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Aquarium stand

kevin.decelles

kevin.decelles

Jack of all trades -- Master of none
Premium Member
Built a custom frame for my wife’s new aquarium.

Nothing exciting, 1” tubing , levelling nuts in the legs.....

125 gallon tank, so probably 1250lbs weight

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Crazy what they want for these at the store , base model without levelling feet is > $400

Hopefully the welds hold [emoji3]


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It’s in the basement sitting on laminate floor. I made the 2” pucks (1/8” thick) so the bolt heads wouldn’t gouge

She run aquariums for 20 years.... it’s like her shop..... keeps her occupied [emoji3]


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And this counted as a +1 in the official books for what has the shop produced that was useful.

It is good to document those moments


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Keeping multiple species with shared water.

She has multiple tanks currently, going to consolidate into one

Getting water composition right is a science, so better to only fight it in one tank is her thinking. She keeps live plants and this is key to balance but plants need a larger area....

Hey, I just smile and nod......

The dividers were home built..... going to be an experiment


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Very nice looking Kevin ....but my spidy farmers " $hit happens" senses kicked in when I read the 1250 lb part of the description and those lengthy, spindly legs with no cross-bracing. No doubt they will hold that weight up as long as it stays upright & perfectly still, but let anyone stumble against or grand kids even lean on it, that tank is going to end up on the floor. I would sure cross-brace in all 4 directions before filling that tank.
Fluid, with very little room for movement can do extraordinary things. Personally I watched a neighbors grain truck with a 500 gallon water tank in the box upset on flat ground...and he wasnt even moving. He stopped and the water sloshed once and over he went. Another time, I was pulling up to a red light in my Kenworth, a tanker yanker was in the lane beside me and when he stopped, with brakes applied, the fluids in his tanks rolled him 4 feet into the middle of the intersection.
 
historicalarms said:
Very nice looking Kevin ....but my spidy farmers " $hit happens" senses kicked in when I read the 1250 lb part of the description and those lengthy, spindly legs with no cross-bracing. No doubt they will hold that weight up as long as it stays upright & perfectly still, but let anyone stumble against or grand kids even lean on it, that tank is going to end up on the floor. I would sure cross-brace in all 4 directions before filling that tank.
Fluid, with very little room for movement can do extraordinary things. Personally I watched a neighbors grain truck with a 500 gallon water tank in the box upset on flat ground...and he wasnt even moving. He stopped and the water sloshed once and over he went. Another time, I was pulling up to a red light in my Kenworth, a tanker yanker was in the lane beside me and when he stopped, with brakes applied, the fluids in his tanks rolled him 4 feet into the middle of the intersection.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I brought back a load of liquid paint from South Carolina once, that load was very dynamic. Felt like I was gonna be sea sick :D
 
On the water we call that "Free Surface Effect" and it can cause lots of issues. Typically you either fill the tank or leave it empty to avoid the problems - the effect can roll you over if you get all the tanks moving back and forth in unison and will gradually pick up speed if the timing is just right. Baffles and framing help to prevent the effect and slows the periods down to reduce any harmonization between tanks - like a vibration damper on an engine throws off the vibrations that can occur in engine through a speed range.

I am sure Kevin does not want a wave park in the basement - LOL
 
Beautiful work Kevin, great project. My neighbour has one like that, store bought, almost exact same size of legs etc. Maybe his is 8 feet and has one extra set of legs though. But yours looks nicer. I was amazed at how sophisticated the tech is with tanks now. His has a wave generator in it, and lightening that is sync'd to the the sun's rise and set. Pretty cool to see the fish respond to the current in the tank. I had no idea how sophisticated this stuff was now...all computer controlled if you want: CCTV, Wi-Fi temperature alerts, etc. You can really geek out. Great hobby.
 
I considered gusseting the corners but decides not to after considering every metal frame aquarium stand I’ve seen in that size never had them. Worse yet are the particle board models that assemble with no screws

My farmer engineering 6th sense was to use 2” corners, cross brace etc. But I went against my instinct for once .


The load is very static, loads from a hose from the tap and once full there is little or no movement. That said, i have absolutely pictured it collapsing in my head 100 times. [emoji3]

What gives me pause are aquariums on the upper floors without thought to the trusses. A friend who designs flooring systems said that they have had warranty claims and when the tech goes in they find anything from massive aquariums to hot tubs to inflatable pools on the main/upper floors

Squareness was the key objective in the building, and levelness the key objective to the install

But that was last week, it’s back to tig welding and shaper repair!


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kevin.decelles said:
I considered gusseting the corners but decides not to after considering every metal frame aquarium stand I’ve seen in that size never had them. Worse yet are the particle board models that assemble with no screws

My farmer engineering 6th sense was to use 2” corners, cross brace etc. But I went against my instinct for once .


The load is very static, loads from a hose from the tap and once full there is little or no movement. That said, i have absolutely pictured it collapsing in my head 100 times. [emoji3]

What gives me pause are aquariums on the upper floors without thought to the trusses. A friend who designs flooring systems said that they have had warranty claims and when the tech goes in they find anything from massive aquariums to hot tubs to inflatable pools on the main/upper floors

Squareness was the key objective in the building, and levelness the key objective to the install

But that was last week, it’s back to tig welding and shaper repair!


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Click to expand...
Yup I'd bet that your stand is much stronger than any commercially available stand.
 
Well, I'm definitely outvoted on the stability issue but ...damn ...I'm still skeptical. and Kevin, if I'm being offensibly obtuse just tell me to go sit down and be quiet I will.

If I were a Liabilities Lawyer looking at that stand ("Liabilities Lawyer" should elicit howls of derision in its own self) I would want to know the strength of those legs at any lean from center with the weight load they will have on them.
Total weight of the tank with glass, fram & water will probably be in the 1,350 lb area and each leg will have to support 225 lbs...not a problem at all if perfectly upright & balanced, we all agree on that. Gravity nor leg strength is an issue at this point...but the center of gravity for each one of those 1 inch square legs is only 1/2 inch from center-line...balance that 225 lbs on the center-line and tip the top end of a leg one way or another until it topples over...you might get .625 of an inch movement before the crash...not much.
Once the gravity over-balance point is passed, there is no return for that leg...the strength of the leg is immaterial from this point on...the only "strength" point that remains is the two welds at the top & bottom of each leg and that 225 lbs is now not centered over the leg strength, it is cantilevered over one weld or the other more or less...not both.
I will go further into this concerning the welds, AC or DC welds. If the stand were braced or gusseted, either will be absolutely sufficient but with out bracing the question becomes will an AC weld that just more or less overlays a weld thickness with very little "penetration" give the amount of strength needed. AC has a bit of penetration but basical it lays a bead on top of two metal piece's, the strength is in the thickness of the weld bead, with DC the weld penetrates much deeper , fusing the two pieces themselves together as well as adding bead strength...at least that what my welding instructor claimed.
 
[mention]historicalarms [/mention] , I did a quick sharpie marker sketch to show the entire frame so you can see the individual pieces that make up the whole as the underside was not visible due to the plywood floor

There are 18 pieces total.

The bottom pieces are welded 1” off the floor to the legs

I’ve been on carnival rides with less steel! Haha

The 6’ lengths on the top would have to shift left or right to flatten this as I reckon, I can see a un balanced load doing that......

It’s going to get wrapped with a cabinet later can always shore it up




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