10 Foot Tank

[Ron]

Hey guys, I think I'm going to be getting a 340 gallon aquarium, whose dimensions are 103"x24"x25". Of course its almost impossible to find a 10 foot aquarium stands so I need to build a stand that has storage space underneath it. What kind of wood should I use and how should I go about supporting this tank that weighs approx 3500 lbs. Thanks!
Willie

 

[andyj]

take a look at CFC's thread for his 900G tank:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=212692

 

[dave1987]

sorry to hijack your were would you get a tank that big from ??

 

[joecoral]

for a tank that size i would either use a base of concrete breeze blocks as already mentioned, or get one made out of box-steel by a blacksmith

 

[The-Wolf]

or get two 5ft stands and put them together

 

[Bullrock74]

Build it yourself out of wood. Here's a link to the 8' x 3' stand I built. It is very solid and has supported my 350 gallon tank for more than a year now. There are tons of designs you could go with, but I just chose this very simple one.

Pic of wooden stand

 

[heymickey94]

Are you buying this tank from glasscages.com?

 

[divisible by zero]

I'd go with wood too, just make sure to have lots of 6x6's (fence posts) for center support.

 

[MojoDex]

for a tank that size i would either use a base of concrete breeze blocks as already mentioned, or get one made out of box-steel by a blacksmith

i beleive you mean a fabricator blacksmith is a dieing trade

 

[CAC]

I think a breeze block "frame" of legs with a "skin" of wood (e.g plywood) over the sides/back etc would probably look best.

 

[MojoDex]

I think a breeze block "frame" of legs with a "skin" of wood (e.g plywood) over the sides/back etc would probably look best.

and a steel stand of that sort of size will cost you at least £400 to have made! so i agree

 

[madgap]

MDF would be my choice. Easy to use. Extremely strong and paints well. Will not shrink or twist like timber.

 

[Tolak]

Ever see MDF or any other particle board when it gets wet? Something of that size would require either the blocks that CFC is using, or lumber with some steel reinforcement. The steel will prevent any twisting or warping of the longer spans, the wood will give you a nice saving in cost while having a surface that is easy to work with for designing a finished cabinet if you desire.

I would go with eight 4x4's for legs, 2x6's for the frame, with the top perimeter reinforced with 2"angle iron, 3/16" or 1/4" thick. Triangles are strong, make sure you have some diagonals between the top, legs, and bottom.

 

[madgap]

The green MDF boards are water resistant. My cabinet is ordinary gray MDF.Once painted it's no problem. I even built bathroom cabinets out of it. And I like my bath to be hot with loads of steam. MDF is great. Vote MDF.

 

[Tolak]

MDF is made under pressure. While it is a terrific product for other applications that don't have to take the pressure of hundreds or in this case thousands of pounds it will distort from that pressure when it gets wet. Water resistant isn't waterproof, I would not risk that sort of weight along with water by using MDF.

Skinning it with MDF would work good, but I would not count on it to be structurally stable long term in this application.