Can I knock the front center brace out of my Deep Blue stand and be okay ?

[drew930]

I received my deep blue 36x18 stand today for my 40 breeder, and IT HAS A CENTER BRACE in the middle front of the stand. And if you have seen a deep blue stand you know that the brace is wide ! Probably 10" or so. I had the 24x24 and there was no center brace , so I thought the series one didnt have a brace .

I was thinking of modifying it if it can be done safely. I dont want the tank to fall a year down the road....

Is it safe to glue and brace 2x4's in each corner inside the stand and knock the center brace out ? Being only 36" tank is it okay not to have a brace in the middle ? Then I could figure a way to magnetically or similiar put it back after working in the sump ? This brace will always be in the way of the sump, and will be hard to plumb since its so wide. I also wanted to cut a 12x16 area , or something around that size in the back for ventilation since it has a solid piece of wood in the back , with only 3' holes for wires.

[drew930]

Anyone ? I'm looking to do it this weekend !

Is this the wrong forum for this kind if question

[sirreal63]

It's a good question Drew, but here is the problem, and probably why you aren't getting the answer you want. Yes the stand can be re-designed the way you want it. However, no one here knows what your skill level is, the tools you have at your disposal and no one wants to hear a few months down the road your stand failed. The fact that you are asking kind of shows that you may not have the skills, or the experience to do this properly. Perhaps you do have the ability, but not sure of how to do the design and build it.

I have never seen one of their stands, but it can be re-engineered to be safe and perform the way you want. If you have good woodworking skills and the proper tools, you can do it. In the DIY section there is a thread from RocketEngineer on how to build a very sturdy stand. It isn't the only way to do it though.

Start a thread in the DIY section showing a pic of the stand, from all angles, including inside, and let's see what we can come up with. :-)

[drew930]

Yea I'll have to do that. Lol I'll see if I can get some pics up today.

I'm decent skill wise and have the average tools , and I have built 3 of RocketEngineers design . I was just curious if a 36" would need a center brace . I know with his design I have had a 48" tank with no center brace , but that design is very very sturdy and is with 2x4's and 2x6's . The reason I ask if the center brace is needed is because I am modifying it . And if I do , there will be the 2x4's and the original wood of the stand . I did not know if that would throw any balance out in the long run or let it bow in the middle .

The only reason I'm worried is because I will not be using 2x4s around the top and bottom , and I assume that even if I use them in the corners for legs ... Then it will probably be more stable than it already is , but I wanted some opinions .

[sirreal63]

It's impossible to say without seeing the design of the stand. I am running a 40" span with 2x4's but there is also plywood adding to the structure. I have had a couple of 36" 58 gallon tanks and neither had a center brace in the stand, but they were designed that way, and worked. Your stand was probably designed to need that brace so if you remove it you will have to add structure to support the span. Deep Blue isn't known for super high quality so I would expect the stand was made with the least amount of support needed to save money. I can't really say until I see how they built it. I tend to overkill stands, mainly because it is all that is keeping my investment from being all over the floor.

[drew930]

Yea that's true. They don't have the best quality stuff. I will post pics today probably... The brace is actually 12.5" wide lol . I'm going to use a 20L sump and I was looking when I was taking the pics and I actually have enough room to put a 2x3 behind the brace . So I could still have one , it would just be 3-1/2" wide instead of 12" . And there doesn't look like there's much support in the right front of stand either . Since the side door is on the right , they put 2 little 1x2's in the right corner so they door hinges have something to latch too . Ill definatly be posting pics .

[drew930]

Started a thread in DIY section . Any advice would be very helpful. Mods please close

[terrypercula]

I wouldn't.