Wood vs. Metal Stands

[TANGOMAN]

O.K. you engineering guru's, at what point do you no longer trust the structural integrity of wooden cabinets and opt to go with tubular metal stands ? 135 gallons and up...?

[Buccaneer]

O.K. you engineering guru's, at what point do you no longer trust the structural integrity of wooden cabinets and opt to go with tubular metal stands ? 135 gallons and up...?

My 300G sits on 4 X 4's :eek: :cool:

[MitchM]

I build houses with engineered wood posts rated to hold 20,000 lbs.

...how big of a tank would you like? :mrgreen:

Mitch

[TANGOMAN]

4 x 4's... :rolleyes: . Your's doesn't count Steve...
O.K. Let me add another scenario or two to the eqauation. Let's assume you're not building a beautiful tank, built into the wall,(Steve), and you're not hangin' out in some "Frat-house" with an old wire spool for a coffee table which is covered in empties and magazines :wink: . This tank is goin' in the lobby of some elaborate establishment so a nice wood finish is critical. At what point do ya' want a metal support structure encased in wood finish ?

[Aquattro]

I think any tank can sit on a wooden stand. And it's just as easy to skin 4x4s in oak as it is steel. Weight may become an issue, but strength should be fine for any "normal" tank.

[Buccaneer]

4 x 4's... :rolleyes: . Your's doesn't count Steve...


:mrgreen:

[Quinn]

My 150 and Jonathan's 230 are on 2x4s.

I think the main advantage of metal is that it's not as bulky. The space inside my stand is limited just because of how bulky the thing is.

[MitchM]

The problem with metal though, is that it will distort somewhat with welding.

Mitch

[Nemain]

Only if you weld through o_O If you use skid 40, heck even 20 it should't distort at all. Just make sure that you don't have your O2 set too high.

Beth

[Delphinus]

Another potential issue maybe with metal is it can get rusty, and cleaning rust flakes might be annoying (if nothing else).

Personally I think it's a question of what you've got available, and what you're comfortable working with. If it was me building the stand, I'd do it in wood since I maybe almost know how to work with wood. But welding? Forget it -- I haven't a clue. But a welder might think completely 180 different than that, they might say "metal all the way, why work with wood?". As long as either option is built right I think either option is fine. If I could find a stand made of metal that suited my needs and it was economical then I'd go with that and build a wooden facade to make it look nice. But if I was building from scratch myself then I'd go wood and maybe try to overbuild it a little if it was a big tank.

Bear in mind when you read my comments though that the biggest tank I've ever had is 75 gallons, which isn't very large compared to most of you guys out there.

[Skimmerking]

my tank sat on a 4x4 with 2x6's that was a 280 gal tank .

Mike

[Lofus]

From an engineering point of view, it comes down to cost.

Distortion is not an issue if you have qualified welders using the correct weld procedures. You could make the whole thing out of aluminium wide flange if you wanted.

Space becomes an issue with wood as you get larger and larger but realistically as the stands are generally in compression wood is more than strong enough.

Intuitavely, I would think that wood is cheaper than steel and construction costs tend to be less but the only way to be sure would be to get a quote from a shop.

[UnderWorldAquatics]

Ill post because I build alot of stands made of either material. I build wood stands and canopies for most tanks up too 300 gallons, I build some stands out of metal under 300 gallons where space is an issue, canopies are the same deal, I like metal canopies as they are light weight and strong. All tanks over 300 gallons I build steel stands and steel or aluminum canopies, both metals get powder coated and the finish really lasts forever, your wood even if treated will rot long before a well built and well powdercoated steel structure will even begin to rust...

[monza]

I went with metal only because I have a buddy with the skills, equipment and you can't beat free. I would think the space saving is for sure the biggest benifit over wood. I only painted the stand and I do have very minimal surface rust in real wet areas. Next time I'll powder coat for sure.

Dave

[pocilipora]

Ive done both wood and steel. Steel even when powder coated will sooner or later rust if it gets wet. Personaly Id go with aluminum skined with wood.

[StirCrazy]

Steel has a definite advantage over wood in the compact size and the ability to remain more ridged over a longer distance. this will allow you to span longer distances with smaller sized supports and free up a lot more room. if you were to take a 4X4 stand for a example this will give you a extra 7.5" front to rear by using 1.5X1.5X1/4" "L".

as for rusting there are good coatings that if you apply them right you will not get any. but if you scratch it you may develop a spot of rust, but at any rate rusty steel is still way stronger than rotted wood.

my tank is a subframe of steel with a wood wrap (like Brads)
http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/stand/painted.jpg

I will add that I did not need the center braces I was just sticking to my overbuilding tendency.

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/stand/wholeframe.jpg


http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/stand/finnished.jpg

the real issue is what you feel comfortable working with, i don't mind wielding and I don't mind using wood. for a free standing stand i would use steal again as it is cheaper then wood if you do the work your self, if I was building it into a wall then wood would probably be more convenient as i can use the wall as one side of the stand.

Steve

[BCOrchidGuy]

Steve that looks great, really nice work.

Doug

ps for what it's worth my 90 was on 1x4 and my 155 is on 2x6

[StirCrazy]

:eek: you know its weird that that pic was over two years ago and some of the same junk is still on top of the stand :rolleyes: :mrgreen:

Steve

[TNTCanada]

I used wood for my stand it is around 10 years old never had any problems. But steal would be nice for more space you can never have enough space.

[jgoldsney]

I am currently in the process of designing the stand for my new 230 Gal.
I am going with steel for 2 reasons....

1) way more room in the stand to work

2) I want to have good access to what is in the stand so I am going to make the outside out of wood and attach them with magnets (cudo's to Dez for the idea) this way if I need to get at anything all I have to do is pop off the panel and it is out of the way.


Joel