How heavy is a 29 gallon full tank?

Sep 15, 2003
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#1
Hello,
I have a cabinat in my living room, and I was thinking that maybe I could put my 29 gallon tank on it.
My boyfriend weighs 265 lbs and he sat on it and it could support his weight. Currently I have my 29 gl on the kitchen counter and I have been waiting to buy a stand for the living room. Space is kind of limited, so my boyfriend just suggested putting the tank on the cabinet. it's pretty sturdy wood, but it has casters on the bottom. I think it's like 30 years old and I got it in holland.
Would a 29 gallon tank be much heavier than 265lbs?
I would appreciate any info about it if anyone has any,
thanks!!
Dominique
 

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sandboxes

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2003
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#4
one gallon of water weighs 8.31 pounds (at 25*C or 77*F).

29 gallons of water will then weigh 240 lbs while the tank and gravel weigh around 30 lbs (i guess...could be 50?).

i'd take the legs off for stablity...
 

Flex26

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Apr 21, 2003
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#5
I have my 29g on a TV stand. I haven't had any problems *knocks on wood*. Igor and sandbox are right. A 29g will approach 300 lbs.

I'm not sure if I would try that cabinet. Chances are good that it would support the weight.

IMO...I would look for some sort of stand. Unless the furniture is designed to hold a lot of weight (like a TV stand), I would say normal household furniture does not make a good stand.
 

Nov 5, 2002
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Auburn, CA
#6
You also have to remeber that your boyfriend was only on the cabinet for a couple minutes. I can lift and hold that much weight but not for any length of time. Your tank will be on that cabinet for a very long time.

Nice looking cabinet and room . . . I would hate to chance it by using it for a fish tank and waking up in the moring to a swamp of water broken glass and dead fish.

I totally understand about space but a sturdy made-for-fish-tanks stand is absolutely essential.

*celebrate
 

Sep 15, 2003
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#7
Thanks guys. I actually checked under the cabinet to see if the legs could be removed but it isn't possible without wrecking the thing, so I shall take all your advice and just forget about using it as a tank stand.
Guess I will have to wait till I have some spare dough then.
thanks for all the feedback!
Dominique
 

sandboxes

Medium Fish
Jun 11, 2003
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#10
"You also have to remeber that your boyfriend was only on the cabinet for a couple minutes. I can lift and hold that much weight but not for any length of time."

alright, somethingfishy, i'm callin' shenanigans! you can't lift and hold that much weight period! =)
 

wayne

Elite Fish
Oct 22, 2002
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#11
Somethingfishy is wrong anyway - pieces of wood don't suffer muscle fatigue. Either it works, or it doesn't.
Be realistic - look at most fish tank stands - rubbish mdf, thin plywood. But they work. Now look at this - does it look strong, how thick is the top, the supporting parts. Now go back to the fish store and look at that stand again. Sure that the tank stand is any better? As long as it looks ok, and I would worry about the legs. Does it hold your boyfriend, does it even look scary? Can you get on too - is it flexing? If not, I'd likely use it.
 

Flex26

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Apr 21, 2003
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#12
Originally posted by wayne
Somethingfishy is wrong anyway - pieces of wood don't suffer muscle fatigue. Either it works, or it doesn't.
Be realistic - look at most fish tank stands - rubbish mdf, thin plywood. But they work. Now look at this - does it look strong, how thick is the top, the supporting parts. Now go back to the fish store and look at that stand again. Sure that the tank stand is any better? As long as it looks ok, and I would worry about the legs. Does it hold your boyfriend, does it even look scary? Can you get on too - is it flexing? If not, I'd likely use it.
Wayne brings up good points. Alot of fish tank stands are made of particle board which look kinda flimsy. But the difference between a fish tank stand and using furniture is that the fish tank stand was specifically designed to hold the weight. Most household furniture is not designed to hold 300+ pounds. My guess is that this piece of furniture was not designed with fish tanks in mind.

Wood doesn't suffer muscle fatigue. But prolonged stress from excessive weight could cause collapse. What bothers me about that piece of furniture is the position of the legs. They kind of angle out to the sides. A 300 lb tank could cause undue stress on the legs which could cause them to snap easier.

With that said, a 10g would probably fit on there. Maybe a 20.

BTW - What are the dimensions of that cabinet?

This is my opinion of course. By no means am I an engineer or a carpenter. Nor do I know how the cabinet was put together. Just offering some things to think about before making any decisions. ;)
 

Nov 5, 2002
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Auburn, CA
#14
shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!shenanigans!

Well I am impressed that you have artfully detected my pysical condition through my posts! :)

A dead lift of 250 lbs is not that much. Not to brag but when I was really hitting the weights I could leg-press much much more. Anyway it was merely an analogy to show what other posts have indicated about weight stress.

"Somethingfishy is wrong anyway - pieces of wood don't suffer muscle fatigue. Either it works, or it doesn't."

Well, as mentioned above this type of thinking will lead to a wet floor, broken glass and dead fish. While many stands are made with cheap material its all in the engineering. Ask any structural engineer that if you place too much weight on a structure after a period of time the stress will caus ethe stucture to fail. Cheap materials is really well . . . immaterial. Years ago in my high school physics class we had to build a bridge to span a specific distance and the winner was the bridge that could hold the most weight. The material used . . . 100 popcicle sticks! Most of the structures would hold at least 50lbs and some in excess of 200lbs!!

So, it appears that blindcavefish has taken the more cautious and proper approach and decided to use a tank stand. Good job . . . too much money and time invested to take short cuts with the stand. Although a tank on that table would have looked really nice.


*celebrate
 

Sep 15, 2003
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#16
hey guys!
I saw a 2 drawer metal filing cabinet at the local goodwill store for only 15 bucks!
surely a metal filing cabinet is strong enough to support the 29 gallon? the dimensions of the width and depth are just a little bigger than the 29 gallon, what do you think???

PS checked walmart and they have only wooden tank standsand I didnt' find them highly attractive, and they were 65 bucks.
At the big al's aquarium services in toronto they have the metal stands and they are 80 or 90 bucks around there.
So 15 dollars seems like a real steal!
 

mudwoman

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Nov 14, 2003
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#18
yeah...ditto on the structural engineering comment. Tank stands are made out of partical board, but you will notice that they are always built so that:
1. the weight of the tank is evenly distributed to the floor, no legs on the stand or anything.
2. The sides of the stand go straight up and down, centered under the rim of the tank so there is no stress on a joint and no stress on a horizontal surface that could bow over time, like the top of that cabinet.

Thus speaks the one-time physics major. :)

That's a gorgeous piece of furniture, by the way.