Workbench As Tank Stand?

[Assaye]

Do you guys think this would be suitable for a 3 foot tank (top level) and a couple of smaller tanks (lower level)? The 3 footer will be a cm or so too big for the stand but will this matter when most of the water load is on the shelf? Is it likely to crack or will it be stable enough? Says 150KG each level - can these things generally be trusted?

 

[JoshuaA]

The 3 footer will be a cm or so too big for the stand but will this matter when most of the water load is on the shelf?

There seems to be mixed opinions on this scenario; some people say no it can't over hang and others say it can. There are numerous factors involved on weather it can cope but I guess it all comes down to... do you want to risk it? Worst case in my mind is that the tank fractures where the sides are attached.

However if you look at the Fluval Edge that is a prime example of a tank over hanging massively. Of course it's only small but when you scale up a tank usually the thickness of the glass scales up too?

It'll be interesting in seeing any horror stories people may have of it going wrong, or even better going perfectly fine.

 

[OldMan47]

A lot depends on your tank bottom Assaye. An overhang of any amount cannot be tolerated on one that is designed to have a suspended bottom, the kind where the bottom trim carries the tank's weight. If you have a tank with a flat bottom, no trim to hold the glass up, it should be fine hanging over a cm or so. I placed a small tank on top of a half height (2 drawers) file cabinet and covered the top of the file cabinet by just laying a sheet of half inch plywood across it just so that the edge of the tank would be fully supported. My 10 gallon would have hung over slightly in only one direction but the tank would not have lasted a month that way. It has been in place now for about 3 years with no issues.

 

[Assaye]

A lot depends on your tank bottom Assaye. An overhang of any amount cannot be tolerated on one that is designed to have a suspended bottom, the kind where the bottom trim carries the tank's weight. If you have a tank with a flat bottom, no trim to hold the glass up, it should be fine hanging over a cm or so. I placed a small tank on top of a half height (2 drawers) file cabinet and covered the top of the file cabinet by just laying a sheet of half inch plywood across it just so that the edge of the tank would be fully supported. My 10 gallon would have hung over slightly in only one direction but the tank would not have lasted a month that way. It has been in place now for about 3 years with no issues.

It's a Clear Seal so just a plain old glass box. No trim or floating base.