Stand Help

Big B · Feb 10, 2016

Need some stand help
For the last year I have had this new Marineland 60 gallon rimless cube sitting in a closet waiting for a stand to be built. I have finally gotten other projects done to dedicate some time to building. Here is what I got, stand built out of
one inch dimensional oak, glued with pocket holes. I am planning for the top to be 3/4" oak ply with trim around after I set the tank.

Here is my problem, Marineland states that they don't want anything under the tank. No foam, no table, no top, no nothing. Their stand has a 1-2 inch wide lip the tank sits on and the bottom is completely unsupported. I guess I should have done more research into this before I built the stand. The tank is built with the side walls coming strait down sitting beside the bottom glass, NOT on top. I can only assume that is why they say no foam under the tank.

Here is my solution. Leaving the 3/4" oak ply top and making a 1.5" wide frame the exact dimension of the tank out of either plexi or even maybe 1/4" ply for the tank to sit on.

This would elevate the tank a 1/4" off the ply eliminating any pressure points for the bottom leaving the bottom unsupported and putting all weight of the tank around the perimeter.

What do you all think? What would you do if this was your setup?
Thanks!

Duke4Life · Feb 11, 2016

That's sort of a tough call, but go with what you're thinking already. Another option would be to use a router or saw and cut the top out, leaving the middle hallow. What you have done looks nice.

Big B · Feb 11, 2016

I thought about the router but that would be a lot, I think I will stick with the frame. I bought a couple sticks of 1/4" thick by 2" wide pieces of oak, plan on making a 24" perimeter with those. I feel like that will work just fine. Thanks for the reinsurance.

dbrewsky · Feb 11, 2016

That seems like a bizarre request from marineland as ALL reputable manufacturers of rimless tank insist that a rimless tank must be full supported underneath and be sitting on a layer of foam to prevent pressure points.

Are you sure that marineland knows that this is a rimless tank? This would make more sense if the tank had trim.

Big B · Feb 11, 2016

Ya, they are a little different in their construction of the tank. On a Marineland the side panels do NOT sit on top of the bottom glass. They sit next to the bottom. Marineland says if you use foam under their tank it will add pressure to the bottom and could pop the seams. The stand they sell for this tank is completely open in the middle. The tank just sits on a 1.5" wide surface around the perimeter.