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Prebuilt Shelving Rack


Tihshho
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Per an incident with some new stock that showed up today, I've decided to expand part of the room for quarantining, medicating and fry rearing. The areas I want to add a rack (maybe three rows high at the most) is limited by width and depth. I've built my current 'rack' system out of the ever so cheap and reliable 2x8 or 2x6 planks and cinderblocks. When I went to measure the space where these would be I found it to be too bulky to go with my current method (due to the blocks) and limit the tank size per level. I considered going through and making the new racks out of lumber and the overall form factor for 2x4's limit the space to still about the same sized tank or tanks that would have to be custom made. Being able to take down the rack quickly too would be ideal incase I ever need to move things, which constantly happens when I rearrange the smaller tanks in the room for efficiency. In two locations if I ever need to move them to access pipes that go to floor drains as well as my Radon system I need to be able to take the racks out and set them up in the den temporarily. Just like all good ideas, something either hits you over the head or your trip over it, and well in this case I accidently kicked the wire rack/bakers rack that I use to store my dry goods on. 

When I was housing fish post move, I had 10's set up on some simple wire racks, the dimensions of the 10's fit perfectly on the rack, and the lack of length meant that the stand itself was sturdy for the weight. It also didn't hurt that the rating per shelf was 180lbs per shelf. I started to look through some old posts here and saw that some people have been using these racks with success for longer tanks. The idea still has me a little sketched out, but if people have successfully used these style racks without everything crashing down over time I'd gladly consider it since they are quick to assemble and disassemble. On top of that, the floor print of the stand itself is extremely compact compared to lumber based stands or my current block and plank method. Ideally, I'd like to either stack 20L's or be able to run some 10s flipped long ways. In one area 20's would be ideal so I could migrate my fry system to that rather than my current juggling act of a setup, another space could fit the 10's and another space could fit 15's (20H floor print, just 12" tall.)

Anyone have success with these specific style racks? I remember being able to pick them up from almost anywhere, but from the searching I've done tonight every manufacturer, even with the same dimensions, have weight ratings all over the place. Is there one brand that is more reliable than the rest? 

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Ahhh, see there is something I don't see a lot of people do, you displaced the load of the tank (and reduced pressure points on the bottom pane/frame) with a sheet of laminated board. You also did something similar to what I did and kept all the shelves on the rack, but made a tiny shelf at the bottom, what was your logic for that? I just figured more support holding things together would be beneficial, but what do I know?

When it gets to a 36" unit, I get concerned about 'cheap chinese welds' giving out on the shelving and have everything collapsing. Have you seen any major warping on the shelves or notable rust?

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