Toobit67 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Setting up a new 10g tank in a bookshelf that I modified to support the tank's weight... After putting the tank in place, I notice the corners are touching the shelf, but there is like 1/16 inch space under the middle..... enough to easily slip a fingernail under.. like the shelf is bowed a bit... How bad is this? I haven't filled the tank yet.... waiting on suggestions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBOzzie59 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Is it a framed or frameless tank? This is a good time when a picture is worth a thousand words. This is the rack setup at Aquarium Coop. Notice that the tanks are only supported evenly at each end (all 4 corners). That is how it works with framed tanks. If it is frameless you would provide a flat surface with a "leveling mat" under the tank to offset any minor imperfections in the surface. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toobit67 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 incoming.. 1 sec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toobit67 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toobit67 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 Ok gotcha... it is framed, so I should be ok.. ya? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiclid addict Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Toobit67 said: Setting up a new 10g tank in a bookshelf that I modified to support the tank's weight... After putting the tank in place, I notice the corners are touching the shelf, but there is like 1/16 inch space under the middle..... enough to easily slip a fingernail under.. like the shelf is bowed a bit... How bad is this? I haven't filled the tank yet.... waiting on suggestions... If it is frameless no way but if it has a rim it’s 100% fine the co-op has there’s set up like this but If the shelf wasn’t bowed before it was modded I wouldn’t put a tank on if because you risk the shelf bowing more and\or breaking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiclid addict Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 28 minutes ago, Toobit67 said: Ok gotcha... it is framed, so I should be ok.. ya? In my opinion it’s fine but like I said watch it to make sure it’s not bowing more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Toobit67 said: I'm sure someone with more knowledge will come along and offer more in-depth advice, but I'd be a bit nervous about trusting 80ish pounds to what looks like dowels, fairly short screws and possibly glue. I'm assuming you added the extra piece of wood (some kind of composite?) to add rigidity to the shelf then screwed in some half sheets of the same material below, yeah? To my eye, it looks like the entire thing is held up by screws, rather than material in contact with the ground. My concern would be with screws tearing out of the shelf, since they likely had to be less than 1" long. I suppose having them shear could be an issue too, but I'd imagine most screws can handle 80 pounds. I wouldn't risk it, but I'm more paranoid than most when it comes to tank stands. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan F Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 The sheer or pull out strength of most structural screws is only 50lbs. Most screws are meant to bind, not support. For support you want bolts. Something that thin would probably be less. Assuming there is 5 or 6 screws holding the vertical supports, those will probably be okay. I'd be mostly concerned with the material of the sides of that shelf. A screws capacity is mostly determined by the material it's set into. If that shelf is a MDF with a veneer then you probably wouldn't want to trust it. If it's solid wood then you could be okay. The engineer in me says you want to bring those added supports all the way to the floor. So that the added wood carries the weight and the screws are just holding the pieces together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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