Help with stand.

[ronchinoy]

Guys I have just finished making my 6ft tank. And now need to make a stand.

This tank will go into a window. So the tank is visable from inside the house.
And from the outside on the balcony.

The window is 2.5 Ft high.
The stand will be on a small balcony on the 2nd floor.
Im scared if the balcony can take this load.

Coming to the stand the basic plan is First i will lay out the Base for the tank which will be made in 2" L angle steal.
The legs will be square section 14 gauge. There will be 6 of these.
The legs will have adjustable pads.

The help Im looking for

a. What kind of gauge and type of steel should I be looking for with a tank that weighs close to a Ton.

 

[thatmagicguy]

What is your plan to support the balcony?

 

[FishEggs]

i would be more worried about the location first myself. whether or not the balcony would support it and also with it being exposed to the sun you will have constant algae problems.
That being said i have a 4 foot wide 75 gallon steel stand and the angle iron on that is just over 1/16 of an inch thick. Sorry i don't know what that equals in gauge. personally i would use 1/8 inch thick angle but i'm no engineer so i couldn't tell you the load and bearing specs.

 

[thincat]

As FishEggs said, my main worry is the strength of the balcony and that it might get direct sun.

 

[ronchinoy]

The Balcony is on a cantilever setup off the main beam of the building.
The wall for the hall is built on this beam.
My plan is to have the first 3" of the stand resting on this.
Then one set of legs up against the well.
And then two hevy legs resting 2 Ft from the balcony.

This will ensure that the load is spread over 3 points.
One being the main beam of the building. Another 6" from it.
ANd the last 18" from it.
This way I am not loading the edges of the balcony.

My main reason for posting here ws to get a feel for what gauge metal to use.

The LFS has 4x2x2 Tanks on gague which is under 4mm thick.
But some innovate support bracing.

Guess Ill just hit up the local metal sellers and ask them.
Dont worry about the sun. I have a tank in the same location on the top floor and it does fine.
Its only a footer though.

 

[thatmagicguy]

The reason most of the posters placed so much emphasis on the balcony issue is because in your first post you said,,,"The stand will be on a small balcony on the 2nd floor.
Im scared if the balcony can take this load."

Then you never addressed that concern beyond those two sentences. And I think reasonable people did not want to help you set up a disaster.

4mm is fine. I would go with iron. But most people use wood to create sturdy safe stands these days. If you are going to use metal be sure to consult someone that has knowledge of how to put them together for heavy aquariums. Place alot of emphasis on the welds and where the pieces are placed together. Metal stands make me nervous, I have seen too many fail. Bill

 

[ronchinoy]

Fair enough.
Thanks but still didn't get an answer to my primary question even after addressing the balcony issue.

Went to the metal shop. My choices are what they call 14 gauge and 16 gauge.
And the shape is either round, square or rectangular.
For welding I have a choice of Gas, Electric / Arc or TIG welding.
Being an Aquarium Forum was hoping somebody would have done something similar. Dont want to reinvent the wheel.
Thanks for the Wood Idea. Just may be a cheaper route.

 

[CaptainAhab]

If it were my house, I'd use the recommendation of the metal shop (you know the weight) and not the random postings of the anonymous fishy people (no offense intended pals ).

 

[asudavew]

I'd go with wood.

You can frame a wood stand for about 25 bucks.
And then cover it with 1/4 plywood.. another 25 bucks.
And it spreads the load really well.

If you have adjusters on the bottom of the legs, as you mentioned, then all the load is concentrated and transfers to only the adjusters. That load will be some seriously high lbs per square inch!

Not sure about your balcony. I don't quite understand the area where you are going to put the tank.. maybe a drawing?

 

[mkurtzer70]

i build houses for a living we would stack whole bundles of plywood on the floor joists when sheeting the deck i'm sure if your balcony is a cantalever type you will be fine if you post a picture from the outside i will be able to tell you for sure as for your stand i would go wood i built mine from 2x4s and it is as sturdy as a house beleive it or not it is alot stronger than steel i've had it explained to me before on how it is but couldn 't tell you now why it has to do with the way steel is standing to determine the stregnth as far as buildi ng out of wood i would go to a job site that is building a house and ask if you can dig through their scrap pile. the builders usually just take it to the dump so you're actually saving them money plus its free to you then you just have to find some finish 1/4inch plywood to hide the 2x4s i think you would be a lot more pleased with the turn out of your project this way i will up load some pics of mine if you're interested

 

[mkurtzer70]

this is my 20 long stand it isn't all the way finished because i want to make glass doors but i need to do some research on making them