How Should He Go About This...

[jess6905]

Alright so I have the following for tanks-
1 10 gallon
2 15 gallon
2 30 gallon
1 55 gallon
My husband Is just starting to get into fish, and wanted to build a rack/stand(possibly 2) for my tanks. Our first baby is due mid/late February so Its a combination of better displaying them, and to help consolidate space a bit. Does any one have recommendations for him(materials to use or avoid all together) or a basic blueprint of what you might have done your self? If you could just help my point him in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Tolak]

I've made my own racks from wood for years. Just think deck construction, with everything plumb & square, keeping tanks level. For those size tanks 2x4's should generally be fine.

Actual build would depend on the footprint of the tanks. I could see this working several different ways depending on that, ending up with one rack or two. There are different configurations for 15 gallon tanks, 30 gallon tanks, 55'& 10's are pretty standard in the US.

 

[jess6905]

The tanks measure as follows-
10g 20x10
15g 24x12
30g 30x12
55g 36x12

The thing is he now thinking about trying to connect all the filters to the same filter system to try to save on electric. I'm all for saving energy, but am not fond of having all the tanks connected to the same system, and would rather switch all the tanks over to sponge filters though. Which would you recommend?

 

[Tolak]

One air pump, sponge & box filters. To have them all on one system would require drilling tanks, and getting a separate tank or large bin for a sump. Overflow boxes or self siphoning overflows work in theory, in reality keep a mop handy. An air pump to run all those tanks will consume 20 watts. The water pump to run a sump setup will consume the same.

Most of my tanks are drilled, with overflows running to a sump, for water changes. They are nearly all filtered by a centralized air filtration system; box & sponge filters. If one large filter worked better I would be running them like that. I often get fish in, and have fish requiring different water parameters, mainly temperature but some tanks use RO to some degree or another. In a system with one filter, if one tank has sick fish all the fish have been exposed. All the tanks will have to be the same temperature, running the same water.

A couple more questions; odd footprint for the 55, what's the water depth, the rest are pretty standard sized tanks. Not to get personal, but body size and I guess personal ability must be taken into account; The person mainly working on tanks, short & stout, tall & skinny, any problems wiggling into tighter spaces, qualms about working on a short ladder? I'm 6', 220 pounds, and have my racks set up taking what I can & can't do taken into account; step ladder is a fishroom tool, tanks on end, 50% of tank depth above tanks minus one inch;

That rack has mostly 29's, on end, 12"x30" footprint. I have some 36" tanks on end, that is the furthest I would take that. I also have a pair of 20's above a 4' 55, 20's are the same footprint as your 15's;

You can see a bit of milkcrate under the 55's, this gives some idea how far off the ground they are. Tanks that are too low are a maintenance problem; tough to start a siphon.

Looking through pics I found these crude hand drawn stand pics, these are for the 29 gallon racks in the first pic;

I know some folks who would have a hard time working my setup, too short, meaning arms as well, or too large, not enough space between tanks to make it work. I know other who would pack them in tighter.

 

[jess6905]

Thanks for the photos and diagrams. The supposed 55 is 17 inches tall.