Building a 40B Tank Stand Question

Hi FishLore,

I may be purchasing a 40 gallon breeder in the near future and wanted to make a DIY stand. My local hardware store has a poor selection of 2x4s and they are expensive (a little over $5 per piece). Nearly all the 2x4s are severely warped, twisted, or are straight up cracked down the middle. However, their 2x3s are in near perfect condition and they are much less expensive. I was wondering if it would be safe to build a 40B stand out of a 2x3 frame as compared to a 2x4 frame? Thank you in advance for any suggestions

 

I've been working with lumber to one degree or another my whole adult life, and I've never heard of 2x3's, but in any case, assuming the stand is designed and built properly it should be fine.

 

I have started using 2x3 for the reasons you mentioned. The cost, quality, and availability of 2x4 is awful right now. I built a two story playhouse for my kids using 2x3 construction and it has been holding up wonderfully. I'm certainly not an expert on the subject but I feel you would be fine using 2x3 for the build.

 

Vishaquatics I recently purchased a 40B myself and instead of Wood i'm going to go with what we have used on a couple other tanks, cinderblocks and 3/4" plywood. I plan on only making the stand 2 cinders high and for the plywood base i cut it 40" wide x 22" front to back to have a little overhang. I'm confident it will be balanced fine on the 8x16 cinders and the plywood. Another option would be 8x8 cinders at each corner and the 3/4" plywood base. Just a thought if your not interested in using the lousy expensive lumber thats around.

 

kallililly1973 JettsPapa AndrewP Thank you all for the suggestions, this helps a lot!

 

I also build my own stands, there should be no issue using 2x3's, especially on only a 3' span.

I helped my old man build a pool shed to house their pumps / filter / supplies and used 2x3's instead of 2x4's for the same reasons you mentioned.

Thank goodness I managed to grab 100 2x4's for my own shed I built this spring just 1 week prior to the massive price increase we are all experiencing.

 

I ended up just buying a steel rack unit.. it wasn't expensive versus buying wood and doing it myself and each shelf holds 900 lbs. I jumped up and down on the top shelf (not safe lol don't do that) and it was totally fine with the weight of a full grown man jumping on it