Stands For Tanks

[poisedon]

can anyone tell me if the stands supplied with tanks are all made of chipboard covered in thin veneer or can you get them solidly built?Don't fancy veneered cabinet for water reasons!!!

 

[waterdrop]

You are wise to be concerned about particle board. Although its used fairly widely now in tank cabinets, the problems are real and waiting for you. If water somehow gets in to the particle part, it can swell up enough to unbalance the tank and cause it to crack and leak or to completely fail. For that reason I recommend at least putting an extra layer of thick-mil plastic between the tank and the cabinet top. It can be cut such that will not be noticeable but will still shed stray water drops over the side of the cabinet and hopefully out of harms way.

If you can find/afford stands that do not use particle board then that is a better option. The members here are great about pointing you towards things. If you look in your user controls, you should be able to find a place where you can update your "location" (as in city, state, country type designation) and this will greatly help people refine their advice to you.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. Welcome to TFF!

 

[Enjo]

The ones sold with tanks are normally chip board. Some manufacturers stands hold up better than others, in my experience Jewel stands are pretty resilient where as Aqua-One stands do not hold up so well!
Given the option I tend to build my own stands using marine ply and/or solid timber.
Hope this helps

 

[marcan]

Some fish store carry solid stand and they sell them at a premium price.
In my area most fish store only have chip board stand provided by aquarium manufacturer.

 

[treefella83]

i have built many aquarium cabinets over the years for my self and friends mostly out of cabinet makers grade ply and apply the veneer my self but i have seen top quality tanks in pet stores with stands or cabinets that are made of chip board or particle board with only wood coloured paper on the surface looks very realistic but still its only paper.
there are companies out there that will build top quality cabinets but you can at least double the price of a chip board cabinet and solid wood even more.