Starting my 93 gallon cube stand build today - wish me luck!

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Collink91

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I purchased 110 feet of 2x4 untreated wood, as well as two sheets of 3/4 inch birch plywood for support/wrapping.

all the wood is cut to size and i’ll begin assembling today. Using #8 2.5 inch exterior screws.

heres a VERY rough sketch of what I am going for. Flush with the tank, tall and skinny with a side cabinet for keeping supplies that is about 6 inches shorter.
 
Typed up the above this morning and never posted^

here’s my update from today:

assembled the bottom frame before realizing my garage floor isnt level. Unscrewed, recut the bottom frame (4 new pieces, two 30 inches, the other two 27 inches to make the 30 inch square) and assembled top and bottom frames on the table saw, which is level. Decided 48 inches was too tall for the stand, even though i do want the stand to feel tall. So i cut 6 inches off of both the stand and side cabinet and then assembled.

the stand itself has 4 42 inch 2x4’s that act as guides for the height, but ultimately aren’t weight bearing. The weight of the stand is held by eight (two at each corner) 35 inch 2x4’s banged into place with a mallet.

the side cabinet doesnt have supports, just the guides for height, since i dont plan on putting anything more than picture frames or a basket of supplies on top of it.
 
I forgot to take many pictures during assembly, but you can see the supports upright at each corner.
I also attached center braces across the middle on both the top (for tank) and bottom (for sump) frames. You can see the bottom ones in the picture above.
 
Above is the side cabinet, which will be attached on the left side of the stand, with the side of the cabinet being left open to the belly of the rest of the stand.

i bought two sheets of 3/4” birch plywood (its very nice) that I will be wrapping the stand in tomorrow. Lots of math and cutting tomorrow to make the stand look professional and like a piece of furniture my wife will allow to be seen in our home.

once cabinet is attached to stand and plywood wraps the outside of the stand, it will be time to stain. This will take a few days. My hope is to have sand, rock, and water in the tank a week from now preparing a cycle!
 
To be clear, the supports are banged in with a mallet to make sure they are bearing the weight and THEN screwed into place. The 2x4’s hold 800 pounds a piece, so there is MORE than enough support. Not to mention aboit 100 screws each with a 40 pound sheering strength or so. You could drop your car on this thing.
 
The stand is pretty heavy duty. Weighs 200 pounds or so...

Should i be nervous about reinforcing my floor? Im on a crawl space, but hadn’t planned on reinforcing since it’s only a 93 gallon tank
 
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