PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,

What type of stands do you prefer (metal, wood, other)? Do you purchase your shelving online, at the local fish shop, do-it-yourself, have them custom made, etc?

I am considering searching for a custom stand builder for two Perfecto/Marineland 30 Gallon breeder tanks (brochure tank dimensions 30” wide X 18” deep X 12” high). Due to space, I favor one tank above the other, or a double stand. Any thoughts on this multi tank configuration?

Thank you,
George

I have built a couple of tank-racks myself. If you can do a bit of DIY and understand how to deal with the stress (the physical load, not nerves!), it shouldn't be that hard. I have a rack in my living room with space for 7 [technically 8, but I'm already worried about the stress of 1200 liter/300 gallon on the floor, adding another 250+ liter/60-70g would not be good for my nerves!]

Here's a time-lapse photo/video of me rebuilding my rack last weekend [long story why I did that...]


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Mats

I've gotta say that I like the DIY approach as I just can't ever seem to find exactly what I'm looking for in the stores, and for those of us with multiple tank syndrome (5 and growing) space is always a precious commodity...lol

Normally prefer wood over metal, just my preference though, as welders are harder to come by then drills.

http://www.fishandtips.com/index.php

This site has a handy DIY aquarium stand calculator that will show you the approx dollar amount of materials needed not sure if it will show it for a double stand or not but you should probably just be able to double the amount of needed material for a good guess of what it would cost to do it on your own.

Not sure if this helps any at all, but good luck whichever way you decide to go!

You may find this recent thread useful as it shows various stands people are using: wood, metal, and store bought racks.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=33496
-Shane

I would build a wood stand which has the tanks on a middle shelf and one on the top.
I made some that are three high and have a 20 long on the bottom, a 20 long in the middle shelf and a 29 High on the top. This allows for keeping more tanks within a small foot print. It saves a lot of floor space.

I use pallet racking with beams rated at 2000 kg, I run the tanks "front to back" as opposed to the usual length-ways if that makes sense so that the weight is more evenly distrubuted.

Thanks everyone for the help,

Even though metal cost more than wood, I am leaning toward having custom metal 3-level shelving made for my aquarium tanks. Since I will need multiple stands for my aquarium breeding room, I figure the bare bones look of metal stands would be more efficient for my needs.

If I cannot find a metal/welder/contractor, I would need to rent or purchase a miter saw for wood do-it-yourself racks. Other than this and a few other tools, I have no problem with the bare bones wood DIY project.

Again, thank you for the help folks,
George

An electric miter-saw for wood is definitely a good buy, in my view. I had a quick look and found some for around $50-100 of various sizes/brands. For this sort of work, you don't need a massive one, 7-8" blade will be fine (the biggest thing you'll need to cut is about 1.5" x 3.5" or 2" x 4".

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Mats

Home Depot sells a an adjustable level shelving rack with three shelves with a capacity of about 3500 pounds for $125. The stand is nominally 6 X 6 X 1.5 feet.
I set mine up as a stand for six 40 gal breeder style tanks.

Mats - I will probably purchase a miter saw at Home Depot. I worked for this retail chain for 3 years and have nothing bad to stay about the store I worked at.

apistomaster - I was browsing Home Depot's website and notice they sell an Edsal Heavy Duty 16-gauge Steel Shelving (Model #UR1860 Internet #100661829) 60" Width X 18" Depth X 72" Height. It has a 5000 lbs. capacity. If it can house 2 30 Gallon Breeder tanks per level, I would prefer 4 levels per shelf, 6 tanks on the shelf, and at least 18-24" high of bottom level storage space. I am thinking this is just as good as a custom metal stand.

Anyone have thoughts on the Edsal Steel Shelving and Perfecto/Marineland 30 Gallon Breeder tanks setup?

George

I think the stand you found is fine as long as you place the tanks in their long direction and not ends out.
I think the tanks are slightly wider than the shelves so you would have to modify them per below.
I do not recommend your plan to place the tanks above an unloaded storage area because it will make the stand top heavy and therefore unstable. Even I work on my top tanks first and am careful to keep the center of gravity as low as possible.

I don't remember who manufactured the stand I bought from Home Depot but it has at least as much load bearing capacity except you have 72-1/2 inches of available shelf length and is 18 inches wide. My 40 breeders are 18-1/2 inches wide so I had to lay 2 X 2's around the perimeter of the shelves inside the lip. Then I fastened an 18-1/2 X 72-1/2 inch piece of 1/2 inch plywood to the 2 X 2's in order to support the over width 40 gal breeder tanks.