Wrought Iron Stand Questions

[shoggoth43]

I have a plywood stand we built for a 60" long 120 gallon glass tank. It's rock solid, but weighs quite a lot and I can only get a 20 long tank in there for a sump due to some poor construction choices eating up too much internal room. I managed to get a wrought iron stand for a decent price and there's much more room and it's wide open so I figure I'll have much easier access.

Some questions...

Should I put anything between the tank and wrought iron stand? Currently the tank sits on top of a yoga mat on a 3/4 ply top. The top of the new stand is just the perimeter rails and a single cross rail in the middle matching the plastic frame on the glass tank.

On the the lower shelf rails, there's a loose "wire mesh", more like some rods, holding the shelf rails at a set distance. I can fit a 40 breeder tank as a sump. I often see rack systems in stores only supporting the front and back of breeder tanks, but should I be putting a layer of ply down under the sump for better support? If so, would 3/4", or would 1/2" suffice? Should I center it, or just shove it to one end for better support? If I shove it to one end, should I maybe add some small bracing legs under the end of the sump in the "middle" of the stand? These rails appear to be the same size as the ones holding the main tank and there's only the 4 corners supported with no middle supports over the five foot span. I may be overthinking it, but don't really relish the idea of 20-30 gallons of water on the floor if the sump tank cracks.

Finally, I'd like to be able to support the vertical pipes for the overflow and possibly move the lights down off the tank rim and just mount them to the stand instead. I don't plan on drilling the stand to mount them, so I'm curious if anyone has done anything with them. Maybe clamping plywood to the rails and uprights or screwing to any plywood shelving I might use?

I'll probably use velcro or magnets to mount some side and front panels.

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S

 

[Sod Buster]

Pics?

 

[shoggoth43]

Full stand holding a couple of 40s. 120 in background. There are only 4 uprights and the full length is wide open. you can see the top center crossbar's shadow on the white paper on top of the bottom 40. Otherwise the top is completely open.


And this is the lower shelf showing the grid/mesh. The 40 is on its side but fits evenly on the rails when properly upright. This is pretty much where the end of the 40 sump would sit if shoved all the way to the end of the stand. It won't be full usually but I want to ensure that won't be a problem, just in case. The left half of the 40 will probably have a little over 12" or so of water in it normally, and the pump end ( at the end of the stand ) will probably be around 8" or so. So the heavier end of the sump will be in the middle of the stand as that's where all the overflow pipes will be. The opposite end of the stand will be where I put all the electrical stuff. Likely behind some kind of panel to isolate any splashing.

 

[Sod Buster]

I would definitely give more support than what the stand has for the bottoms. To keep the weight down, look in FRP, fiberglass reinforced plastic. Very strong and lightweight. The grid pattern. Lots of companies make it, this is just an example pic.

 

[shoggoth43]

I was informed by the manufacturer that nothing was required between tank and stand. They also said that no additional bracing would be needed on the lower shelf for a 40 breeder. Most likely I will still put some thin ply down and still consider additional legs in the middle, just in case. If I did some a plywood sheet on top of the stand and the shelf it would also give me something to screw some plumbing and lighting supports to as well.