Should this aquarium stand worry me ?

It should be fine. Most of these stands are built using staples and brad nails and a little movement will cause panels to move. If it bothers you like it would me cover the side panel with a towel and take a hammer and lightly tap the loose panel till it's tight again. Don't hit it hard cause it's pine and it will dent the wood. Would be best if you have a dead blow hammer but any hammer will work. If you have scrap wood laying around set the scrap piece over the towel and hit it. Good luck and let us know if you have any problems.

I don't know if I'd panic. It's obviously not good, but I doubt catastrophic failure is iminent. I've had some store bought stands with similar characteristics. Including particle board and pine. I'd keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse.

If it were mine, I'd probably take it down when its convenient and put some extra screws and a few mending or angle irons on the stand to reinforce it.



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Those panels look like only a veneer. A picture from the inside of the stand would show for sure. I bet you'll see those outer panel tacked to upright 1x2's at least... those are what'll be taking all the weight. In which case you have nothing to worry about.. its just cosmetic.

but if you see movement on those internal supports... different story

Did you check your level?
I only ask because I don't see any shimming. Most of the time these stands flex to comfort household irregularities. It might sit flat on the floor but can be overall uneven causing a twist on that panel.

Regardless I wouldn't worry about it. Chances are its not supporting any weight. The newest stands support 180g tanks on only there small 2ft wide side with a 1" thick by 2ft wide plywood on its Longitudinal side and that's it. I have absolutely no vertical support in the front. open 6ft span as far as what the tanks trim sits on.

Was I uneasy sure. But when you actually look at what you have and not I just need more wood!! you'll relax.

Simple pine compression index longitudinal parallel to the grain your talking about 4300 psi it can handle. That's softer wood, if you have cedar or oak your good for well over 5000psi.

More in depth that's not saying the entire 2ft wide board is only good for 4,300lbs. No its good for 4,300lbs per inch of that 2ft long wide board. A lot of people don't take weight distribution into account.

If you are supporting 3000lbs over the course of a 6'x2'x1" ( x2 ) 2 sides of the tank you only have 187.5 max psi per square inch being supported. Which is barely anything.

Most stands are way overbuilt. My stand I built for my 90g weighed close to 200 lbs. I had quadrupled 2x4's for legs, 3 verticle supports for a 4ft span, and the whole thing was skinned in 1 inch pine... and I was still having doubts about its construction when I was setting it up.


Then I bought a storebought stand for a 75g. It was indistinguishable from particle board prefab office furniture. I figure if this thing is rated to hold 1000lbs, and a company can put their name on it and be liable.... then just about anything is safe to hold a tank lol.

The fitment on this thing was awful. Some of the predrilled holes didnt line up and I had to drive my own screws in a few spots. So far so good lol

Notice how the particle board stand has little contact with the floor. :beer:

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