Weight And Bracing

[Matthew5664]

Thought to myself the other day about a new project for the living room, already have a 120l comm. tank in there. So I got thinking......... came up with the idea of a marine look tank but was swayed off the idea by a few on the forum. So next went onto a full marine FO system but not to sure on that.......... I then arrived at o stony Cichlid tank with a sand bed. So far so good got the ideas now’s time for the fun buying bit!! Or so I thought! The gap in the living room I have is 106cm x 68cm can I find a tank to fit snug without going custom? Can I fudge!! Nearest I got was a 36"x12" with 18" height could work, that would be the same as my other tank witch I have the other side of the chimney Brest, I think it will look ok. Next was a cabinet, Now the one on my other tank came with it so I could go down that route or custom, I fancy myself as a bit of a builder so that’s the way I want to go. Need some help with the weight does anyone know of a cal. on the interweb for getting the weight of systems? I was going to use 4x2 as support batons fixed to the outer wall and the inner wall of the chimney and then run 4x2 joists across them, about 4. This will all be covered with a MDF board and the Polystyrene. Has anyone made this type of construction before would like you input.


Ok so went to the site mentioned by Jules H-T now my 36x12x18 will hold 127l witch is 127kgs. (mmmmmm... What’s the calculation for it I wonder) I'm going to make that 135kgs to overcompensate for the wood now how do I find out if my construction idea will hold the weight. Trial and error are out of the question!!!


To attatch the batons to the wall will i need wral plugs or chem-sets?
Is MDF a good idea or should I go for marine Ply? 12,18 or 24mm thickness??

 

[Jules H-T]

Google quickly revealed this very useful calculator. Fair play, I think it'll be going into my favourates:

h**p/boonedocks.net/fishtank/ftweb.php

 

[con771]

Cool.....Thanks for the link