Tank stand for 450 gallon glass tank- question

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kdrun76

Piranha
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Mar 4, 2009
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Those of you with BIG glass tanks. How do you support the bottoms of them?

On a tank that is 3' front to back (or larger) is it still safe to support only the edges, or do you put them flat on plywood?

I am building a stand for a 450 that is a glass tank. Do I top my stand with 3/4" plywood, or leave it open in the center?


Every commercial stand ever seen for glass tanks supports them only on the edges. Smaller tanks that have plastic frames around them ensure that the bottom pane of the tank never actually sits on a stand...it keeps the tank edge-supported.

My instinct says to support the bottom, but the facts around me make me wonder what the commercial stand builders know that I don't.

How are your stands built?
 
I would definitely add some cross supports to the stand. There will be plenty of weight to distribute. Now, whether or not you want to use plywood is your choice.
 
But should these cross supports be simply under the tank at diagonals to provide lateral support for the stand, or should the glass itself be allowed to sit on the cross braces?


The tubular stand you have for the 540 pile of glass, does it have cross supports that the glass sits on, or is the glass only supported on the edges?
 
Yes, the steel stand had horizontal cross supports for the glass.
 
Without pictures or a good description is tough to say, is there a trim on the tank? Going to assume no since the question was asked, then yes, or at the very least have cross beams and have the tank sit on some polystyrene foam. While glass and acrylic is strong, why would you want to stress a tank needlessly and save 1$ in wood cost?

IE: A wall can be built with just 2x4s, but builders have building codes so that it maintains a certain standard and hence you've got studs, and we ALL love studs ^^

Not to mention its not only water you're holding, substrate and rocks weigh it down even further, this is just advise/recommendation and its ultimately upto you as the builder. Granted its not necessary, but its not completely unwarranted. My DIY stand was referred to as a crate :P
Gluck!
 
Glass tank if not excessively large (i.e. not over approximately 24"x48" foot print) are designed to carry most of the weight in the corner, and most larger ones as well if designed properly. They are designed this way so that the glass seals are always under constant pressure and that the sides do not torque differently than at the bottom. While most acrylic tanks should be supported evenly across the bottom with a soft material like Styrofoam liner, the glass tanks should be dead straight and supported by couple inches of wood framing around the edges. This prevents breakage or leaks.
 
There is no trim around the tank and it is excessively large. Like I said, the foot print is 8' x 3'. Like the title says, we are talking about a 450 gallon tank here. Its made from 3/4 inch glass and the bottom is tempered.

I am in the process of building the stand. I am not asking this to save $$ on construction costs, I am asking this to save the bottom of my tank. A 29 gallon tank broke at random in my house yesterday. I looked at the situation that may be responsible for its breaking and am trying not to repeat that with the 450. While 29 gallons of water on the floor is bad, 450 would probably do irreversible damage to my home.

All the information I can find says to never put glass tanks flat on their bottom pane. But NONE of that information is for huge tanks. I can put cross braces in the stand or I can top the stand with 3/4 ply wood. I can leave it so that the tank is only rim supported, or sitting on its bottom pane. Right now I can do anything I want with it. In 2 weeks its going to have water and fish in it, so I need to make a decision now.

Even the 210 I am replacing with the 450 was only rim supported. However the idea of only rim supporting this much weight makes me nervous. Which is why I am wondering what type of supports people that have tanks this big have under them.
 
I will chose one of two ways to support my tank.

Ladder style frame - A box frame with horizontal supports at evenly spaced positions. This is to no only support the glass, but to keep the outer horizontal lengths in place.

Ladder style frame w/ plywood - I will possibly put a sheet of plywood on the stand to distribute the weight and add some additional support.

If I remember correctly, mdstark also used a piece of plywood on the top of the stand on his 375G build.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254328
 
Let's say you were to put supports in the middle and they were touching the glass and one support was 1/32 of an inch higher than the others, that would put a GREAT deal of pressure on that one point of the tank. I don't think I would trust them to be absolutly perfect all the way across.
 
Its been holding so far.
 
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