Difference of stands for Glass or Acrylic??

[vipertaj]

Hi. So I am very new to the hobby. I picked up for a really good deal a 125 gallon Acrylic aquarium. So I am looking for a stand 72"x24". Now I was going to go ahead and get one online but then it stated its for a Glass Aquarium only. Then I really started looking out there and went to a very reputated site starts with a DR and they have stands that does not say for a glass or acrylic specific. Then looking at some of the questions and answers there were different answers from their staff if it would or would not work for a acrylic aquarium.

I am really confused as to why a stand would work for a glass aquarium and not a acrylic (same dimensions). I mean I know very minute wouldnt the total weight with water be lighter for the acrylic than the glass?? Please help. :sad2:

 

[mallard]

Glass aquariums typically only require support on the edges of the trim. Acrylic requires that the entire bottom of the tank is supported. So if you can add some plywood or other support to the bottom, it should still work as long as it's rated to support the same weight.

 

[vipertaj]

That does make sense. I tell you its really hard to find a stand that is rated for a 125 gallon acrylic aquarium. Going to contact some manufacturers tomorrow. Thank you for the information. If I had the tools/time/know how I would make one myself. Figured will save me the effort and get one and be done with it.

 

[Ztous]

Make one? It's a fairly easy build.

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-an-Aquarium-Stand

This breaks it down well.

 

[mallard]

If you've got a friend or two with some tools, I'm sure some food, beverages, and cost of materials and you'd have one knocked out pretty quickly. Also, building your own stand is sooo worth it. You can customize it to how you want to run things under your tank. If not, I know Home Depot and Lowes will cut wood for you. Get all your measurements, let them cut it and you should be in good shape.

 

[Grimreaperz]

Built mine today took me and my dad about 2 hours! And $30 staining it tomorrow! Dimensions are 40x20x30 I stood and jumped on it to test!!

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[vipertaj]

Built mine today took me and my dad about 2 hours! And $30 staining it tomorrow! Dimensions are 40x20x30 I stood and jumped on it to test!!

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Very nice.

 

[Grimreaperz]

Very nice.

Highly recommend building it if you are DIY savy if not have a capable friend to help you out...so much cheaper and you can get the design you want. After staining they turn out quite nice.

This is mine after everything is finished. May cover the front with a cabinet after my sump is built and in.

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[OrQidz]

I agree it's totally worth it to build one if you can. If not, I think any stand that is able to hold the weight of 125 gallons of water for a glass tank would work for an acrylic as long as you get a plywood base to sit the tank on (as mentioned previously).

The only thing I would warn you, if it's a new tank, people have been burned by weird warranties that only cover the tank if a specific stand is used. I think these have been glass tanks that cracked, so it may not apply to you. But if you spent a bunch of money on a brand new acrylic tank be sure to check manufacturer warranty to see if there is some odd thing about the stand. It's a long shot that it would ever happen, but I've seen people get screwed over by the manufacturer so I thought I would mention it.

Have fun with the new tank!

 

[JohnnyHildo]

Highly recommend building it if you are DIY savy if not have a capable friend to help you out...so much cheaper and you can get the design you want. After staining they turn out quite nice.

This is mine after everything is finished. May cover the front with a cabinet after my sump is built and in.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

just a tip, if you resize your photos before posting them the end result will be more desirable. i myself am not tech-savy but read somewhere using 690 pixels wide as a starting point allows your entire image to be displayed on a webpage using common resolution.


as far as stands go, acrylic needs complete support across the bottom as do glass tanks without a bottom frame. this is accomplished using bracing and then a sheet of plywood so it is flat. styrofoam on top of the plywood is also a good idea to help avoid having voids.
a tank built with a bottom frame is basically a plastic trim piece that supports the bottom pane of glass about 3/4" up from the base of the front,back and sides. with these you simply need to support the edges as that is the only contact point and is where the load is dispersed.

 

[Grimreaperz]

just a tip, if you resize your photos before posting them the end result will be more desirable. i read somewhere using 690 pixels wide as a starting point allows your entire image to be displayed.

Both my images were fully displayed. And using mobile makes it harder to resize before posts....generally I resize all photos of I am on PC. Can you explain further by the meaning "entirely displayed"?

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[vipertaj]

Thank you everyone for your advice. Really great to see all the awesome help you get from the community. I ended up having one built from R&J and I should have it in the next couple weeks. I cannot wait and then I can start the build.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

Both my images were fully displayed. And using mobile makes it harder to resize before posts....generally I resize all photos of I am on PC. Can you explain further by the meaning "entirely displayed"?

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ah i've never used mobile for this site.
entirely displayed on the screen without scrolling the screen both left to right and top to bottom just to see what the photo is actually of.

 

[Grimreaperz]

ah i've never used mobile for this site.
entirely displayed on the screen without scrolling the screen both left to right and top to bottom just to see what the photo is actually of.

Oh yeah! It's convenient but doesn't always work the best for pics. I have a Canon EOS for my actual camera to take pics. Seems to work okay. Then I resize in MS Paint.

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