Acrylic Tank OK on Wood Stand?

[italquam]

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a 180 gallon acrylic tank from Acrylic Creations in Pennslvania, they told me acrylic tanks should not go on wood stands, which I have never heard before. I was wondering everyone's opinion on that and if they have ever heard of that??

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a 180 gallon acrylic tank from Acrylic Creations in Pennslvania, they told me acrylic tanks should not go on wood stands, which I have never heard before. I was wondering everyone's opinion on that and if they have ever heard of that??

Elaborate on wood stand?

If properly built, sheet of plywood on top with proper bracing and a leveling mat underneath, I see no issue with it.

I had a 7'x3'x16" tank on a wood 2x4 stand for years with no issues. It was plywood top, braced as it should have been and had a piece of wall foam as the leveling mat. Tank was then taken down, put up, and just recently set back up on another wood stand built the same way, and doing fine.

I would almost assume they are thinking typical store bought stand meant for rimmed tanks. That would be a no, as those are built with almost no support in the middle of where the flat acrylic tank would sit.

 

[mnl119]

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a 180 gallon acrylic tank from Acrylic Creations in Pennslvania, they told me acrylic tanks should not go on wood stands, which I have never heard before. I was wondering everyone's opinion on that and if they have ever heard of that??

Wood is fine. I've done this many times. You just need to support the center section of the bottom of the tank with proper bracing and a solid top. Otherwise the center of the bottom will sag and eventually break.

Here's my latest creation

 

[italquam]

Wood is fine. I've done this many times. You just need to support the center section of the bottom of the tank with proper bracing and a solid top. Otherwise the center of the bottom will sag and eventually break.

So basically reinforce the stand in the center , I know I have seen many before on wood stands.

My question to the builder was ok , steel stand , but what do I close it in with , I can't have a steel stand in my living room with filtration, wiring , ATO all showing.......if I was not married yeah I wouldn't care but the wife will kill me

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So basically reinforce the stand in the center , I know I have seen many before on wood stands.

My question to the builder was ok , steel stand , but what do I close it in with , I can't have a steel stand in my living room with filtration, wiring , ATO all showing.......if I was not married yeah I wouldn't care but the wife will kill me

I have a steel stand for my 180. I used magnets affixed to plywood panels to hold them on there. I also covered the plywood panels with slats to make to match the decor in the room. This actually makes maintenance really easy lol. Remove one panel and I have full access to the sump on the left side. remove the other and I have access to the dosing, ATO container and electronics on the right side.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have a steel stand for my 180. I used magnets affixed to plywood panels to hold them on there. I also covered the plywood panels with slats to make to match the decor in the room. This actually makes maintenance really easy lol. Remove one panel and I have full access to the sump on the left side. remove the other and I have access to the dosing, ATO container and electronics on the right side.

I will say, either way, steel or wood, you need to have middle supports and some form of flat top. Whether plywood or whatever. An acrylic tank has to be supported on every bit of the bottom. This is also why a leveling mat is used. It eliminates pressure points, as most wood or even metal sheeting we will get for a top is not perfectly flat and has small rises and valleys. The mat fills in those gaps or evens out the pressure points to where they are not an issue.

 

[mnl119]

So basically reinforce the stand in the center , I know I have seen many before on wood stands.

My question to the builder was ok , steel stand , but what do I close it in with , I can't have a steel stand in my living room with filtration, wiring , ATO all showing.......if I was not married yeah I wouldn't care but the wife will kill me

What I've done is a 3/4" plywood top reinforced by a 2" x 4" brace across the center supported by "legs." See the picture attached to previous post. I also have a 5' long tank with two cross supports at 20" centers from the sides.

 

[italquam]

I have a steel stand for my 180. I used magnets affixed to plywood panels to hold them on there. I also covered the plywood panels with slats to make to match the decor in the room. This actually makes maintenance really easy lol. Remove one panel and I have full access to the sump on the left side. remove the other and I have access to the dosing, ATO container and electronics on the right side.

Any build thread or photos of what you did?

 

[wil-yuhm]

An alternative: https://www.tenecoraquariums.com/collections/aluminum-stands

DIY kits are available. Could be wood skinned.

 

[mnl119]

Any build thread or photos of what you did?

No sorry. I've built 7-8 stand/hood combinations over the years, most for acrylic tanks. I had a 180 gallon glass tank pop and vowed to never go back.

The first ones I built were oak over pine frames. Lately I've gone to more integration of the frame to the oak since oak is so strong. It makes them lighter and easier to move.

You'd be shocked at how cheaply the commercial wood stands are built. Most are 3/4" plywood with very little solid wood components. It's a distributed load so the manufacturers really try to cut corners. The 5' FOWLR tank I've shown started off this way. I completely reworked the stand with reinforcement braces and corner and leg pieces, stripped, and restained/finished. Probably would have been easier to just start from scratch.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Any build thread or photos of what you did?

