Stand weight / room placement pros and cons (1 Viewer)

[guy9smiley2]

Repurposing an old kitchen base cabinet. its about 36-40" for the base cabinet. i plant to put the tank right in the center of the stand portion and there is a divider/brace right below that. The overhang i plan to build a 3 leg brace and a few small shelves in it. This cabinet is rated to 550-600 pounds. i plan to put a 40g on it. 32 g of water, 40 pounds sand and rock plus tank puts me at about 450. Would you be concerned? I had zero worries until the day before i do it and now i am second guessing myself.

Second question - would you worry about putting it in a bedroom ( noise and light dont bother me ) room is approx 16x24. my thought was i would enjoy it more in the room seeing it multiple times daily would help me stay on top of it more and interact more with it. my concern is hauling water from the other side of the basement and spills with carpet. option 2-3 i could put it in the utility room or sapre unfinished room ( right next to the living room ) where it is a little more hidden but slightly more easy to maintain just less viewing time and enjoyment.

Looking for personal inputs and experiences. Thank you all.

 

[Chris Goetz]

What type of wood are the cabinets made of? If MDF I would not trust any size tank long term on it.

As for sound - tanks can be pretty quiet(near silent) if you can take the time dial in the drains and pumps but it will come down to how sensitive a sleeper you are.

As for location - put it where you’ll enjoy it most… if you don’t see it often it’s been my experience that the tank maintenance won’t get as much attention as it should which ultimately leads to less enjoyment and loss of interest.

 

[Reefer Oz]

As far as the cabinet goes it really depends on the material. If the cabinet panels are a particle board material, I would question the longevity of it as it can quickly degrade when it gets wet. If it was a well constructed PLYWOOD cabinet box, it should be fine. Though plywood will certainly delaminate over time with exposure to moisture. Maintaining a good seal and having some sort of feet could extend the life on any cabinet.

Have you considered the Python no spill fill unit? I don’t personally use it but have seen them work great.

(50 Foot) No Spill Clean & Fill Aquarium Water Change Kit - Python

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[Varig]

Same concerns re: wood type. It does at least look stronger than @NorthStarCoral ’s current stand (sorry Jack, I had to take the opportunity for the little jab )

I will say that I had a smaller AIO (only 15 gallons) on a base cabinet and it worked great for years. So assuming it’s plywood, you’re probably safe.

With regard to location, I will say that I’m really glad there is no carpet between my tank and the fish room. Maybe I’m just messy though .

The python is a great idea, and there happens to be one for free in the club FIF bin. Just saying

Long story short, if you’re willing to be careful during water changes, coral additions, etc, and you accept the potential leak risks if the worst happens, then I think I’d keep it in the bedroom, where you’ll most enjoy it.

Do you plan to use that shelf area for things like an ATO bucket and future dosing containers etc?

 

[guy9smiley2]

I will have to check when i am home it is for sure not the cheap partical board. but it could bd HDF or ply wood. still a conern on HDF? I si bes tto brace it if it isnt full on ply wood or just not sue it?

Definetly going to look into the python i think it would streamline things quite a bit.

Thanks to both for the feedback of placement i think thats probably the best idea i will just have to make sure i have a solid water change routine.

@Varig - i will likely put the ato int he cabinet under ( its a 40g aio nuvo ) so the bottom will house all those kinds of things.

 

[guy9smiley2]

Construction on the inside of the stand.

 

[Varig]

So the face frames are solid wood. Is that countertop thing just sitting on there? Can you remove that quickly and try to get a picture of the unfinished edge of the white panel?

 

[Chris Goetz]

Hardwood is good - just make sure those verticals are fully supported floor to top.
Screws holding the horizontals in place isn’t ideal but I’ve seen “actual aquarium stands” made far worse. I tend to over engineer my stuff though.