okay, a couple of things.
the feet that I made are simply solid maple wood blocks, painted black. 1 inch thick. its as hard as bone. the steel stand has plastic inserts that are in the bottom of the legs, and the legs are resting on the feet (I did shim up one of them as I needed to)
my stand does not have any supports, nor do most of the steel stands that are made by this company (although the 72x24 size I believe does have some cross supports). they are made to have two tanks, so thats why there is no angle iron etc. to impede the bottom tank.
my 150g tank has no wobble or shake at all. you cant even shake it if you try. its as solid as a rock. part of the reason is that 1.5" square tubing gives a solid footing, and the 3x3 feet help that too. thats why there is no shake even if you try and shake the tank.
don't worry about the weight of the tank (or tanks if you stack them) on the steel legs. Steel is incredibly strong. thats why these stands last so long.
here is a link to a pic of my old fishroom:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3186206&postcount=2
full of these same steel stands, only these ones are all 1" steel tubing. Stands 4 feet and smaller are made with 1" tubing, the 5 foot and up stands are 1.5" tubing and the 72x24 size is 2" tubing from this company. you can see the 90 and 65g stacked on one stand. even 1" steel tubing is very very strong. these tanks sat on this stand from 1993 up till this past fall.
now, notice my 65 saltwater tank (the blue one) is on a steel stand too. I bought the stand in 2005 and this past fall I touched it up when I moved. just light surface rust. as long as you wipe up the saltwater right away, you can have a salt tank on a steel stand (provided its painted). every few years, you can give the outside surface a quick sand/touch up. but thats about it.
the reason I have always went with steel stand was:
at my old fishroom I wanted stacked tanks (at my parents)
and
at my new house I only have 2 main tanks (65g salt that I took with me
and new 150g). I went with steel because I didnt trust the pine stands at the LFS for almost 2000 pounds of weight held up by staples and wood glue..
and I am not very handy to build my own stand, so I went with the big steel stand again.
of the options available to me at the LFS, the steel tube stand was the best option for such a big tank..
the feet that I made are simply solid maple wood blocks, painted black. 1 inch thick. its as hard as bone. the steel stand has plastic inserts that are in the bottom of the legs, and the legs are resting on the feet (I did shim up one of them as I needed to)
my stand does not have any supports, nor do most of the steel stands that are made by this company (although the 72x24 size I believe does have some cross supports). they are made to have two tanks, so thats why there is no angle iron etc. to impede the bottom tank.
my 150g tank has no wobble or shake at all. you cant even shake it if you try. its as solid as a rock. part of the reason is that 1.5" square tubing gives a solid footing, and the 3x3 feet help that too. thats why there is no shake even if you try and shake the tank.
don't worry about the weight of the tank (or tanks if you stack them) on the steel legs. Steel is incredibly strong. thats why these stands last so long.
here is a link to a pic of my old fishroom:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3186206&postcount=2
full of these same steel stands, only these ones are all 1" steel tubing. Stands 4 feet and smaller are made with 1" tubing, the 5 foot and up stands are 1.5" tubing and the 72x24 size is 2" tubing from this company. you can see the 90 and 65g stacked on one stand. even 1" steel tubing is very very strong. these tanks sat on this stand from 1993 up till this past fall.
now, notice my 65 saltwater tank (the blue one) is on a steel stand too. I bought the stand in 2005 and this past fall I touched it up when I moved. just light surface rust. as long as you wipe up the saltwater right away, you can have a salt tank on a steel stand (provided its painted). every few years, you can give the outside surface a quick sand/touch up. but thats about it.
the reason I have always went with steel stand was:
at my old fishroom I wanted stacked tanks (at my parents)
and
at my new house I only have 2 main tanks (65g salt that I took with me
and new 150g). I went with steel because I didnt trust the pine stands at the LFS for almost 2000 pounds of weight held up by staples and wood glue..
and I am not very handy to build my own stand, so I went with the big steel stand again.
of the options available to me at the LFS, the steel tube stand was the best option for such a big tank..
