Hi, there. I have the Bonde sideboard in white. It's an OK piece. It was a pain to put together and came slightly damaged in several places. It serves its purpose as a sideboard, but I wouldn't try putting a 300 lb aquarium on it. We bought an IKEA Tobo TV unit at the same time, and although it says it bears up to 140 pounds, it bowed under the weight of our 90 pound TV and we fought to get our money back. I wouldn't no longer trust IKEA furniture with heavy items. Hope that is helpful!

I wouldn't put an aquarium on anything that wasn't designed to hold the weight of an aquarium. What you can do, though, is buy one of those inexpensive (ugly) metal stands, and drape the base in a neutral or modern fabric -- I've seen this done and it looked great.

yeah... i would advise against it as well. we have the besta jarga TV stand... which is supposed to handle a load of 220 lbs. yeah right. we have a 95-lb TV on top, and i was just noticing last night how much it is bowing in the middle. the two drawers have a triangular gap between them... lame.

Check out Room and Board. They have a similar units, but not made so cheaply. Here's a link to them:
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/category.do?method=get&id=55&page=1

I have the Zen model.

Why not have a carpenter build a simple and sturdy stand? I'm sure it would look a lot nicer than anything you can buy, and he/she can make sure it bears the weight of an aquarium properly.

Those spindley legs definitely are not made to hold 300 lbs of aquarium

Do not put a 300 lb aquarium on top of any piece of Ikea furniture!

l LOVE IKEA; yet, I must concur with all those that advise against putting 300lbs of anything on the sideboard. In addition to the potential weight issue, it'd be a shame to lose the surface space that can otherwise be used to entertain with a dinner spread, or candles and things, etc. My advise? look at Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) often for free stuff that you can repurpose as a fish tank stand. If you're set on using an IKEA-something, checkout the IKEA hacker blog http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/. You may be able to put things together in a way not consistent with the instructions that can provide the support your need for your fish tank. Good luck!

IKEA veneers do not hold up well to water; I'm afraid it would look quite wrinkly and warped after a short while.

I, too, agree with the previous posters. Will most likely never again buy a sideboard from IKEA as their stuff sags so badly. As others have said, they may claim to support up to 'X' pounds/kgs, but it's all wishful thinking IMO. I've had 2 sideboards sag in the middle thus far, and neither of them were particularly overloaded.

Just put together a dozen tall Bonde bookcases, including hacking a group of six to fit into a specific wall area. I like Bonde, it's is easily modified and one of the more heavy duty/better quality Ikea storage systems (stronger than Billy for example). Another plus for Bonde bookcases is relatively short span shelves (37cm between uprights prevents the kind of sagging you see over time with the 80 cm wide Billy bookcases).

However, Bonde is what it is: veneered particleboard. Particleboard handles compression loads really well, but long horizontal spans of particleboard span sag. I would also worry about water, as garden-variety particle board warps with even small amounts of moisture. I wouldn't trust that sideboard to hold up under 100 lb of top loading, let alone 300 lb. Get something with more structural integrity (solid wood or steel frame) and disguise it if you need to.

hey everyone. Thank you so much for your suggestions. The hunt has begun for a good quality piece of furniture that is tasteful yet can hold up to our monstrosity. The AT community is the best for so many reasons. Thanks again!
Jade

As an avid modernist AND a marine aquarium keeper, I would advise engaging a cabinet maker to produce a custom stand for you. Even with renter's insurance you do not want to be cleaning up water on your floor (or your downstairs neighbor...) unexpectedly at 4 AM. I found a local guy in Dallas, TX who let me design a stand for a 60g (36Lx24Wx18H) aquarium, made recommendations, fabricated and finished it for around $350.

While costs are higher in NYC surely you can find something comparable.

I used to have several (salt water) tanks. I would strongly advise against using anything but a stand that was designed to hold a tank. While some of the cheaper aquarium stands use particle board, the load on these is carried by the sides of the stand (under compression).

What kind of tank do you have? For a glass tank, you mainly need to support the perimeter of tank, while for an acrylic tank, you need a flat surface that supports the bottom of the tank.

Finally, it is very hard to avoid moisture next to the tank. It would be quite hard to keep a nice piece of furniture looking good.

Even 40 gallons is a LOT of water. You don't want to take chances with that.

300 pounds??? Did you LOOK at this piece of furniture?! I can tell you right now that 300 pounds isn't going to go over very well. I'd go for something at Room & Board or make something yourself/have it custom made.

I work for IKEA and have experience with all of their cabinet lines. Media cabinets are neither designed nor rated to bear weight that heavy and what's more, the foil finish would buckle under moisture and condensation. If you want IKEA, go with Akurum fitted kitchen cabinets.

It's semi-custom, you pick out the sizings from the frames we make, we do sell stainless steel legs similar to the legs on the Bonde cabinet and a bunch of different door styles with matching trim panels for the ends. They secure to the wall as well as sit on the ground, unlike media sideboards. We also sell laminate countertop in 4', 6', and 8' lengths.

Akurum legs are rated to 500# each, and each cabinet gets four. We use them in the back office and stuff them full of heavy ceiling racking and stuff and they don't flinch.

The one Ikea pice you might consider would be building a sideboad out of kitchen cabinets (see the credenza posts that were here awhile back). I'd use narrower wall cabinets (maybe 15" or 18") to maximize strength, and probably both some of their metal legs as well as anchoring to the wall studs. You could put some kind of water resistant top on to avoid water problems (granite remnant?).

I would suggest you go with something firm that has storage space for your fish food and all the extra acutraments that come with owning fish. I and my brother in law purchased from TVStandsDirect.com. I did so for my TV and he did for his fish tank. We are both extremely happy and did alot of price comparison shopping and found that this was the best priced store around.

I am also in NYC and shipping was free, so it's tough to beat that!

http://tvstandsdirect.com/shop/browse-brand-powell-furniture-c-33_69.html?sort=1a&page=1

Good luck!!