it going down to an inch above the bottom will eliminate this. I will have to give it a try again later and see if that fixes the problem. The reason is was splashing was that the water shooting out the tube was 2 inch about the water level for the skimmer compartment so the tube should contain that problem.

 

[TJL]

Hey Erik thanks for the update and it looks as though you have done a great job in adding the neccessary reinforcement to the bottom of stand.

Todd