Tropical Fish Forums

[Cloudburst2000]

I am a mid-century modern enthusiast and have not had any luck finding an aquarium stand that fits in with my decor. I currently have a fresh water tank in my bedroom, but am planning to put a salt water tank in my living room in a nook. On one of the mid-century modern design sites that I frequent, I raised the dilemma of finding a tank set-up that would work with the room's decor. Apparently, several of the other posters who kept fish had the same problem. Anyhoo, one of the posters said that he designed his own tank using 1.5" square steel tubing and a hood made of birch plywood. He said the set-up was great but was ridiculously heavy. I'm planning on an approximately 65-75 gallon tank in the nook. I'll probably have to have the tank specially designed because it has non-standard tank dimensions. It needs to be 40" long and 24" wide and whichever height to get to the desired tank volume. My question is this...what is the minimum a stand should weigh so that the set-up won't be top-heavy when the aquarium full of water is placed on top? I won't actually be building the stand myself because it involves a lot of welding. Me and welding together is a scary thought The guy who posted the design said I might think about lowering the 1.5" steel tubing to just 1" to make the stand a bit lighter, but wouldn't it just be safer to keep it at the 1.5"? I have posted a picture of his finished set-up below...and his tank is a 55 gallon so I'll be increaing tank size a little.

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[Ciklido]

What do you mean by "top heavy"? It does not matter how heavy the stand is as long as it is structuraly sound. If its metal then it should be okay but it has to VERY EXACTLY accurate because its only the frame that supports the tank and that has be very level at the top and at the bottom, usually other stands one just places the styrofoam padding underneath to even out the force of gravity on the tank.

I see in the picture below though there is some padding so thats good.
If its a heavier one I woul go with 1.5' to feel safe and I would create some form of cabinet underneath while at the same time adding another supporting beam from top to bottom in the middle.
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