Fish Tanks, Furniture Stands & Floorboards

DcD

DcD

DcD

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Hey fellas, need some advice.

I'm decorating my bedroom - and am planning on getting some of the Ikea MALM range as furniture, including the chest of 3 drawers. *clicky*

The span of the drawers is 80cmx48cm, I'd love to put a fish tank on top of it; of about 35cm in height (I can make the tank myself so have some flexibility in size). Going with dimensions of 80cmx48cmx35cm results in a total tank weight of about 170kg. My immediate guess would be the drawers wouldnt be able to take this weight? If not, what do you think the requirements are for the furniture? Getting a proper stand isn't an option because I need the storage space of the drawers (or others like it). I have read somewhere that particle board is not very good for supporting the weight of tanks, so i'm a bit concerned. I do have the option to get a different sort of drawers etc though.

In terms of floorboards, is having a fish tank so heavy a bad idea in a first floor room (other than the risk of spillages)? When I take up the carpet to redecorate I shall look where the joists are for the building, would it be necessary to position the tank over them to ensure it's fully supported? Off the top of my head, I can't see how the roof would cave in; I weigh about 260lbs, so it's only like me and another person being stood in the room?
 
those chest of draws wont be anywhere near strong enough to suport 170kg for any lenth of time.
they are made out of chipboard, you would need proper solid wood to suport anything heavy

170kg.
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is 26stone which is a hell of alof for wooden furniture to suport
 
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arknor said:
those chest of draws wont be anywhere near strong enough to suport 170kg for any lenth of time.
they are made out of chipboard, you would need proper solid wood to suport anything heavy


is 26stone which is a hell of alof for wooden furniture to suport
Click to expand...

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. :/
 
No way. A stand for an aquarium that size will need a metal framed support, or at the very worst, one of those old, antique type, solid as a brick wall, oak chest of drawers or the like.
 
Its not that heavy for a fish tank, I used to have a 350Kg one.
I built it myself out of parts from B&Q: 2" thick slab of oak and 8 metal poles of correct length to use as the legs.
 
Have you tried going to a fish shop?

Many aquariums are available these days with furniture that is specifically designed to hold the weight, while also being functional and looking good. You could certainly get one that had two cupboards underneath them.

Not really sure there is much of an issue with having it upstairs though. I used to have a 50 gallon in my parents loft conversion room, the real issue was just getting it up there and down again when I moved out.
 
You dont need a metal framed stand for that sized tank as its overkill. however I would not recommend you use those drawers to hold the tankas it is not designed to hold that sort of weight. Buy a purpose built stand for your tank.

Secondly, its definitely a good idea to run the tank stand along the joists of the floor.
 
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You can make your own if you want, 18mm MDF with 3 verticals will easily take that weight (seems amazing, but that's all that most of the manufacturer's stands are).
 
Makhaira said:
You can make your own if you want, 18mm MDF with 3 verticals will easily take that weight (seems amazing, but that's all that most of the manufacturer's stands are).
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As a retired bespoke joiner I have to agree. I hate weetabix board (chipboard) and avoid MDF if I can but it does the job. I just prefer real wood.. Baltic Birch ply is wonderful stuff. 19mm is 13 ply and no voids :D
 
Cheers for the advice fellas, going to head over to Ikea now and see if they have much solid wood stuff.
 
You don't neccessarily need solid wood. Most fish tank stands are actually made from chip board (all of mine are anyway). What you need is support. If that chest of drawers had a middle vertical divider with a couple of feet directly underneath it would be fine. You need one with half width drawers, not full width drawers to be able to support the weight. If it does'nt have feet in the middle then find some of the correct size or, cut a couple of pieces of wood to the correct size. Wooden feet would be much better than plastic feet too.
 
The Fluval designed cabinet I have for my Aquarium weighs a ton, it's really solid, cost as much as the Aquarium itself too.

I've got lots of Ikea furniture and while some of it can be very good, I certainly wouldn't trust a set of their drawers to hold a 170kg aquarium.
 
It isn't the overall weight that is the big problem, it's the weight concentrated on the legs of the furniture that is.

I used to have tanks on top of my bedroom furniture and it wrecked each and everyone, especially those with drawers.
 
Yup, get solid furniture, or buy an aquarium with it's own specially designed stand. 1 of our big tanks (450 litre, somewhere in the region of 650kg iirc, worst thing is it's a deep tank, not so much a long one so it's not spread out as well as a longer one.) and is on top of a special stand built specifically for it. Just make sure it's along the supporting joists for the most support, ours is over 2 lots of joists.

We also have a 580 litre tank that is sitting on top of a custom made sandstone wall about 3 foot high and around 20 foot long with a 3" thick solid ashwood lump that the tank and TV sit on top of, the tank is close to, if not over a tonne in weight spread out along the joists and wall, that's a good way of holding it up! ;)
 
Tomcat825 said:
Yup, get solid furniture, or buy an aquarium with it's own specially designed stand. 1 of our big tanks (450 litre, somewhere in the region of 650kg iirc, worst thing is it's a deep tank, not so much a long one so it's not spread out as well as a longer one.) and is on top of a special stand built specifically for it. Just make sure it's along the supporting joists for the most support, ours is over 2 lots of joists.

We also have a 580 litre tank that is sitting on top of a custom made sandstone wall about 3 foot high and around 20 foot long with a 3" thick solid ashwood lump that the tank and TV sit on top of, the tank is close to, if not over a tonne in weight spread out along the joists and wall, that's a good way of holding it up! ;)
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Do you have that 450L one upstairs?
 
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