Albertan Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 When I moved into my new home in July, I quickly set up the tanks in a corner of the garage to maximize access. I knew it would be a temporary arrangement. Sure enough, I find they are taking too much space and wanted to get them all up against the walls. Easier said than done when the smallest tanks in the setup are 90 gallons. Here is a picture of how things started out... It quickly became apparent that unless I wanted twenty plus feet of tanks along my wall I was going to have to go up. Stacking larger tanks presents some weight concerns for sure. I'm fortunate to have all of this in my garage so I don't have to worry about the floor, just the shelving itself. I did a few Google searches and came across lots of information. Unfortunately, everything described setups for smaller tanks. One recurring cost-effective plan kept showing up...cinder blocks supporting wood shelves. Although not the best looking setups, these plans seemed to be far and away the most popular when cost was the primary concern. Faced with the alternative of purchasing industrial racks for several thousand dollars to accomodate my larger tanks, I quickly found cost to be my primary concern also. :smokey: So I decided to modify the plans I saw for a larger setup. After measuring things up in my garage, I decided I really didn't want the stand to be longer than 10'...I have other things going on in my garage and didn't want tanks everywhere. Besides, as I soon found out, a ten foot shelf is freaking long! Factoring in the cinder blocks for support, this left me 8' of length for the tanks. My two 90's and my 120 would work perfectly, but the 150 wouldn't fit so I sold it and bought another 90. The shelving itself is nothing fancy. It's composed of a 2X4 frame with three 4X4s in the middle as shown below. Honestly, I'm sure I could have gotten by with two 4X4s. But to me the peace of mind was worth the extra $20 to use three. I just nailed everything together using 3.5" nails and skinned it top and bottom with 3/4" ply. Lifting the shelves themselves is not for the faint of heart, but they go onto the blocks with a reassuring thud. Now comes the fun part...levelling. This took me easily the most time of the entire project. I used cedar builder's shims and spent probably an hour trying to level the first shelf without much luck. Then the lightbulb came on and I mocked up the tanks and filled them part way with water. The added weight made the 10' long shelf behave itself and it was much easier to level. After getting it level to my satisfaction I filled the tanks and let it sit overnight. I came back the next morning and drained the tanks to 1/4 full and made some minor adjustments. I had pre-painted the blocks, and decided to go back at this point to touch things up. I painted the shelves black and silver to match the Rubbermaid shelving I am going to be placing beside the tanks. I'll post the rest tomorrow. I need to go and enjoy the last hour of my weekend! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 Wow, that's awesome! Looks like it could hold a car, good show :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 Very over built! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted October 14, 2008 Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 That's an excellent idea....probably alot less time consuming than having to build an all wood stand. How much did the cement blocks end up costing you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I like your power bar. Nice , but are your breakers going to take taht kind of load. Just asking. Been there up. and had that problem jump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I like your power bar. Nice , but are your breakers going to take taht kind of load. Just asking. Been there up. and had that problem jump I ran all the tanks in the first pic off that circuit, but it's cutting it close. If I turned on the lift or the skate sharpener it tripped the breaker. I think I am going to ask the electrician about it the next time he is in. I never planned to have these tanks out in the garage. The plan was to put them in the shop. But since it never got built this Summer, I need a place to keep the fish now. The power bar was fairly cheap at Canadian Tire FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I just noticed the window behind the tanks. Aren't you worried about intense algal growth going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Dean, that is awesome. I wanna do something like that now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 That's an excellent idea....probably alot less time consuming than having to build an all wood stand. How much did the cement blocks end up costing you? I paid $3.50 per block at Totem in Grande Prairie. There are five used in each "leg". I bet you could get them cheaper in the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I just noticed the window behind the tanks. Aren't you worried about intense algal growth going on? I'm going to cut a piece of MDF board to fit and set it in the window to block all light while the tanks are there. Otherwise yes I would be very concerned about algae growth. I'm also thinking about making one of the nitrate reducers described in the D.I.Y. on MFK, but we'll see.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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