My first tank (a 55 gallon) years ago was a total piece of crap, it was compressed partical board with wicker for the two cabinets in front. I see about the same quality in many of the cheap Walmart-Petsmart stands that cost an arm and a leg. Just do some investigating as to the strength of the structure and use your best judgement.
Tank placement on dresser
- Thread starter eatingleg4peanut
- Start date
how deep is the dresser? you said it is 6' wide, but what about the dimension front-to-back?
and does it lay flat on the floor, or is it on legs? and if legs, how strong are they?
and does it lay flat on the floor, or is it on legs? and if legs, how strong are they?
I would wager that if it is made of solid wood that it will hold the weight fine. Take the drawers out and see how thick the wood is. I am planning on putting my 55g on a dresser and the inside is solid wood with good bracing. I am going to test it carefully but I fully expect it to hold the weight fine.
I have a 75g on my dresser. It's been there for years. Since yours is smaller and will weigh 50% less, you should play it safe and listen to the people saying 
shenanigans on all of the above, there is a 55g stand inside petco made of 1/2" pine and 1/4 cardboard sheeting. Your dresser is way stronger than that.
just be certain you don't leave standing water on the dresser, you'll be fine.
just be certain you don't leave standing water on the dresser, you'll be fine.
I would def. shore it up, but it sounds fine. My 2cents: I kept mine on an already-bowed particle board entertainment stand (meaning there was a large hole under a good portion of the tank) and it was just fine. (I did eventually get a solid pine entertainment stand because the other one was already messed up before I put the tank on top of it). The best advice I can give you is to buy a big piece of corkboard or particle board and cut it to fit under your tank. This helps distribute the weight and will also help accomodate any irregularities in the dresser top.
A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds so do the math. Now to the actual dresser. I belive alot of dresser would work in general as far as materials go but the shear points of the design is usualy the flaw of this choice. You may very well have the material to hold it persay but if all the weight is on the screws and not the wood, your gonna be in real trouble real quick.
