Is it safe to put my aquarium stand on top of...?

[AdamHorton]

Hi. 150G SW tank, moving to a new house.

The house is built on a slab, and there is carpeting where I plan to put this tank. I have a wooden stand that supports the tank (I bought it from the LFS with the tank)

You know those little padded things you can put underneath chairs or tables so that they slide along hardwood floors easily? I was wondering if it would be a bad idea to put those under the corners of the stand. My guess is yes. The reasoning behind it was to help the carpet look better when I eventually move the stand away (probably to a new house).

Just wanted to run it by the people here, since I don't know much about the subject.

[maxst2]

I wouldn't bother. Its still going to at least 1000lbs. Carpet will come back up in time.

[Floyd R Turbo]

You could lay down a 2x4 frame or 1/2" plywood (not particle board or chip board) and attach a bunch of the spike feet so that it doesn't actually sit with full weight on the carpet, the weight would get transferred to the concrete. I remember my Klipsch speakers and by Definitive Technology speakers had a screw hole for inserting either flat circles for HW floor or spikes for carpet to avoid matting in the same fashion.

I don't know how many you would need to add or how difficult it would be to pull off and make it look nice, but I would think that a level frame and spikes every 4-6 inches would be plenty. Maybe if you do the 2x4 frame idea with the plywood over it, spikes in the 2/4 frame and trim the whole thing out so it looks like a hearth/mantle...

[BigJim]

You don't want to use anything that will compress. If you have thin carpeting, I would just put the stand down. If you've got thick carpeting, lay a thick piece of plywood down first to spread the weight out.

[Laurence]

You could do the same thing I did with my 187-gallon tank. First I put down a thick old blanket to protect the carpet. On top the blanket I put a 3-4 inch thick sheet of 4' x 8' Marine (waterproofed) plywood to even out the surface and relieve stress. On top the plywood sheet I put a protective 4' x 6' rubber mat from Office Depot to further relieve stress. Putting those little tabs on the corners of the wooden stand will cause concentrated stress and the stand might fail. Best to put the entire stand on a wide sheet of thick plywood. (You can always disguise the plywood with small carpets or something like that.)