Tank stand question

divingne1

divingne1

AC Members
Jun 15, 2007
341
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0
Canton, GA
I am going to be getting a 125g used tank this weekend but it doesn't come with a stand. The tank will go down in the unfinished basement so the stand does not have to be pleasing to the eye. I was going to use cinderblocks stacked in 6 places, 2 rows on each side and 2 rows in the middle with a piece of pressure treated plywood cut the size of the tank. My husband had a stand built a while back that he isn't going to use but it is 1 foot short on both sides (the tank is 6 foot, the stand is 4 foot). The stand is made of aircraft grade tooling steel so it absolutely will not break. My husband thinks we can put a piece of 6 foot plywood on top and that will support the sides of the tank. I am uncomfortable with the sides of the tank sticking out 1 foot (on each side) out from the stand even if plywood will be under it. I am concerned this would put pressure on the sides of the tank and cause it to give way. He feels that the tank will be in no danger of this. Any opinions or suggestions?
 
lets just put it this way. i had a similiar experience, i wanted to put my 30 gallon tank(36" long) on a 20/29 gallon stand (30" long). and that was only 3" off of each end, and i planned on doing the same thing (using a large piece of plywood etc..) and everyone here advised against it. so im going to assume thats a definate no.
 
I trust your opinion and will be going with the cinderblocks then. I just have to have a "logical" explanation for my husband because he is an engineer and thinks it will work and wants a logical explanation for why it won't....pfffft engineers!!!
 
:lol2:


i have no idea either. i just took everyone elses advice, so hopefully someone can explain it.
 
Do you have that post so I can refer to it when I am headbutting with him? I need to be well educated before lacing up the boxing gloves.
 
no problem. just make sure to go with the fact that your not too concerned of the stand breaking as with the pressure put on the ends up the tank itself.
 
I think I will try to appease him and myself and do it his way and put cinderblocks under the edges that are not supported by the metal stand. He seems to think that my dogs (2 boxers) are going to bump into the tank and knock it over if it is on cinderblocks. I am thinking that they aren't going to be able to knock over a 125g full of water, gravel, etc. no matter which stand it is on.
 
The simplest answer, especially for an engineer is the aquarium design itself. Aquariums are designed specifically to be supported by the edges. The center of the tank, bottom glass, provides no support. The slight flexing you will get by allowing plywood to hang over tehe end in a cantilever fashion will prevent the last foot on each end from providing proper support for that part of the tank. If you could stiffen the plywood enough to prevent it deflecting down under the weight of the water, you could use the shorter stand as a base. The support structure cound sit on top of that base. The real problem is not the length of the base but the flexibility of the plywood in any reasonable thickness. I am including plywood as much as 1 1/2 inches thick as too flexible for this use.
 
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