Plywood overhang

[Skydvr]

Placing a tank on a dresser and the tank is about 5/8 deeper than the the dresser. I was planning on putting piece of plywood on the top to prevent small spills and drips from damaging the dresser anyway.

After some scheming, I was considering building a raised structure over the tank to have a sump and refugium above the tank (20g AIO, not a lot of options for cleanly installing a sump), but this would block the sides a bit so I was considering sliding the tank forward a little to leave more of the sides exposed. Ideally there would be 5" of overhang.

Tank dimensions are 23.5 x 19 x 9, so a conservative estimate of the system would be 50psf
I can go half inch or 3/4 ply without too much cost difference.

Any recommendations for places to find info on calculating what wood built structures can support would be appreciated.

 

[jsker]

You would want the sump below the tank, for the reason of siphonage, and overflow issues with the tank.

 

[Skydvr]

I want it above as there is nowhere to put it below.

The flow will be fairly light and refugium drain will be right a the surface level and the plumbing has a small diameter, so the amount of water that flows back to the tank when the pumps are shut off will be pretty minimal, less than two cups. The sump chamber of the tank can handle that. Thanks for he warning though.

The refugium will be larger than the actual sump area and will be a bit more of a display refugium to feed the tank. A much better system that trying to put the animals through a pump to help supplement the tank feeding.