# Aluminium Extrusion Tank Stands - Advice?



## Epiphyte (3 Apr 2022)

For those who have built tank stands with aluminium extrusions, what profiles did you go for?

I am building a stand for a Oase Scaperline 90 (standard ADA style dimensions of 900x450x450), so full of water and rocks I'd go for around about 300-400kg.

I was thinking of using 30x30 profile with perhaps a 30x60 profile mounted on the top edge to prevent flex. I know KJN Profiles do their own tank stands built from 45x45 profile, but this seems a little OTT given they use that for stands up to 6ft I think.

Have any others used this method of construction, or even own off the shelf stands built like this, and what have you used?

THanks!


----------



## Regent (8 Apr 2022)

I e built a stand for a 400l tank and my light fitting out of it if you're still looking for details?


----------



## Epiphyte (8 Apr 2022)

Regent said:


> I e built a stand for a 400l tank and my light fitting out of it if you're still looking for details?


Yes please! Tank doesn't arrive for two more weeks so still plenty of time to plan the stand. 

I've built plenty of things out of 2020, 2040 and 4040 extrusion but nothing load bearing, but I assume even the 2020 is pretty strong.


----------



## Easternlethal (9 Apr 2022)

My tank is 900kg and built on 2020. The profile doesn't matter because you can always add more supports. However I would put something like a tile underneath each stand as loads can be quite concentrated with 2020.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk


----------



## Epiphyte (9 Apr 2022)

900kg on 2020? Can you tell me a little more about your stand in terms of construction?

I was considering 4 verticals in the corners (obviously), with two extras on the rear and one on the front where the doors would join.

Each leg would be supported on an adjustable foot of some sort, which will be ample enough weight bearing wise. I've always had my 75p tank (maybe 50kg lighter than the planned 90p) supported on 6x similar diameter feet with no issues on my flooring.


----------



## Yugang (9 Apr 2022)

Epiphyte said:


> Can you tell me a little more about your stand in terms of construction?


Yeah, including the construction of your Hong Kong residential building 😮


----------



## Easternlethal (9 Apr 2022)

Haha Hong Kong residential apartments can easily take 900kg - which is just 10-13 people. No sweat at all for modern engineered flats. The trick is to spread out the load.

My cabinet frame has 12 verticals and 3 horizontal levels - one for the tank and two for shelves. You can think of it as as individual frames which are all interlinked.

When I was constructing my frames I asked my engineering friends who told me that a single 2020 has a theoretical weight bearing ability of around 1 ton before it buckles. So if say you have a 500kg load on it, thats a safety factor of two. If you use four to support 500kg then safety factor would be 8 (if my memory serves). 

Safety factor of 8-10 is good.


----------



## Epiphyte (9 Apr 2022)

Easternlethal said:


> Haha Hong Kong residential apartments can easily take 900kg - which is just 10-13 people. No sweat at all for modern engineered flats. The trick is to spread out the load.
> 
> My cabinet frame has 12 verticals and 3 horizontal levels - one for the tank and two for shelves. You can think of it as as individual frames which are all interlinked.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your reply, 12 verticals is a lot, but I assume at 900kg you must have a good part of a 600+ litre tank?

This is what I was just going to make, nothing too complex but for a 90p sized tank it should be suitable? It's designed with 3030 profile in CAD though easy enough to make with 2020 if I decided to.


----------



## jdr3366 (9 Apr 2022)

I'm not an engineer but I would add another vertical support in the middle of the front right next to the one you have already. In the back I would add two vertical supports, splitting the difference between the right and left. But that's just me.

I'd also include a horizontal support on the left, which can be used to support a shelf.

Good luck.


----------



## Yugang (10 Apr 2022)

jdr3366 said:


> I'm not an engineer but I would add another vertical support in the middle of the front right next to the one you have already. In the back I would add two vertical supports, splitting the difference between the right and left. But that's just me.
> 
> I'd also include a horizontal support on the left, which can be used to support a shelf.
> 
> Good luck.


