Aquarium stand

Hokieokieamy · Nov 27, 2020

Hello everyone!

I bought a 36 gallon bow front fish tank about a year ago and the stand it’s currently on is starting to bend up at the sides. The stand is not an actual aquarium stand and is more of a tv stand. It has about 19 inches of length in the middle. I’m thinking that is why this stand is not able to support the tank.

I looked everywhere and could not find a good stand with good reviews and actually looks nice. We found a cheap tv stand at goodwill and I’m going to add a layer of wood in the middle to support the middle of the stand.

do you think this will work? Also, this stand is not the prettiest so I do want to get a new, nice one eventually. Any recommendations on fish stands and what to look for?

thanks everyone!

PheonixKingZ · Nov 27, 2020

Will you please upload a picture of the TV stand? Most TV stands aren’t meant to hold that much weight, just a very light TV.

There are a lot of options for bow front stands, you will just have to find the one that looks the best to you! This should get you started:

36 gallon bow front tank stand - Google Search

FFGuest6357 · Nov 27, 2020

As a carpenter, the only thing I can tell you is stay away from anything made of particle board or pressboard. I’m sure there are people here that have had success with stands made of that material, but I would not trust it to hold a glass box filled with water.

do yourself a favour and spend the extra money to get something made from real wood. It will be worth it in the end.

Hokieokieamy · Nov 27, 2020

PheonixKingZ said:
Will you please upload a picture of the TV stand? Most TV stands aren’t meant to hold that much weight, just a very light TV.

There are a lot of options for bow front stands, you will just have to find the one that looks the best to you! This should get you started:

36 gallon bow front tank stand - Google Search

hey Phoenix,

I looked at all of those stands but they all seem to have poor reviews. Attached is the tv stand we bought but added support to the middle with wood

FFGuest6357 · Nov 27, 2020

Hokieokieamy said:
hey Phoenix,

I looked at all of those stands but they all seem to have poor reviews. Attached is the tv stand we bought but added support to the middle with wood

I can’t tell the material from the picture you provided.

I understand that you have added support to the middle of the stand, but over time, if that material is made of particle board and begins to degrade over time due to moisture, you’re going to be looking at a tank that has support in the middle, but not on the ends.

unfortunately this could lead to stress on the center of the bottom glass panel, and eventually cracking to bottom pane. I quickly checked and 36 gallons of water should equal roughly 300lbs, plus weight of the tank.

if you’re set on that stand, you should look at Supporting the corners as well, as that will be where most of the weight is going to be carried.

Hokieokieamy · Nov 28, 2020

Naterjm said:
I can’t tell the material from the picture you provided.

I understand that you have added support to the middle of the stand, but over time, if that material is made of particle board and begins to degrade over time due to moisture, you’re going to be looking at a tank that has support in the middle, but not on the ends.

unfortunately this could lead to stress on the center of the bottom glass panel, and eventually cracking to bottom pane. I quickly checked and 36 gallons of water should equal roughly 300lbs, plus weight of the tank.

if you’re set on that stand, you should look at Supporting the corners as well, as that will be where most of the weight is going to be carried.

Bummer! We may just look into another table then.

if I bought something made of metal or real wood, would all 4 corners and the middle need to be supported or just at the corners?

FFGuest6357 · Nov 28, 2020

I would at least support center at the front. That bow would extend

anything made from wood or metal should already have plenty support on the corners

Hokieokieamy · Nov 28, 2020

Naterjm said:
I would at least support center at the front. That bow would extend

anything made from wood or metal should already have plenty support on the corners

Would something like this work or is there not enough support in the front?

FFGuest6357 · Nov 28, 2020

What are the dimensions of the framing under the counter top? And the dimensions of the base of the aquarium?

PheonixKingZ · Nov 28, 2020

Hokieokieamy said:
Would something like this work or is there not enough support in the front?

If you (or your spouse) can stand on it (or both of you) and it freaks or wobbles, probably not the best idea... If it doesn’t wobble/creak, it should be OK. For that price, I would just save a little more and get an actual one.

Hokieokieamy · Nov 28, 2020

Naterjm said:
What are the dimensions of the framing under the counter top? And the dimensions of the base of the aquarium?

Hey! We decided to use a piece of metal furniture I had to hold the tank until we can find something nice.
I couldn’t tell you the dimensions of the table but our tank is 30.5 length, width 11.5 and back to front is 15 3/4. This probably won’t help since I’m not sure of the dimensions of the counter top.

As I continue to look at stands, just to make sure I understand... I should look for something made of pure wood that has support on all 4 corners and in support at the front center as well? Is that correct? Just a general idea of what to look for with my tank.

Hokieokieamy · Nov 28, 2020

PheonixKingZ said:
If you (or your spouse) can stand on it (or both of you) and it freaks or wobbles, probably not the best idea... If it doesn’t wobble/creak, it should be OK. For that price, I would just save a little more and get an actual one.

What do you mean by actual one? Like an actual aquarium stand? There’s very few for bow front aquarium and they all have horrible reviews

I wish I had a regular rectangular sized tank

FFGuest6357 · Nov 28, 2020

In general terms... yes.

The ultimate idea is to understand how weight is distributed.
The 4 corners are obviously going to be main weight bearing points.
With a bow front, the center point is going to introduce a near beating point for the weight load, as it is not in a straight line from corner to corner.

i myself would build my own stand, but in your case you want something that is going to carry the load across the front and transfer the weightto the corners

Hokieokieamy · Nov 28, 2020

Naterjm said:
In general terms... yes.

The ultimate idea is to understand how weight is distributed.
The 4 corners are obviously going to be main weight bearing points.
With a bow front, the center point is going to introduce a near beating point for the weight load, as it is not in a straight line from corner to corner.

i myself would build my own stand, but in your case you want something that is going to carry the load across the front and transfer the weightto the corners

What do you mean by near beating point? Because of the bowfront carrying more weight in the front, that’s why I would need additional support there? See my picture I linked, would something like this be ideal but with a front pillar going down? Or would the front pillar not necessarily be needed?

PheonixKingZ · Nov 29, 2020

Yes, that is what I meant by “actual one”. It is sometimes awkward to have a BF tank...

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