Double aquarium stands

Question for you guys that have or have used double aquarium stands. Recently I bought a few used double stands made of metal for a few 30 gallon tanks I haven't set up yet. The top of the stands don't have anything holding the tank in its place nor is it the type of set up where the bottom edges of the tank surround the edges of the stand, like your typical wrought iron one. So my question is, is the weight of the tank pressing down going to be the only thing keeping it from falling down? How safe is that? I know it's a lot of weight but I would hate to accidentally knock it off and have a disaster on my hands. It just seems not right to me and totally unsafe but maybe I'm over thinking it ?

 

If you place the aquarium in the spot correctly, centered and fill it up (freshwater is approx 7-8 lbs per gal) I see no risk of pushing. My aquarium stand has no "rail" for the tank, just a rectangle held up by legs.

 

Here you got! Just built one!

 

Almost done

 

Question for you guys that have or have used double aquarium stands. Recently I bought a few used double stands made of metal for a few 30 gallon tanks I haven't set up yet. The top of the stands don't have anything holding the tank in its place nor is it the type of set up where the bottom edges of the tank surround the edges of the stand, like your typical wrought iron one. So my question is, is the weight of the tank pressing down going to be the only thing keeping it from falling down? How safe is that? I know it's a lot of weight but I would hate to accidentally knock it off and have a disaster on my hands. It just seems not right to me and totally unsafe but maybe I'm over thinking it ?

Yes, the weight of the tank should be more then enough to keep the tank in place when its full. If you are worried put a 1/2" sheet of that pink or blue insulation foam board and your tank will press into the foam and the metal frame then it likely won't move. I have one tank stand that has 3 tanks one on top of each other and never an issue. Mine are 50 gallons but once you put water in the tank even a 30 is going to press into the foam a little. If you are really worried it would not take much to screw in small metal tabs on the corners to make extra sure. I am in the process of building a rack for 4 tanks all one on top of the other and I am not worried about a tank moving. My only worry is because of the height of my rack, I might need to bolt the frame to the wall to prevent the whole rack from being tippy.

 

2nd the foam. You can't see it but mine is sitting on corrugated cardboard to prevent movment.

yes you can get away with just supporting the corners of a tank. Anything over 3 feet though I would caution against that

 

When I used them I would wire them to the wall just to be safe.

 

Here is a pic of my 3 50s stacked with only the tanks sitting on the frame. The bottom and middle tank have only the support frame on the side while the top tank has nothing on the front but I did extend the frame on the back. I staggered my frame to make it more stable, but it takes up more space.