Multiple Tanks On A Stand

[coldcazzie]

I'm trying to work out the practicalities of building my own tank stand. It would house 2 24x12x12s on top of each other and then possibly an 18x10x10 (my hosp/QT tank) on the top, plus a cupboard under the bottom tank for storage.

If each tank is 12 inch tall, plus 6 inch space above each tank for access, then a 18-24 inch tall cupboard underneath, that would make the stand 5 foot high, without even thinking about more on top for the hosp/QT.

My question is...is that going to be stable? I know it will have 2 tanks on it, plus however much water that is (quick maths....about 115kgs worth of water I think), but with it being that tall would it be hugely at risk of toppling over? Wouldn't want to go to all the effort only to have it fall on one of my kids...!

Would it be better to try to find the space for a wider stand and put the 2footers next to each other?

 

[aly_starh]

It could work, if the stand is supported well enough underneath.

A cabinet or chest of drawers will work just aswell

 

[Tolak]

Screw it into the wall studs behind the rack & it won't go anywhere.

 

[coldcazzie]

Screw it into the wall studs behind the rack & it won't go anywhere.

That's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that... although will be incredibly difficult as our walls are like diamond! I'll add a new drill bit or 2 to the list of things I'll need!

thanks man!!

 

[onebto]

Screw it into the wall studs behind the rack & it won't go anywhere.

That's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that... although will be incredibly difficult as our walls are like diamond! I'll add a new drill bit or 2 to the list of things I'll need!

thanks man!!

That is a good thing better to be a hard to drill into tough wall

than have weak plaster board

 

[Tolak]

That's why you want to secure it to the studs behind the wallboard or plaster. This is much more secure than hoping the wall covering will hold it. I have a 3'x10' rack that has the back legs bolted into the ceiling joists above, as well as the wall studs. The house would have to come down before the rack did.

 

[coldcazzie]

Yeh, I gotta say, once something is in the walls in our house, it aint coming out again any time soon, it's just getting into the wall in the first place!

In a few days, when I manage to come up with a plan could you give it a once over and make sure I havent' made any stupid mistakes please?

 

[Tolak]

Sure could! Here's a pic from some time ago, 29 gallon tanks on a rack. They load from the side, as I planned on eventually spinning them 90 degrees. You can see the bucket storage on the bottom;

Once I spun them I screwed them together, creating one unit;

Those tanks are 18" deep, though the tank squeezed on the bottom has 12" of water depth.


I have built a tank rack for 10 gallon tanks, which do have the same 12" depth as your tanks;

If you want the long side facing forward with an unobstructed view, just screw the legs to the side, tanks load from the front.

Those are all built with pressure treated 2x4's, and 3" deck screws. They have been running for years, I often lean & climb on them as a toddler might, reliving my childhood as I do maintenance. You could always paint them to dress them up a bit, add a bit of trim & doors to the bottom, whatever you like.

 

[aly_starh]

OMG, how many tanks have you got Tolak?

 

[coldcazzie]

Sure could! Here's a pic from some time ago, 29 gallon tanks on a rack. They load from the side, as I planned on eventually spinning them 90 degrees. You can see the bucket storage on the bottom;

If you want the long side facing forward with an unobstructed view, just screw the legs to the side, tanks load from the front.

Those are all built with pressure treated 2x4's, and 3" deck screws. They have been running for years, I often lean & climb on them as a toddler might, reliving my childhood as I do maintenance. You could always paint them to dress them up a bit, add a bit of trim & doors to the bottom, whatever you like.

I won't be spinning them, at least not while we are living here - I'd love to have a fish house but that will have to wait until we can afford our own place and have enough space to also have a bike workshop for my hubby lol - so they would be loading from the front.

What did you use as support for the tanks to sit on? Did you built it like 3/4 cross-slats supporting each one, or a rectangular frame on which sits a piece of ply like a shelf or what?

