Industrial Shelf/Rack for 20 Ls?

[Saltinthedesert]

I've seen a few threads on rack options, but I'm wondering if anyone has purchased an industrial rack specifically for multiple 20 g (long) tanks, and been happy with it.

For reference, dimensions are 30" wide, 12" tall, 12" deep. 225 lbs filled weight.

Ideally would have a shelf low to the floor so that it would hold 4x tanks, with clearance between shelves for tank + lid opening room.

Thanks eveyone!

Edited March 15, 2022 by Saltinthedesert

[Odd Duck]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:14 PM, Saltinthedesert said:

I've seen a few threads on rack options, but I'm wondering if anyone has purchased an industrial rack specifically for multiple 20L tanks, and been happy with it.

For reference, dimensions are 30" wide, 12" tall, 12" deep. 225 lbs filled weight.

Ideally would have a shelf low to the floor so that it would hold 4x tanks, with clearance between shelves for tank + lid opening room.

Thanks eveyone!

I’m assuming with those dimensions you are talking 20 gallon longs not 20 liters?  Be a bit careful on shelves since 30” x 12” deep may be to the outside of the shelf and you need that dimension or a smidge more to the inside of the uprights.

Is the 225 your expected weight or your shelf capacity or your total rack capacity?  Different manufacturers state it different ways and 225 lbs total capacity is nowhere strong enough per shelf.  Keep in mind that even if references say that 20 longs will typically be 225 lbs they say the same for 20 high and you will have more substrate in a 20 long assuming same substrate depth since it has more square footage.  225 is a fairly generous weight estimate for your tank, but you need more than you think to be stable.

I got a rack that said 800 lbs per shelf with 5 shelves, 48” x 24” x 72” high for 10’s on short side front x 4 per shelf.  The particle board shelves that came with the rack are a joke!  I had 1 10 gallon half filled and could already see sagging.  🤦🏻‍♀️  I bought 3/4” outdoor/marine grade plywood, polyurethane sealed it, and it’s doing fine.  The sealed particle board shelves are holding whiteworm and Grindal worm cultures on a skinny bottom shelf, with some light storage up top on the extras of the wimpy particle board shelves. I only made 3 heavy duty shelves for the 3 tank shelves.  I’ll do the same for my new rack but my shelf spacing will be a bit different since I’ll be putting cubes on the second rack, biggest is 15” tall with even more headroom needed for the light.  My current rack has lights mounted on the underside of the shelves above the tanks.

That leaves 3 shelves usable for tanks for me and the lowest shelf is only holding 5 gallon tanks and a couple jars that are a bit too tall for the space.  You could do 10’s on the bottom but you’d have to drop the lowest shelf right to the floor to get decent spacing overall.  If you’re willing to climb a ladder to access your top tanks and have high ceilings, or can bend like a pretzel for long periods, then I’m sure you could put tanks on the top shelf of a 72” tall unit.

This old lady isn’t climbing a ladder to do things to tanks that sit on a shelf 6’ up.  That would put me bending over to not hit my head in order to climb high enough to get my arm inside the top tanks vs. just being able to feed the tanks.  You will need more room between shelves than you think.  I still need to cut my siphon tube about 6” shorter to be less cumbersome between shelves.  I have 7” above my 5’s and 7.5” above each row of 10’s.  8” or more would be so much better/easier to do stuff.

For relatively narrow shelves, you’ll want to attach the shelves to the wall, so get at least 15” wide shelves for a 12” tank so there’s room for filters, lines, cords, hands, etc, behind the tank.  So take that into account when you order your shelves.

Pic below is my “not the least bit glamorous” rack but these are QT tanks where I deliberately leave some algae covered, plant holding tanks, culture tanks and jars for green water, Daphnia, assorted snails, scuds, blackworms, etc.  I clearly need to do some cleaning up, but they’re going to get near 100% drained and thorough cleanings soon when I move them to my “Offish” so I can start consolidating all my smaller tanks into 1 room.