75 gallon on a 125 Stand

[tcollins]

I'm upgrading my lighting with two 250W Ice Cap Retro's and will need to buy a hood to mount them in. As I have another 75 gal which I'm going to set up for the wife, I thought I'd upgrade my stand while I am at it and am thinking about getting a 125 gal stand (6' x 18") and matching hood for the 75.

Not only would I gain much needed cabinet space and height (current stand only 26" high), I'd be ready when the inevitable happens and I upgrade to a larger tank. My question is would the 125 support the smaller tank as I'd have only the front and back supported by the stand, unless of course I could DIY some type of support under the ends. Thanks for the comments!

[poppin_fresh]

You could just add a plywood top to distribute the weight. I'm not sure I would have the ends unsupported.

[steven_dean17]

The tank needs support along all 4 sides. IMO it would cause undue stress down the center of the tank. Why not push the tank to one side or the other and put a piece of wood across the stand to creat a shelf for additional storage that in theory could have a stock cabinet placed on top for a professional look?

[tcollins]

I'm thinking about that and putting in some type of internal lateral support under the top of the stand.

[918ReefCpl]

Another idea might be to go with a 72" x 24" stand - then if the upgrade bug bit you wouldnt have to put out the $ for another stand and it would give you 6" of space behind the tank or divide it in 1/2 and go 3" in front x 3" in back, you could then trim it out with some nice crown molding (removable) and make it look custom The flat plywood idea is an excellent idea, but make sure you get the type rated for exterior (water-resistant glue) or properly prepare the plywood w/ waterproofer/stain/varnish before placing the tank on it. That could look great w/ matching stain finished plywood a-top a matching stand & canopy= keep the Mrs happy
When we did it, i got to pick the tank size as long as she could pick the stand/canopy combination stain colors/design + I got what I wanted in a tank size and she got her furniture "looking" stand/canopy = a Happy reef tank couple

As for lateral support internally, take a look at the Oceanic stands made out of 2x4" or 2x6". On our 125 it is simply a 1x8" placed midpoint on the stand to support the front and back "rails" of the tank - nothing laterally across the middle though the top rails are 2x6" laid out horizontally and 45' mitre cut in the corners. If you centered the 75g tank and made sure all 4 "rails" were adequately supported and tank leveled w/ a 6' carpenter's level (those 9" mini-levels are not as accurate as the longer metal/wood ones) as you can then measure diagonally to see if the stand is level that was as well as L to R and Fnt to Back.

[tcollins]

018ReefCpl, your probably right, why would I think the 125 is going to be my final upgrade? With the 24" wide, I'd be able to upgrade to a 180 to 240.

If I were to go with the 24 wide, I'd have to make sure the top was stout enough to hold the 75 as only one edge of the tank would actually be directly over a vertical rise, ie: the front of the stand or back. What does everyone think of this? I know I can sell the wife as she'd rather I'd spend the money once instead of twice or three times (I think she's catching on to this hobby/addiction). Thanks