bookcase fish stand...

[molocha]

anyone know of a bookcase that would be able to hold a 20 gal long on it with like maybe 2 rows of shelves under
i was thinking of building it but since i have never worked with wood im a little hesitant.....u think i can put it on some kinda bookcase i can buy from a store like ikea or something

[lilmissruffcountry]

I have seen a few that have one shelf...but not two. Did you try home depot, or lowes...they have some stuff there that works indoors as well as out. An if nothing there will work for you, they are some of the best places to get plans an materials for building such an item.

[cichlidchic]

i would be leary of anything but a metal shelf, as most can't support the weight that will entail. bear in mind, not even including substrate, the tank and water alone weigh 160 lbs. you add gravel, rocks etc. you are looking at close to ~ 200 lbs. to put it on a comparison, think about 20 gallon jugs on that single shelf. thats just the water. or 8 large cases of water... a small houston fishboxer...you catch my drift lol.

[cichlid1409]

get some 1x6's and make some shelves then spray paint it black. a 20g tank is not heavy at all... 200lbs with rocks and everything.

[molocha]

i would be leary of anything but a metal shelf, as most can't support the weight that will entail. bear in mind, not even including substrate, the tank and water alone weigh 160 lbs. you add gravel, rocks etc. you are looking at close to ~ 200 lbs. to put it on a comparison, think about 20 gallon jugs on that single shelf. thats just the water. or 8 large cases of water... a small houston fishboxer...you catch my drift lol.

wood is quite strong...i saw this guy that built a fish stand with 2x4's and it can hold a car....its just his design was different...heres the link

http://home.comcast.net/~davesaquariumstand/webversion.html#footnote

i needed a design by a fellow engineer

[cichlidchic]

I'm talking about ikea prefabricated shelves. they are partical board with wood grain covers. it won't hold. not real wood. wood is very strong, my husband built the stand my 125 is sitting on right now from 2x6 and 2x4. I was meaning prefab "wood" shelves or bookcases. .

[molocha]

oopsie

[mahoro]

i would be leary of anything but a metal shelf, as most can't support the weight that will entail. bear in mind, not even including substrate, the tank and water alone weigh 160 lbs. you add gravel, rocks etc. you are looking at close to ~ 200 lbs. to put it on a comparison, think about 20 gallon jugs on that single shelf. thats just the water. or 8 large cases of water... a small houston fishboxer...you catch my drift lol.

hm, i thought water weights close to 10 pounds per gallon of water...

[grillmasterp]

hm, i thought water weights close to 10 pounds per gallon of water...

~weight of 1 gallon of water ~ 8 Lbs

[cichlid1409]

to get a rough estimate of how much a tank weighs when set up (gravel,rocks sand, water etc.) generally you can multiply gallons of your tank by 10 for a rough estimate.

[molocha]

or you can convert gallons to ft^3 and just multiply by 62.4 Lb/ft^3

[Zulaab]

Since my roomate and I have built almost all the stands in my house, 2x4 will hold a 180 without problems, but for a 20g tank you can one or two sheets of plywood and screw it together and have a stand that will hold quite a bit. 2x4" are less expensive and will hold multiple tanks

[PhishPhreek]

I recomend the stainless steel bakers racks at Lowes. It is quite sturdy, has adjustable shelves and they come in different depths.

Wodden bookshelf units are seldom 12,5" wide, even if made from real 1x12s they are still only 11.25"