Large Build - Steve's 180 of Madness

First off, if you do not agree with my methods, my stocking list or how I run my tank, move on. This is to document how "I do things that work for me". Questions on these things or the live stock is fine, but I will not listen or respond to junk posted about how I run "My" tank. Last Update...

www.reef2reef.com

Somewhere in that mess are pics. But will post some here for ya. This is a rimmed tank, so there is no solid top, as not needed. The stand is also raised via 2x4 below it and 2x4 on top of it to make the tank higher.

Older pic with skins off. The piece in the center covers the center support and is also held on by magnets.

Pics with skins installed. The little wedges in the middle are exactly that, they just wedge in between the 2 panels to hide where the panels meet. Ignore cloudy water in second one, I kicked the detritus in sump up to feed the corals lol.

 

[wil-yuhm]

Acrylic lists less expensive than glass (large tanks) but I'm nervous about Acrylic scratch resistance. I purchased a low iron glass tank for transparency. Low iron glass scratches more easily (looks great at first) compared to glass. Glass might look better because of scratch resistance after a year or so of maintenance.
How clear is your Acrylic tank after a year or so? Any problems with discoloration or yellowing?
Another plus for Acrylic one piece rounded corners are available rather than potential silicone leaks.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I used these magnets. They are just screwed to the back side of the panels. One in each corner and in line with the steel stand and then one in between the top and bottom corners (middle) lined up with the stand. Takes little effort to pull them off, but they hold well.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Acrylic lists less expensive but I'm nervous about Acrylic scratch resistance. I purchased a low iron glass tank for transparency. Low iron glass scratches more easily looks great at first compared to glass. Glass might look better because of scratch resistance after a year or so of maintenance.
How clear is your Acrylic tank after a year or so? Any problem with yellowing?

My one acrylic tank is almost 20 years old now. I have no issues with yellowing. It did have a ton of scratches (most were form sand in cleaner and could have been avoided), but I was able to get it back clear with a few hours of elbow grease, some sand paper of varying grits, and all while the tank was running.

 

[mnl119]

Acrylic lists less expensive than glass (large tanks) but I'm nervous about Acrylic scratch resistance. I purchased a low iron glass tank for transparency. Low iron glass scratches more easily (looks great at first) compared to glass. Glass might look better because of scratch resistance after a year or so of maintenance.
How clear is your Acrylic tank after a year or so? Any problems with discoloration or yellowing?
Another plus for Acrylic one piece rounded corners available rather than silicone leaks.

I've had tanks for 20 years where scratches were unnoticeable unless you were 6" from tank. Never had any problems with yellowing. A MagFloat magnetic cleaner with the scraper blade is great, just be very carful when close to the sand. I usually clean with the magfloat, then do the lowest inch or so with a cleaning brush made for acrylic. This way the sand does not get trapped and scratch. I'm thinking of trying a Max Flipper Float because they advertise as being scratch resistant due to the scraper side design.

 

[wil-yuhm]

My one acrylic tank is almost 20 years old now. I have no issues with yellowing. It did have a ton of scratches (most were form sand in cleaner and could have been avoided), but I was able to get it back clear with a few hours of elbow grease, some sand paper of varying grits, and all while the tank was running.

Thanks, I was wondering how well Acrylic might be "refinished" or polished. Used Acrylic tanks are plentiful maybe an orbiter/buffer and various compounds and polish are options. A regular buffer (not orbiter) might leave swirls. Of course using an electric buffer in an already filled tank couldn't work.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks, I was wondering how well Acrylic might be "refinished" or polished. A Acrylic tanks are plentiful maybe an orbiter/buffer and various compounds and polish are options. A regular buffer (not orbiter) might leave swirls. Of course using an electric buffer in an already filled tank couldn't work.

Well, some have used air driven buffers in a running tank. They just route the buffer exhaust out of the tank when doing it.

But not using a buffer and restoring an old tank back to 99% new is easy. Once I move, I will never own a glass tank again. I have scratches on my 180 and those will not polish out. Now the tank is old, and all scratches could have been avoided, but acrylic is just easier in the long run IMO. Especially after I refinished the 7' tank with over 35 anemones of all types in it, SP, Clams and had 0 issues. Well, outside of the skimmer having to be dumped quite a bit during the process lol.

 

[Troylee]

Thanks, I was wondering how well Acrylic might be "refinished" or polished. Used Acrylic tanks are plentiful maybe an orbiter/buffer and various compounds and polish are options. A regular buffer (not orbiter) might leave swirls. Of course using an electric buffer in an already filled tank couldn't work.

Micro mesh and elbow grease will fix any scratch on a fully stocked tanked running

 

[Troylee]

Oh yeah! Wood stands are fine! Just make sure the bottom is fully supported.. glass tanks just sit on the permitter vs acrylic needs a solid bottom and support structure under it to keep from flexing

 

[littlefishy]

A number of threads mention cleaning acrylic with majic erasor. Buffs as it cleans. RHF thinks pbly no ill effects from the mica "dust".