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Post by marcusbacus on Nov 13, 2004 12:03:05 GMT -5
I have a shelf in my bedroom that is made of glass (the glass stands are supported by 4 large pins each, 2 on each side of each "floor" of the shelf), and I was planning to try to place a tank there but I'm not sure how much weight it could stand. The glasses are 0.9mm thick (approx. 0.4 inch?), and it has a depth of about 9.5 inches (24cm), and the subdivisions are more or less 16 inches tall (40cm top to bottom, would have to use less than that for easy handling). It's quite wide (1.5mt I think) but I wouldnt use all that space. The shelf already has some (a lot actually) stuff on it (cds, dvds, some vhs tapes and other assorted stuff), so I think it can stand a few pounds, but how much? A 1 gallon tank + gravel + glass + stuff would weight over 8 kilos (16 pounds?) I think... It would look great because there's this big mirror on the back... poor bettas!  |
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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 13, 2004 12:24:57 GMT -5
personally, i wouldn't trust any suspended shelf to hold my bettas...there's just to much that could go wrong. All my tanks are on surfaces that contact the floor, and cannot be easily tipped over. Just my opinion.  |
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Post by amanichen on Nov 13, 2004 15:34:45 GMT -5
Weight + glass = not good unless you've done the calculations.
I wouldn't risk it.
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Post by marcusbacus on Nov 14, 2004 13:17:40 GMT -5
I think it could handle some 1/4 gallon tanks relatively easy but these are nothing but pure cruelty...
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Post by marcusbacus on Nov 20, 2004 21:35:32 GMT -5
this is a picture of the shelf (disregard the mess - most of this stuff would be moved and rearranged)  I would place the tank in the lowest shelf, because if a disaster happens (and it always does), it wouldn't break the whole shelf. I was told to not go past 15L (about 4G), and that the density it can handle would be 50Kg/dm2, but to be sure I would have to know the final weight and density of the tank. Considering that 2L of water in a plastic bottle weights almost 4 kilos (maybe even a little more - my aging water bottle is on a scale in my bathroom ), plus the glass and the gravel and "stuff", it wouldn't worth the risk I think unless if adding an extra thick styrofoam layer support could let it handle a little more weight. I think that if the tank was wide as possible (say the whole length of the shelf - but this won't be the case), it could be a bit more stable - I'm thinking of these nail beds, the larger the surface with nails and the bigger the density of nails, the more the poor guy can support it. If the pressure is applied in a smaller surface, it's riskier. |
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Post by amanichen on Nov 21, 2004 15:36:29 GMT -5
Being a mechanical engineer I'll say there's more than material strength to consider here...you have to consider the geometry of the shelves.
Looking at the shelves, there's going to be bowing at the front edge, and downward. Now fish tanks withstand many times the force that you'll be putting on the glass, but then again that glass is made for fish tanks. While the glass might not snap, it will be stressed in such a way that I'd be...scared =)
Four gallons of water comes out to be 34 pounds of force on the shelf. That's not light by any means.
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