Wrought Iron Stands....

[fairywrasse]

I was advised not to use wrought iron stands for marine tanks coz it will rust.... is this true?

[BarraCudaTM]

yes they do rust when the paint comes off

[fairywrasse]

Hmmm... so it's not safe?

[fairywrasse]

How about stainless steel stands?

[BarraCudaTM]

stainless steel will rust also to a certain extent

the best you can do is to avoid contact with saltwater and wipe with oil regularly

[wedgee]

I use both, and they all rust!!! Hahahah...advice is as Barracuda said: Wipe any drippage and maintain it (havent heard of any collapses as yet! )

[Tanzy]

What are the alternatives? Aluminium, titanium, adamantium? Wood?

[BarraCudaTM]

actually chrome plated steel is the best but they are damn expensive and you need to custom make them at steel workshops

[Tanzy]

Won't the chrome get scratched off or something? Anyone tried goldplating then?

[Gold Monkey]

stainless steel will rust also to a certain extent

the best you can do is to avoid contact with saltwater and wipe with oil regularly

Agreed

[BarraCudaTM]

Won't the chrome get scratched off or something? Anyone tried goldplating then?

if you coat 1mm of chrome .. most likely you wont be able to scratch it to expose the steel underneath unless you purposely go disfigure it

Those railings for new busstops are great materials!

[Norvin Ng]

I am using wrought iron stand for my tank. Was told by the contractor that gavarnised wrought iron can better withstand rust but you cannot scratch it or it will lose its protective coating.

I was a bit more kiasu about my stand and asked for 2" think bars at the crucial joints. A properly set up tank won't have so much spilling anyway. My stand cost $150 instead of $500 to $600 for a wooden cabinet. I cover the sides up with thinwood pasted with vinyl stickers bought from DIX shops.

A pic below: My cheapskate stand:

[fairywrasse]

How to know if it is gavarnised?

That means those displayed at lfs are the normal kind only?

[ep4546]

maybe you can try chengai wood

[fairywrasse]

Do they use it to just make the stand?

Coz I enquired before, to use chenggai for cabinets are quite costly

[tigershark]

if you want something that will last u forever, use simen+ bricks....... 100% warranty for 100yrs .... but you need to hack it off when you want to remove it.. the cost wise..... i believe it should be cheaper than stainless steel. Wood is a good choice as well but wood will get rotten after many yrs expecially if you are talking about constance contact with water. Quality wood like "cheng gai" is not cheap either...

[fairywrasse]

I got quote for 3ft tank + chenggai bottom cabinet only $800+, no cover no lights

[dodo]

I got quote for 3ft tank + chenggai bottom cabinet only $800+, no cover no lights

Quite reasonable price for a chenggai wood cabinet if it include holes drilled, overflow compartment, sump tank & fixing of PVC pipe.

But if non of the above is included, i.e jus plain 3ft tank, hehehe u better think twice

[Valleyman]

For customised cabinet, what do you guys do for the door hinges to keep them from rusting ? Spray paint ? regular oil/grease coating ? My cabinet is about 2 wks old and need to do something b4 it's too late.