Best flat-bottomed stand?

[PicklePR]

Hey!

I live on the second floor of a fairly old building. Not sure exactly how old, but the outlets are on the baseboards, so pretty old. I have a 29 gallon aquarium that I used to have running here, but I noticed some issues. The feet of the cast iron stand started digging into the floor and the water "wiggled" when I walked around in my living room. I was always worried that it would wobble off the stand or a foot wound sink into the floor and cause major damage.

I eventually took it down because I was too nervous. I'd really like to set it up again though, but I just don't have any faith in this stand. Are there any ways to better stabilize or distribute the weight so it doesn't wobble or sink into the floor? I've been thinking about getting a flat bottom wood stand, but it's hard to tell which ones are best from online shopping.

I think when completely full, the tank weighs about 400-500 lbs. I also have a cat who will probably want to sit next to it and watch the fish. Part of me thinks it's just something I should only set up if I can move to a better spot. Or maybe downsize the tank to something smaller and lighter.

 

[TNG]

You could place the cast iron stand on timber board about an inch thick, it should provide a firm surface and not sink into the floor. Do you have a picture of the cast iron stand?

If your aquarium is 29G then it should only weigh about 250 lbs plus the weight of the cast iron stand.

 

[PicklePR]

You could place the cast iron stand on timber board about an inch thick, it should provide a firm surface and not sink into the floor. Do you have a picture of the cast iron stand?

If your aquarium is 29G then it should only weigh about 250 lbs plus the weight of the cast iron stand.

You're right, it's about 250-300 I did my math wrong.

That's the stand, ignore the mess, it hasn't been used in a while. With that much weight on it, those feet turn into spear heads and started indenting the floor, so distributing the weight is the name of the game.

 

[Uberhoust]

The stand does look woobly. The legs would be OK for a cement floor but will indent just about anything else. If it were my setup and I felt the stand was strong enough I would simply place two sections of 2X4 wide face down on the floor and place the stand on those to help distribute the weight a bit over a larger area, the 2x4 will help distribute the weight from over a 1" square section on each foot to over 4 to 9 inches square, likely even more.

That will do nothing to help the stability of the stand. With the stand you have if you welded rods in an X pattern across the back and sides then the stand would be more stable, but if you cannot do that likely it would be best to get a new stand.

If you are in an upper floor and you get a lot of wobble when you are walking there might not be anything you can do, some floors are just bouncier than others and you might want to consider your options before ever going to a larger aquarium. That said a 29 gallon tank should be able to be supported by most floors, though you might want to place the tank near a supporting wall, ie a location where there is a wall supporting the floor downstairs. Additionally if you know the orientation of your floor joists you should orient the tank so that it is above as many floor joist as possible.

I mostly work with 4' long tanks but have made platforms that are simply a 4' by 2' section of 5/8" to 1" plywood over a 2X4 frame made with 2X4s. Whatever you make, make sure that the weight from the legs gets supported directly right to the floor.

Example 2X4 framework. Depending on the weight of the tank and the thickness of the ply wood over top, your leg placement of the stand can should be within a distance of the corner points.

 

[PicklePR]

The stand does look woobly. The legs would be OK for a cement floor but will indent just about anything else. If it were my setup and I felt the stand was strong enough I would simply place two sections of 2X4 wide face down on the floor and place the stand on those to help distribute the weight a bit over a larger area, the 2x4 will help distribute the weight from over a 1" square section on each foot to over 4 to 9 inches square, likely even more.

That will do nothing to help the stability of the stand. With the stand you have if you welded rods in an X pattern across the back and sides then the stand would be more stable, but if you cannot do that likely it would be best to get a new stand.

If you are in an upper floor and you get a lot of wobble when you are walking there might not be anything you can do, some floors are just bouncier than others and you might want to consider your options before ever going to a larger aquarium. That said a 29 gallon tank should be able to be supported by most floors, though you might want to place the tank near a supporting wall, ie a location where there is a wall supporting the floor downstairs. Additionally if you know the orientation of your floor joists you should orient the tank so that it is above as many floor joist as possible.

I mostly work with 4' long tanks but have made platforms that are simply a 4' by 2' section of 5/8" to 1" plywood over a 2X4 frame made with 2X4s. Whatever you make, make sure that the weight from the legs gets supported directly right to the floor.

View attachment 337216
Example 2X4 framework. Depending on the weight of the tank and the thickness of the ply wood over top, your leg placement of the stand can should be within a distance of the corner points.

I really appreciate the response! I have considered using a thick plywood slab under the tank to give a wider weight distribution. That way the weight is being pressed down onto the floor over a full square of wood as opposed to 4 small contact points.

As far as the walls are concerned, there aren't any walls under the floor in the apartment downstairs. I think this was an old house that was "renovated" to be a 2 apartment building. The best I can do is put it up against an outside wall. The wobble was really in the water level, not so much the tank or stand itself, they sat flush when it was full. I did a very gentle push test on the full tank and it would take a considerable effort to knock it over, but only if you push on the top of the tank. Pushing the stand or the middle of the tank would not work, as expected. What really made me nervous was that eventually, the water level on the left was higher than the level on the right by about 1/2" over time. I don't think the floor is perfectly level, but it was slowly getting worse. I thought eventually it would get bad enough to either fall through the floor on the left side or the uneven weight on the left would be enough to "slide" the tank off the stand.