Am probably going to put sides on it, plus plastic runners above each tank with thin ply or perspex so the kids (hopefully) might be slightly put off trying to stick their hands in the tanks... also want a 2 foot cupboard underneath the bottom tank, as I've run out of room in my current fish cupboards. I think if I do it like that, 3 supporting slats would be better (1 at the front, 1 in middle, 1 at back) for each tank to sit on as I could attach the light fitting to the bottom, whereas attaching it to ply would be slightly more difficult...although I guess that depends on the thickness of the ply...

 

[Tolak]

The tank supports are a rectangle of 2x4's. The tanks are all of a floating base design, meaning they really don't need the plywood. I put it there for when I'm pulling a tank for whatever reason, which means I could use the extra room as a shelf while working.

If you plan on hanging a light the extra slat would help, you may want to consider putting a power strip up there towards the back for filters, heaters & such. This makes them much more accessible when doing maintenance, and would keep them away from little hands.

You can do a lot to dress things up with one side finished ply & some stock trim, this stand is nothing but that on top of the usual 2x4 frame;

OMG, how many tanks have you got Tolak?

One. One room full. Plus a few extra. 23 plus two large tubs in the fishroom, not counting the five empty 5 gallons for a future platy project. A couple of show tanks just outside in the family room, empties I have no idea.

 

[coldcazzie]

The extra slat wouldn't need to be as large as the main supporting rectangle though would it - just big enough for the screws to screw in.

Will need 6 sockets in total (3 heaters, 1 air pump, 2 lights) - hubby says he can mount 2 4-ways on the stand and make it so that the entire stand just plugs into a single wall socket. Planned to buy condensation trays for the tops of the 2 footers as neither of them has lids/hoods so the electrics should be safe...

I was thinking of attaching some hardboard onto the sides with panel pins.

 

[coldcazzie]

Ok, update is that hubby has okayed me buying a 4 footer (YEY!! ), so the stand will now need to be able to house a 4 footer on the bottom then another 2 tanks on top... similar to one of yours Tolak...not sure where I saw the piccy but I know you have one!

Could I essentially build it like a rectangular frame for the tank, with 6 legs - 4 at the corners and 2 in the middle?

And then make the legs go up around the 4 footer, build another rectangle and screw a shelf of ply onto it?

Then the 4 footer would slide in from the side and the others would sit on the top, and underneath would just be room for stuff (hubby worried about losing space for kids toys!) for the moment.

Or would I need to have another rectangle on the bottom for support?

 

[Tolak]

not sure where I saw the piccy but I know you have one!

Lol, yea, I have one of those too;

The bottom tank is a 55 gallon, 48"x13" footprint, 21" of water depth. The top two are 20 gallons, 24"x12" footprint, 16" of water depth. You can see there are 6 legs total for the 55, only 4 for the pair of 20's. I anticipated a bit of center sag with the two tanks, it is all of 3/16", not a problem for all the years it has been running. This could easily be remedied by using 2x6's instead of 2x4's for the 48" length. You can see storage beneath; I measured the milk crates before I built it.

No need for a rectangle at the bottom, none of my racks have that, and it has never been an issue. You may want it if you are considering skinning the bottom & adding doors, just for securing the plywood or whatever you use, no different than the shoe plate on the floor when putting up a wall.

Congrats on the 4 footer! I'm guessing you will be looking for a spot for the 10x10x18 quar tank, consider making the area on the bottom large enough to squeeze it in if needed, tell the kids to play with toys.

 

[coldcazzie]

Aye, the other option is that I add an extra shelf on top of the 2 footers which could be used for quar tank, plus maybe a 3 footer in the future...not sure what hubby would think about that lol, he's already having issues with relocating all the stuff where I plan to put it.

Am going to have to hunt around, see if I can find a plain 4 foot tank with no extra gubbins (most of the ones I find for sale have stand/lid etc with them). Failing that my friend has a 3 foot in her garden collecting rainwater currently, so I could build a stand suitable for 3 3footers, and just add ply shelves to the top 2 levels, meaning I could put smaller tanks on them if I wanted, that way I can have a 2 foot in the middle (my bday pres off my best mate!) n quar tank on the top, plus there will be space for the inevitable build up of crap lol.

Doing that would mean I'd only have to buy gubbins for a tank, instead of also having to buy the tank...which does have a certain appeal!