Can this plywood stand support a 57 gallon aquarium?

[RaymondNoodles]

A friend who is a retired carpenter built me this cabinet. It's made of 3/4" birch plywood with a 3/4" maple top. Originally I was going to put a 20 gallon cube on it, but I decided to put the cube on my desk and save this stand for a bigger tank in the future. Well, that was 9 months ago and I'm ready to upgrade Looking at the Fiji Cube 48 or 57 and wondering if this stand can support it. I'm also going to put a 15-20 gallon sump inside the cabinet which I didn't plan for originally, so it'll require cutting out half of the shelf. Thinking about adding additional support as shown by the red line in the last picture.

Cabinet dimensions: 37.5" long x 21.5 wide x 36" tall
Fiji cube 57 gallon aquarium dimensions: 35.5" long x 23.5" wide x 16" tall
Fiji cube 48 gallon aquarium dimensions: 30" long x 23.5" wide x 16" tall

So both tanks would be 2" wider than the cabinet therefore they will have to hang over the back but I'm contemplating additional support in the back to properly support the entire tank. What do you think, is that necessary? Will this stand support all of that weight? Where would you add more support and what type of wood would you use? Thanks!

 

[Grimmj]

If the tank load is distributed along the perimeter where the weight is on the vertical sides it would support a tank. That being said if the tank foot print doesn't go to the edges and will be sitting inside the vertical frame foot print you should reinforce the stand.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

If the tank load is distributed along the perimeter where the weight is on the vertical sides it would support a tank. That being said if the tank foot print doesn't go to the edges and will be sitting inside the vertical frame foot print you should reinforce the stand.

Thank you, that makes sense. The 57 gallon will fit nearly perfect length wise. The stand actually measures 35-7/8" excluding the top which over-hangs 7/8" on each side. So the tank is 3/8" narrower than the "meat" of the stand. Winner winner chicken dinner? No concern with the 2" overhang in the back?

 

[PhilMStudy]

The weight is usually distributed along the frame of the tank basically… having part of that “floating” is a recipe for disaster imo

 

[Grimmj]

I missed the part about the overhang on the back. I make a little build out off the back to support that. You definitely don't want rank overhanging the stand. You could do it as place for cable routing and power supplies though to help keep the front of the cabinet less cluttered.
Use some vertical supports and add the 2" flat top. Attach it to the existing cabinet and cut a ln access door in 1 or both sides and treat it like a crawl space.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Could you get your Cabinet Builder to Laminate Two Pieces of 3/4” Plywood and 1/2” Plywood together. Put a 3/4” piece of Plywood inside the back of the stand and Screw and Glue it together? This would take care of the Overhang.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Could you get your Cabinet Builder to Laminate Two Pieces of 3/4” Plywood and 1/2” Plywood together. Put a 3/4” piece of Plywood inside the back of the stand and Screw and Glue it together? This would take care of the Overhang.

Good idea. Except I made the mistake of only measuring the width of the stand at the top, not taking into account the overhang. The frame/vertical supports that we really care about are exactly 20" width outer edge to outer edge.

So I'd need to add 3.5" . I could probably get away with a couple 2x4" 's sandwiched between 3/4" plywood. Hmm, that might not be a bad idea...

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Also I noticed you painted the stand, wood glue doesn’t adhere to paint very well. You would have to sand it down to bare wood. There is this CA primer and glue you can use, just roughen up the paint, prime and glue. BTW it grips instantly, so you have one time to get it right! Also if you use Wood Dowel Pins for lining up DO NOT put the CA Glue on the dowels, use wood glue.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

There are things on your cabinet that bother me for supporting your aquarium. On Standard Bath/Kitchen Cabinets they use a Soft Glue, so the Cabinet won’t break at a joint when hung from an out of plumb wall. Aquarium Cabinets use a “Hard Glue,” that makes the Joint stronger than the wood itself. Attached are photos of various Cabinets and their construction.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

There are things on your cabinet that bother me for supporting your aquarium. On Standard Bath/Kitchen Cabinets they use a Soft Glue, so the Cabinet won’t break at a joint when hung from an out of plumb wall. Aquarium Cabinets use a “Hard Glue,” that makes the Joint stronger than the wood itself. Attached are photos of various Cabinets and their construction.

I will ask the carpenter what kind of glue he used. Not sure if you noticed but the corner supports are also screwed. Thanks for the pics. I was considering adding more support as a safety measure. It shouldn't be too difficult. I can add vertical supports on both sides of each corner support. Length wise and width wise blocking is probably wise as well. Would you use 2x4's? Thanks again.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I would use Plywood, 2 x have a tendency to warp and twist. Plus I’ve never come across a Production Stand made out of milled lumber for structural strength, on the trim yes. The problem with the glue used on Kitchen Cabinets, is a wave maker or lateral stress on the cabinet over the years, may pull it apart. The 30 year old Cabinet in the picture, the soft glue is a solvent or water base, the replacement cabinets used an Industrial Hot Melt Glue.