RE: [APD] Max canopy weight

["Eric Wahlig" <ewahlig at earthlink_net>]

Candy asks about the weight of a self-designed canopy for a 55 gal. tank:

"My question is what is the most weight suggested to sit on top of a tank
this size?...So far this is aprox. 27 pounds of just wood, + glass + exaust
fan(s) + lights (plan to use external ballasts) +tank stop bracing. This
just seems like a lot of weight to me. Any suggestions on a maximum "safe"
weight I can always hang the unit if I have to."

Your design seems a little heavy-duty in the construction using 1" lumber;
you might try 5/8" or 3/4". The weight of the canopy will be supported at
four points, if I understand your design correctly, and this won't be a
problem. The glass lid will be supported all along the edges and also by a
mid-brace (if your tank has one) so this is not a problem either. I think
the only weight factor you need to consider at this point is how heavy it
will be to remove and replace it on top of the tank when you need to catch
fish, move large objects like driftwood or rocks into or out of the tank,
or clean the tank easily. The glass of the aquarium is strongest in the
vertical dimension and will support a lot of weight. I knew a guy who had a
55 with two ten gallon tanks stacked on top of it. A ten gallon weighs
about 80 pounds and he had two of these across the top frame of a 55. Now,
of course, this is extremely dangerous and I don't recommend it to anyone
but it did hold water. 

---Eric



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