# A stand for a 55g. from Ikea?????



## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

What do you all thing with a little bit of DIY to this http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59884824.
I would take off the legs and have it flat on the floor. Then the inside shelves of the right and middle would become extra sport on the sides, middle and back (+ I would make Ikea send me extra shelves saying I'm missing oooh 4 of them). The sides then would be almost 2" thick I could go a bit more crazy and have the extra side shelves be shorter so that I could put in extra support at the top. Also the tank would be on the right side leaving some space for decor.

Ya people think I'm crazy! but a friend of my has a 55g on this alone! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10103088


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

I dunno, I got a ton of ikea furniture(dresser,tall dresser,end tables, desk and file cabinet.
I used to have a 15g on top of the tall dresser, I now have a 2" bow in it. I would be very skeptical of using their throw away furniture for anything that needed to hold weight.

If you do, reinforce it you might as well build a stand then use the ikea product for a shell.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Viwwo,

With a load limit of 13 kg (28pounds) per shelf, that would mean about a 2 gallon aquarium @ 8.3 pounds per gallon plus the weight of the aquarium, lights, and substrate.


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

Yes, but I'm not putting the aquarium on the shelves. I'm using the shelves to reinforce the inside structure so that it will take in more weight.
Or it will be like White Devil said... keep the ikea thing as a shell.


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

So it will be something like this. 
Y=the original Ikea
G=plywood
B=the shelves
V=4x4


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

I went to Ikea today to see stand. And I could keep it really simple.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

2nd plan is better. The 4 x 4 is not doing anything. The support of the vertical blue material being under the horizontal blue material is a sound idea, as long as the blue material, used horizontally plus the yellow material will support the weight needed. 

I would simply use lumber and plywood from a lumberyard, paint or stain it rather than trying to build up multiple layers like that, though. 
Isn't a 55 gallon tank 4' long? I think the center support would be very important. Having multiple thicknesses looks like you are trying to do that, but how thick are they all together? How much space are they taking up? A 2 x 4, seen edge-on is only 1.5" and is plenty to be the middle support here. 2 x 4 vertical front and back plus a 2 x 4 horizontal, supported by the verticals.


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

Hey Diana K
Thanks for your answer. The middle is 5" and yes the fish tank is 48.
After really looking deep in the Ikeas website I found a put-it-together-how-ever-you-want-it-yourself.. thing so I could go with the 2x4 and still have the outside look nice.

The stand is made out of 2 units. The two inner parts would not have shelves allowing for the 2x4 or the 2nd idea with the extra shelves.









This would be the outside. Also I could really play around where I want the fish tank but for now lets keep it boringly in the middle (red line is the size).









All that you see is about $250... not bad. It is modern looking and if I'm done looking at it i wont feel bad tossing it.

Thanks for all your help guys.


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## killacross (Apr 29, 2010)

nah...youre still better off building it yourself...if you have the tools to do reinforcement work with their poor quality (read crappy) materials...you should build it yourself for 1/4th of the $$$$$


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Viwwo said:


> What do you all thing with a little bit of DIY to this http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59884824.
> I would take off the legs and have it flat on the floor. Then the inside shelves of the right and middle would become extra sport on the sides, middle and back *(+ I would make Ikea send me extra shelves saying I'm missing oooh 4 of them)*. The sides then would be almost 2" thick I could go a bit more crazy and have the extra side shelves be shorter so that I could put in extra support at the top. Also the tank would be on the right side leaving some space for decor.
> 
> Ya people think I'm crazy! but a friend of my has a 55g on this alone! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10103088


Scammer. People like you ruin customer service for everyone. 
You should purchase the extra pieces that you need, and not try to cheat Ikea.

-Gordon


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## Viwwo (Oct 30, 2009)

Now, I think I'm a somewhat honest person because I would have never gotten this idea unless there was a time about 5 months ago when I was getting my Billy bookcase a customer service on the floor told me to do just that when I asked him how can I get extra shelves. Note that I was picking the bookcase next to him when I asked that. So customer service already ruined. I'm just living like a student and taking the opportunity.

But, killacross, I don't have the tools or space to make some elaborate constructions. And even if I did I would never make something as amazing looking as some of you people can do.


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