Help needed with stand plans

[xbluex]

Hello everyone! I need some help with building a stand. I am so horrible with construction, the things I have built in the past I wouldn't dare trust putting my beardies on top of. I know that there are alot of you out there who are experts at woodworking/building this kind of stuff so I was hoping one(or some) of you might be able to help.
The stand needs to be 48in long x 30 in wide x 30 in tall. It's going to be just 2x4's and plywood. Also I want to stack 2 tanks on it, the bottom tank will be 48x30x18, and the top one will be 36x30x24. I was told that if I put the 36 on top of the 48 that I need to make a brace for it, would it be okay if there was just a piece of wood under it or what? I didn't understand what they meant by brace?
It doesn't have to look pretty. So long as it's strong and functional I'll be happy.
Any help on this would be so great! I'm totally lost here.

 

[shanerp69]

http://www.fishandtips.com/index.php

This is a great tool to visualize what you want to make, I used it and our stand turned out great, it will just give you th frame of the stand but you can cover the front with a multitude of things to make it visually appealing

 

[zebraflavencs]

Oh I liked that ! Too cool !
Thanks shanerp69! :idea:

 

[shanerp69]

I am always more than happy to pass along some of the great info I get from people on here!

 

[xbluex]

I guess what I'm thinking of would have to be more like a rack. I want the bottom to be like a stand, very short, then it needs to come up to support a tank on the top of the bottom tank. That link is very helpfull, but the part I'm confused about is how to build it up another level, and have it still be sturdy and strong enough to support both tanks, both filled with sand(very heavy!)

 

[shanerp69]

I built a few of these off this websites plans and they each support 2 48x24x30 melamine with sand and the bottom I left for a slide out shelf for my cricket tote's(soon to be roach)