Petsmart 125 stand got wet. Now I'm freaking out

[Adam_Parker]

Hey guys, I noticed tonight my Aquatop filter has some sort of leak somewhere. I'm glad I caught it when I did.

Unfortunately, it has apparently leaked overnight and got into the edge of my stand door, and the right front corner. Is this enough to be worried about, or am I fairly safe?

I've thought about getting the Marineland black oak stand on Amazon, but apparently it's particle board too. Looks much better though than the Petsmart one.

Just want to make sure I'm covered for now based on these 2 photos. Thanks!

Stand leg:


Stand door:

[Akili]

All I can suggest that you reinforce that stand leg with a piece of 2 by 4 wood, while you work out your next move.

[BmoreBraap]

I have the same stand and had the exact same issue. I set up a fan and dehu to help dry much quicker and apart from a little warping is OK. Bad thing about particle or mdf is once wet to a certain point it looses all strength. Almost all hardwoods unless submerged for days can be dried to original strength. A little warping is OK. More than that you will need a temporary brace like Akili suggested. I never understood building an aquarium stand out of material that can fail once too wet. NO ONE keeps there tank/stand perfectly dry.
Your best bet is to keep a close eye on it and make building your own stand a long term project. You can easily make a nice looking stand out of framing lumber, plywood, veneer and stain. Go the extra mile and have cabinet doors manufactured or just have a cabinet/furniture restoration company finish the aesthetic portion of it once you frame it for a full professional custom look.

[Adam_Parker]

I have the same stand and had the exact same issue. I set up a fan and dehu to help dry much quicker and apart from a little warping is OK. Bad thing about particle or mdf is once wet to a certain point it looses all strength. Almost all hardwoods unless submerged for days can be dried to original strength. A little warping is OK. More than that you will need a temporary brace like Akili suggested. I never understood building an aquarium stand out of material that can fail once too wet. NO ONE keeps there tank/stand perfectly dry.
Your best bet is to keep a close eye on it and make building your own stand a long term project. You can easily make a nice looking stand out of framing lumber, plywood, veneer and stain. Go the extra mile and have cabinet doors manufactured or just have a cabinet/furniture restoration company finish the aesthetic portion of it once you frame it for a full professional custom look.

Good to know I'm not the only one and it temporarily should hold up. I've been extremely careful not to get this stand wet, but I never noticed the filter leaking. Luckily it's gone.

[atlantadiscus]

Good idea to keep canister filters in a bucket or shallower plastic tupperware type container to prevent this from occuring.....you can even purchase a inexpensive {$10} water leak detector/alarm at HD/Lowes to toss in the container to alert you of even the smallest amount of moisture.

[Adam_Parker]

But for ease of mind, this doesn't look TOO awful that it's gonna come crashing down right now right? It's on a slightly unlevel thin carpet over concrete floor, so it traveled down just a hair to these 2 spots.

[LizStreithorst]

If I were you I'd stick a 2X4 in there asap. Then build your own stand from real wood.

[pitdogg2]

One reason I'll never buy a tank at petsmart they will not sell just a tank in those sizes and I for one would just throw it away or burn it. I've seen first hand one of those fail. I work in the insurance industry and have seen the catastrophic consequences when they fail. This insured was very lucky their child just had got up and went to the bathroom or there would of been a death. Solid wood is the only way to go. Just the humidity alone can weaken them.

[BmoreBraap]

One reason I'll never buy a tank at petsmart they will not sell just a tank in those sizes and I for one would just throw it away or burn it. I've seen first hand one of those fail. I work in the insurance industry and have seen the catastrophic consequences when they fail. This insured was very lucky their child just had got up and went to the bathroom or there would of been a death. Solid wood is the only way to go. Just the humidity alone can weaken them.

Same industry...really opens your eyes to the things that can happen.
What was the reason for the stand failure on what size tank? Did it get wet or just over time?

[Willie]

Aquarium stands are built incredibly cheaply and I've always been amazed that they don't collapse more frequently. Building your own stand or using steel commercial shelving is the way to go.

Willie

[pitdogg2]

Same industry...really opens your eyes to the things that can happen.
What was the reason for the stand failure on what size tank? Did it get wet or just over time?

Reason for failure MDF. I really do not know exact reason. It could of been a number of things in all reality. If you have ever seen the MDF shelving "smile" after a few years that has just been exposed to atmospheric conditions why would you want to put 1000+ pounds on it and trust it ? Not me!! MDF is wonderful for speaker enclosures where solid wood is not but MDF just does not have any shear force strength to it it just snaps. My stands I built for my 75 gal. aquarium are built from 2×10's with 2×4 between top and bottom plates with glued and screwed outside 2×10's on the outside perimeter corners. I know it would hold up a small truck on top of it. I know overkill for sure. With the amount of water the top and bottom base has been exposed to over the last 20yrs even though it's been painted with oil based gloss paint it looks as new today as the day I built it. MDF no matter how well painted would of swelled period as the glue itself deteriorates over time imo. The company that provides these to Petsmart is not building for longevity it is building for a price point to still make as much profit as possible.

[TexMoHoosier]

Another thing about those cheap stands is that it usually voids the warranty of the aquarium if you don't use the manufacturer's cheap-o stand. I've always made my own stands with a proper wood frame--1000 times stronger than the MDF/particle board junk, and it honestly ends up not costing much more if any.