Cabinet disaster!!

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A

Adambetteridge

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 23, 2011
5
0
0
England
Hi!
I had a bit of a brown trouser moment on the weekend, my cabinet that supports my 5x2x2 malawi tank began to split!
I haven't owned the tank for very long and i think the extra weight from the rockwork i have added has just pushed it a bit too far!!
So, i have dropped about 200 or so litres and created a waterfall in one corner of the tank from the filter outlet.
I have made the decision to try and create an Amazonian paludarium, note the word "try"
I've never gone down this road before and wondered if anyone had any stocking suggestions or any alternatives to making the "land" area as i dont want to add any more weight than i have to, to my aging cabinet and i cant really afford to invest in a new one just yet.
Ive still got about 300 litres in my tank, parameters are fine and filtration comes from an fx5.
I'd love to have the whole shebang, turtles, frogs and fish but, im not sure if this is wholly practical, any advice is appreciated!
Thanks
 
Pff I think I would poop my pants too if that happened...
As for stocking I have no clue. However, if you want to save your old cabinet, can't you go to a decent DYI store, buy some decent wood and just screw that on the bit that is splitting? If it is the top, just make it your new top... If it is the sides maybe some pieces of 2x4 in strategically placed places might save your cabinet a bit longer untill you get the wonga to buy a new one.
 
I i have reinforced it on the verticals, i just think its too much weight! the water alone is 500kgs! the glass is 10mm thick aswell so i can only guess how much it weighs, then the rockwork etc! i was toying with the idea of doing this kind of set up for a while, so maybe my cabinet splitting is a sign from the fishy gods! haha!!!
 
good luck fixing it
 
can't help you with the fixing it part, but you can check my sig for a link to my paludarium build to give you some ideas if you go that route...
 
hahah hence the reason i use lavarock. Weighs nothing, you can pack loads in a tank, and if managed right the fish won't have any trouble with it!
I'd like to have the grey stone in my tank, but having my cabinet splitting on me is not on my to-do list ;)

I think, with water, stone etc taken into account my cabinet now holds roughly 500KG, so far without isseus, but then the cabinet and tank are not even a year old...

For my previous tank I built a cabinet myself, and it held all the way through. Okay it was only about 300KG all in that it had to hold, but when you need a cabinet, make one! I find there are many upsides to building one yourself: You choose the wood!! Using nice sturdy wood that can take a beating is imo way better than those cabinets that often come with a tank....

As for a sign from the gods, your probably right....lol
I had one a while back. I had a amazone biotope but I wanted to change to malawi. A few days later a powerouttage killed most of my fish, talk about gutting... But it ended up being the push I needed and now I have my malawi's...
 
Thanks alot guys!!
ive got so many ideas for what to do with this tank, its going to take me a while to decide what to do!
ill post some pictures once ive made my desicion, thanks again for the help
 
^ This, I've used the cheap particle board stands from Petsmart on tanks and never had a stand failure. If it can't be reinforced try building a new one or if your not into that try cinder blocks and wood. God thing you caught it before it completely failed
 
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