Acceptable fish stand

Alex1991 · Jul 22, 2019

Hey guys,

I just purchased a new tank, 40 litres (10.5 gallons) and I have a small bed side table that I’m going to place it on in my living room, I’m a little bit skeptical of the weight of the tank and the size of the table. Any advice would be great! Thank you.

Byron · Jul 22, 2019

That should be OK. The four supporting legs are under the top as opposed to being at the sides and that is more stable. The sides seem to be sufficient to keep the whole unit firm with no wobble (test this). And the sheet of plywood/particle board under the tank is a very good idea, I do this for most of my tanks. Make sure the stand is level where you place it.

Water is heavy, each gallon weights 10 pounds, so if you have say 8 or 9 actual gallons once the substrate and décor is in (displacing some of the water) that's 80-90 pounds, plus the weight of the tank, substrate, wood/rock. That is a significant weight, but I don't think you will have issues here.

Colin_T · Jul 22, 2019

40 litres weighs 40kgs.

the stand it is one should be suitable assuming it is in good condition. Sit on the cupboard and see how it feels. If it can take your weight, the tank will be fine.

Lunar Jetman · Jul 23, 2019

That looks like an Ikea drawer set! If so, its pretty sturdy although I've found that if you pull the drawers out and lean on them it can topple forward slightly, although the weight of the tank should prohibit that.

Its a pretty solid design so should be ok as long as you're careful with the drawers.

Alex1991 · Jul 23, 2019

Byron said:
That should be OK. The four supporting legs are under the top as opposed to being at the sides and that is more stable. The sides seem to be sufficient to keep the whole unit firm with no wobble (test this). And the sheet of plywood/particle board under the tank is a very good idea, I do this for most of my tanks. Make sure the stand is level where you place it.

Water is heavy, each gallon weights 10 pounds, so if you have say 8 or 9 actual gallons once the substrate and décor is in (displacing some of the water) that's 80-90 pounds, plus the weight of the tank, substrate, wood/rock. That is a significant weight, but I don't think you will have issues here.

Awesome stuff, thank you.

Going to fill it up tonight and I will see how it takes the weight.

Alex1991 · Jul 23, 2019

Lunar Jetman said:
That looks like an Ikea drawer set! If so, its pretty sturdy although I've found that if you pull the drawers out and lean on them it can topple forward slightly, although the weight of the tank should prohibit that.

Its a pretty solid design so should be ok as long as you're careful with the drawers.

Haha, yeah it's an Ikea set!

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/malm-c...3eyjCwwCCe9b0HR5xzxoCvaYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you for your advice, will fill it tonight and keep an eye on it.

Lunar Jetman · Jul 23, 2019

Alex1991 said:
Haha, yeah it's an Ikea set!

https/www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/malm-chest-of-2-drawers-white-80214549/?cid=gb|ps|pla||||&gclid=CjwKCAjw4NrpBRBsEiwAUcLcDOkiMHrjNWXeMnKyC1dKItooi5hCKnbm2EE3eyjCwwCCe9b0HR5xzxoCvaYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you for your advice, will fill it tonight and keep an eye on it.

No problem

My daughter has the chest of drawers in her bedroom, coincidentally as a bedside table.

I also presume you're another UK resident, based on the plugs in your picture. Welcome