Reinforcing Stand

Hiya everyone,

Now that I'm adding rock to a cycling tank, I'm getting worried about the sheer weight of the tank on my stand. The stand came with the tank however it looks flimsy (like all stands at the LFS IMO). Should I be reinforcing it? I have water in there now with only about 50lbs of live rock and about 100lbs of sand. It's build for a 100G tank (4ft long).

Could I pound 2x4's along the sides to help brace it? Could this potentially create an unlevel base and the tank could subsequently break?

All opinions are welcomed.

Thanks,

Pac

 

If it's a new stand that came with the tank I'm sure it's fine.

 

A few corner braces inside the stand won't hurt. Better safe than sorry. Your stand is only as strong as its weakest joint.

 

I like this idea. I should probably do all 4 corners and maybe I'll sleep....

@bwalker: Yeah, it's a stand that came with the tank, however it's probably about 3 years old now (which isn't all that old). I'm just worried that it isn't sturdy enough for saltwater setups as I had a freshwater setup in the tank prior.

Pac

 

Most of the joints in AGA stand are fastened by staples (believe it or not). It is supposed to get stronger as the weight applied. Make sure your tank (and stand) is on level ground.

 

Trust me, if it a store bought stand it will be fine. If it wouldn't hold that tank and all its rocks they would not sell it because they would be responsible if it collapsed and destroyed your house, How long do you think they would stay in business.

And something else to think about before you put any brackets on it, if you change it in any way, it will void you warranty and if something happens good luck collecting anything.......

Leave it alone!

 

I think it was Tangster that mentioned on another thread a few weeks ago that most new stands are actually designed to be more stable once the weight of the tank is settled onto it. That being said, I always build my own, and if you look at the link in my signature I build to outlive me

 

+1 on scewing in some braces.

Second suggestion... make some precise measurements... center point of the longest span down to the ground. Diagonals across big openings, etc.

Structural failures typically don't happen, they tell you they are coming way in advance if you are watching. Take the measures now as a baseline then add rock and whatever then check again. If the structure isn't flexing and distorting, you are fine. Check again in a month or two for fatigue. Again, if the measurements match, stop worrying.

M

 

Wow, thanks to all who replied!

While I agree that I would void the warranty if I added anything like brackets, I'm still leaning that way. The floor/stand are pretty much level (slight front to back variance but negligle IMO) so I'm not too worried there.

Karma for all!

Pac

 

Im sure the stand is fine for your tank. But if you want to reinforce I would not suggest adding any brace to a store bought stand that is holding holding a tank filled with water!