Cabinet Stand

[Parker]

This is my planned cabinet design for my basement. The plan is to put my 265 in the center. My question is, will the cabinetry alone support the tank? Looking at pre-made stands the cabinetry I'm going with is significantly beefier. I do have a metal stand that I could place inside the cabinets by cutting holes in the bottom and clearancing the top to beef it up but I’m wondering if this is necessary? I do have to make room in the cabinets for the sump yet, but the structure shouldn’t be changed too much to accommodate it. The cabinets will be spaced from the wall to allow for plumbing and electrical

[michika]

I don't know anything about beefing up stands, but the cabinet design is really nice.

[Brent F]

At 265 gallons your tank weighs the same as a car. If you would feel safe parking your car on the cabinet you are building then it is sturdy enough.
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drug tests

[Richard_Dicosimo]

the cabnits should be strong enough the problem is that they are likely made out of k3 also know as particle board, which blows up and looses all strength after coming in contact with a sufficent ammount of water. even with a plastic laminate style counter top i would probably opt for a steel stand and then just hang matching cabnit doors on the stand. or have the cabnits made out of ply wood. or you could always go the 2x4 or 2x6 route with a stand and then cover those with the doors but a 2x4 stand takes up so much potential room that a steel stand really is worth the money!!

Richard

[Skimmerking]

if there is a way to add in some 4x4's in the cabinets inside along wit some 2x6's on the edges you should be ok.

[Skimmerking]

hth this helps

[Aquattro]

I personally would not put 3000 pounds on my kitchen cabinets. Build a subframe with 2x4's or 2x6's.

[Parker]

Well if I did the math right. The tank plus contents will come in at around 3,000 lbs. The tank is 84 x 24 x 30, so 14 sq. feet. That works out to 215 lbs per square foot. Not really all that bad. If I spread that load out past the dimensions of the tank then that figure drops dramatically ie: extending the load one foot on each side of the tank the load drops to 166 lbs per square foot. The cabinetry is only 24" wide so they have to be spaced off the wall to accomadate the 24" depth of the tank while having a nice lip at the front. I was planning to support the back of the tank with a 2x4 structure that would also double as a mounting surface for the cabinets. That will also reduce the total load the cabinets are supporting.

I do own a metal stand, it's what I have the tank sitting on now. If I do indeed need it I'll cut it apart and build it into the cabinets. I'm just trying to gain as much room as possible under the tank for all the crap that will eventulaly end up under there.

[dsaundry]

I WOULD STILL REINFORCE WITH METAL BRACING. RULE OF THUMB. IF IT CAN GET WET IT WILL. WATER IS THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF WOOD. SO SPEND A LITTLE EXTRA AND REINFORCE IT. IT IS STILL A LOT OF WEIGHT BUT THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS FOR THE WOOD TO DISTORT WHEN IT GETS WET. THE DESIGN LOOKS GOOD THOUGH. POST SOME PICS WHEN YOU GET IT DONE.

[danny zubot]

I would definately reinforce the cabinets. By the looks of things, you'll have ample room all around the tank if required.