# Steel aquarium stand for 2 90 gallon tanks



## PaNiK (Dec 10, 2003)

Im thinking about building a stand for 2 90 gallon aquariums out of steel. The tanks would be side by side making the stand at least 96 inches long.

I'd like to acheive this with 4 legs if possible. Does anyone have any good resources on what gauge of steel square tubing would be needed to reliably support the load?


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Im not an engineer but i was a pipefitter welder all my life, your problem wont be the strength but the sag you would have with a 96" span, so i think you should look into that as well as the strength. Any reason why you cant have at least 1 support in the middle?
The steel supplier will be able to give you the load strength of the steel your buying.


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## PaNiK (Dec 10, 2003)

thanks man, you're a wealth of information.

as far as the support one in the middle would be fine, i got lost in my thinking of the annoyance of a middle support leg when putting sumps under the tanks, but it will between both tanks and shouldn't interfere.


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Why don't you just go with some 2x4's? Much easier and just as strong.


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## PaNiK (Dec 10, 2003)

are 2x4s strong enough to span over 48inches with an aquarium load? im trying to avoid having support legs in the middle of the tanks to ease access. with my present stand for my 90 there middle brace makes it impossible to remove my 29 gallon sump without going through the top


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

PaNiK said:


> are 2x4s strong enough to span over 48inches with an aquarium load? im trying to avoid having support legs in the middle of the tanks to ease access. with my present stand for my 90 there middle brace makes it impossible to remove my 29 gallon sump without going through the top


Probably not but a 6x2 may very well do it


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## Mr.Dempsey (Jan 4, 2012)

If the tanks are glass you really dont have much weight in the center of the stand, as i've seen before glass tanks only need to be supported at the ends and this is where most of the load will be. There's a LFS near me that has had a 125 gallon glass tank sitting on cinder blocks just on the ends for over 10 years now and they haven't had a problem with it, so using steel or 2x4s will be fine just comes done to how much you want to spend as steel isnt cheap.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Mr.Dempsey said:


> If the tanks are glass you really dont have much weight in the center of the stand, as i've seen before glass tanks only need to be supported at the ends and this is where most of the load will be. There's a LFS near me that has had a 125 gallon glass tank sitting on cinder blocks just on the ends for over 10 years now and they haven't had a problem with it, so using steel or 2x4s will be fine just comes done to how much you want to spend as steel isnt cheap.


He will if he has them side by side... Without a leg under the point where the first tank butts up to the next tank, there is no way that a sigle 2X4 will support it.

As for supporting a glass tank at only the four corners with cinder blocks, I agree. The bottom pane & supporting rim are plenty strong enough to support the weight of the tank.

A acrylic tank on the other hand is a different story..


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## Jaffy (Jul 10, 2010)

I have 2 125 gallon tanks on a steel stand. The guy that built it for me made it out of 1 inch square tubes and all of the weight is indeed supported on the ends only.

I know its not the best picture but I cant get far enough away to get full tank shot.

BTW it also has a 33L on the top shelf.


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## PaNiK (Dec 10, 2003)

That's what I'm talkin bout jaffy! 1 inch box? Wow... I figured it would need more. What kind of support gussets did he use? What size for the legs? Could I trouble you for more pics?


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## Jaffy (Jul 10, 2010)

sure let me get to work


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## Jaffy (Jul 10, 2010)

The only cross members are the 6 pieces that run the length under the 3 aquariums.

It does have 8 legs and 4 floor plates per side. This stand was built to be able to easily access the bottom tanks for maintenance. The original stand (in the fish store) actually has 3 125's stacked. The top shelf was adjusted for the 33 (actually made for a 55) width. The only real structure is on the side and you can see in the photos below. I talked with the guy that made it and the added support in the back is not needed if you arent putting in the top shelf.

Please ignore the clutter and dirty tops, havent done weekly maintenance yet.


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