Can I get some shelving suggestions

[Jason A.]

I want to setup some 10 gallons in a rack system but I'm having some trouble finding some metal shelves that would fit some 20.5" long aquariums, it looks like I'll have to settle for shelves that are 18" deep or 24" deep,  one is to short and the other is to long. I would rather buy metal shelves and not build a wood shelving unit as I've had issues building wood projects previously. Any brands or anything that could help would be HIGHLY APPRECIATED. thank you 

[StevesFishTanks]

Go with the deeper option. I like the industrial type from sam's club or home depot. Plywood the shelves. If you drill the tanks you will definitely use the space.

[Andy's Fish Den]

I would opt for the 24" deep shelf unit. With that one, if, down the road you decide to upgrade to say 20 highs, you could fit them since they are 24" long. 

[T. Payne]

I agree to go ahead and get the 24" as well and to use plywood.  I use the gladiator brand racks.

[bigpuma]

I have the 77" wide Husky metal shelving from Home Depot (2,500lbs per shelf). 24" inches deep loaded with side by side 40g breeders. The shelves come with metal cross bracing and metal wire grate to provide base support for each shelf. I'm adding 1x 3 wood slats that run 24" perpendicular to the shelves where I'm setting my tanks on top of.  I originally contemplated ply-wood but not needed since the support for each shelf floor is in place (plus don't want to deal with rotten plywood in the future).

In your case, with 10s, that system would be more than enough to handle your tanks. Just make sure the shelving system can handle the weight of your tanks. For example see Jadren Aquatics YouTube video on his racks.  His racks are the longer 96" but the same setup applies for the smaller 77" rack.

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by bigpuma
grammar police

[CanadaAmanda]

@bigpuma I'm looking at setting up a huksy shelf, and hoping to hear how yours is holding up!  Still what you'd recommend?  I was thinking ideally there would be support on the front and back of the rims as well (parallel to the length of the shelf) - based on how your tanks sit on the shelf, do you think you can add front/back 1x3s and they would be helpful (or at least not do any harm)?  I like the idea of avoiding ply wood if possible as it's definitely not cheap, and I'd have to have it cut by the store as I don't have a set up for that.

[Jason A.]

I bought a muscle rack 18"x36" and I used half of it for a 40breeder on top with some 1x3's on the bottom for 3 10g tanks. The 40breeder sits right on the lip of the shelving rails so no boards or wood is needed for the top tank and that's been like that for close to a year. 

I've had the extra parts sitting waiting till I decided what to do with them and now that's happened so I assembled the rest of the shelving unit planing on it holding 2x 40breeders and so far I noticed the bottom is not sitting correctly so I took it out and decided to place the particle board that came with the unit under the tank and it looked better but 1 corner was still off so my next step is to replace the bottom front 36" rail with an extra one to see if the rail might be twisted or something. I'll post more information later if I'm able to resolve this.