Fish Tank Stand - Overlap

[MartinD]

Got a bit of a dilemma and I need your help!

I have a 4ft tank. Just a normal glass one with no lips or anything on it - so I've painted a top lip onto it.
The hood is black - it's getting a small bottom lip painted black.

It's looking really good.

I have a unit ( got it free from someone - old sideboard type thing. 2 doors and 2 drawers.) It's made from thick
pieces of timber between 2cm and 1inch thick. (think standard box shape) There's a central division to the unit
which is approx 17mm thick. I would imagine this is sufficient to support this tank, right? If not, I can remove the drawers
and bolster it all up with 1x1" batons.

My problem is this. The tank is 4ft but the unit is only 46.5" long! It's 1.5 inches too damn short.
Do you think this is okay? Can I just have the tank overlapping on either side by 3/4's of an inch on either side or
will this create support/strain/stress issues?

Please help!!!!

 

[fall-apart-dave]

Whats the total volume of the tank, and how heavy are you? Water weighs 1kg per litre, so you should be able to get an idea on how strong the cabinet is by sitting on it if you're a heavy set lad (or know a fatboy willing to park his backside on there for 10 mins!). If you are unsure about the strength, you can crossbrace it at the back (diagonal battons going from the top corners on either side to the bottom corners where the central divide is) without having to remove your drawers. The overlap is only small, how thick is the glass? If I were you I would make a base out of some thick MDF or similar soft but strong meterial (solid wood will do but is more expensive) that is the same size as the footprint of your tank and put that beneath is just to support the ends, though this may not be necessary depending on glass thickness and volume.

 

[Tolak]

It will create stress problems, which could result in leaking. What you could do is get a piece of 3/4" plywood the size of the bottom of the tank, and place it between the tank and the stand. Paint the wood to either match the stand, or the trim on the tank.

I've done the same thing with a tank that is basically the same size, but the stand is a little short the other dimension. I left the plywood plain, and left a little extra on the front to give me a little ledge for some working area during tank maintenance.

***Edit to add***

You can remove the drawers, reinforce the sideboard, then use only the drawer fronts if any of the wood you added is in the way of the drawers. A buddy of mine did this with old furniture he found on the street back when he had an apartment.

 

[MartinD]

Whats the total volume of the tank, and how heavy are you? Water weighs 1kg per litre, so you should be able to get an idea on how strong the cabinet is by sitting on it if you're a heavy set lad (or know a fatboy willing to park his backside on there for 10 mins!). If you are unsure about the strength, you can crossbrace it at the back (diagonal battons going from the top corners on either side to the bottom corners where the central divide is) without having to remove your drawers. The overlap is only small, how thick is the glass? If I were you I would make a base out of some thick MDF or similar soft but strong meterial (solid wood will do but is more expensive) that is the same size as the footprint of your tank and put that beneath is just to support the ends, though this may not be necessary depending on glass thickness and volume.

Thanks for the speedy reply!

Tank dimensions are 48 x 17 x 12. The glass is about 6mm thick (front/back/sides/base). The tank does have 3 glass braces at the top.

So you reckon i should just get a large piece of MDF for this?

You can remove the drawers, reinforce the sideboard, then use only the drawer fronts if any of the wood you added is in the way of the drawers. A buddy of mine did this with old furniture he found on the street back when he had an apartment.

Exactly my plan!

 

[fall-apart-dave]

You can X-brace the back without having to remove the drawers too if you want to use them. Or, if you just use the drawer fronts, again I would recomend cross bracin on the diagonal from front top left to back bottom right, if you follow? (father in law is a joiner, had the same problem when we build book cases into the alcoves either side of the fire place and wanted a tank in there. Apparantly cross bracing is stronger when you have a center divider, thats why they build pilons and radio masts and stuff that was apparantly).

Anyway, MDF is the cheapest suitable material but it does soak up water so paint it firstly with a sealer (you can buy MDF sealer, or at a push if you are short of cash use a mix of 1 part water, 1 part PVA, paint a coat or two of that on, when totally dry paint over with an oil based paint, or an emulsion to repel the water - bathroom or kitchen paint works very well for this!). PLY works just as well but is slightly more expensive. Harder to work with too and you can't bevel or rout the edges to make it look nice and neat as easily as you can with MDF. It is more resistant to water though!

 

[MartinD]

You can X-brace the back without having to remove the drawers too if you want to use them. Or, if you just use the drawer fronts, again I would recomend cross bracin on the diagonal from front top left to back bottom right, if you follow? (father in law is a joiner, had the same problem when we build book cases into the alcoves either side of the fire place and wanted a tank in there. Apparantly cross bracing is stronger when you have a center divider, thats why they build pilons and radio masts and stuff that was apparantly).

erm, i'm not sure I get what you mean - any chance you could draw a wee diagram?

There is no lip at the back, it's all flush so any bracing would have to be on the inside.

Edit: Here's a pic!