I am not an engineer either, but I would add that you might have a concern that the construction has no diagonals and may flip sideways or to the front. Bolting sufficiently strong wood plates may work, yet some frame diagonals in the squares may give some stability/safety for your 400 kg loading. Just the thought of a physicist 😹


----------



## Easternlethal (10 Apr 2022)

Epiphyte said:


> Thanks for your reply, 12 verticals is a lot, but I assume at 900kg you must have a good part of a 600+ litre tank?
> 
> This is what I was just going to make, nothing too complex but for a 90p sized tank it should be suitable? It's designed with 3030 profile in CAD though easy enough to make with 2020 if I decided to.
> 
> View attachment 186273



Yes I have over 600 litres

6 verticals for 4-500 kg is plenty. The only thing I would avoid are those tiny feet because they become the pressure point in the design instead of the vertical and are way weaker. If possible I would just place the horizontals on the floor and not use feet. This will create the maximum surface area for pressure. If you need feet I would use something with a wider area like a wooden block or brick


----------



## Regent (10 Apr 2022)

Hi Epiphyte,
Sorry for the slow reply!
I'd much rather over than under engineer something like this.

These are the two threads that I based my build on (one has some strain and deformation calculations in it, I found them really helpful.
Wrasse retreat
Frank the tank

I used the deflection calculator @ 8020 to ensure I had minimal deflection this is especially an issue with the horizontal beam and because my tank is only 3 ft long but very tall  I needed a larger 45 x90 to support it as I didn't want middle supports for access reasons.

I didn't want to drill the t-slot myself so I used in slot connectors listed below they were easy and are very strong, somewhere I found a list of different connector strengths https://fandl8020.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/EBN-Spring15.pdf and picked appropriately.

The main thing that you want to avoid is racking so i'd add bracing to the stand design that you have shown above in the form of 90deg corner gussets. This is to prevent the stand from collapsing if lateral forces are applied.
I'll put some photos in the next post.

I used the following materials: ordered from motedis, however, i'd be tempted to use v-slot from Ooznest | 3D Printers & CNC Machines | Parts, Kits & More as they are based in the uk and i've had good service from them when building my light.
Profile 45x45L B-Type slot 10
Length:780 mm
Maschining:- / -
3-6 business days Ex Works
019612

7,7571 £    31,03 £
2 x    Profile 45x45L B-Type slot 10
Length:915 mm
Maschining:- / -
3-6 business days Ex Works
019612

9,0996 £    18,20 £
2 x    Profile 45x90L B-Type slot 10
Length:915 mm
Maschining:- / -
3-6 business days Ex Works
020998

17,7415 £    35,48 £
4 x    Profile 45x45L B-Type slot 10
Length:520 mm
Maschining:- / -
3-6 business days Ex Works
019612

5,1714 £    20,69 £
2 x    Profile 45x90L B-Type slot 10
Length:520 mm
Maschining:- / -
3-6 business days Ex Works
020998

10,0826 £    20,17 £
14 Stk. x    Bracket 45 B-Type slot 10
Type:with fastening set
3-6 business days Ex Works
093W423N10
1,1761 £    16,47 £
1 x    Bracket 45x90 B-type slot 10
Type:with fastening set
Qty:16 piece
3-6 business days Ex Works
093W451N10

50,3759 £    50,38 £
1 x    Bracket 90 B-type slot 10
Type:with fastening set
Qty:4 piece
3-6 business days Ex Works
093W901N10

21,6718 £    21,67 £
1 x    Automatic Fastener for profile light B-Type slot 10
Type:mit BS (Hammermutter N10/M6 B-Typ)
Qty:20 piece
3-6 business days Ex Works

099GS103+DIN912M645vz+096H10630
25,2156 £    25,22 £

Sub-Total: 239,29 £
Shipping UK: 34,92 £
Total, no-tax: 274,21 £
plus 20% VAT: 54,84 £
Total, incl. Tax: 329,05


----------



## Regent (10 Apr 2022)

Images of the stand-in construction
I have attached the cladding with industrial velcro, which sound weak, but is incredible and in 2 1/2 years, I've not needed to replace any of it in spite of taking the sides off every couple of days.

Any questions feel free to ask!


----------



## Easternlethal (10 Apr 2022)

Oh this looks exactly like my first tslot. Looks great and you won't go back

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk


----------



## ian_m (11 Apr 2022)

Epiphyte said:


> Thanks for your reply, 12 verticals is a lot, but I assume at 900kg you must have a good part of a 600+ litre tank?
> 
> This is what I was just going to make, nothing too complex but for a 90p sized tank it should be suitable? It's designed with 3030 profile in CAD though easy enough to make with 2020 if I decided to.
> 
> View attachment 186273


The bottom pieces need to be like this to put the load and spread it into the horizontal bars as well as ensure you are not putting the feet into end grain of wood.


----------



## Regent (11 Apr 2022)

Yep, I agree with @ian_m. I forgot to mention this in my above post and you can see that's how my stand is constructed as well. This help brace, prevent racking and spreads the load.


----------

