Diy Or Buy One - Fish Tank Stand

[colz1234]

Hi all, have just moved house and before setting up my tank again, I have been playing on the idea of either making a stand, or buying one which can support 2 tanks, both being 240l each (4ft wide) one above the other. Have seen this on Ebay, not sure if something like this will be up to the job for holding that much weight even though they are rated at 350kg per shelf?
 
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extra-Heavy-Duty-Shelving-4-Level-Garage-Steel-Racking-350kg-UDL-Blue-Racking-/302006337041?hash=item4650fafe11:g:248AAOSwRQlXfOBk
 
The other option is to custom build one out of wood, either 2x4 or 4x4.
 
Wasn't sure what section to post this in which is why it's in the new section.
 
Your thoughts and opinions greatly appreciated, thanks guys!

 

[BettaBettas]

Custom builds always pay off in the end

 

[Ch4rlie]

I have the exact same shelves in my garage actually, but its not used as fish tank stand / rack though.
 
While these shelves are pretty strong and good for holding stuff but I would not trust it to hold fish tanks long term to be honest actually.
 
The chipboard / MDF that is used as shelves is only 8mm thick and to hold a 240 L tank on one shelf may be pushing your luck. Don't forget its likely the wood shelves will get wet during the course of doing water changes, maintenance cleans etc, and chipboard / MDF is a very poor material for resisting water, it will likely warp at best or rot badly and split in areas depending on water absorption.
 
Now, the weight of a single 240L tank is pretty heavy, the water alone with nothing else in the tank is going to be around 240kg (1kg per litre is the general rule of thumb)
 
And then you need to add the weight of the glass which, depending on the thickness of the glass, say its 12mm thick, then the glass alone will be roughly 55 - 65kg.
 
So add the 240kg plus the 60kg, thats 300kg just for a tank full of water in total

 
So if you plan on having substrate, wood / rocks, decor, heater, filter, light units, plants and of course fish, then youre talking at the very least 325kg to 360kg per tank in total. Thats really pushing the weight limit that apparantly listed as maximum per shelf.
 
One other thing, these shelves are adjustable but its a bit of a faff to get them assembled properly. Once assembled, I would suggest to fit a bracing strap from the shelving rack unit to the wall to support to stop the rack from falling fowards away from the wall when you're doing maintenance and stuff.
 
Personally I'd definitely go custom or find good sturdy second hand tank stands (there are bargains to be had tbh).

 

[DomH]

Go look at my tank rank update it costed me 50 dollars for the cuts and wood but I then bought a 90 gallon miter saw to do my own cuts


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for the middle supports


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[ShinySideUp]

Further to Ch4rlies post estimating a minimum of 325kg...
 
...with two tanks weighing a total minimum of 650kg that also adds up to 160kg on each of those tiny feet, enough to punch a hole through any floor other than concrete!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Further to Ch4rlies post estimating a minimum of 325kg...
 
...with two tanks weighing a total minimum of 650kg that also adds up to 160kg on each of those tiny feet, enough to punch a hole through any floor other than concrete!

 
Excellent point, completely forgot about that.
 
Yep, a strong floor would be needed to have that amount of weight on a area of just a few square feet.
 
Concrete floor would be the only choice imho, forget about setting that in a room or upstairs room if you have wooden floors and joists.
 
I've seen what a spilt 5 gallon bucket of water does to my floor, never mind what 125 gallons of water would do :x