Stand question for 400 gal tank
- Thread starter P.kapp
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Ok, now what are the profile dimensions? Like what is here?
30/30??? Walk away.
I don't know HPE or what it stands for (no pun). The bare minimum we would consider building your stand would be with 45/45 heavy duty and 45/90 HD (yes there is a difference and there is a heavy duty). At this weight we would add extra legs and as you sketched up, 45's for shear strength. The feet would be oversize Bigfoot adjustable and the connectors would be heavy duty gussets. These guys look like they are going with internal connectors. Bad. If you wanted greater clear span then we would spec 90/90. Never, never, never something this light. Here are some examples of connectors and the leveling legs. The pic of the leveling leg doesn't give scale. It fits big in the palm of your hand. The pic of the 90/90 shows the wall thicknesses. Not all profiles are same. Extruded stands are not cheap. But they are worth the money considering the cost of a collapsed tank collapsed tank.
JPM San Diego
Active Member
My son is studying to be an engineer. He is in his senior year and the courses he is taking are far beyond anything I can fathom. He is always talking about materials, stresses, moments, stresses, etc. I would be really reluctant to discard the advice of an engineer just because it doesn't seem to make sense to us non-engineers. If you truly don't believe what you are being told, get a second opinion from someone trained.
Your 400 gallon tank is going to be amazing. You really only have one shot at this. (structural) failure is not an option!
I recall a fellow student during my post graduate years. He set up a huge aquarium. I don't recall exactly large, but I am guessing it was in the range of 200 to 400 gallons. (It's been quite a few years and my memory is fuzzy.) Well, his tank lasted just long enough to get it filled with fish and CRACK, the back panel burst due to an issue with his stand not being square. Not only was his tank, and his apartment ruined, his motivation to continue as an aquarist was lost forever.
Also, I recall a YouTube done by an aquarist who wanted to put his large tank up stairs. He hired a structural engineer to advise him how to do it correctly. She noted many issues he never considered and then calmly advised him to add a large percentage as a margin of safety. This is SOP. He was not happy with the cost, but appreciated her keeping him out of trouble.
Your 400 gallon tank is going to be amazing. You really only have one shot at this. (structural) failure is not an option!
I recall a fellow student during my post graduate years. He set up a huge aquarium. I don't recall exactly large, but I am guessing it was in the range of 200 to 400 gallons. (It's been quite a few years and my memory is fuzzy.) Well, his tank lasted just long enough to get it filled with fish and CRACK, the back panel burst due to an issue with his stand not being square. Not only was his tank, and his apartment ruined, his motivation to continue as an aquarist was lost forever.
Also, I recall a YouTube done by an aquarist who wanted to put his large tank up stairs. He hired a structural engineer to advise him how to do it correctly. She noted many issues he never considered and then calmly advised him to add a large percentage as a margin of safety. This is SOP. He was not happy with the cost, but appreciated her keeping him out of trouble.
P.kapp
Active Member
This is great info! I hope my responses don’t sound like I’m disregarding your advice. Definitely not the case. I just want to make sure I, and anyone else who may read this, fully understand. The last thing I want is a broken stand and tank.I don't know HPE or what it stands for (no pun). The bare minimum we would consider building your stand would be with 45/45 heavy duty and 45/90 HD (yes there is a difference and there is a heavy duty). At this weight we would add extra legs and as you sketched up, 45's for shear strength. The feet would be oversize Bigfoot adjustable and the connectors would be heavy duty gussets. These guys look like they are going with internal connectors. Bad. If you wanted greater clear span then we would spec 90/90. Never, never, never something this light. Here are some examples of connectors and the leveling legs. The pic of the leveling leg doesn't give scale. It fits big in the palm of your hand. The pic of the 90/90 shows the wall thicknesses. Not all profiles are same. Extruded stands are not cheap. But they are worth the money considering the cost of a collapsed tank collapsed tank.
Does your company also build these stands?
P.kapp
Active Member
This is great advice, and where I’m really trying to get some clarity. It is the engineers from two companies that I have received quotes from that have drawn up these stands at these specs and materials. HPE has done stands like these for aquarists before, and seemed to know what was generally required with the dimensions I gave them for the tank. Thanks for your input!
It absolutely adds to the ability to distribute the weight. Your stand becomes a rigid structure once it’s all bolted together. This means that the weight will distribute to whatever it is sitting on, not just what’s below the support columns. The original design has 6 casters rated at 1300lbs each. That’s 7800 lbs capacity. Your tank is going to weigh in at 5000lbs at least. They are going to want a factor of safety of at least 2 which is why they want 3 more casters to push the capacity over 10000 lbs.
LS means lite smooth. Smooth is fine, lite is questionable. The cost from lite to regular isn’t huge, so not sure why they’d spec lite series.
P.kapp
Active Member
One of the companies I was getting a quote from sent the specs for the material they were planning on using. From what I’m understanding, this is the type of material that isn’t thick enough, right?
Sean_B
Active Member
remove the castors and convey to the manufacturer a non-forgiving tank with xxxLBS of water is going to rest on it. if the top plate of the stand isn't 100% level, on a level surface when they finish it, it's a no-sale.
you might have to shim the stand to it's final resting spot but that's a entirely new operation.
The stand should be 100% square and not "diamonded" on any horizontal or vertical.
find a good fabricator and skip "ready made" installations"
you might have to shim the stand to it's final resting spot but that's a entirely new operation.
The stand should be 100% square and not "diamonded" on any horizontal or vertical.
find a good fabricator and skip "ready made" installations"
piranhaman00
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Yes no casters and use the company FramingTech and you won’t have issues
As per post #33, this depends on the actual configuration of the stand, such as what pieces are being used where, what is the orientation of the pieces and what connections are to be used. Do you have a CAD drawing of the proposed stand?
P.kapp
Active Member
These are the latest drawings from the local company I found. We have since decided to scrap the idea of casters and just use HD leveling feet. There will only be leveling feet under the posts, and not in the center area where they had 2 extra casters.
Chrisv.
2500 Club Member
If I'm not mistaken, his company (tenecor) is one of the oldest companies in the large scale aquarium fabrication game...like the sort of systems you would see in a PetSmart or Petco. Not sure if they built those ones specifically, but that sort of thing. They have been in the aquarium stand/tank building industry for like...4 decades. I'm actually shocked that they are taking the time to contribute to the thread!
P.kapp
Active Member
From the looks of this design, do you guys think it looks like it will be a solid stand?
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