Tank overhang

[theaquaticdad]

I just purchased a 50 gallon lowboy tank from zoo-med and it does not fully sit on my entertainment center it has the outer edges hanging off by 1/16th of an inch on both long sides

I really don’t want to have to return this tank will this small overhang be ok to run the tank with

I will have corals and fish with sand and rocks in this tank once up and running

 

[Fish Fan]

I don't think that tiny overhang will be a problem as long as the bottom plastic frame is fully supported by the entertainment center.

If you want full piece of mind, simply cut a piece of plywood the same dimensions as the footprint of your low-boy, and place that on top of the entertainment center, then put the tank on the plywood. This way, the tank's frame would be 110% fully supported

Good luck with your build!

 

[theaquaticdad]

I don't think that tiny overhang will be a problem as long as the bottom plastic frame is fully supported by the entertainment center.

If you want full piece of mind, simply cut a piece of plywood the same dimensions as the footprint of your low-boy, and place that on top of the entertainment center, then put the tank on the plywood. This way, the tank's frame is 110% fully supported

Good luck with your build!

When you say bottom plastic frame fully supported wouldn’t that mean nothing hanging off? The part that’s hanging is the rim itself just the outer half of it like it has the flat black part half of that hangs

 

[Fish Fan]

When you say bottom plastic frame fully supported wouldn’t that mean nothing hanging off? The part that’s hanging is the rim itself just the outer half of it like it has the flat black part half of that hangs

Well yes, but it looks to me like 95% of the plastic frame is supported, and I don't believe that tiny overhang would be any issues. But as mentioned, you can slip a piece of plywood between the tank and the top of the entertainment center, which should be 100% fine for sure.

 

[UncommonSense]

This one’s borderline, but I think you’ll be okay to run it as-is!

— the tank is very shallow, thus has a wide footprint with less pounds per-square inch on the bottom plastic rim… if this tank was taller, the answer may be different!

— based on your photos, we can see that the outside faces of the glass tank walls themselves are in a straight vertical line with the top edges of the stand, meaning that the entire tank bottom pane, and all four walls are fully supported, with only the plastic rim itself extending beyond the stand’s top! (If the exterior face of the vertical glass panes were physically overhanging, in addition to the plastic rim, the answer would likely also be different!)

 

[William Sharkspeare]

I would be more concerned with your entertainment center's ability to hold the weight of everything. 50 gallons of salt water is about 430lbs. Now add the tank, rock, sand, corals, fish, filtration etc. Is the entertainment center built for that weight?
Post some pictures so someone smarter than myself can weigh in.
Granted as a kid I had tanks on my bedroom dressers with no problems but now I wonder about these things.

 

[theaquaticdad]

I would be more concerned with your entertainment center's ability to hold the weight of everything. 50 gallons of salt water is about 430lbs. Now add the tank, rock, sand, corals, fish, filtration etc. Is the entertainment center built for that weight?
Post some pictures so someone smarter than myself can weigh in.
Granted as a kid I had tanks on my bedroom dressers with no problems but now I wonder about these things.

The entertainment center should be able to hold it without problems we bought it with putting a tank on top in mind it was actually expensive lol so I hope so. So my main issue is the tank rn

 

[Dom]

I just purchased a 50 gallon lowboy tank from zoo-med and it does not fully sit on my entertainment center it has the outer edges hanging off by 1/16th of an inch on both long sides

I really don’t want to have to return this tank will this small overhang be ok to run the tank with

I will have corals and fish with sand and rocks in this tank once up and running

I'm more concerned with the entertainment center's ability to support the weight of the tank.

50 gallons at roughly 8 pounds per gallon is 400 pounds.

 

[UncommonSense]

The entertainment center should be able to hold it without problems we bought it with putting a tank on top in mind

Is there some form of beam or column in the front of this entertainment center to bear the load of the front half of this tank’s weight?

I see that the back appears to have columns, I just want to make sure the front half of the tank has something load bearing under it!

 

[Freenow54]

I don't think that tiny overhang will be a problem as long as the bottom plastic frame is fully supported by the entertainment center.

If you want full piece of mind, simply cut a piece of plywood the same dimensions as the footprint of your low-boy, and place that on top of the entertainment center, then put the tank on the plywood. This way, the tank's frame would be 110% fully supported

Good luck with your build!

like above your glass edge is on the top so I would not worry especially after taking a tank apart knowing how its done . You could use a nice veneer plywood but it would get wet and rot over time I think . You can get a thick piece of poly carbonate ? Vinyl

 

[Freenow54]

like above your glass edge is on the top so I would not worry especially after taking a tank apart knowing how its done . You could use a nice veneer plywood but it would get wet and rot over time I think . You can get a thick piece of poly carbonate ? Vinyl

Acrylic

 

[BeanAnimal]

Your electronics in the entertainment center are going to get wet, as is the top of the expensive entertainment center.

 

[mcarroll]

I'm with others on the more practical concerns of the cabinet holding up and the things within being damaged. Even if it's sturdy enough, I'd dedicate the cabinet to the tank so other things (eg electronics, keepsakes, etc) aren't compromised.

Saltwater is MESSY in ways that freshwater is not. (It's messy in all the ways freshwater is too!)

But for the tank, support under the four corners is what's most crucial. If the plastic frame is seated on the cabinet top as well as it looks, it should be fine. 1/16" should only account for the curvature of the frame-edge which wouldn't touch the cabinet anyway. It's hard for me to judge this confidently from the pics, but you are there and can see and feel the difference in the two.....so you should be able to tell if this is the case or not.

If you perceive the overhang is too much, such as if the glass itself (inside the frame) seems to be over the edge of the stand, then I would add 3/4" plywood (or better) under the tank.