What Can I Use To Have Lots Of Tanks Stacked Above Eachother In My Gar

[Geordie2011]

I'm going to be having a very large tank in my dining room but in the garage I would like to have about 12 tanks all 3ftby2ftby2ft like 4 along the bottom, 4 in middle, 4 top shelf, what can I use to support this weight?

 

[markandhisfish]

how are your diy skill? id be inclined to build a good soild rack using 4x2 . you may well be able to find a thread in the diy section where somebody has built 1 . if not youre sure to get better answers if you ask in there

 

[jock2007-]

yeah i agree, get testing your DIY skills, you could build a good frame for not alot of money, + if you build something yourself you can make it perfect for the space you are going to use

stewart

 

[Geordie2011]

I'm not that good with DIY skills to be honest, would wood actually support the weight of the tanks though?

 

[markandhisfish]

yeah sure it would with sufficiently strong fixings and enough bracing . or if you dont trust wood you could use unistrutt . its a metal kind of u chanel stuff slotted along its length and you can bolt it together .

http/www.dungannonelectrical.co.uk/unistrut_bracket.html

looking at the size tanks you want tho youre going to have a hell of a lot of weight on each "shelf" 3x2x2 comes out at about 320 litres . with water being there or there about a kilo per litre thats roughly 1.25 tons of water on each shelf plus of course the weight of the tanks themselves and any gravel rocks wood etc . so whateverr you go for would need to be very strong .

 

[Geordie2011]

I've discussed in my other thread in DIY section instead of putting my big tank "in the wall" I'm just going to make the stand out of bricks and have it against the wall, would bricks be strong enough for this as well?

 

[Tolak]

Bricks or blocks will hold, as long as they are stacked right. I prefer working with lumber, heavy screws, and plywood decking;

http/img401.imageshack.us/img401/6541/dsc017621iv4.jpg

That's a 3'x10' rack, above a couple of 150 gallon tubs. 2x6 lumber around the perimeter, 4x4 posts for legs, 2x4's for stringers. It holds five 40 gallon tanks & three 20 gallon tanks;

http/img185.imageshack.us/img185/6190/dsc018491sp1.jpg

This leaves plenty of room for plumbing underneath, as well as working room for the 150's;

http/img57.imageshack.us/img57/3958/116080061gm6.jpg

Always plan ahead for electrical & water requirements, the silver strip in the middle is all outlets;

http/img266.imageshack.us/img266/4512/tanks0011we9.jpg

Make sure to leave working room between tanks, due to individual body structure this can vary. I'm 6", 225 pounds, and find that 50% of the tank depth, minus one inch is about the minimum I can leave between tanks & still have them reasonably workable.

 

[waterdrop]

I love it when Tolak posts pictures, I always start hearing pumps and bubbles in my head ..If I'm ever up near Chicago I want to see the angels!!!