DIY Project Is this base strong enough?

[breamsterbob]

Hi,

We have a small Fluval Flex 34 which sadly has spontaneously cracked in the top corner and needs replacement.

The only space we have available is on well built melamine/chipboard chest of drawers. Two 18mm verticals with a span of approx 1m. The top is also an 18mm piece of melamine. which some additional 18mm bracing underneath. It is a built in unit and well secured.

The above flex tank has been on this unit with no obvious issues* for a few years.

How big a tank would you risk on a base like this? I appreciate it's not ideal but it is what we have. Would a Supafish Scaper 45 or even 60 be ok on it? I could place it on a span of 18mm ply if that helps.

I like the idea of a long and shallow tank as I'd like take the planting a bit more seriously if I can find something suitable.

What do you think?

Thanks all.

* - I don't think the base unit caused the crack. My local lfs had a few flexs in for warranty returns with almost identical cracks when I spoke to them

 

[tigertim]

Think a picture would help here Bob ?

 

[breamsterbob]

Good point. I typed it in a rush.

 

[breamsterbob]

(Excuse the jungle of a tank - looking to improve it with the next one!!)

Span is quite wide at about a metre so I'm starting to think a bigger tank may be a bad idea.

Back is the cheap hardboard material so no structural benefit there.

 

[Garuf]

If I were you I’d get a plate cut of the same size as the top in a thick plywood and add a brace or two at the back to remove any wobble. If it isn’t on adjustable feet or nicely levelled I’d also figure that out.

 

[Wookii]

That top panel looks like it’s bowing already, even without a filled tank on it. I personally wouldn’t expect 18mm chipboard to support much of anything.

You could test it out before hand - a Supercaper 45 will be about 50Kg filled, and a 60 maybe about 65-70Kg filled. Get a box filled with stuff that weight (and non-breakable) and place it on top (maybe move the Flex first), and see what happens.

 

[breamsterbob]

I hadn't noticed it as I took the photos in a rush. There is a definite bend in it. Blast.

I think I need a plan b or I need to give up the fishkeeping for a bit. The overall weight is not the problem but the span between the uprights. I do have some strips of steel angle somewhere. I might experiment with that and see what happens.

Good idea to try it with some other weight first.

 

[GraemeVW]

A wider tank would actually be better as rather than bowing the middle, the weight would go down into the uprights.
If the uprights are tied in, and extend down to the floor, then a piece of ply on top and a tank that spans the whole area 'may' work ok.
It's hard to say for sure with our seeing it in person.

What you need to avoid there is weight in the middle. The more the weight, and the more concentrated it is in the middle, the worse it would be.

 

[swyftfeet]

Ply (even 3/4" marine over time) and chipboard will all warp (deflect) when pressure is exerted on the flat surface of the board. A glass aquarium is very unforgiving regarding this deflection, they literally must sit on a flat and level surface...
What you need is wood which can be ply or chipboard(if it goes all the way to the floor) on edge below the top, there is no room for this in this setup.

as an alternative, IF you have access to a router and a hacksaw, what I would do is simply buy some steel L-shaped stock

I would take the top off the drawer system, then I would create 2 channels for the L-Shaped stock in the sides such that the length of the stock was parallel to the front of the drawer, and top side of the L sat flush, and it must be perfectly flush, with the top of the sides of the cabinet box. they you can put the top it came with right back on. This would transfer load to the sides of the cabinet, and there would be no deflection of the top.

I dont have much faith that you can do this well without a router, so that's the constraint.

I honestly dont think that just attatching L-Shape below the deck with wood screws or what not will hold for any length of time in chip-board/melamine, it has to transfer the load to the vertical edges.