metal or wood stand for large tanks?

[moneytank]

still trying to decide on metal or wood for my stand. will be for two tanks put in an "L" shape close to 570 gallons plus whatever for the sumps below. what does everyone think?
metal or wood? and why
thanks

oh and they will be in a fish room so the stands wont be seen

[erikharrison]

Metal will give you much more room underneath to place a sump, and just for getting around in. Also, wood warps. If you have a small, undetectable (at first) leak, it could warp the wood enough to cause some kind of weakness, and possibly the stand falling apart. I had a drip behind my tank caused from water on the lip of my aquarium which touched the canopy and then started to draw the excess water from the lip down the backside of my stand. I got lucky to catch it, but my wood is partially warped.

[Bill S]

I wouldn't own a metal stand (no pun intended...). In a salt evironment, no matter what you put on them, they will eventually rust, unless you build them out of stainless. There are folks who have metal and swear by them. But, see how many are more than 2 years old... Also, in a "fish room", you will tend to have an even harsher environment than in the living area of the house.

The downsides to wood are that they take up more room under the tank, and as Erik points out, they don't like to get wet - but iron is even worse.

[caferacermike]

I got lucky to catch it, but my wood is partially warped.

To the left or right?

[sharkboy]

Why don't more people build out of stainless? Is it that much more expensive or is it just harder to work with?

[LoneStar]

Go metal. Just coat the stand with a high quality rust protection. Line-X works great.


As for stainless, it is more expensive than carbon steel. You also have to make sure your welder can weld with stainless. And you will need to proper rods for stainless.

[Ross]

get it powder coated and it wont rust. Wood would be alot cheaper though.

[Bill S]

Powder coating, any coating, does NOT last for more than a couple of years. The first time the coating is scratched, it WILL rust - and the rust will run right under the coating. Believe me when I tell you this, my father is a corrosion engineer AND I have many, many years of experience trying to protect not only tank stands but boat trailers from salt damage. This is why good boat trailers for saltwater are GALVANIZED - the zinc coating is sacrificial and protects the scratch (zinc protects over about 1/10" of bare metal). However, the zinc oxide would be toxic for the tank. And, with any coating, one must be aware that when the coating starts going, it WILL end up in your sump/fuge, etc. Also the reason I won't use treated lumber.

Stainless is cost prohibitive and difficult to weld (as noted above).

[watson0720]

just as a curious question what are off shore drilling rigs and ships made of, if they can last as long as they do in the biggest saltwater tank in the world?

[LoneStar]

Even zinc will tarnish and corrode over time (I see our products returned with zinc parts and hardware with some nice corrosion). Add saltwater to the picture and it would make a interesting science experiment!

Best bet....solid granite block!

[alton]

If you are worried about water try Russian Birch. It has twice any many plies as Chinese made plywoods and it is water proof. I think it comes in 5 x 5 sheets though? My oldest stand that I have currently I made in 99 out of plywood sealed with lacquer and no problems.

[Bill S]

Oil rigs are steel. But, it's what they coat them with that counts. Copper works pretty well. Tin, even better. However, Tin is very toxic, and for instance for boat bottoms, only the US Navy and special permitted vessels can use Tin anymore.

Yes, zinc WILL corrode. Just a lot more slowly than uncoated steel. BTW, steel roofing panels are ALWAYS zinc coated before they are painted. It's the zinc that protects the steel, not the paint - the paint is strictly for looks.

Oh yeah, and on big boats, we use zinc anodes to keep other metals on our boats from corroding. They are all electronically bonded together so the zinc gets eaten up first. Water heaters also have a zinc anode in them too. Most people never replace them.

[LoneStar]

Good points Bill.

You know I haven't seen anyone use reinforced concrete for a stand yet. I figured someone in this country has a house they don't plan on moving out of. A concrete stand (done nicely) would pretty cool. You can even do that foo foo concrete stamping/staining to look it more presentable.

[erikharrison]

You can even do that foo foo concrete stamping/staining to look it more presentable.

My cousin does that for a living. Wanna talk about a dirty job...

[moneytank]

thanks for the replys, I think I will end up going with wood (not for sure yet though)
kind of in a hurry to get the tanks up and running to get them cycled. The house should be done by the end of next week. I will then need to get everything out of our old house as soon as possible since the guy who bought it is letting us rent it back from him. dont want to have to pay another months rent for the fish to live there...

[caferacermike]

I've actually seen stands made from concrete and have books explaining the process. You don't have to not have plans to move. You use sheets of plastic on the floor before you begin the process. Most use concrete supports with 8" I-Beams as runners.

Another point about oil rigs is that they do rust, constantly. They have special teams constantly replacing the bits. I can work on the rigs in my trade replacing pipes and make a good living if I so choose. The supports for the rigs are over engineered. Meaning they are sacrificial as was stated. Because of their heft, they begin to rust immediately. When enough rust is accumulated it can actually protect the remaining metals from rust producing oxygen. The difference is that we use thin walled hollow tubing to build stand with. Essentially it will never get to the point of protection without being eaten through.

A problem with stainless is that you would have to use 316L to produce a stainless that won't rust. Many 303, 304, 308 grades contain iron. When you reach 316 all of the iron has been completely removed and you finally reach "medical grade" stainless. Each grade is considerably more expensive. Not to mention the difficulty in finding a good orbital welder for this "soft" metal. Ever wonder why your "good" chef knives rust in your kithen sink? Because they must contain iron to hold an edge. They are typically 304 stainless.

Another good option, albeit quite new, are plastic plywoods. They look very much like wood and work the same way. They are stronger than wood and offer superior break down protection. Wood has been the standard and with some good protection should last a very long time. If truly in doubt, coat it in marine epoxy. You could even go as far as coating it in marine fiberglass, much in the way TexReefer built his 90g tank entirely out of plywood.