neupane00

hello, i just bought this tank:
http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/04/...-line-oceanic/
its will be shipped to me on tuesday.
but the stand was very expensive and i bought stand locally in my petsmart. is that a bad idea to buy diff stand? one thing is that the locally bought stand has no top and they say its common for aquarium stand to have to top... is that true? it has like three walls, back is open, infront there is a door. and whole top is open! they claim most fish stands are like that. i am so confused. pls help.

Tony G.

wait, youre saying they sold you a stand without a flfat surface at the top??
ok as far as i know they do need to have a top. Its basically where the whole support of the tank sits..

neupane00

i know they sold me a stand without flat surface on the top! they showed me other ones without the flat surface on top and they said flat surface on top will throw the integrity off the tank. i am scared to put the tank thats 55 gallon (36 X 18 footprint) on top of stand that has no flat surface on the top.

Tony G.

that is so misleading! IMO i would go to home depot and get a piece of long (shelving) wood. Cut it a bit bigger about 2 inches bigger than the dimensions) and place it on top. that way you would have a sturdy surface..

thanson

When I bought my used tank he had a stand w/o a flat top and he had used it for years w/o a problem. Just mention it for what it's worth.

neupane00

i called another fish store and they said "oh so its like a pine stand,, like ada style stand, its fine"... lol i dont know what ADA stands for tho haha..

jdhef

I think needing a flat surface would be tank dependant. For a tank with a bottom frame that has the glass recessed, there would be no need for any support, other than perimeter support. But the acrylic tanks for example have totally flat bottoms (no recess) and would need total support underneath.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the bottom might not be recessed, and would need continuous support. The other thing that worries me about a wooden stand with no top, is that the top would help prevent twisting and racking.

neupane00

hey what do u mean by "For a tank with a bottom frame that has the glass recessed" ? i cant seem to picture what you mean by having flat bottom vs having "glass recessed frame" .. all aquariums have flat bottom? no?

jdhef

What I mean is for example, my 36 gallon bowfront has a frame at the top and bottom. The bottom glass actually sits up from the side glass a bit, and sits on the frame that would be in the interior space. So the tank really only sits on the bottom of the front, back and side glass, where the flat bottom glass would be raised maybe 1/2" above the bottom. (I really wish I could draw a picture to explain better.)

On the other hand my 12 gallon acrylic tank is molded and the sides just go down to the bottom and then turn 90 degrees inward. So when on a flat surface the bottom actually sits totally on the flat surface.

neupane00

ohhh. i see what you mean. thank u very much.