Weight of 120g or Weight of Water?

[JugglerDave]

Hi I'm debating building a stand and how, but really my immediate question is what will my 120g weigh when all is said and done. I know this isn't exact, but a ball park would help. Also what does water weigh per gallon? Does live rock weigh more than the water it displaces? What does 100 pounds end up weighing?

While I don't like the store bought stand, I'm not a carpenter and so building one might be worse, a lot worse.

Thanks
Dave

[jmbono]

Fresh water weighs ~8lbs per gallon.

[cwschoon]

May be wrong but I believe 1 gal may be about 10lbs. Don't mess with building a stand if you are not sure!!! Buy a less expensive metal one and if you don't like the look, build aroud it. My 75 gal has about 300 lbs of rock, 30-40 gals of water, thick Oceanic glass....I don't know, maybe 800-1000 lbs? It is worth paying for a stand.

[MalHavoc]

With a canopy, and sand, and rock, and water, I'd probably figure on 1500 lbs. That might be overdoing it a little, but it wouldn't be by much.

[aquaman67]

Not to be picky but 8.34 lbs per gallon...lol

A good rule of thumb is to figure 10 lbs per gallon for everything. The weight of the aquarium itself, rock, sand, water.

So you're looking at supporting 1,200 lbs.

[Fizz71]

To answer your rock question..yes it does weigh a good deal more than the water it displaces, but how much depends on the type (pourousness) of the rock. I'd guess for average fiji rock maybe 20 to 25lbs of rock would displace 8lbs of water?

I'm just guessing based on what I remember from rock I've handled. Anybody out there care to experiment?

Don't forget sand and the tank hood as well.

--Fizz

[Fizz71]

I guess I'm typing too slow today. :)

[aquaman67]

Well, one cubic foot of water weights 62.38 lbs, if that helps any.

[thrlride]

Go look at some stands for your aquarium and copy the framing. Make sure to use either thick screws or nuts and bolts. In other words, don't use nails on the main frame.

[cwschoon]

spend the $ on a stand that will not collapse and cost you way more and kill your animals.