What goes under the tank?

[lillibirdy]

The top/back of my roll top will be the perfect eye catching spot for it, and is solid oak and sturdy enough to hold it my 4 footer 55g, (do you think so) and I can service it standing on the desk. It is about one inch thick oak, and well supported on the sides, but the middle is not....?

I remember reading somewhere about putting something underneath the tank itself, but I can't remember why or what it was? Corrigated poster board comes to mind, but not sure...
KathyW

[Karnaaj]

The only problem I see is the water stains that will occur that will damage the desk's finish. Is that purpose of the poster board? To protect the desk?

[johnnyxxl]

many people put a piece of foam under a tank to prevent twisting of the tank incase there is a bit of unlevelness of the surface of the counter,desk etc that the tank is on when dealing with larger tanks. water stains well if you clean up immediately you should not have any if the furniture is properly prepared ie stain with a sealer over top ie polyurathane, wax, or linseedoil.

I would wonder if the desk is sturdy enough for the 55 gallon tank at 10pounds per gallon plus stone, decor, and filter weight just something to keep in mind. I have seen some very sturdy furniture and some very "femme" ornate ie nice thin legs, that is very durable as a desk but not load bearing to that degree

[Karnaaj]

Hoo boy, I completely missed the size of the tank.

[lillibirdy]

Karnaaj, you didn't miss it, I edited the post to add it since it was a pretty important little factor. I just keep looking at those wrought iron fish stands and wondering what holds up there middle.... maybe if I put a long piece of wroght iron on top???

[flyingfish]

I would advise against using anything other than an actual tank stand for any thing bigger than maybe 10/15 gallons. If you are dead set on that location try the tank out as half full for a few days with no fish etc. Then fill it the rest of the way and watch it for another few days. If you see ANY bowing in the desk drain the tank and buy a stand. I've tried a 33gal long on a solid dresser this way and saw bowing in the middle(after 3 days). Now I have an iron stand and probably won't try the dresser thing again for anything over 10gal. A tank stand is designed especially to evenly distribute the weight without stressing your tank(just think of the mess! :eek: ). I hope this post wasn't too long - I'd like to know the results when you figure out whether it works or not - it sounds like a nice desk.