Edge supported aquariums

I'll be building a stand for a new 90 gallon drilled tank, so I'm going with
an edge supported design. The whole idea makes me a little nervous to be
honest, but it seems fairly common. But I'm wondering how you cushion the
edges, since there is no bottom under the tank. I have a sheet of Styrofoam
under my present 75 gallon, but this won't work with a bottomless design.

Bill Stock wrote:
I'll be building a stand for a new 90 gallon drilled tank, so I'm going with
an edge supported design. The whole idea makes me a little nervous to be
honest, but it seems fairly common. But I'm wondering how you cushion the
edges, since there is no bottom under the tank. I have a sheet of Styrofoam
under my present 75 gallon, but this won't work with a bottomless design.

Could you further describe your edge supported aquarium.

I have built (with some technical support from an aquarium mfr. who was
a friend of mine). I have built one with all glass and silicone and
placed it directly on a wooden stand (pine) with support on ALL edges,
I did not use any styro.

Carl

"carlrs" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bill Stock wrote:
I'll be building a stand for a new 90 gallon drilled tank, so I'm going
with
an edge supported design. The whole idea makes me a little nervous to be
honest, but it seems fairly common. But I'm wondering how you cushion the
edges, since there is no bottom under the tank. I have a sheet of
Styrofoam
under my present 75 gallon, but this won't work with a bottomless design.

Could you further describe your edge supported aquarium.

Standard aquarium, except this one will have an overflow. It's the stand
that will support the aquarium along the edges, rather than the bottom. I
understand that aquariums (North American anyway) are meant to be supported
along the edges, not the bottom. It's encouraging that you didn't require
any Styrofoam, how big was the tank?

Also, what construction did you use for your stand? The stand I built for my
75 gallon was built from 2x4s with oak veneer for the skin. Overkill, but it
doesn't look too bad. I'm thinking I'll go with face frame construction and
use a 1x4 oak for the headers on the 90.

I have built (with some technical support from an aquarium mfr. who was
a friend of mine). I have built one with all glass and silicone and
placed it directly on a wooden stand (pine) with support on ALL edges,
I did not use any styro.

Carl

Bill Stock wrote:
"carlrs" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bill Stock wrote:
I'll be building a stand for a new 90 gallon drilled tank, so I'm going
with
an edge supported design. The whole idea makes me a little nervous to be
honest, but it seems fairly common. But I'm wondering how you cushion the
edges, since there is no bottom under the tank. I have a sheet of
Styrofoam
under my present 75 gallon, but this won't work with a bottomless design.

Could you further describe your edge supported aquarium.

Standard aquarium, except this one will have an overflow. It's the stand
that will support the aquarium along the edges, rather than the bottom. I
understand that aquariums (North American anyway) are meant to be supported
along the edges, not the bottom. It's encouraging that you didn't require
any Styrofoam, how big was the tank?

Also, what construction did you use for your stand? The stand I built for my
75 gallon was built from 2x4s with oak veneer for the skin. Overkill, but it
doesn't look too bad. I'm thinking I'll go with face frame construction and
use a 1x4 oak for the headers on the 90.

I have built (with some technical support from an aquarium mfr. who was
a friend of mine). I have built one with all glass and silicone and
placed it directly on a wooden stand (pine) with support on ALL edges,
I did not use any styro.

Carl


The largest all glass (I have built a few wooden ones too) was a 60
gallon with 1/4" sides and a 3/8" bottom plate.
As for the stand, I used pine 2x4s to support the edges (the bottom was
open). I was told by Prestige Aquarium, that in the absense of a
plastic trim which is commonly used in the aquarium industry, to make
sure a use a soft wood for support. Pine (douglas fir) both supports
and has some give for the imperfections of the aquarium, which hard
wood does not. Oak veneer should not be a problem according to this
school of thought.

Carl