DIY reinforced BESTA BURS IKEA TV Bench

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ThatGr8CdnGamer

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Fredericton, NB
Hello everyone,
My girlfriend and I are looking to purchase a larger tank, but don't have very much space in our apartment. Our only real option at the moment without selling off a bunch of our furniture to make space is to reinforce our besta burs tv stand to support the weight.

We are thinking of getting a 55G tank.
Our thoughts for reinforcement are L brackets in the center storage area, at each level, plywood for the bottom and back with an X brace of some description. does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this will work?

here is the tv stand:
BESTÅ BURS TV bench - IKEA

WE KNOW THAT MOST PEOPLE RECOMMEND NOT USING TV STANDS, HENCE REINFORCEMENT
 
Hello everyone,
My girlfriend and I are looking to purchase a larger tank, but don't have very much space in our apartment. Our only real option at the moment without selling off a bunch of our furniture to make space is to reinforce our besta burs tv stand to support the weight.

We are thinking of getting a 55G tank.
Our thoughts for reinforcement are L brackets in the center storage area, at each level, plywood for the bottom and back with an X brace of some description. does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this will work?

here is the tv stand:
BESTÅ BURS TV bench - IKEA

WE KNOW THAT MOST PEOPLE RECOMMEND NOT USING TV STANDS, HENCE REINFORCEMENT

I've actually done this in the past for a friend of mine for exactly the same size tank. I added a 3/4" plywood base and plywood backs against the inside of the flimsy backing board that comes with the cabinets, and then 2x3 pieces of wood as braces running on every joint. I used screws and PL Premium adhesive and painted everything once it was installed. As far as I know, he still uses it to this day and could have easily put a bigger tank on it. Just make sure you use more legs that just the 4 corners... you want at least 6 with the corners and middle back and front.

Hope that helps :)
 
The plywood base, was it on the top or the bottom? The 2x3's did you run them on the inside? I was looking at 75G as well but find it to be a bit sketchy where the base recommended weight on the stand is only about 250 lbs

Sent from my LG-H812 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
I made 3 separate plywood bases as the tv stand was 3 separate "compartments" and placed them inside on top of the melamine. I then screwed in place from the bottom AND top. I then added the backs and then the 2x3 bracing all inside along every vertical and horizontal seam and screwed in pkace from the outside on the back and sides and used those little white caps for the screws. Remember that the top bracing 2x3 should sit on top of the vertical 2x3 braces, just like building a house.
 
Ok going to try and upload some quick sketches for you of what I remember doing :)

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Hope that helps!
 
Thanks man! That will definitely help for sure! I think for the time being wer gonna go with a stand that might work, but I still wanna do this project in the future as I think it will look very nice.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
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