Thoughts on this DIY tank rack design?

[Seisage]

So unfortunately I don't have any furniture that I really trust to hold 250-300 lbs, which means I'll have to actually get a tank stand. Those things are gdawful expensive though, and while I could just get a piece of used furniture from a thrift store, I prefer the thought behind making my own and I'd want something that could hold more than one tank anyway.

I've gone through some drafting and brainstorming of my own, but I decided to poke around on the internet to see what others had come up with. I came across this design by Odin Aquatics that's meant to hold two 29s (I have a 25 and a 20 long, both 30x12" footprint). I'd alter the heights of the rack design a bit to suit my needs, but otherwise, thoughts on it? Does it look solid enough? The one thing I'd consider changing is putting the long support beams on the inside of the shelf frames (and altering the dimensions of the shelves accordingly), so that the beams are actually weight-bearing instead of just holding things together from the outside.

I'd probably also put 3/4" plywood on top of the shelf frames to provide a bit of extra support for the tanks. Here's the link to the blog post with all the details of the build. It also includes steel brackets under the corners of the shelves. https://odinaquatics.com/diy-aquarium-rack-29-gallon/

Have any of you built your own tank racks? Any particular designs you find have worked best for you?

 

[powerdyne6]

I built my own stand although for only 1 tank… a 75 gallon.

It took me a few weeks as I only worked on it when I had downtime at work

 

[Seisage]

I built my own stand although for only 1 tank… a 75 gallon.

It took me a few weeks as I only worked on it when I had downtime at work

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Wow! That's really nice. Way fancier than what I'm planning on going for lol. Maybe someday, but definitely not today. I'm no woodworker, so a simple design made only with 2x4s will be plenty to get my feet wet.

I did find this video which features a design that I'm a lot more comfortable with. As it's meant for 55s, it'd be a bit overbuilt for a 25 and a 20, I think, so I probably won't be including quite as many of the smaller supports, but I'm definitely taking his idea for those inner weight-bearing support beams I was hoping for. Those will be perfect. Shouldn't be too difficult to adjust the dimensions to fit my tanks.



Please feel free to use this thread to continue discussions of personal diy tank stand projects and/or tips and tricks for building them

 

[GaryE]

I build all my own ugly, only in the fishroom racks. Most are 2x4, though some big tank rackss are 2x6 and small ones can be 2x3.

The sheer strength of standard screws is 300 pounds. It won't matter with your small tank. I like to have part of the end of the tank resting on the top of the 2x4 legs, so the weight is fully supported driving down. I like to build rectangles with 2x4. Then, inside the legs out of sight, I have thinner pine supporting the rectangles. The thinner pieces are screwed into the legs. It's a little additional support. My racks are taller than usual because I like tanks I don't have to stoop down to see.

A little overbuilding never hurts.

 

[Colin_T]

Make sure you have a gap under the bottom shelf of the stand to clean under and let air under to dry things out. I like a 4-6 inch gap under stands so you can get a mop or vacuum cleaner under them. It also raises the height of the bottom tank so they are easier to drain water out of.

You want a 8-12 inch gap above the tanks so you can get things in and out easily. A lot of people have smaller gaps but find they are a pain in the butt when trying to add ornaments or even bags of fish. An 8 inch gap above the tank is minimum (in my opinion) and anything more than 12 inches is a waste.

I made my tanks out of 70x35mm pine. They held tanks that were 3ft long x 14 inches wide x 18 inches high. The stands were 3 tier. If I had 4ft tanks then I used 70x50mm pine for the legs and 70x35mm for the rest of the stand.

Have a 1/2 inch gap on either side of the tank so you can get them on the stand easily and they won't get damaged if the frame gets wet and warps a bit.

 

[Seisage]

I like to have part of the end of the tank resting on the top of the 2x4 legs, so the weight is fully supported driving down. I like to build rectangles with 2x4. Then, inside the legs out of sight, I have thinner pine supporting the rectangles. The thinner pieces are screwed into the legs. It's a little additional support. My racks are taller than usual because I like tanks I don't have to stoop down to see.

A little overbuilding never hurts.

Yep! This is precisely what I plan on doing. I do definitely want a bit of a taller rack. I see so many stands, both pre-built and diy, that are so short! I’d rather not have to practically crouch on the floor to look at my tank, you know? And I agree, I’d much rather overbuild than underbuild in this case…

Make sure you have a gap under the bottom shelf of the stand to clean under and let air under to dry things out. I like a 4-6 inch gap under stands so you can get a mop or vacuum cleaner under them. It also raises the height of the bottom tank so they are easier to drain water out of.

You want a 8-12 inch gap above the tanks so you can get things in and out easily. A lot of people have smaller gaps but find they are a pain in the butt when trying to add ornaments or even bags of fish. An 8 inch gap above the tank is minimum (in my opinion) and anything more than 12 inches is a waste.

Have a 1/2 inch gap on either side of the tank so you can get them on the stand easily and they won't get damaged if the frame gets wet and warps a bit.

These gaps are very good to keep in mind, thank you. I won’t be putting any tanks on the bottom shelf (too low to the ground for me), so thankfully I won’t have to worry about putting a gap down there, although you make a good point about vacuuming haha, so I may still consider it.