Stand: wood vs welded steel vs welded aluminium vs modular aluminium

[2BeAlive]

I have never shied away from a challenge to get a tank into position ;Stig

Interesting, the open sided design should help getting it trough door doorframes on its side.

Had an engineer out last week to sign off on the load. OKed 180cm x 60cm x 60cm system on 8 x round feet. The floor is a concrete slab with laminated (pretend) wood tiles.

But I think you right, the thick wall steel tubes will probable kill it from a weight perspective.

I will run a few models with steel and aluminium and see where it ends up. Not sure I would sleep with a modular design for that one.

 

[jrlg]

my vote is the other, while looking to build a stand for a 200g 24x24x84" tank i came across FRP, it is square tubing and about the size of steel but will never have rust. The con was the price, higher than all the steel tube tank quotes I got. I have had it set up for about 2 years now no issues. Also a con for the DIYers you can find the tubing online but the connectors are elusive.
first picture is it at the shop before I picked it up.
second shows the wood cabinets I made for the sides for storage and pump controllers I installed barn doors for the front cover and procrastinating on making the matching cabinet doors for the wood cabinets

 

[92Miata]

my vote is the other, while looking to build a stand for a 200g 24x24x84" tank i came across FRP, it is square tubing and about the size of steel but will never have rust. The con was the price, higher than all the steel tube tank quotes I got. I have had it set up for about 2 years now no issues. Also a con for the DIYers you can find the tubing online but the connectors are elusive.
first picture is it at the shop before I picked it up.
second shows the wood cabinets I made for the sides for storage and pump controllers I installed barn doors for the front cover and procrastinating on making the matching cabinet doors for the wood cabinets

What size/wall thickness did use?

 

[vanpire]

my vote is the other, while looking to build a stand for a 200g 24x24x84" tank i came across FRP, it is square tubing and about the size of steel but will never have rust. The con was the price, higher than all the steel tube tank quotes I got. I have had it set up for about 2 years now no issues. Also a con for the DIYers you can find the tubing online but the connectors are elusive.
first picture is it at the shop before I picked it up.
second shows the wood cabinets I made for the sides for storage and pump controllers I installed barn doors for the front cover and procrastinating on making the matching cabinet doors for the wood cabinets

Stand looks nice and I have seen some manufacturers use it. I think the material is some type of acrylic/fiberglass combinations. I thought about having a stand use this material but ultimately, I moved in a different direction due to the requirements of having multiple supports in the middle. I really like having the middle part of the stand as wide open as possible as it make maintenance much easier. It is also difficult to add or remove a large sump with middle supports.

 

[jrlg]

Stand looks nice and I have seen some manufacturers use it. I think the material is some type of acrylic/fiberglass combinations. I thought about having a stand use this material but ultimately, I moved in a different direction due to the requirements of having multiple supports in the middle. I really like having the middle part of the stand as wide open as possible as it make maintenance much easier. It is also difficult to add or remove a large sump with middle supports.

yeah I have a sump that was custom made for this tank that was 6 feet long and with a wood stand, (obviously I didn't use) they planned to have the sump put in and out from the top without the display tank, with this stand and where it is in my home I can slide a tank on the bottom from the side, just provide some beer for the friends that will be helping move it.

 

[jrlg]

What size/wall thickness did use?

I believe it is 1/8" and they are 2" square tubes, a little larger than steel, but still plenty of space compared to 2x4 or 4x4s

 

[markron]

So when my husband and I got the system we are building now this was something we went through as well. My husband is a welder so a steel or aluminum carcass would have been very doable. I nixed the steel idea because of potential risk issues because even professionally applied coatings fail faster than you’d think in a humid salt environment. A welded aluminum carcass was looking promising but my husband nixed that idea only because he didn’t feel like loading his rig up into the truck. He would have to bring it back and forth to work. We thought about buying a new one for the house but that can get expensive and then some lol. That left the T slot option and wood as well. After some basic math the T slot how my husband wanted to do it would have been more than buying the welder he wanted! Hahaha. So that left us with wood. He overbuilt the wood carcass and used heavy duty deck stain in multiple coats to seal the wood. It won’t last as long as the T slot or welded aluminum carcasses would but by the time this stand has seen its days the chances the tank won’t have been upgraded are slim. So my question for you is, is this your endgame tank? One that will be in the house for 10+ years? Or is this a stepping stone to that dream tank? If this is a stepping stone, build yourself a good overbuilt wood stand that’s been stained and sealed correctly Portal frame steel building. Save the money for the time being and put whatever you saved either into the tank or better yet save that money for that 8020 t slot project for the tank of your dreams in the furniture.

What's the pro's/cons of building an all steel building (I'm talking about the ones with the large I-beams comprising the main structure) and a post-frame building?

Been toying with a 50 or 60x80. The steel buildings are cheaper in materials and look to be faster to go up, but you need a concrete pad, which would add $20k+ to the cost.