I wish there was a lip or indent where the tank sits so that it can't slide around.

The vibrations through the floor were enough to wiggle the water, but that's just basic physics. I've been thinking of adding a rubber mat under the plywood to help reduce the vibration. Has anyone done this?

Of course, a lot of my fear can probably be solved by getting a smaller tank, like a 10 gallon, but who out there ever wants to downsize?

 

[Uberhoust]

Your idea about the plywood underneath would work but most of the force would still still occur near the points where the legs sit on the plywood because the plywood flexes as well over time, I wouldn't know the exact amount. So if it is just the feet sinking into the flooring smaller pads will work, 4" by 4" would be relatively rigid over that size but still increase the surface area on each leg support by 16x ( 300 lb tank would result in approximately each square inch of the floor supporting 5 lbs per inch vs 75 lbs without the pads)

1/2" of levelling error on a 29 gallon tank is quite a bit. Suggests the floor is quite unlevel to start with or is not very rigid in the first place. If placing the tank there causes the floor to flex by even a 1/4 inch would make me a bit nervous. It could be an indication that the joists are already at the maximum, or they are not constrained to be vertical and they are twisting from the weight. All things being equal I would look for a place on the floor that doesn't deviate on the level based on my weight (I weigh 200). When checking place the level parallel to the walls and perpendicular as well. I would check where you stand about 2' out from the walls.

Just my thoughts, it is amazing how far things can flex before they break sometimes.

 

[PicklePR]

Your idea about the plywood underneath would work but most of the force would still still occur near the points where the legs sit on the plywood because the plywood flexes as well over time, I wouldn't know the exact amount. So if it is just the feet sinking into the flooring smaller pads will work, 4" by 4" would be relatively rigid over that size but still increase the surface area on each leg support by 16x ( 300 lb tank would result in approximately each square inch of the floor supporting 5 lbs per inch vs 75 lbs without the pads)

1/2" of levelling error on a 29 gallon tank is quite a bit. Suggests the floor is quite unlevel to start with or is not very rigid in the first place. If placing the tank there causes the floor to flex by even a 1/4 inch would make me a bit nervous. It could be an indication that the joists are already at the maximum, or they are not constrained to be vertical and they are twisting from the weight. All things being equal I would look for a place on the floor that doesn't deviate on the level based on my weight (I weigh 200). When checking place the level parallel to the walls and perpendicular as well. I would check where you stand about 2' out from the walls.

Just my thoughts, it is amazing how far things can flex before they break sometimes.

Good point, I didn't think about the flex of the wood over time. The pads would be the way to go then.

I agree, the tilt of the water level was too much for my nerves. I have renter's insurance, but I doubt they'd be happy about covering 30 gallons of water damage on a 2nd floor apartment...

That's a good point about the flex in the floor. Now that I'm paying attention to it, it creaks and groans just when I walk around and I only weigh about 200lbs. I imagine a 400lb tank is really stretching the envelope for this old floor.

Considering I only want a tank so I can have (or maybe breed) some apistogrammas or yellow rams, it would probably make more sense to downsize to a lighter tank instead of risking it with the tank I have.

 

[Uberhoust]

As you mentioned you might have a location near an outside wall that is more appropriate. If you took your plywood and put some boards on edge under it then you can distribute that weight over a larger area. In reality a 30 gallon tank is not a large tank, a floor should be able to support it. What if you had some larger friends?

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[MaloK]

For a clean look.

Large black steel flat washers with heavy duty non slip felt pads. Stick the felt pads on the washers and glue them to the feet of the stand with high end epoxy glue.

Make sure the felt pads are a little larger than the washers. Make sure epoxy bleeds all around the feet and wipe the excess. Put it where it's going to be and put a lot of weight on it the time the epoxy cures.

This will look great and will help with stability and protect your flooring completely.

 

[PicklePR]

As you mentioned you might have a location near an outside wall that is more appropriate. If you took your plywood and put some boards on edge under it then you can distribute that weight over a larger area. In reality a 30 gallon tank is not a large tank, a floor should be able to support it. What if you had some larger friends?

Good luck in whatever you decide.

That's a good point, me and 2 of my friends together up here have easily exceeded 400lbs and everything is still where it's supposed to be. I wonder if I pick a different spot that would be better. It's near the overlook on my stairwell, up against the outer wall. It's possible the floor is weaker there because the stairs go under it near the tank. I'll try a different area with the wooden pads and some sandbags and see what happens over the next few weeks.

For a clean look.

Large black steel flat washers with heavy duty non slip felt pads. Stick the felt pads on the washers and glue them to the feet of the stand with high end epoxy glue.

Make sure the felt pads are a little larger than the washers. Make sure epoxy bleeds all around the feet and wipe the excess. Put it where it's going to be and put a lot of weight on it the time the epoxy cures.

This will look great and will help with stability and protect your flooring completely.

Interesting, I appreciate the suggestion, I'll look into it! This would increase the overall diameter of the feet, correct?

 

[MaloK]

Interesting, I appreciate the suggestion, I'll look into it! This would increase the overall diameter of the feet, correct?

Yes, If you can at least double the size of the feet contact surface, I believe it would be enough to prevent any sinking in the floor.