On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 10:47:31 -0400, "NetMax"
bubbled forth the following:

Personally, I think you could hold up many types of tanks by a wood block
in each corner. The tank's base is held by the long sides, and the
amount of pressure needed to vertically break a pane of glass in a
vertical position should require many more times the amount of weight in
the tank. The only concern is again, that the 4 corner blocks equally
contact the glass so no twist is introduced.
While I've done this with small tanks (5 and 10 gal), I'd be a bit
leery with anything much larger.

There's one website (can't find the link now) where they recommend
that the 4 sides of the aquarium extend below the bottom panel. This
is so you don't have to build a frame to hold the bottom panel up off
of a solid topped stand. In this case the bottom panel is only held by
the silicone, with not even the support of wood blocks under each
corner. However, I'm not so sure I'd want to put that much faith in
the strength of the silicone. The bottom joint will be under more
stress this way, not only the water pressure pushing the side panel
out, but the weight of the water and decorations pushing the bottom
panel down.

Most DIY sites show that the side panels should be resting on the
bottom panel. All manufactured glass tanks I've seen are built this
way. The forces on the bottom joint are mainly shear (water pressure
pushing the side panel out), with some compression from the weight of
the vertical panes. When you only support the 4 corners, you are
asking the silicone to hold the bottom pane up to the vertical panes,
which places the joint in both tension and shear, and silicone is
stronger under shear than tension IIRC. While it may hold for years,
you may be stressing the silicone to the breaking point. I have this
mental picture of very small earthquake, or just a 2 pound rock
slipping from your hand a few inches above the substrate being the
proverbial last straw. causing the joint to fail all at once, opening
up like a zipper, causing the bottom pane to break into many pieces.

Plus I'm sure this would void any warranty on the tank.

I have no scientific or experiential data to say it won't work, but
that mental picture makes me rather be safe than sorry, though as
always, ymmv

Jerry