African_Fever Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 (edited) I built a steel stand for my fish 'room' a while back (I believe 1/8" thick and 1"x2" tubing), and in all my infinite wisdom never even though about what size it would need to be to get down my stairs. Needless to say it was too big, so we cut the top part off, and installed some 'plugs' in the bottom 1/2 to ensure the top and bottom would fit together perfectly (essentially a smaller tube in the larger tube so everything lines up exactly). I have a plywood/glass tank on the bottom, and until now have just had 4 20's and a 10 on the top. I'd like to replace the top tanks with a single tank to just save space in the room (I'm shutting down my smaller tanks and going to have a couple big tanks for rays). So far the top of this stand has held 90 gallons of water without issue, but I'm thinking of building about a 200-250 gallon tank for the top so it is going to need to hold considerably more. I initially built this stand heavy enough for a large tank on both the top and bottom, but am just unsure about how much weight I trust the top with now that it's been cut/pegged back together. If this stand were in your house, would you: 1) leave it as is; it's built of heavy steel and lined up perfectly so there shouldn't be a problem 2) build basically a square for each end (out of the same 1"x2" square tubing), and bolt this to the outside of the existing stand, essentially doubling the legs for the stand but also ensuring that the outside legs are solid and not cut. The new tank would be built so that it overhangs the current stand to the edge of where the 'new' legs would be. In the pic you can see about halfway up the tank where the stand is cut and has been placed back together. The plugs are flat iron (1/4" thick) that was bent and welded in place. Edited July 14, 2008 by African_Fever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajays Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 About 3000 lbs according to this site http://alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Thanks, but I'm asking about the structural integrity of the stand due to the legs being cut and pegged together, and not the weight of the tank. I know if this stand were one piece it would be more than strong enough to support what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks, but I'm asking about the structural integrity of the stand due to the legs being cut and pegged together, and not the weight of the tank. I know if this stand were one piece it would be more than strong enough to support what I need. The integrity of the stand is fine . As long as your joint has no movement all your supporting is dead weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon71 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Kyle, Add the extra legs. You have four weak spots at the cuts. Sure they are pegged together, but only for the length of the peg. If it is going to bend, it will be just above or below the extent of the peg. And while you are at it, span a piece across the back to tie the legs together. HTH, Leon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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