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Fully Acrylic Cabinet - Weight, Durableness


Dee00

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I am shopping around for a 4 ft x 2 ft x 3 ft aquarium tank. Most shops in my area sells Acrylic cabinet and even the support frame is made from Acrylic (indicated by red arrows). There are pictures from various angles attached. 

So now I am worried if it can withstand the weight of substrate, rocks, other decorations, etc.?🤔

Also this type of design, is it still recommended to put a self-levelling mat as the tank is rimless? 

 Please let me know if you think its ok for me to get this type of aquarium cabinet or I should keep to either MDF, Plywood, Solid Wood or Aluminium. Thanks 

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I am usually pretty gutsy when it comes to stand and weight limits, but this looks sketchy.  I have two acrylic tanks myself and it's amazing how much they move and warp just based on setup and temperature. 

To me, the tank stands shown are braced wrong and won't stand the test of time. Especially if put on anything other than dead flat concrete.

Stick with solid wood, metal and plywood to have absolute piece of mind.

 

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On 7/17/2021 at 10:31 PM, sudofish said:

Agreed with above. In my non-engineer opinion those angled pieces connecting to the main braces aren't helping anything since the weight is coming from above.

what is the main braces?

 

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On 7/17/2021 at 11:00 AM, Dee00 said:

what is the main braces?

 

Ignore that. I meant the horizontal bars going across but those aren't supporting the full weight either. It's just looked weird at first glance. Not enough coffee yet this morning lol.

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@sudofish you are seeing the same thing I am. They braced the horizontal cross members heavily and they actually don't do anything structurally. The vertical posts should be braced like this to give rigidity when pushed from the side or front (same thing as being on unlevel ground)

I imagine the exterior is fully attached to these vertical braces, which does act as a stabilizing factor just as a glued and screwed sheet of plywood would do. I just don't trust that thin plastic exterior to be enough.

Your instincts are right @Dee00 and you are looking at them in person. I know these are probably the easy and good looking option, but I don't trust them.

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