Assemble furniture as fishtank cabinet?

[oblivion]

i used an ikea table for my 1 foot cube tank setup previously
its quite sturdy and the weight isnt an issue
made of compressed chipboard
a 1ft cube cant be that heavy anyway

but after a period of use and the inevitable contact with water etc
i can now see a few areas of the laminate growing "blisters" and starting to come off
and some of the exposed wood underneath the laminate is beginning to look soft
not a viable long term option imo

[torque6]

There is a section in ikea which details the maximum load for their cabinets/ tv wood stands. I wanted to get a 50kg max weight but it doesnt come in my desired height and color, so had to pass and source a customed made iron stand instead.

[wks]

Hi sign, instead of wood would you consider other material? I have my one foot cube tank at one end (back of tank facing wall) of my glass dinning table. My wife loves it because the tank doesn't occupy much space and she can enjoy the views while dinning.

[ranmasatome]

When a support cabinet made of compressed wood chips , doesn't mean it is not strong. Fish stands can be made of this material as well because the right supports are put at the right place. However, if you don't have such support in the shoe cabinets you may buy... then you may come to the realisation of the mistake you just made a little too late. As mentioned by many of the people here.. these alternatives CAN and DO support many tanks..but they are very sensitive to water exposure which i am sure you will bound to expose these furniture to when doing water changes or whatever else since the fish tank is a whole mass of water in a glass container essentially. When these furniture are going to fail you... no one knows, but the possibility of them failing is higher than say... compared to a cast iron or chengai wood stand thats for sure

The question isn't if these stands can hold the weight... question is... is the difference in savings worth the potential risk of a nagging wife/girlfriend, injured children/family members, short circuits of other euipment in the house, time spent cleaning up and heartache from the money ALREADY spent on the fauna/flora and tank apparatus because you decided to take this risk in the first place. Most of the time for me...the answer is a resounding "YES!!! of course it is worth it!!". I don't like to worry...so throw this one worry out the door with something solid. Thats my train of thought... but its up to you...these compressed wood cabinets do work...but as for me.. i have never used one in my 20years of keeping fish as i've seen what some unlucky bros have gone through.

By the way.. if you get ones that have incorrect support.. you might not be able to use the furniture correctly as well... my cousin bought a clothes cabinet and put his fish tank on top.. top layer warped..so now.. his top drawer cannot use properly.. everytime cannot open as its too tight.. then when open his tank weight makes it sag more.. then when close have to push here push there...plus the potential risk... i simply dont see the logic.

[oblivion]

i agree with you actually
after my experience with the ikea compressed wood table and seeing it slowly deteriorate
the "blisters" look uglier by the day
thats partially why i ordered a solid wood cabinet - for a 1 foot tank!

kind of pricy investment for such a small tank la
but i think i prefer to sleep in peace
just the thought of waking up to a floor of shattered glass, water, mud, wood/rocks, assorted plants and dead fish horrifies me
not to mention the damage it will do to my floor and possibly bed (my mattress is on top of a purpose-built low wooden platform, no bedframe)

anyway other reason is i can hide the equipment and store fishy odds and ends inside also

[d2sign]

Thanks for the useful tips & opinions

Hmm... This can be a potential expensive hobby start from tank & cabinet set, filtration system, CO2 set, light set, chiller, substrate, hardscape materials, fertilizers, flora + fauna, ADA goods, blah blah....
and not forget our monthly electric + water bills.

Plus, the chances to upgrade are quite high, start from 1ft, 2ft, then go nano, then 3ft, 5ft....
To maintain this life long hobby, we have to spend the money wisely, agree?

Sad to say it's easy to find most of the stuffs at marketplace but not the cabinet. That's why the idea of assemble furniture come into the picture.
And before posting I already know it's not ideal la...

Cheers everyone, happy fish keeping & aquascaping

[oblivion]

i was going the cheap route all along
then one fine day i got myself thinking
considering the money spent on all the other stuffs etc
the cost of a proper cabinet actually isnt that much comparatively
so i decided to go ahead and order one
nicer looks plus keeping my stuffs neat are another plus point

[Burnz]

Actually i have been using an ikea cabinet to hold my 3 footer for around 2.5 years. I have a friend who is fellow hobbyist did the exact same configuration as mine. Both of us didn't have any problems till now.We took a risk, but the furniture are surprisingly sturdy. I guess the when it comes to ikea furniture the most important precaution is to keep it dry whenever possible. But i would still encourage proper aquarium cabinet if money allow. I'm just cheap lol.

[d2sign]

If keeping a same tank of course I will consider a proper cabinet... But so far... 1ft > 2.5ft > 2ft > nano > 2nd nano > 3ft (soon) > above 3ft for sure (future)
Cannot imagine how many cabinets I need to get...