Who has had a DIY stand fail??
- Thread starter Burtess
- Start date
cheers, i had seen this post i was thinking that there wassome horror story. Thanks again
I have never seen a DYI stand fail but have seen the results of failed improvised stands and store bought stands.
The improvised one was an angle iron stand holding 4 20g tanks, it was bumped a little out of true and proceeded to corkscrew down.
The store bought was one of those cheap pressboard and plasticized paper things for a 55g, a filter got cracked (apparently) and had a tiny, but constant trickle leak that ran down into the carpet at one end. The stand soaked up water at that end and the bottom of that side just crumbled one day.
The only other tank I saw that went over (as opposed to being broken) was a 150 that was in an old, badly maintained, stick built house. The floor joist had dry rot and the wieght of the tank caused them to bow over time, the owner kept putting off fixing it and one day the tank just fell over forwards.
The improvised one was an angle iron stand holding 4 20g tanks, it was bumped a little out of true and proceeded to corkscrew down.
The store bought was one of those cheap pressboard and plasticized paper things for a 55g, a filter got cracked (apparently) and had a tiny, but constant trickle leak that ran down into the carpet at one end. The stand soaked up water at that end and the bottom of that side just crumbled one day.
The only other tank I saw that went over (as opposed to being broken) was a 150 that was in an old, badly maintained, stick built house. The floor joist had dry rot and the wieght of the tank caused them to bow over time, the owner kept putting off fixing it and one day the tank just fell over forwards.
Here is the thread by UltimateJay. It is a nice looking stand for a really sweet tank.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27541
or go to DIY and scroll down to 'Monster stand for Monster tank'
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27541
or go to DIY and scroll down to 'Monster stand for Monster tank'
You are VERY lucky my friend. How long until your luck is scheduled to run out? Yeah, mine isnt very predictable either.
First of all, I don't believe in luck. Second of all, that will probably be a moot point once I explain what I believe to be a misunderstanding in my previous post.
Since written conversation tends to come across more aggressive and condescending then the author usually intends (which seems to be the case with my previous post also and for that I apologize), I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
After reading my post, it seems I wasn't too clear on that particle board stand. It is no longer in use holding an aquarium. The plywood one I built replaced it. Though it was in use for some time, I did decide to replace it as it did look scary. However, it is still in use as a cheap shelf holding miscellaneous crap and it still hasn't failed.
My point was, even compared to how cheap store bought stands are made (and from my experience, actually work) I've never seen a DIY stand fail as they seem to always be overbuilt (which is a good thing). I never stated that one hasn't failed. I just haven't seen one that has, and seen many that haven't. Thus, the title caught me as amusing (not stupid, not misinformed, not mathematically unreasonable, just amusing) as it presumes that many do in fact fail. Now if I haven't seen any that fail due to my selective thread reading or not, I don't know.
The data and explanations that you present in your thread are obviously sound and will prove helpful to many I'm sure (including myself).
. . .
Anyway I hope that clears that up!
Crystal!
Yes, it is hard to convey in depth meaning with minimal words. It is exceptionally frustrating for me to put out helpful information, only to be countered by pompous know-it-alls.
I think that dromeda has a good point when he says DYIs tend to be overbuilt, if you care enough to build your own you tend to go overboard. The one I built for a 150g had no diagonal bracing but did have 4x4 uprights, 2x6 struts and beams, a 5/8" marine grade plywood top, and 1/2" plywood sheathing, all held together with wood glue, carraige bolts, and wood screws. Even the light hood supports were 2x6. I could hang from the free end with less than 1/4" give.
