diy 180g acrylic on wheels?

[orcafood]

I have constructed a 180g acrylic tank, and I was wondering if I had 6 wheels on it spaced to at each end and two in the middle each rated at 500-600 lbs a piece, would it work? I am looking for a way to keep the tank slightly mobile. What would be some draw backs?

[Ricunger]

I don't see why you couldn't do it. Look on snap on's website i have a tool box with casters that have shocks on them! So i assume this would be great for the weight of the tank. But when ever you push it water will slosh like crazy! not to mention that your rocks will budge unless they are held in place well. But i think the snap on casters woould help the tank move with ease. If my 2000lb tool box can roll easy i assume they would work for an aquarium also. Im sure they are pricey since they are snap on but they will last forever!

[stugray]

I say that it is an accident waiting to happen.

IMO the most likely cause for these catastrophic tank failures is from tanks settling over time & stressing the stand & therefore point loading the tank.

If you can roll it around, what is the chance that the entire floor is perfectly level everywhere you want to move? As you move it over an uneven floor, it will change the load on the stand and it will likely flex. If the stand is so rigid that it does not flex at all, then chances are you will be putting all the tank weight on just two wheels at some point.

Also, if the floor has a slope, imagine 180Gal tank getting away & rolling downhill.


If we were talking about a 50Gal, sure, but I wouldnt trust a 180.

Stu

[Ricunger]

Forgot to mention... the snap on wheels have lock on them.

[Doahh]

"Also, if the floor has a slope, imagine 180Gal tank getting away & rolling downhill."

YUP!

[orcafood]

Hey,
Stugray, what do you mean by this:

chances are you will be putting all the tank weight on just two wheels at some point.

If there are six casters with shocks, why would the tank ever not be balanced?

The floor has no slope, and anyways I would never think of not having a way to lock its position.

Also, couldn't the shloshing problem be simply fixed (since the tank will be eurobraced) by covering up the holes on the top and having the rocks secured with pvc pipe?

Thanks for all the insights

[GaryR1984]

What these "Shocks" on the tank will be rated at what weight? Also, as shocks get old they wear out. You plan to just pop one off and replace it? With 180 Gallons of water on it, they will wear fast!


Also, I think Stu was not making his comment based on having shocks.

Bad idea IMO. I wouldn't trust locks on the wheels in my house not to mention all the money invested into a tank.

[Doahh]

and imagine how UGLY that would look

[Tang Salad]

Geeze...let's give the guy a little credit and assume that he wasn't planning to push it around the neighborhood.
Orcafood, you have a level concrete floor, right? If not, then probably forget about it.

Assuming you do, I think it can be done. Shocks would be unnecessary. Build a solid frame to sit the tank on and attach casters to that. Plan on having it move very, very slowly.

[Tang Salad]

Forgot to add: With that weight, plan on using a motorized winch to move it.

[ZURCSREEF]

Hopefully you have a level and FLAT floor. I think with tile, its definitely not worth the hassle and lack of sleep. If you have marbel, thats a different story.

Goodluck with whatever you decide to do!
-Mike C.

[stugray]

"Stugray, what do you mean by this:

chances are you will be putting all the tank weight on just two wheels at some point."

What I meant was that if you assume:
The stand is perfectly flat & perfectly rigid
The floor is NOT flat, then the rectangular surface on the floor will only touch in three points with two bearing almost the entire weight.


GaryR1984 Said , "I think Stu was not making his comment based on having shocks."

That is true, but shocks ( load levelers ) only help if the stand is assumed to be rigid.

If you use the absorbing wheels that would help level the load, but would only alleviate the worry about twisting the tank if the stand was assumed perfectly rigid. That is far more difficult than the current threads on steel stands if you assume it has to move .

Stu

[liveforphysics]

I made a stand that held a 90gal on wheels. Worked fine, but the floor was concrete.

The absolute rules to make any size tank work on wheels are simple. The bottom must be a steel frame that is overbuilt enough to be absolutely rigid. Each wheel must be capable of a working load of at least 50% of the weight of the tank.

If those rules are followed, you can make any size tank on wheels.

[JCTewks]

WHY????

It's not like it's your dog and your going to take it to the store with you.

I'm just trying to figure out in my head ANY reason to NEED a tank on wheels.....other than "because I can" :D

[GaryR1984]

"because I can"

That's always a good reason. :)

[jakkalofv]

I for one think it's a brilliant idea that will inovate the reefkeeping hobby as we know it.

[randomworker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12871820#post12871820 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GaryR1984
"because I can"

That's always a good reason. :)

especially in the "Do It Yourself" section :D

[itstheantitang]

I think it should be fine. On the whole, the community here tends to lean towards overbuilding and being exceptionally safe when It comes to stand building.

[kcress]

If it is not concrete it will NOT be 'fine'. You will have something like 2700psi under the tiny contact areas of the wheels. Picture that on wood? It would leave tracks across hardwood.

This would also cause the tank to take a lot of force to start pushing followed by random jolting stops. Followed by multi-gallon waves going over the sides.

Poor idea unless you do this on level concrete with like 6 inch diameter casters which have reduced static rolling effort. And as mentioned you are then talking Ugly. Might make sense if this was a test lab or aquaculture business; 'we-don't-care-what-it-looks-like' situation.

[RobsReefs]

"It's not like it's your dog and your going to take it to the store with you." LOL.

[The0wn4g3]

I don't see why you'd want to do that, but I think "because I can" would be more than enough reason for me.
Just a rough estimate, that'd be
180*8.33=1500lbs
1500/6=259lbs per wheel. Not entirely that much.

Like others said, get 6 large diameter casters that can safely hold the weight. You can wheel it (rather, wench it) to where you want, and then use some four 3 ton jack stands from home depot placed on some board to distribute the weight.
I want to see more of this idea!

[barfish]

put a trailer tongue on it and you can hook it up to your truck and when you move you dont have to take it down just hook it up and tow it.lol. i dont think it would look bad would give it that industrial look.

[gadgetboy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12880979#post12880979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barfish
put a trailer tongue on it and you can hook it up to your truck and when you move you dont have to take it down just hook it up and tow it.lol. i dont think it would look bad would give it that industrial look.

Yeah, because he could just back his truck (assuming he has one) in the front door and to wherever his tank is... LOL.

Seriously though, unless there's an EXTREMELY good reason for doing this, I think it's just an accident waiting to happen. Even on a concrete floor that's supposedly level (like in my basement fishroom) the water was 1/2" higher on one side of a 90g because of the floor. Just don't take the risk in such a big tank.

[orcafood]

what about using this as general idea of the base of the stand. Any input?

http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.itemKey=30025203

I don't see why it would need a wench to move. and why would leveling out the tank be a problem when it is on wheels and can be adjusted accordingly?

[Elite]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12880631#post12880631 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The0wn4g3
I don't see why you'd want to do that, but I think "because I can" would be more than enough reason for me.
Just a rough estimate, that'd be
180*8.33=1500lbs
1500/6=259lbs per wheel. Not entirely that much.
.....

You forgot the tank, stand, canopy and other stuff... :)

[The0wn4g3]

I said rough estimate...
Even if you add say 350lbs for the tank, 200lbs for the stand, 100 for the canopy... still hitting 2150lbs.

Four 3 ton jacks won't even know it's there :)

[RobsReefs]

Why Do you need to move your tank so bad?