Wheels under aquarium stand - thoughts?

[foundnemo11]

+1 on bad idea. I think the inertia of all that water moving would add a lot of stresses on the tank itself.

Yeah that makes sense.. I still get nervous of just glass and silicone holding all that much water in my house. Adding more to the equation seems risky

 

[foundnemo11]

So how in the world do you level a tank, on a stand with wheels people?! Lets look at the big picture: Wheels and axle strength, wheel attachment point stress, weight distribution issues, deflection in the stand, deflection and stress issues with the tank glass and seams, stress points on flooring/ subflooring and LEVELLING ISSUES!

Unless its a small tank with not much of anything of value in it, I would most certainly "steer" clear of that idea. (Pun intended)

Yeah nothing seems good about this idea unless it's on a small tank. The amount of water in big tanks is enough to ruin a house. I would try to keep it simple and safe.

 

[OllieNZ]

I've seen it done on a 4x2x2 fresh water setup, I'll try dig some links out later. Toolbox casters will be the best thing to look into as these are designed to support massive loads (just look at the largest mac tools boxes designed for 1000s of lbs) and still roll freely, the point load from the wheels on anything other than concrete flooring may be an issue.

 

[coralsnaked]

I wouldn't. I've seen wave makers and high flow pumps blow out glass, The stress against the glass as you start and stop the tank on whatever type castors, rollers, or wheels could easily blow out seals or the glass.

 

[jfill2143]

Yes you can build it. I wouldn't see this being good for your fish though if you're constantly moving it.

You need a well built stand/cabinet- Blind Dado Construction or dowel construction and use these casters. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=20006626

Make sure the stand is made out of Veneer core plywood, with a solid wood face frame. I can send you a photo of how to cover the caster a bit into the stand. so you will not see most of it.

If a local Ace doesnt have them message me. The downside is these casters do not have a brake

 

[JMorris271]

Perhaps if you built a good padded box frame around the tank to reinforce against the sloshing stress/pressure(if any)would help insurance wise

 

[James77]

One could drain the tank most the way to move it, that would alleviate the water sloshing around, as you would not be moving it very often, if at all. But considering that you will not normally move the tank all that often, draining and re-setting up a tank is not all that hard....takes a couple hours. Plus side is you can heavily clean and change things up when you do so.

I would use casters waaaayyyy over rated for the weight you need, just to be on the safe side:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_material-handling+casters

The frame is obviously an issue. Any caster mounted to wood with screws runs the risk of pulling out.

It could be done I am sure. I would ask if it is worth it considering the relative simplicity of breaking down a tank and moving it, as well as the added cost of heavier duty materials so it could be moved.

 

[JammyBirch]

Totally doable, 4 casters spec'd for the approximate weight + 10%. Got McMasterCarr and take a look. My 25 is in low friction furniture pads I move it all the time, my Christmas tree goes there in a month...

My 90 will have casters recessed so you won't see much of them. I'm an engineer who works with some very precise very heavy, slab of granite heavy, mobile equipment.

Your stand will need some additional support on the sides and bottom, may need to make your own, these off the shelf stands are kind cheesy anyway. I would not worry about the sloshing to much your not going to be able to move it with any significant acceleration, that being said realize you won't be able to stop quickly if you get it going either. Unless you ram it into something, that would be a significant acceleration, deceleration...ya be careful with the stopping...

Start a thread if you do this so we can watch the fun...and good luck.

 

[kurt_n]

Granted, I didn't read the whole thread/responses, but my primary concern would be your floor. There's a big difference between a stand that evenly distributes the load across a large area versus four point loads.

There are plenty of casters out there that will support the load with no issues. Also assuming the stand is designed properly, the load path/deflection in the stand shouldn't be an issue. But when you bring that load down into four discrete points into your flooring... that's where I'd start sweating it. Depending on your floor, lots of bad things could happen there.

 

[clintau]

No. No. No.

 

[firemountain]

Planks and wheels is not enough for that tank. I would look to have something custom built with angle irons and industrial grade wheels. It needs to be rigid so it doesn't flex and cause stress on the tank. It can be done, I would just look into it extensively to be safe.

Good luck!!

 

[Wryknow]

Moving a full tank will put a lot of stresses on the tank that are not normally there. Water sloshing back and forth, torsion stresses from the tank twisting as it is moved across a floor that is not perfectly flat, etc. These can crack the glass or fail the seams. Overall, I think it is a bad idea. It can be done, but the stand needs to be very strong and very rigid, the wheels would also need to be very strong, and the floor needs to be very flat and able to take the weight without giving.

Agree 100%. This is a bad idea. You could possibly reinforce the stand and over build the aquarium enough to handle this kind of stress but why would you want to invest that much $ and time in it? If your wife insists on moving it at some point in the future drain it, move it, and set it up again. It won't be a lot of fun but it sounds like a much more realistic alternative IMHO.

 

[segg05]

you could always source your wheels from a tool company. my snap on box weighs 990 pounds empty and the load capacity is 8000 pounds. just to add fuel to the fire. i in no way support the idea of having wheels on your tank.