So I'm Starting to Question the Safety of this... Solved FTMP

[land shark]

1/2 plex flame bent with bonded triangle supports screwed to two studs with four cabinet screws. You guys think its safe for around 80lbs(added 20lbs as a buffer)? 5g pico, 15lbs live rock, probably 10lbs of tank and equipment. The edge of the tank is about 1ft off the wall. Seems fine but I'm starting to question myself.

[Sailingeric]

If it was me, no. You know if it falls it will be in the middle of the night. Plus you are doubting it, it is better to go with your gut.

[WV Reefer]

12 minutes ago, land shark said:

1/2 plex flame bent with bonded triangle supports screwed to two studs with four cabinet screws. You guys think its safe for around 80lbs(added 20lbs as a buffer)? 5g pico, 15lbs live rock, probably 10lbs of tank and equipment. The edge of the tank is about 1ft off the wall. Seems fine but I'm starting to question myself.

 

That looks soooo cool!! 

 

But, no way! 

[OldManSea]

That looks really unsafe as there is enormous stress at the 4 points where the screws go through..  You could do your acrylic  stand using metal y-supports that are shaped similar to your acrylic ones - screwed into the wall studs.  That would hold easily.

[Clown79]

I'd never do it myself. 

 

I mean it's screwed into the studs but I'd worry about the acrylic over time.

 

You also don't need 15lbs of rock in 5g.

[Jellyingabout]

You put it up and you doubt it, that makes me doubt it.

 

Perhaps two lighting cables on the outer corners pulling back to the wall also screwed to the studs, and four more screws through the acrylic.

[land shark]

I went ahead and drained it until I find a safer setup. The plexi is the kind used for building stages and stuff so I know its strong but just seems too risky and too much tension on the screws. I might just put a beam from the floor to outer edge of the shelf or move things around and find a different place for it. If I move my amp it should be easy to get it better supported and the amp shouldn't be under an aquarium anyhow. Just really limited on space here unfortunately.

 

Also, more suggestions for reinforcement are very appreciated.

[uwharrie]

Maybe steel or aluminum plate between the screw top and acrylic?

 

[OPtasia]

Agreed. That acrylic is going to brittle over time.

[ajmckay]

Not an expert on acrylic...  I bought some decent quality acrylic (from a plastics supplier, not HD) and over time it bent under what seemed like not a lot of weight.  1/4".  When you say 1/2" acrylic for stages do you mean the stuff that people walk on all day?  If so then you're probably fine, though I'm assuming this isn't your typical acrylic in that case.  Obviously it's all "acrylic" in a general sense...  but I'm curious what the variant is (i.e. Lexan - which is way different than your typical plexi).  Either way any bending would be very bad for a glass tank.  Could you take the tank off and test with something else instead?  Use a box and put in similar weight and see how it does after a week?

 

Assuming it survives that test then to enhance the feeling of security, I would consider:

1) round the edges - less likely for something to catch on the edge

2) make the supports full thickness all the way out (like not triangles).  The acrylic is going to be pretty weak out at the end.  Full thickness with a slightly rounded corner would be best.

3) Those studs look really really close together...  are you sure they're on studs?  Add some huge washers and you'll probably be much better off there.  Also try to locate the supports near the screws.  More supports would be better also. 

 

With those mods, again assuming the flat area can handle the weight, I would feel comfortable with the shelf.

[land shark]

16 minutes ago, ajmckay said:

Not an expert on acrylic...  I bought some decent quality acrylic (from a plastics supplier, not HD) and over time it bent under what seemed like not a lot of weight.  1/4".  When you say 1/2" acrylic for stages do you mean the stuff that people walk on all day?  If so then you're probably fine, though I'm assuming this isn't your typical acrylic in that case.  Obviously it's all "acrylic" in a general sense...  but I'm curious what the variant is (i.e. Lexan - which is way different than your typical plexi).  Either way any bending would be very bad for a glass tank.  Could you take the tank off and test with something else instead?  Use a box and put in similar weight and see how it does after a week?

 

Assuming it survives that test then to enhance the feeling of security, I would consider:

1) round the edges - less likely for something to catch on the edge

2) make the supports full thickness all the way out (like not triangles).  The acrylic is going to be pretty weak out at the end.  Full thickness with a slightly rounded corner would be best.

3) Those studs look really really close together...  are you sure they're on studs?  Add some huge washers and you'll probably be much better off there.  Also try to locate the supports near the screws.  More supports would be better also. 

 

With those mods, again assuming the flat area can handle the weight, I would feel comfortable with the shelf.

