Casters for stand

[MaLi]

Hello,

is there anyone that has some experience with placing their stands on casters ?

I would like to place mine on lower profile ones and use 6 of 250 lbs for a total weight of about 1000 lbs. Is it gone work ??

Thoughts ?

Thank you,
MaLi

[tkeracer619]

Its not advised. You need the tanks weight distributed across the floor and not on pressure points.

[NanoReefWanabe]

how big a tank are we talking and how tall is the stand?

many metal stand are built with feet that drastically increase the pressure on the floor...but if the tank is large or high up you could be asking for trouble...plus your floor your moving on would have to be absolutely solid(ie concrete), smooth, clean and flat, otherwise moving a large tank could be catastrophic...make sure they are solid resin casters, metals ones may come in contact with water and rust and be very untrue afterward...

personally i would not set up a tank with its stand on casters, too many things can go wrong.

[jeff@zina.com]

Its not advised. You need the tanks weight distributed across the floor and not on pressure points.

That's not exactly correct. And when you think about all those iron stands that put the weight on four 1/2" square points you can understand why.

Casters don't work well for one reason -- Water doesn't stay put when you move it. :)

Your tank water will slosh around inside the tank as the tank is moved, including sloshing over the side or, much worse, providing enough pressure differential to split a tank seam or pop the glass. Beyond a nano-tank size I wouldn't do it, not sure I'd do it even on a nano.

Jeff

[tangelo_]

I think moving a full tank is asking for trouble. With it partially full it may be alright. If you're on concrete it could be done, very carefully.

[Aporia]

Don't do it. I did with the idea that I could drain the tank and more easily move it if I needed too. I wasn't thinking, I ended up going back and placing blocks under the stand to support the weight.

[tkeracer619]

That's not exactly correct. And when you think about all those iron stands that put the weight on four 1/2" square points you can understand why.



A caster puts a huge strain on whatever its sitting on and will dig in on anything other then concrete. Flat feet will not pit floors as much even though they can do considerable damage.

[Amp2020]

It's more commonly done than many folks think. Just go to any Red Lobster restaurant and look at their lobster tanks. Most of them are either 100-150 gallon tanks and have four wheels underneath. You have to drain the tank before moving them or it's damn near impossible to move. Especially on carpet floors. Just make sure the stand is strongly built to prevent any twisting on an unlevel surface. Would I build my tank stand with wheels? No way!

I can't even think of a good reason to put wheels under a tank in the first place. If you have to frequently move a tank out of the way then find a better spot to permanently put it.

[coralnut99]

It's more commonly done than many folks think. Just go to any Red Lobster restaurant and look at their lobster tanks. Most of them are either 100-150 gallon tanks and have four wheels underneath. You have to drain the tank before moving them or it's damn near impossible to move. Especially on carpet floors. Just make sure the stand is strongly built to prevent any twisting on an unlevel surface. Would I build my tank stand with wheels? No way!

I can't even think of a good reason to put wheels under a tank in the first place. If you have to frequently move a tank out of the way then find a better spot to permanently put it.

I think the last sentence really sums it up very well.

This thought has come up a few times over the years.

Yet another issue is the fact that most casters just don't use bearings made to the tightest tolerances to say the least. The tank will rock and sway whenever it's even lightly bumped and will most likely cause water to splash out.

[PJtree23]

A caster puts a huge strain on whatever its sitting on and will dig in on anything other then concrete. Flat feet will not pit floors as much even though they can do considerable damage.

This because you move the tank say 3 times, the rest its slowly applying an increased pressure area which will slowly dent or "pit" any surface besides concrete or metal.