# Plywood to support fish tank bigger than stand?



## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Anyone have experience using plywood planks to support a tank on a stand that's too small to fully support the tank? I've got a stand thats about 8 inches shorter length wise than the tank, so the tank would overhang by about 4 inches on either side. I was thinking of putting a 3/4" piece of plywood on top of the stand and then the tank on the plywood. That way the tank is fully supported by the plywood, but the plywood would hang off the stand by about 4 inches on either side. Has anyone done this before? A quick google search shows plenty of people that have done it before with success, but I want to know what you guys think. The tank in question is a 20g long.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

You should plenty fine of it is only on two sides.
Hopefully your front to back has less than 1.5" overhangs.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

For a 20g long, 3/4" plywood should be strong enough. If you're really worried, you can always double up on the plywood.

Anthony


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## troutsniffer (Dec 10, 2015)

1/2"+ should hold that no problem with a 4" overhang. It's not going to look very good though.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

I did exactly the same thing. A stand built for a 20g standard tank but I had plywood cut to handle the length of a 20g long. Painted black to match the original stand and it blended perfectly. Used that setup for a couple of years with no problems. I just made sure everything was level from the start.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

If you really want to dress it up along with painting add some small wood gussets on each end. Home Depot sells these in all sizes. Also you can trim the edge of the plywood with iron wood trim. I've done this in the past and it looks totally factory built.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm not too worried about looks honestly. As long as it's able to hold the tank long term that's all I need. Any suggestion for where to buy the wood? I was thinking Rona or Home Depot but does anyone know any better places for it?


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Ebonbolt said:


> I'm not too worried about looks honestly. As long as it's able to hold the tank long term that's all I need. Any suggestion for where to buy the wood? I was thinking Rona or Home Depot but does anyone know any better places for it?


 The nice part about buying from Home Depot or Rona is they will cut the plywood to the size you need free, also you can buy part sheets of plywood


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