Yeah I dont know why the studs are like that but they go all the way up the wall and I know I screwed into wood.

 

Yes it is the stuff people walk on, my brother builds stages for a living and they were gonna throw it away so I asked for it. It was very difficult to bend.

 

I was gonna stress test it, in fact I already had with 40lbs but I underestimated the tank weight.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll throw 80lbs on it and see how it holds after a week. Probably gonna add bigger washers and more supports too. I did put foam under the tank so it would even out the surface.

 

I don't know how tough that plastic is but my brother kept saying it was strong as hell

[xthunt]

I’d change out those Phillips screws for some lag bolts w/ washers (and rubber between the washer and plex), if you decide to keep it. If you could redo it, I’d make the section that goes against the wall drop down further (same length as the top) and make the supports bigger (same length on the two welded edges). But, yeah, that looks rad. 

[jambon]

I would have made the triangle a 90/45/45... much more support and run the piece on the wall as long as that dimension or a bit longer because it looks cool!

[Nocturnal]

IMO the risky part is the point of contact at the screws. The acrylic might be strong enough but that would be your point of failure. I'd even worry about the screws themselves. At least throw on some lag bolts with very large washers. Hanging an 80lb TV is a very different load on the studs/hardware than a tank that sticks out that far. 

[SaltyBuddha]

1 hour ago, Nocturnal said:

IMO the risky part is the point of contact at the screws. The acrylic might be strong enough but that would be your point of failure. I'd even worry about the screws themselves. At least throw on some lag bolts with very large washers. Hanging an 80lb TV is a very different load on the studs/hardware than a tank that sticks out that far. 

This. The screws need to be in studs for sure.

[tdannhauser30]

This will be sweet once you can sleep at night without worrying lol, awesome idea!!!

[jeremyan7]

From the looks of it, the Acrylic is not really the problem here.  The design of the shelf itself looks "reasonable".  My engineering problem stems from the 4 screws..  In your case you have a static load pushing down on the shelf and a static fix point which is actually working as a pivot on the back of the shelf to the wall.  What that means is the TOP 2 screws are under tremendous "pull" pressure and the BOTTOM two screws are actually not doing much (other than to stabilize the shelf.). 

I'd do 2 things.  1) Use LARGE (perhaps 1.5 inches ) washer with a smaller one on top. These are required really only for the top 2 screws.  This will adequately spread the load force on a much larger area of acrylic and over time will prevent a failure.  2) I'd make sure the actual screws are long with wide grip threads (a lag bolt as someone suggested above) to prevent the stud from stripping over time.  I assume you're not screwed into a metal stud (because if you are, just RUN). 

 

Good luck.

 

[Zeal0201]

This will fall at 3Am when you're drunk out of your mind in bed

 

Because that's just how the universe works

[CarolinaShoreReef]

You could always shuv 2x4s under it and call it a day. Won’t be so aesthetic though. 

[tdannhauser30]

2 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

You could always shuv 2x4s under it and call it a day. Won’t be so aesthetic though. 

I would probably do this until long term solution found..I would not sleep well at all without it

[CarolinaShoreReef]

I mean I think he could do it long term and build the bottom like everyone usually does for a diy stand. Only difference will be that the acrylic isn’t permanently mounted to the lower portion which does leave cause for speculation.. haha it would be sick if it worked without it. Maybe you could do the steel cable thing, it sounds legit if you can find some studs. 

 

[Nocturnal]

58 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

I mean I think he could do it long term and build the bottom like everyone usually does for a diy stand. Only difference will be that the acrylic isn’t permanently mounted to the lower portion which does leave cause for speculation.. haha it would be sick if it worked without it. Maybe you could do the steel cable thing, it sounds legit if you can find some studs. 

 

 

Steel cables mounted to the studs and attached to the corners of the acrylic would probably work well, to add stability if nothing else.

 

For me though I wouldn't put a tank on it unless I could stand on the thing but I'm paranoid.

[burtbollinger]

big NOPE on that.

[A Little Blue]

On 4/7/2018 at 2:41 PM, land shark said:

1/2 plex flame bent with bonded triangle supports screwed to two studs with four cabinet screws. You guys think its safe for around 80lbs(added 20lbs as a buffer)? 5g pico, 15lbs live rock, probably 10lbs of tank and equipment. The edge of the tank is about 1ft off the wall. Seems fine but I'm starting to question myself.

You are a very brave man full with optimism. Good luck. 

[Clown79]

Why not buy a book shelf at Ikea?

 

This one is uses for small tanks. It's cheap, no work, and you can put other items in the cubes.