tank stand question

I am building a new stand for my 180 and was wondering if the bottom of the glass needs to be supported? I looked at some tank stands in a fish store and they all have 4 sides and then a center brace but nothing under the glass.

Can anyone with a large tank chime in and help here before I get too far on my stand build,

 

I just checked my stand, the bottom of my 180gal tank does not have any supports under the glass bottom. I was kinda shocked to see that.. But does have what looks to be 2x4 frame to support all edges of the tank if that makes sence. But if your building it i don't see why you couldn't beef it up by useing a good plywood deck so to speak and add extra support. Just going to have to cut a hole to runn the plumbing throught it..

Hope other's will chime in where i left off..

Best of luck..

 

I guess your ability to do it would depend on the tank. Your typical LFS tank off the shelf has the trim ring around the bottom which is what the tank sits on (as far as I can remember, I'm not able to look at my tank right now). So the bottom glass doesn't actually sit flush with the bottom of the trim ring / base of the tank. To support the glass you would need a piece of plywood that was smaller than the footprint of the tank to sit up within the base of the trim. Also, the glass on the bottom of the tank is usually tempered so it's plenty strong enough to hold.

 

You do not want the bottom glass to be supported. Glass tanks with bottom rims are designed to be supported by only the rim. You could actually cause your tank to fail if you try to make a stand that supports the glass. If the piece is not 100% flat there will be more pressure on certain parts than others which can cause the entire tank to flex and break.

 

Thank you,I had a feeling this is why commercal tank stands do not have them and why I was leary of putting one there. The other reason I was wondering was because the rim around the bottom it 7/16 of an inch below the bottom of the glass.

 

Ok i stand corrected.. My bad..