IKEA Brimnes cabinet as stand for Nuvo 20

[Rp.McMurphy]

Just a PSA for anyone considering using this cabinet as a stand- you're going to need to reinforce it.

This is my first reef tank. Thought I could be economical with a stand for my IM Nuvo Fusion 20 but still get something that fit with my furniture. Yes, I know how most feel about IKEA furniture (did plenty of searches trying to find actual instances of their stuff failing as a stand- didn't really find any, which is surprising to me). Decided to go with a Brimnes cabinet and reinforce it from inside. Thought I did a "good enough" job- 2x4s both horizontally under the top and then 2 more vertically transferring the load to the floor. Problem was that the top was bigger than my tank by about 3.5" on each side (therefore not directly over the cabinet vertical supports) and the top began to sag. Ended up being about 1/16" total- may not sound like much but I couldn't sleep at night thinking about it. My reinforment had just enough of a gap between the bottom of the top to let it sag that much before it picked up the slack.

So I restarted from square one. Built a DIY stand from plans online. Took a apart the cabinet and rebuilt it around the stand I built. Now all the weight of the tank is on my DIY stand (the cabinet is actually floating of the floor by 1/4").

Just thought I'd post this in case there are others like me out there wondering if this cabinet would work as a stand and were searching for info. My recommendation would be to skip it if you don't want to just use it as a shell.

 

[Rp.McMurphy]

These are pics of the redone cabinet. Still need to put in shelves.

Never thought I'd have to drain my tank 2 days after filling it. Live and learn.

 

[FredsNJReef]

Great job and good info!

Question: would you have been able to put 2 more vertical pieces in the stand and kind of force them in under the sag amount you had? Or is that too risky even on a 20 gal?

 

[JBKReef]

I've been debating about doing something similar to this. I'm in the planning stages of a IM25 lagoon... I thought I could Ikea hack the stand and build in my own supports. I did not even consider the ledge with weight support. Good post!

 

[Rp.McMurphy]

Great job and good info!

Question: would you have been able to put 2 more vertical pieces in the stand and kind of force them in under the sag amount you had? Or is that too risky even on a 20 gal?

I considered adding a central support to the original but decided against it for two reasons. First, I was concerned that because the IKEA top was so pliable I would basically create a pressure point in the middle of the tank. I'm pretty sure the 2x4s I had running under the top would've dispersed the weight but at this point I wasn't going to risk it.
Second, the way this cabinet goes together I would've had to have taken it all apart to get the support to the floor. So if I was going to take it apart anyway I might as well have redone it right so I could sleep again at night.

I may have been okay with that 1/16" sag because of the rubber mat under the tank but I couldn't find any definitive info about how much was acceptable.

 

[FredsNJReef]

ok good points. Home built seems to be the way to go for the talented folks.

I really do not like the fact that the stands that come with tanks are exactly the same dimensions of the tank! (plus 1/4 inch)

 

[Rp.McMurphy]

ok good points. Home built seems to be the way to go for the talented folks.

I really do not like the fact that the stands that come with tanks are exactly the same dimensions of the tank! (plus 1/4 inch)

Same here- why I was trying to find something else.