Elite 60 - Requires The Mathcing Stand?

[skipdivide]

HI,

Sorry, total new boy question - have search the forums and elsewhere, and this looked lik the best place to ask.

Recently bought an Elite 60 tropical tank from local Pets at Home store in UK - I asked if the stand was necessary and was told that it's a "nice to have" buy the rep at the pet store.

I've got home, unpackaged the tank and all the literature say that the matching stand must be used otherwise and no other stand will do (including the very study sturdy dining room table I was intending to place this on)

My guess is that the literature is the manufacturers trying to upsell the stand - but rather than destroy £80 worth of glass on a hunch, I'd figure I should check for an expert opinion elsewhere...

For those not familiar with the Elite 60 - It's a budget starter tank, and there is a 1/4inch gap between the bottom of the glass and surface of table due to the lip of the lower frame. Being a newbie, I have no idea if this is common or not.

[url="http/Stand

^note this link reads "if needed".

I can find no reference outside of the manufacturers literature that say the stand is "needed" - but obviously concerned that I'd get it filled and it will fail.

Probably a really stupid question, but will I be okay using this tank without the manufacturers stand in spite of the gap between bottom of glass and surface? Does anyone have any experience with this tank without the stand?

P.S - have added key points in bold to avoid "tl;dr" fatigue.

Many thanks,
Jack

 

[Aliena]

Jack,

I have the same tank and originally wasn't going to get the stand. I came to the conclusion that the manufaturer was simply trying to sell stands. I got the tank set up on what I thought was a piece of furniture easily sturdy enough to hold the weight.

There were no problems with the tank itself but within a couple of days the drawer in the unit it was on wouldn't shut and hence I realised that the wood of the top was bowing under the weight. I got worried then and went and bought the matching stand!! It really depends on how sure you are of the table you had planned to put it on but I would say if you decided not to get the stand keep an eye on the table for a while with a spirit level.

In my discussions with the LFS I was told that it isn't the specific stand that matters but that it is designed to take the weight of the tank - which your average piece of furniture isn't. Therefore I guess that any stand of the required dimensions would be acceptable. I bought the specific one for the elite 60 because it was the cheapest option. I got it from here (hope the link works!):

http/www.g-l.co.uk/content.asp?contentid=618

And at the time it was on special offer (about 3 weeks ogo) so if you have one in your area it might be worth a call.

Hope that helps.

Aliena

 

[Floyds mum]

Short answer NO!!
I tried putting a 64L tank on a drawer unit and it started to bow since put same tank on a solid wood coffee table and its fine, saved me £40 odd from homebase ask the people in store about one you choose or look for a fish stand to the same dimensions and talk to the people in store

 

[Tolak]

Is this the stand they are saying "must" be used? http/www.petstop.ie/acatalog/15505.jpg

Give me a break. I build all my own stands and racks, because stands are built like that. A sturdy table is generally strong enough for a 60 liter tank, what you have to be concerned with is the surface being flat, no warps or bows. The design with the base of the tank being raised, and the weight being supported by the rim is known as a floating base design, very common. Some commercially made stands hold just the rim, the bottom is unsupported, and you can see the bottom of the glass from under the stand.

What I do when I build stands or racks is check with a matchbook cover. If you can slide it under the tank for more than a couple of inches of the tank rim perimeter it needs to be fixed.

 

[without_reason]

I have this tank that I'm hoping to set up this week and I'll be putting it on top of a chest of drawers, because I didn't like the look of the stand and the chest of drawers were nearly the same price!

Seeing some of these replies, I'm now worried now that it's going to go wrong..

 

[skipdivide]

Hi guys,

thanks so much for the replies - I've now set up on a solid wooden table and all seems perfect. I will be keeping my eye on the table, but it's on a 1 1/2 inch thick solid wooden table top with solid wooden frame/legs, and I've placed over the legs too for good measure [pics below].

Think it's really misleading of the manufacturers to claim you need this table, it even goes so far as to say the guarantee is void if not used with the table suggested. Tempted to raise this issue with trading standards, as it's clearly dishonest practice. Can post a pic of the warnings if requested.

Anyway, some pics of the set up so far - will use gloss black backing plastic and some additional plant-life, swap out the Stingray for a Fluval 2+ filter a little down the line, and likely add at another 4kg of gravel (8kg used so far) - Heater not installed as I'm reconsidering keeping tropical fish and think I should attempt keeping it simple as a first-timer. Any thoughts on this?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum SkipDivide.
I was getting ready to suggest a piece of 1/2 inch thick plywood on anything that can hold the 60 Kg and you would be all set until I saw your last post. That stand that you are using is more than sturdy enough to hold much more than a 60 litre tank. I always build my own stands and have put a 60 gallon tank, about 220 litres, on a stand no more sturdy than that table would be. In fact I am building a stand this weekend that will hold a 75 litre, and 3 of my 38 litre tanks from nothing more stout than 1x6 inch lumber and some 1/2 inch thick plywood. Note that 1 x 6 lumber measures only 3/4 inch thick and 5 1/2 inch wide. Since I have several tank stands built on the same principle, including one that holds a pair of 75 litre tanks on the top shelf and a 150 litre tank on the bottom shelf, I am fairly confident that my design is more than strong enough. Lets face it, you would not hesitate to sit on the table and I am fairly sure that most of us weigh much more than 60 Kg.

 

[without_reason]

Looks really nice