patrick Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I am building a tank rack for 9 40 gallon tanks and I was wondering how much space you recommend between the top of each tank and the bottom of the stud above. I was thinking 6.5" but maybe that is not enough? The reason for only 6.5" is so that I will be able to feed the top tanks without standing on a chair. Here is a pic of the rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 i would think 6.5"is plenty as long as you dont put any larger ornamentsin the tank or have a super huge bicep lol. i would almost boost is to 7.5"to be safe. better to be safe than sorry. where abouts did you order your tanks and how much were they? Quinn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 i would think 6.5"is plenty as long as you dont put any larger ornamentsin the tank or have a super huge bicep lol.i would almost boost is to 7.5"to be safe. better to be safe than sorry. where abouts did you order your tanks and how much were they? Quinn I am considering using 1.5"x1.5" metal studs for the shelves instead of 2"x4" wood. That would give me an addional 2" room. But I have no idea how much metal studs cost though. I ordered the tanks from Concept Aquarium, as a business, so I'd like to keep the cost confidential. Tanks are made of float glass 10mm bottoms and 6mm sides with moulded top and bottom braces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I'd go 8" between tanks. I've got a tank that's currently 4" and it doesn't work (no way to get ANYTHING into the tank), but I would think that for a tank of only 40 gallons you'd be happy with anything between 6" and 8". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 The tanks that I have in my fish room are 7 3/4" of clearance I find it can get a little tight some times. I also have a 10g tank under a 20g tank with 5 1/4" of clearance it is almost imposable to catch any thing in that tank. You could look at some thing like this. http://www.fishthoughts.net if you look about half way down you can see a description of the set up. There is also this one http://www.tedsfishroom.com/ check out around the 3/4 page mark he is using 40br tanks on a 'gorilla' storage rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Those gorilla racks sure looks nice. I checked the Home Depot web site but I could not find them there though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have a rack of 20 gallon talls with 6" clearanceand clearance is not an issue as I stepped the shelves back. The top shelf is 20" wide and holds 10 gallon tanks. The middle is 24" and the bottom is 28". Here are some pics Sorry about the mess as it is a work in progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have the "Gorilla" shelves. You'll want to either seal the particle board, cover it well with thick plastic or replace it with real wood. I had a HOB filter overflow and the water leaked under the tank. The shelf folded and I almost had a huge disaster. I just happened to have noticed the leaning water line in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have the "Gorilla" shelves. You'll want to either seal the particle board, cover it well with thick plastic or replace it with real wood. I had a HOB filter overflow and the water leaked under the tank. The shelf folded and I almost had a huge disaster. I just happened to have noticed the leaning water line in time. Where did you get the shelves from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 On my rack I have an 8.5'' clearance and find it just adequate--when doing stuff near the bottom and back of the tanks I wish I would have gone with 10'' it is 24'' to the back of mine and yours are 18'' I think. But I would not go under 8.5''----unless you are real tall you will probably need a stool to do maintenance in the top tanks anyhow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thanks guys for all your valuable input I have one more thing. These tanks have a middle brace because the sides are 6mm. I can get the them without brace with 10mm glass throughtout. This will add $$ ofcourse, but it will be easier to maintain the tanks and net fish. Would you say it's a big hassle to have a center brace on a 36" tank? Would it be worth it in the long run to go with thicker glass and no brace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have the "Gorilla" shelves. You'll want to either seal the particle board, cover it well with thick plastic or replace it with real wood. I had a HOB filter overflow and the water leaked under the tank. The shelf folded and I almost had a huge disaster. I just happened to have noticed the leaning water line in time. Where did you get the shelves from? Home Depot. They are 36" wide and 18" deep I believe. I set them up as two stands for 4 tanks. #x 25 and one 65gal. I have 10" of clearance. This gives space for a lid/lights on each tank and the ability to reach the HOB filters for maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I would go with the thicker glass I had two 33g tanks with center brace I always had trouble catching the fish in those tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I think it would depend on how much more money you want to spend to save a little time in the long run---I don't find the center braces to be to much of a hassle, If I'm catching a lot of fish I just drop the water level and use a couple big nets---I just finished catching and transferring 140 fish not more than 10 minutes ago from a 45 gal with a brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I have the "Gorilla" shelves. You'll want to either seal the particle board, cover it well with thick plastic or replace it with real wood. I had a HOB filter overflow and the water leaked under the tank. The shelf folded and I almost had a huge disaster. I just happened to have noticed the leaning water line in time. Where did you get the shelves from? Home Depot. They are 36" wide and 18" deep I believe. I set them up as two stands for 4 tanks. #x 25 and one 65gal. I have 10" of clearance. This gives space for a lid/lights on each tank and the ability to reach the HOB filters for maintenance. Do you have a pic of the rack? How much did you pay for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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