90 gallon setup

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mknatesan333

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2009
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Levittown, PA. U.S.A
Hi all,

I am in the process of setting up a 90gal(or 75gal) discus tank. In order to save some money I thought about making a cinder block stand. So I have lots of questions.

First, is this wise, can it support that much weight?

Second, all the blocks that I see are only 16 inches in length and the tank is going to be 18. So when I place a plank on top of the blocks and the tank on top of that, I will have a 1 inch hang over front and back. Is this o.k?

Lastly (for now:), which do you think is better 75 or 90 gal. I was thinking of having 8 discus, and ofcourse 1 or two schools of tetras and cory cats.

I appriciate all the help I can get.

Thank you.
 
Cinder Blocks will support weight no problem. But what are the cinder blocks sitting on? and will you be able to make them perfectly level? And bigger is always better.

Also being on a budget, cinder blocks are pretty cheap. In the future if you want to invest money to make the stand look good, I would reccomend installing sticky stone (faux stone) around the cinder block stand with maybe a 2-4" inch ledger on top, would look amazing.
 
1) cinder blocks should have no trouble supporting a 75G or 90G fish tank

2) usa a sturdy 1"-thick board that is at least 48x18 as the top of your stand, so that the tank will at least be supported all around (it's okay if the board overhangs an inch or two, but better if the tank does not

3) Discus prefer tall tanks over wide tanks, so a 90G is better than 75G
 
Thank you so much for the quick response.

eatingleg4peanut: I was going to place it on the hardwood floor, since I am going to put a board on top, will that be enough as a level?

Sab_Fan: I was thinking 3 cinder blocks high on either side and 3 cinder block in the middle (is the middle colomn necessary?), with a thick board on top, I hope that will do the job. I was leaning towards the 90 gallon, you just pushed me :)
 
If it's not level, just go to your local Home Depot or Lowes and pick up a packet of shims and insert them under the stand until it's level. Don't use just one shim, however. You have to shim the length of the side you're shimming up.
 
I dont know how well shims will work with a cinder block stand, even if he mortored the blocks, the slightest slant under that pressure would seperate the block. And of course if they are just stacked block a shim is useless. that is of course assuming your were using a 2 course block width 32", or 1 course than run the second course sidways 16" + 8" so it would be 24", above you mentioned tank is 18" which is 2" wider than length of block, I would NOT let it sit on the overhang even if a strong board is used(i missed that before when I read it), if the board overhangs the block thats fine, but the tank should not sit on the overhang.

Edit: My concern is not that the top would will break, or even warp, but the stand top sitting on the block (unless you are securing it, if so how?) is already not ideal (but fine) but if you let it overhang & support the weight of the tank it is much more likely to topple over(1" on both sides may not seem like much but it is alot of weight pulling the tank in either direction that the slightest bump could throw out of balance), and with loose block, potential horror could insue.
 
Man who know making a stand for a >1000 lbs tank would be this difficult :)

Honestly I was going to stack the cinder blocks 3 high (nothing to secure) and in 3 colomns, put a board (18 x 48, same size as the bottom of the tank) on top and sit the tank on top. Am I being too nieve, is this a recipe for disastor?

eatingleg4peanut, I actually like your 2 course 24" idea, would I still need mortor to secure the blocks? perhaps I don't have to use the middle colomn in this case.
 
Have done this on a cpl tanks. Im broke so its been my route. On my 75 I have 2 blocks, I found the same problem with the overlap of the tank so sort of over did mine with them. Works perfectly tho, cant wobble that 75 a bit.
Did it on a 40 too and worked fine. Not pretty unless you do some work to it but gets it off the floor
 
I just dont like the footprint of the stand being less than the footprint of the tank, thats scary to me. But Irishfan has actually done it so it is probably fine. Also no, your dont need mortar, I was simply using that as a reference for the shims, I DONT like the Idea of using shims on a block stand, but if its going on your hardwood floor, it should be level anyway with no need for shims.
 
Thank you all.

So here is what I will do, I will have 6 blocks on both ends of the tank, stacked 3 high in a "L" pattern. This way it will have 24". I will place a 24 x 48 1" thick board, so the tank of 18 x 48 will sit nicely.

My only question is, will I need a colomn in the middle?

Thank you once again for all your help.
 
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