stand support question

[whitetiprs]

how important is it for there to be a support beam in the front-middle off the stand, the one going from the bottom to the top?

I'm planning on building a new stand for my 46gal bowfront and would like to leave that one out if possible. I will be building the whole thing out of 2x2 lumber is that strong enought to support the weight of my tank with only the four legs and the back-middle brace leg?

 

[JProx]

i built a stand for a 55gallon tank, using 2x4 lumber and i left out the middle supports (both front and back) and it works fine. i am not sure 2x2 will be strong enough to do that, the tank sizes are similar so i would suggest going with 2x4 if you were going to leave the support(s) out.

 

[greenmaji]

as far as vertical support multiple 2X2's in series would work fine.. the burst strength of wood is actually phenomenal.. but as far as the horizontal support goes more layers of wider wood on its side is best for support..HTH