Steel Stands

Steel Stand Construction

Some aquariums over a given height will require a welded steel stand. This is because of the extreme weights and pressure tall tanks create per square foot of footprint the aquarium consumes. These extremely heavy tanks require even more attention to detail for engineering because of the extreme weights, and because they inherently hold much more water which can create that much more damage during a failure. Often times when people order a stand, they will compare us to a steel stand that may be made by a friend, or a local welding shop, or another aquarium stand provider who has not taken the time to actually engineer the range of scenarios that custom aquariums can present. The build and construction are simply educated guesses and are usually grossly under-engineered for these applications. Most places that aren’t used to building stands for aquariums do not have a full appreciation for just how much weight they need to support, sometimes in the many thousands of pounds, and the fact they need virtually no deflection or sagging over long periods of time – it’s not enough to keep the stand from collapsing, it needs virtually NO DEFLECTION or else the sagging of the aquarium can lead to stress on the silicone joints. With aquariums, just a small failure, is a complete failure.

Our Steel Stands

Our steel stands have an extremely thick tubular construction. There’s no guesswork, we have done the engineering with professional engineers not only on the gauge and diameter required for the steel itself but the proper spacing for the uprights over the vast ranges of our sizes offered. Our stands are SOLID and the quality of our welds are meticulous. Most of the time when we are presented with another bid from a customer to compare, we know it isn’t engineered properly because the market rate of steel required to build a proper stand is more than what they are charging for the entire stand. Most of the cost of a welded stand is in the cost of the steel itself… so if there is a bid for a dramatically less expensive stand, that almost always means they are using dramatically less steel. It’s either thinner, or there are not enough upright supports or both. The customer is under the illusion they are well covered because the construction is welded steel, but there is a big difference between a properly engineered stand with adequate thickness and spacing of steel, and an under-engineered stand with thin tubes and an improper quantity of upright supports. Thin steel can and will warp and buckle under pressure… it is a very risky scenario. It is very easy to present an inexpensive price by using thin steel, however we simply will not make or sell a stand that is not properly engineered to support our tanks simply to compete on price. After all, when our aquariums are purchased with our stands, we warranty them for a LIFETIME!

Lifetime Stand Warranty

Because we fully appreciate the importance of the quality of the aquarium stand, we back any tank sold with our Majestic® stands or steel stands with a LIFETIME limited warranty. If our stands are not used, we can’t back a warranty because not only can’t we verify the tank is going to be on a properly engineered stand, chances are it will not be!