Our Built In The Lounge Wall 4Ft Aquarium Fish Tank Project

[Fish'N'kids]

Aaah, I'm liking it. I thought it was going to be a whole wall, but how you've got it is nice too. Would you trust aluminium runners? Its an easy metal to bend. I'm sure you've researched it all as you've done a good job there.

I must ask a question though, I really don't mean to cause upset but I'm just wondering why you have put it so high?

Hi, thanks for question, The runners are made of steel and rated at 60kg each rail and there are 4 runners. The shelf is aluminium....Also it is higher as we wanted it out of the way so it doesn't shine into the tv and it looks more like a picture, also the settee is going under it. I will upload a picture i saw that i wanted to achieve this look.
Thanks

 

[simonas]

your brave thats a crazy concept and I hope it works for you? I;m a little dubious that those steel runners would hold a tank in the real world and I;m curious as to how the tank will fair when its pulled out all the time with wires filter tubes and the stress of movementon the glass structure

Good luck!! and I look forward to seeing finished product

 

[JamieMRatcliffe]

The actual tank on the picture regulary sells for about £100-£150 on eBay.
Was thinking of getting one myself, but in the end had a re-arrange and just got a 4 footer.

What you've done looks good though, sure it will look fab when it's finished!

 

[noisysprings]

CAUTION Those runners have NO rating using them that way.

The 60kg is for when they are mounted on there side.

Put 2x2 blocks on base and fix the runners side on then use other 2x2 blocks onto runners and the Aluminium on top.

This means i hope you have enough space to allow for the extra 35mm or so.

 

[bae1994]

gotta agree that ime dubious on the strength of them but if it does work it will look great

 

[Fish'N'kids]

gotta agree that ime dubious on the strength of them but if it does work it will look great

Ok guys, These rails are rated at 60kg when flat and 100kg on the sides. The tank + water is approx 144 kg and it will never be pulled fully out, only enough to clean and feed. The other thing is the water inlet is fixed at the top so when the tank is pulled out it will still run into the tank but the outlet is yet to be decied with some sort of flex pipe etc.

gotta agree that ime dubious on the strength of them but if it does work it will look great

Ok guys, These rails are rated at 60kg when flat and 100kg on the sides. The tank + water is approx 144 kg and it will never be pulled fully out, only enough to clean and feed. The other thing is the water inlet is fixed at the top so when the tank is pulled out it will still run into the tank but the outlet is yet to be decied with some sort of flex pipe etc.Please note that this will Only be pulled out for cleaning approx once a month as we are putting an auto feeder in it. It will be very interesting to see how it will look and work.

 

[mattbleasby]

This will look amazing when its finished, but i am also scared of them runners. That would petrify me pulling it out i can see how nice its going to look though

 

[Fish'N'kids]

This will look amazing when its finished, but i am also scared of them runners. That would petrify me pulling it out i can see how nice its going to look though

Dont be scared, the tank only needs to be pulled out 6'' and only once a month, unless a fish dies of course, but it is interesting to see how it works, and its a good job my hubby is an engineer to work things out!

 

[mattbleasby]

In that case, Bring on the pictures hahah we want more : Cant wait to see it with water in and working away

 

[noisysprings]

Sorry I have to disagree. The construction of afore mentioned runners appear to have no strength when mounted that way and certainly no where near as much as 60% of there max strength when mounted properly.

Why dont you extend them and grab two and see what happens when you hang off them.

If you have the pdf spec sheet then i would love to see it.

I use these runners every week and in my experiance they have very little lateral strength. (the way you are using them)

The heavy duty ones from Haffele at 68kg are also very expensive and give no "flat" strength rating..

I can only appologise if these are some sort of special design that i have never seen or heard of, but I would rather I had Egg on my chin than you with a Tank on your Couch.

 

[weezawoo]

Out of curiosity what will be your water change routine and how are u going to do them?

Cool project though! CAnt wait to c it

 

[Liam50]

very good idea! are you going to drill the tank and have a sump or internal filtration? i would think internal would be easiest. the question above me to do not understand as its a pretty standard size tank and i would doubt your maintenance would be any different.

 

[Fish'N'kids]

Sorry I have to disagree. The construction of afore mentioned runners appear to have no strength when mounted that way and certainly no where near as much as 60% of there max strength when mounted properly.

Why dont you extend them and grab two and see what happens when you hang off them.

If you have the pdf spec sheet then i would love to see it.

I use these runners every week and in my experiance they have very little lateral strength. (the way you are using them)

The heavy duty ones from Haffele at 68kg are also very expensive and give no "flat" strength rating..

I can only appologise if these are some sort of special design that i have never seen or heard of, but I would rather I had Egg on my chin than you with a Tank on your Couch.

 

[heavenly_d3vi1]

I have to agree with noisy springs.. I'm real scared of those runners. I'd honestly not put a cuttlery draw on them if I had a sofa underneath! I'm fairly sure that once extended any more than a few inches they'd just bend with the slightest bit of weight.

 

[Warehouse]

I really love the idea but as everyone above me has said those runners will not hold that tank when mounted like that, it's not going to happen. You "might" get away with it if you stick to the 6 inch rule, but even that would make me very nervous.
Will the tank have a cover?

I look forward to seeing how you get on with this, but please test those runners with some serious weight before the tank goes on. Good luck and keep us posted.