Am I wrong here?

[kemfish]

We just bought a new tank...used...from a family here. When I had a freshwater tank in Colorado I had the exact same setup...it is a 29 gallon from walmart, but they have upgraded it with filter, lights etc. The stand is also the 29 gallon stand from walmart...reading it while assembling in my house, the stand says not to use with a fish tank that exceeds 290lbs when full, or bigger than 29 gallons...so just out of curiosity, I looked up the weight of my 25 gallon, and the weight of a 29 gallon with ONLY water inside...the 25 gallon it says weighs 282lbs, the 29 gallon (which these stands are sold to be used with) it says weighs 330lbs!
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumsandstands/a/tanksizesweights.htm is the weight chart I was using.
Regardless, a 29 gal with only water this says is 40lbs over what they say to put on the stand...
My question of the day is this:
I have successfully used this stand before for a 29 gallon freshwater tank. My tank had 25lbs of gravel in it, plus decorations. As a salt tank, I would have 20-25lbsof sand, plus up to 50lbs live rock/ homemade base rock. Obviously the liverock will cost us a lot of weight, can we use this stand for EITHER of our tanks safely? Has anyone used it anyways?
Here is the picture:

 

[geoj]

We just bought a new tank...used...from a family here. When I had a freshwater tank in Colorado I had the exact same setup...it is a 29 gallon from walmart, but they have upgraded it with filter, lights etc. The stand is also the 29 gallon stand from walmart...reading it while assembling in my house, the stand says not to use with a fish tank that exceeds 290lbs when full, or bigger than 29 gallons...so just out of curiosity, I looked up the weight of my 25 gallon, and the weight of a 29 gallon with ONLY water inside...the 25 gallon it says weighs 282lbs, the 29 gallon (which these stands are sold to be used with) it says weighs 330lbs!

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumsandstands/a/tanksizesweights.htm is the weight chart I was using.

Regardless, a 29 gal with only water this says is 40lbs over what they say to put on the stand...

My question of the day is this:

I have successfully used this stand before for a 29 gallon freshwater tank. My tank had 25lbs of gravel in it, plus decorations. As a salt tank, I would have 20-25lbsof sand, plus up to 50lbs live rock/ homemade base rock. Obviously the liverock will cost us a lot of weight, can we use this stand for EITHER of our tanks safely? Has anyone used it anyways?

Here is the picture:



So a gallon of salt water weighs 8.556 lbs. Just the water is 248lbs for a 29. When you add the tank, sand, and live rock you will exceed 290lbs when full.

 

[2quills]

I'd say if it was in brand new like condition it would be fine. But if it has any wear or wobble to it what so ever I don't think I'd risk it. Somebody accidentally bumps up against it a little too hard it might come down like a ton of bricks. Too much of a gamble for me but ultimately the choice is up to you.
BTW, I don't really factor the weight of live rock or sand into my calculations when figuring the over all weight of a tank. Some might argue with me but ultimately a tank full of water is going to be denser and weigh more than a tank full of water and rock. Rock and sand just displace water when you add it to a tank.

 

[kemfish]

Good point, we know my 5.5lb rock displaces more than a gallon because when we put it in the QT I took about 1.5 gallons out.
Either way, my husband has decided we'll make some modifications to strengthen it and then test its weight limit before putting the fish on it. If it won't go, oh well for us!

 

[geoj]

I'd say if it was in brand new like condition it would be fine. But if it has any wear or wobble to it what so ever I don't think I'd risk it. Somebody accidentally bumps up against it a little too hard it might come down like a ton of bricks. Too much of a gamble for me but ultimately the choice is up to you.

BTW, I don't really factor the weight of live rock or sand into my calculations when figuring the over all weight of a tank. Some might argue with me but ultimately a tank full of water is going to be denser and weigh more than a tank full of water and rock. Rock and sand just displace water when you add it to a tank.
The weight is somewhere in between. If the rock or sand can float in water then it is less dense or weighs less then the water. But the rock and sand we use is more dense so we would then subtract the weight of the water displaced from the weight of the rock and sand too find how much more it weighs then just the water and now we are getting overly complicated. :laughing:

 

[kemfish]

Yeah, we are just reinforcing it with some 2x4 and giving it a try. It has an open back now so we will be adding more support there as well.