evonner Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I have a 29 gallon tank that I want display on a wall shelf. Google says a 29 gallon tank full of water weighs 330 lbs. The display shelf must be able to safely hold this amount of weight. I have searched home depot looking for shelf holders that will hold this amount of weight but their not pretty and there is not very many choices. Do anyone have any suggestion on how I could safely accomplish this goal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy lover 101 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 It is very hard to get a few screws to hold that amount of weight however one way o could think of doing it is stacking cynderblock from the ground up to the shelf to support the weight and then put a drape over it or a bookshelf or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Here is some inspiration for you! The weight of a 29G with water is ~330 lbs. In terms of how to do this there's a few things going on. You have a very strong vertical load going down onto the shelf. This can be supported a variety of ways and you need to make sure that it's tied into structure. The hardware strength needs to be able to support the load as well as whatever mounting system you use. I would consider a 20L aquarium as it's the same dimensions as the 29G but less height. The tank is going to be on the wall already and so the maintenance may get tricky given the height of a 29G as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) On 7/16/2023 at 10:05 PM, evonner said: I have searched home depot looking for shelf holders that will hold this amount of weight but their not pretty and there is not very many choices. Do anyone have any suggestion on how I could safely accomplish this goal? Perhaps show the design above in the video to someone who can weld some steel square tube for you and make something strong enough. Having support tubing welded on angle would also be helpful to distribute the load and prevent sagging. The hardware they used is similar to what you see in the aquarium coop store build for their aquarium stands. Edit. I cannot verify the statements, but there is quite a few options on Amazon that are available! Edited July 17, 2023 by nabokovfan87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 On 7/17/2023 at 4:57 AM, Pepere said: Honestly? I would never contemplate putting a 29 gallon tank on a wall shelf… No matter the engineering I would be incredibly uncomfortable looking at it on a shelf. I would go for a stand instead. Same, a 29g is almost 300 lb when full; more if hardscape… wall shelf could end up in catastrophe. Consider a rack instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) I will assume you have limited tools, just a drill. and a tape measure. Buy a 3/4 in. x 2 ft. x 4 ft piece of plywood, Poplar veneer would paint nicely. Have them cross cut the piece to the desired length. I would go 36" to make sure you can screw into 2 wall studs. Next have them rip it into 2 boards, 14" and 10" boards would work. To finish the edges, buy some iron on edge banding. On a flat surface (kitchen counter) , glue (wood glue) and screw the 14" board to the 10" board at an right angle. Mark the wall where the shelve goes. Now we need to find the studs, just start driving screws into the wall until to find the studs. Mark the shelve where the studs are. I would drill pilot hole and countersink the screws. I would suggest 2 1/2" deck screws as they have a start bit drive, use 3 per stud. Always drill a pitot hole. Now find some Heavy Duty Shelf Brackets, I would use 4 of them. These do not have to be drilled into the studs, just mount them to the 10" board. Mount the shelve. This would easily hold the weight. Mark Edited July 17, 2023 by madmark285 added link 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 One more step, take a picture and post it! You can do this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) On 7/17/2023 at 7:34 AM, Pepere said: I dont have that much confidence in the holding power of deck screws in 3/4 of an inch of plywood with serious levering action on them… I would not put a HOB filter on this tank, just wouldn't look right being that far away from the wall. If truly concerned with the deck screws, put in a 1/4" x 3" lag bolt/washer into the stud. Just need one per stud, put it in near the top of the shelf. No way would that pull out. On the engineering side, the heavy duty shelf brackets will hold the shelf together at a 90 degree. The cantilevering forces will want to rotate the bottom of the shelf into the wall and the wall isn't going anywhere. It will hold. For brackets, I would use 4 of these. Each one is rated for 350 lb. Edited July 17, 2023 by madmark285 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I would think that your options are limited unless you are willing to open up the wall. I would look into fireplace mantel mounting hardware. Depending on the setup, the aquarium and shelf will be somewhere north of #350. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 On 7/17/2023 at 1:05 AM, evonner said: I have a 29 gallon tank that I want display on a wall shelf. Google says a 29 gallon tank full of water weighs 330 lbs. The display shelf must be able to safely hold this amount of weight. I have searched home depot looking for shelf holders that will hold this amount of weight but their not pretty and there is not very many choices. Do anyone have any suggestion on how I could safely accomplish this goal? As @madmark285 said, you will need some decent lag bolts to hold any kind of shelving you might use. These would need to be very securely anchored into your wall studs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evonner Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Everyone has given some good ideas. I agree that I need the mounting to be precise. As far as cleaning being an issue, I don't think that will be an issue as the shelf isn't going to be that far off the ground and the equipment I have simplifies my tasks. So really my biggest issue is stability of the weight. Im going to check out some of the ideas you all gave me. I'm pretty set on doing this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 On 7/17/2023 at 4:34 AM, Pepere said: the heavy duty brackets listed are 6 inches by 4 inches. There would be serious cantilevering forces at play. I dont have that much confidence in the holding power of deck screws in 3/4 of an inch of plywood with serious levering action on them… They have bigger ones rated for a few hundred lbs that I saw. Some of them were listed as fireplace brackets, stone mounting, or floating shelving. I wouldn't do this lightly though, so referencing that video is a great place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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