Casters?

babysteps

babysteps

AC Members
Feb 15, 2009
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Canada
Would it be safe to put casters on a stand that will be holding a 75 gal? It will be on a basement concrete floor. If so, how would I go about it, making it as safe and fail-proof as possible?
 
Physically, it can be done. Not sure what caster to recommend....it may depend on the integrity of your stand and how smooth your floor is.
 
There are plenty of caster options available that will support the weight, its just a question of how much you want to spend. Check out mcmaster.com. And as Rb said, you will want a very structurally sound stand (lots of lateral bracing to withstand pushing/pulling when moving the tank) and a very smooth floor.
 
Well the stand is pre-made (from Big Al's). I believe it's one of their Sting ray stands. I guess I should have mentioned that. I'm willing to reinforce the stand if need be (well my husband will lol), before I put casters on it.

Being that it's not a stand I made myself, would you still recommend trying it? NOT having a broken tank and 75 gallons of water all over my floor is more important to me than having wheels on my stand, so if you guys don't think it's safe, I won't do it.
 
Make sure you get casters that have a WORKING load greater than your tank, don't go off the Max Weight. And then making sure they are installed so everything is level is another must.. I'm not sure I'd do it. Of course, there are times when I fished I could move the tank (scraping the walls is one)
 
Rather then give you all the reasons why let me just say that what you are about to attempt is span a bridge of 800 pounds over a few points of load less then 1 square inch. So depending upon the integrity and strength of the bridge to span all that weight 24/7 over a few points the load will be transferred to the wheels that have to be strong enough not to collapse.

The span stress will be much greater on the stand then originally designed which must have a backbone strong enough to support the weight of that span over those few points just like a bridge. If it starts to fail all the span stress will be transferred to the tank.

What I recommend is a steel welded frame with RV 5" caster wheels which are inexpensive for their load capacity about $6 each. The bigger around the wheel the less chance of hitting a stone or crack and having the hold stand skid to a stop send the aquarium full of water sliding or tipping off as this has happened. Why tall heavy tool cabinets have such large casters.
 
straight wheels would be safer...
 
Can I ask why you want casters? There are times I'd like to be able to move a tank a little or maybe a lot but you'd have to drain a lot of water I'd think even with casters. I might trust them more if there were 6 or 8 casters & a very well reinforced stand not a prefab
 
fishorama said:
There are times I'd like to be able to move a tank a little or maybe a lot
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I want the casters. Even with having to drain water first, it's a lot easier to move around if the stand is on wheels, then it is to pick up a 75 gallon tank. Even empty I can't lift it on my own.
And I'm a woman.. I like to move things around often and change decor lol. Would be a lot easier to do that if the tank was on a mobile stand.
I don't always want to have to wait until my hubby is around (he works a lot) to be able to move the tank where I want it.

I'm would use as many casters as necessary and the best available. This isn't something I would go cheap on.


This isn't set in stone. Actually, to be honest, I more than likely won't do it just because it is not a stand I made myself so I don't know how sturdy it actually is even with reinforcements. But the info will be good to know for future stands I plan on building, or having built.
 
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