wood or steel stand for lg tank?

[Elliott]

I've heard wood prices have gone up, so which is more cost effective, wood or steel? I am planning a large (1200g) in wall tank, the stand will not be seen and the space below the tank is not important for space utilization.

 

[thorsen]

I just went down to get a bid on a steel stand and the shop owner told me steel prices have gone up 66% since June. Checked online and verfied it, article said China is buying all the steel causing a shortage. So steels up too.

 

[Elliott]

yeah, I also heard China is buying up steel, wood may still be less

 

[ricks]

If I remember right I paid about 1,000.00 for the steel stand on my 500. It works great just make sure to have it powder coated..

 

[nyvp]

I love my steel stand. you can also have it rhino sprayed

 

[LEPRECAUN]

Make sure if you use Steel that it is at least 3" tube steel. It will really spread the weight of the tank on the floor. Personally I would use 4" for a tank that size. I'm using 2" 1/4' THICK, but my tank is only about 550 gallons. YEs technically you could use smaller, but remember going from 2" to 3" would spread the wieght on the floor by 50%. That would be a huge help in the weight distribution.

You would need someone who knows weight calculations to help you with the final tube size and thickness.


The rhino liner is much better that the powder coating in my openion, it does not get knocked off easy and unstead of being paint thickness like with coating. It is about 1/4" thick on mine.

 

[mflamb]

Mine is 1.5" square tube steel 3/16" wall thickness, 240 feet total.
My reason was space under the tank.

 

[Elliott]

LEPRECAUN: regarding weight distribution on the floor are you concerned about the stand or the floor, or both? the tank/stand will be sitting on a cement slab directly on the ground and plumbed to another equipment room, so space underneath the tank is not an issue

 

[nyvp]

I'm no engineer but I don't think you need 3 or 4 inch steel to handle your tank. The way I built my tank the legs don't touch the floor but the bottom pcs so the weight is spread out on 2 -10' pcs and 2-36" pcs. I would just use 2x2x1/4" I went to an engineer and was told the #'s but that was way overkill. I went with 3/16th thick. This is for a 10x36x30 tank

 

[Elliott]

nyvp. thanks for the info, and I really like your stand! did you do the Rhino spray or have it done?

edit: ahh, I just read your other post, you painted with rustloc and clearcoat.