Will a Dresser from IKEA hold a 40 Gallon Tank?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
D

daveman12345

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 17, 2008
200
1
0
la
Hi everyone,

First, I live in Southern California in an upstairs apartment. We're overdue for an earthquake, so I want to be careful about the dresser I get to put a 40 gallon fish tank on. A 40 gallon is about 456lbs, and 500lbs with rocks and ornaments.

Now, I'm looking for a dresser. Here are a few notes I had in mind:

1. The tank I have is an acrylic 40 gallon, which is 3 feet in width. I wish I had gotten a 4 foot width one so that it could distribute the weight more. Maybe in the future.

2. I believe a tank that is lower to the ground has better balance, correct?

3. The dresser I'm looking at is at the link below. I'm not sure if it will hold 500lbs, especially when the dresser says that it should be attached to the wall. Should I keep looking for dressers made from today's wood, or should I look for an older style solid oak dresser?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20090194

I'm hoping to spend about $40 on Craigslist. Thanks.
 
Lower to the ground is more stable, yes.

I am pretty sure the dresser could handle the tank. I am shocked at how sparsely built the stand is for my 150 gallon. Sometime this spring, I am going to build a heavier stand...or at least brace up my OEM stand.

In an earthquake though, you'll probably have a big mess to clean up. The fish tank being one of the least concerns :)
 
I would fo sho go with older oak wood.. I don't think anything IKEA is gonna hold much... I think it's probably all made from partical board... or that's what it looks like... or second thought, it might..

CL... you'll find something there..
 
Particle board has great compression strength but it lacks in shearing strength....something important if a item is weighed down considerably than shock from below(earthquake) just something to keep in mind when making your purchase...I bought all my furniture from there when I lived in San Diego and I'm pretty sure it's all particle board....but hey what other furniture store has it's own resturant in it!
 
(fishmamma...nice avatar update :) )
 
Thank you guys for the help. This answered it. Also, I will look for older oak.

Particle board has great compression strength but it lacks in shearing strength....something important if a item is weighed down considerably than shock from below(earthquake) just something to keep in mind when making your purchase...I bought all my furniture from there when I lived in San Diego and I'm pretty sure it's all particle board....but hey what other furniture store has it's own resturant in it!
 
minus the laminate peeling each gallon of water weighs eight pounds on top of all the gravel rock and everything else so you want to figure how much weight you have all together so it doesn't flex i put a thirty gallon on top of a dresser and the top bowed so the drawers wouldn't open
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom