How do you know if your stand will support the weight?

[ozorowsky]

Hi all, I'm building a 125 gallon reef setup and have it on a stand with water about 100 lbs of sand and about 130 lbs of rock. I'm a little concerned about my stand because the wood seems dry and when you touch certain areas it cracks like a potato chip; almost make me wonder if termites got to it at one point.

Any thoughts or recommendations as to what I should do? I'm thinking of maybe building a stand; if I go that route you know any good guides to know what type of wood to use what stain is good etc?

 

[FTMMWS]

Is this a stand made for this tank? You would notice if termites got to it...
If you have any doubts about it ,,just beef it up with 2x4's ...i did this with 2 75 gallon stands i converted to hold my 125

 

[ozorowsky]

Yes this stand was built for this tank my the previous owner. It is currently supporting the weight, I just fear waking one morning to a big crash.

How would I know if termites got to the tank? Let me go take a picture of what I see in some areas that concern me. One minute

 

[ozorowsky]

Here are the pictures.

The first is this piece of wood in the back middle.

Second picture is my overall tank.

Third picture is the wood at the back left of the top of my stand.

I believe these are the worst areas for what it's worth.

 

[FTMMWS]

The last pic does look suspect,,but termites usually leave trails behind in the wood...i think if all the inner supports look ok and don't have anything going on like in the last pic your good...plus the board in the last pic is really just the trim piece ,,it really does nothing in the way of supporting the weight...from what i can see in the pics the stand should be fine

 

[Grizz]

that looks like the laminate is coming off it just an outer skin placed over ugly wood.it got wet at some point and the glue let go your fine no need to worry. Tap on it it should sound solid