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I have a shelf that I want to put a very small aquarium upon. However, I am concerned about how much it can hold.

Is there a way I can safely test how many pounds it can safely handle? Are there methods to test what something can safely carry without breaking it?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide.

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  • $\begingroup$ Add bags of sugar or flour. Why do you think testing exists? how do you know if the screws are in the studs properly? are they long enough? $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Sep 21 at 7:51
  • $\begingroup$ very small is not a unit of measurement ... to some people, a very small aquarium is anything smaller than 500 liters $\endgroup$
    – jsotola
    Commented Sep 21 at 18:22
  • $\begingroup$ @jsotola @solar-mike Thank you so much for your responses. I am more than aware that very small is not a unit of measurement. My hope is that there may be a way to calculate or more likely test the sturdiness of the shelf in a way that does not cause permanent damage. If I know how many pounds it can handle I can correspond that to how much an aquarium would weigh. Bags of flour/sugar sounds like a potential situation. Could I also add water slowly and see if it bends? Or could it crash down all at once—no bending required? Thank you all so much. $\endgroup$
    – SpreadingKindness
    Commented Sep 21 at 21:57
  • $\begingroup$ What kind of brackets are you using? If using multiple brackets - three, for example, each supporting 1/3 of the load - then you can test each bracket at double its expected load and see how it survives. $\endgroup$
    – Transistor
    Commented Sep 22 at 17:11

2 Answers 2

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It really depends on how the shelf is mounted to your wall. If you're into numbers, you can use the formula:

$$\text{Load Capacity = (Material Strength × Width × Thickness × Thickness) / (8 × Length)}$$

But I suppose material strength values aren't that easily available, and specific shelfs can be more complicated, so you'll have to resort to experimental tests.

An aquarium is a stationary load. If your shelf can hold it for a few seconds without bending, it can hold it for an indefinite period of time (hopefully). So I suggest you just keep the aquarium on top of it and be ready to hold it if the shelf falls. Testing with smaller loads will only prove that the shelf can handle those smaller loads; the behaviour is unpredictable for larger loads as shelf-failure is an abrupt event with no observable signs beforehand.

Better to just go off of your intuition and install additional supports if required.

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What kind of brackets are you using? I'll assume inverted 'L' brackets (with optional triangular bracing).

If using multiple brackets - three, for example, each supporting 1/3 of the load - then you can test each bracket at double its expected load and see how it survives.

Note that applying the load close to the wall will give almost 100% shear loading with little pull-out force. Applying the loading at the outermost point on the bracket would result in pull-out force pivoted around the point of contact between the bottom of the bracket and the wall.

Add details you your question and you'll get better answers.

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