jabeuy Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I have a 2x4 Ikea Expedit on its side as a stand for a 20g. I'm looking to get a custom AIO tank made to take its place. The dimensions would be 42 x 14.5 x 13. So long and shallow. This would hold about 34g. I've done a bit of googling and it seems the popular opinion is that these stands aren't stable enough to use for things other than smaller 10g-ish tanks. I know SouthFlorida_Tron (http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/338052-tr0ns-zeovit-cad-34g-mini-ii/) uses this for his cadlights 34g, but I'd feel better if I could reinforce the structure a bit. Since my proposed tank would be long and shallow, I'd think the weight would be distributed more evenly. Are there any engineers here with suggestions on how to reinforce, strengthen and stabilize this stand? And also any suggestions on how to maybe waterproof the surface? Thanks! Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I'm a big fan of wood cross braces, as they are some of the strongest out there. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 I'm a big fan of wood cross braces, as they are some of the strongest out there. Thanks. With this particular shelving/stand, would that be cross braces in each "cube" ? I'm planning on making this a peninsula type in the future, so looking for unobtrusive bracing if thats possible. Heres the shelf for reference (horizontally):http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/expedit-shelving-unit.jpg Link to comment
FishI Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 You could get the cabinet for the expedit and drill a support beam in mid way through.... Link to comment
PaulBuxton Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 To be honest I am surprised that people do not consider the expedit strong enough. For a 34 gallon tank you are talking about 193 Kg total weight of water and tank. The unit would be taking a force of 488.670928 kg / m2 Assuming that a pair of feet at 30cm/40cm (just a guess), and the person weighs 90Kg (quite heavy) the force of a person standing on a unit would be about 750 kg / m2 There is probably more to consider, but I would think if you can stand on it, and perhaps jump up and down a bit, it should be fine. I have an expedit shelf with the desk attachment, and have stood on the desk without any problems. The desk is attached to one of the internal shelves so is not even in the direction that the shelf is strongest! Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks. With this particular shelving/stand, would that be cross braces in each "cube" ? I'm planning on making this a peninsula type in the future, so looking for unobtrusive bracing if thats possible. Heres the shelf for reference (horizontally):http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/expedit-shelving-unit.jpg You could probably just do a single angled brace, not even an X, on each far side of the cubes. I am assuming you have the shelf laying on its side so it's 2 cubes high, 4 wide? I'd put a single angled brace in the top and bottom cubes on each side (4 total) and pushed up against the insides of the farthest points (I hope this makes sense), going in opposite directions. This is what I mean from the front |\----|----|----|----/| |/----|----|----|----\| From the side |_\_| |_/_| Does that make sense? You'll have a < or > shape of bracers on each of the far ends of the shelf using only one brace in one direction per cube, and only in the farthest cubes. I hope this makes sense. Like a Z on top of a backwards Z shape To be honest I am surprised that people do not consider the expedit strong enough. For a 34 gallon tank you are talking about 193 Kg total weight of water and tank. The unit would be taking a force of 488.670928 kg / m2 Assuming that a pair of feet at 30cm/40cm (just a guess), and the person weighs 90Kg (quite heavy) the force of a person standing on a unit would be about 750 kg / m2 There is probably more to consider, but I would think if you can stand on it, and perhaps jump up and down a bit, it should be fine. I have an expedit shelf with the desk attachment, and have stood on the desk without any problems. The desk is attached to one of the internal shelves so is not even in the direction that the shelf is strongest! I've been wondering about this. I guess the issue is that when you look at the package, it says what rating for weight it has and it's something like 66 pounds (~30kg). I think people are just concerned that the wood that makes the shelf isn't strong and if the shelf gives, they lose everything so they err on the cautious side and get something sturdier. Link to comment
PaulBuxton Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 You could probably just do a single angled brace, not even an X, on each far side of the cubes. I am assuming you have the shelf laying on its side so it's 2 cubes high, 4 wide? I'd put a single angled brace in the top and bottom cubes on each side (4 total) and pushed up against the insides of the farthest points (I hope this makes sense), going in opposite directions. This is what I mean from the front |\----|----|----|----/| |/----|----|----|----\| From the side |_\_| |_/_| Does that make sense? You'll have a < or > shape of bracers on each of the far ends of the shelf using only one brace in one direction per cube, and only in the farthest cubes. I hope this makes sense. Like a Z on top of a backwards Z shape I've been wondering about this. I guess the issue is that when you look at the package, it says what rating for weight it has and it's something like 66 pounds (~30kg). I think people are just concerned that the wood that makes the shelf isn't strong and if the shelf gives, they lose everything so they err on the cautious side and get something sturdier. Yeah, but that rating is for the weight that the internal shelves are rated for, which (depending on the orientation) may be a shearing force at the junction between shelf and struts. The way that jabeuy is looking at using it, the shelf will be being compressed which it will be much better at withstanding. Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Yeah, but that rating is for the weight that the internal shelves are rated for, which (depending on the orientation) may be a shearing force at the junction between shelf and struts. The way that jabeuy is looking at using it, the shelf will be being compressed which it will be much better at withstanding. Right, that's probably correct. And that's what I was concerned with when I looked at the actual shelf - I wasn't sure exactly what they meant, so I decided it would be better to wait. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Thanks for the replies guys. It definitely does seem strong enough, since it's been holding a 20G so far pretty well. Pictures like this scare me though :| Any way, the Expedit stand I have is only about 18" Wide. The tank I wanna make is gonna be deeper so I'm going with another stand. Possibly with 8020.net as framing. If I go with wood, I'll keep your replies on hand Link to comment
RyC Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Did you ever find the solution on reinforcing the Kallax 4x2? I want to do the same but I want to place a 13.5 Gallons on one end of the 4x2! Link to comment
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