Steel Stand Strength

[MJ Lim]

Hi,

I have a 150 gallon glass rimless peninsula that I will be building my first steel stand for. The tank is a 48" x 24" x 30" with 5/8" glass. It's a rimless with small diagonal braces up top, which I plan on adding additional eurobracing to. I live in San Diego and the tank will be on top of tile flooring with a concrete slab under it.

I came up with a basic layout for the stand which I plan to make with some 1.25" x 1.25" .120" wall thickness square tubing that I have laying around in the house. My welder friend says the design should be more than adequate for the tank, but if possible, I would love to get an engineer's input here.

If i HAVE to use 2" x 2" or greater, I guess I could, but since I have around 100' of the 1.25" laying around, I would prefer to use this.

Any inputs, feed backs and/or criticisms would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Jason mack]

Personally i wouldn't risc it ,I'm doing one for my 90g I'm using 2.5 ×2.5. and that was on advice from my lfs ...

 

[PicassoDan]

The concern here is not that the stand might catastrophically fail, but that it might deflect so much that the glass tank cracks. The 1.25" x .120" wall tubing should more than carry the weight of the tank. To reduce the risk of deflection caused failure, a layer of foam between the tank and stand might help. I would suggest making the diagonal gussets longer, unless you need the access. Most importantly , the top surface of the stand should be mice and flat...

 

[MJ Lim]

Thank you for the tips. I’ll revise my design.

 

[Engloid]

You could use the material you have, and just double up the top frame that holds the tank. Also keep in mind that gusset pieces will be very important under it and on the sides. I've been in welding related fields of work for over 30yrs and I'd do it if I had the material and wanted to make the frame myself.

 

[MJ Lim]

Thank you for the reply. I looked up prices for 2x2 at the local supply and almost had a heart attack.

Fortunately, I was able to acquire .120 thick 2x6s and 3/16” 4x6s for pennies on the dollar. I will be revising the design using the 2x6s on top and the 4x6s as the vertical support.

I’ll post the new design soon for the members to review.

 

[MJ Lim]

Here is the revised design. I struggled to make it aesthetically pleasing with the 2x6s.

My question now is, do I need the gussets on the vertical 4x6s?

 

[sstanley223]

I was able to find websites with beam and column load bearing specifications for many different sizes and thicknesses of steel tubing. I'm not an engineer but I was able to understand enough of it to be helpful. Mine is built out if 1.500" x .083" square steel tubing. The only problem I ran into was heat deformation where I welded supports in between the top horizontal beams. It left a gap of about .090 under the center of the tank which I corrected with a nicely finished piece of plywood leveled with an adhesive. My tank is a standard Aqueon and they said only the corners need to be supported but I wanted it to be legit. I learned a lot being my first attempt.

 

[sstanley223]

I was able to find websites with beam and column load bearing specifications for many different sizes and thicknesses of steel tubing. I'm not an engineer but I was able to understand enough of it to be helpful. Mine is built out if 1.500" x .083" square steel tubing. The only problem I ran into was heat deformation where I welded supports in between the top horizontal beams. It left a gap of about .090 under the center of the tank which I corrected with a nicely finished piece of plywood leveled with an adhesive. My tank is a standard Aqueon and they said only the corners need to be supported but I wanted it to be legit. I learned a lot being my first attempt.

This has the pics if you are interested. Good luck!

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/427670/

 

[MJ Lim]

Stanley, that’s one heck of a build!

All that metal will shift around when they’re welded, but I’m not sure if the deflection would be significant on the .120” 2x6s. That’s just an assumption of course.

What welder were you using? Your beads look great!

 

[MJ Lim]

One more without the center vertical support but with gussets added.

 

[sstanley223]

Stanley, that’s one heck of a build!

All that metal will shift around when they’re welded, but I’m not sure if the deflection would be significant on the .120” 2x6s. That’s just an assumption of course.

What welder were you using? Your beads look great!

Thanks, there is a few I'm not proud of but it was a learning experience. I bet the .120 would take the heat a little better. That was done with a Miller 141.

 

[PicassoDan]

With no center column, I'm wondering how much deflection you'll get in that top member... It's probably fine. I could model it in FEA

 

[sstanley223]

http://www.atc-mechanical.com/calculators/tube-size-using-structural-properties/#index

 

[theblackpearl]

Id use the 1.5" x 1.5" that you originally designed with. Id use stainless leveling feet under the stand (4 or 6). Put foam between the tank and the stand to compensate for high/low spots. You can buy it from BRS.

I used this formula: steel stand - 1/2" osb - 1.5" granite - foam - rimless tank

Picture of my stand for my 93 gallon cube (upside down). Ive been using this stand for 2 years

 

[MJ Lim]

Thank you all for the inputs. I am currently in the process of procuring a new welder as my current one is not sufficient for 3/16” steel.

Being able to use 1.5” would be great, but now I feel that the 2x4 stand may look better.

Also, what is FEA?

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Here's what I'm planning on using for my 90gal. I'm going to build an MDF top, removing the doors and repacing them with foam-core panels. It's all 1x3 tubing.

 

[KStatefan]

Thank you all for the inputs. I am currently in the process of procuring a new welder as my current one is not sufficient for 3/16” steel.

Being able to use 1.5” would be great, but now I feel that the 2x4 stand may look better.

Also, what is FEA?

Finite Element Analysis

With the correct software you can draw an object and then apply a load and see where the max deflection, stress and shear is. I use autodesk inventor at work for this.

Sample image