Help I Have No Idea! Weight Of Tank And Furniture?

[Natasha14]

hello, im buying my boyfriend a tank for his birthday, its going to be a small one about 30 liters. I was thinking he could stand it on his chest of drawers. Will that be okay? or would it break the drawers? I thought it would be the same as putting an old heavy telly on it?
any help would be great

 

[Duz]

Well 1 liter of water is the same as 1kg. So 30 liters of water is 30kg. However, you got to bare in mind the weight of the glass, substrate (whether that be gravel or sand) and the decor will increase the overall weight. If you think you could stand on the chest of draws without it breaking then it will be perfectly fine.

Personally, I would put a weight of 40-50kg on slowly, if it looks a bit unstable or that it might buckle under the weight you may want to move it else wear. Saying that if the chest of draws are strong then it will be fine. Hope that helps.

 

[Natasha14]

the tank weighs 6 kg according to the website

its this one http/www.petsathome.com/shop/30-litre-aquarium-black-by-ciano-aquariums-(available-in-store-only)-36857

I guess I could get my boyfriend to put his weights on the chest of drawers
or he has a 2 drawer bedside cabinet.
is it better being lower?

 

[StandbySetting]

Permanent mass is different from temporary mass, buy a stand or re-enforce the unit.

 

[Natasha14]

I cant afford a stand for it Do you reckon there is no way it would be okay on it? how would you reinforce it?

 

[StandbySetting]

You'd have to screw some wood to it to brace it, if it is a sturdy piece of furniture it should be okay, but if it is a flimsy compressed fibre board unit I wouldn't trust it.

 

[Natasha14]

does having the unit tightly packed between other furniture help?

 

[StandbySetting]

Not really.

 

[Natasha14]

my dad has had fish tanks for years, small big you name it. he thinks it'll be okay but just told me to put something under it to stop pressure points if out got under?

 

[StandbySetting]

If you live in a fairly modern house with floor panels and not boards they wont be necessary, unless you mean directly under the tank? I it is plain bottomed then polystyrene should be put underneath it, if it has a floating base putting something under it wont be necessary.

 

[Natasha14]

yeah directly under it. It wont be floating either so will be directly onto the hard service.

 

[Tizer]

I have a 90 litre on a chest of draws, seems to cope ok.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I have a 50 litre tank sitting on an Ikea chest of drawers. No problems.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

I also have a 35ltr tank on the smallest chest of 'malm' drawers from ikea. Been on there for 2 years until i took it down. Should be fine but it depends, just use a bit of common sense, please dont take that the wrong way...

 

[Natasha14]

ha dont worry i know what you mean. it just does depends on the drawers i guess.