Aquarium rack stand?

[Humblefish]

Thoughts on placing six 40 gal breeders on one of these: https://www.samsclub.com/sams/welded-rack-4-level/prod13130202.ip?mobiledetect=false

Seems like it should work:

• Heavy-duty welded rack holds up to 8,000 lb. total
• Steel storage rack with embossed tread plate design has four adjustable shelves and is suitable for organizing and storing items
• Welded steel frames and beams for strength
• Has 2,000 lb. per-shelf capacity, evenly distributed
• Shelves have center-support channel for strength

I would cut plywood to fit each shelf, and seal it to minimize damage from the saltwater. But I'm wondering how much damage will be done to the steel itself over time? These 40 breeders would be used as QT/HT for fish only.

 

[Fishgeek88]

I have a customer who uses one for his sump, about 100 gallons. Tank has been up for two years and there isn't any rust.

 

[jsker]

Thoughts on placing six 40 gal breeders on one of these: https://www.samsclub.com/sams/welded-rack-4-level/prod13130202.ip?xid=plp1067-spri:product:1:16

Seems like it should work:

• Heavy-duty welded rack holds up to 8,000 lb. total
• Steel storage rack with embossed tread plate design has four adjustable shelves and is suitable for organizing and storing items
• Welded steel frames and beams for strength
• Has 2,000 lb. per-shelf capacity, evenly distributed
• Shelves have center-support channel for strength

I would cut plywood to fit each shelf, and seal it to minimize damage from the saltwater. But I'm wondering how much damage will be done to the steel itself over time? These 40 breeders would be used as QT/HT for fish only.

Great Idea, also check out your local used restaurant supply. They might have some NSF refrigeration shelves cheap, also check these guys link. Your local home depot sells some of their racks too dirt cheap. Just some thoughts

 

[Bloody.Knuckles]

Check 1000 times for level! =P

Thicky plywood for load distribution and that thing should outlast everything.

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm gonna check out Home Depot, Lowe's and those other places as well. This just seems a lot easier than building my own rack stand.

 

[Reefrookie220]

@Humblefish , you could paint the shelves with PLASTIDIP to avoid any rust issues. Heck, you could do the same with the plywood. Advantage to this being cheap and easily removed/touched up while still salt proofing the surfaces.

 

[president89]

I have one of those metal shelving units. It has rust for sure - I only have 50ish gallons of tank on the whole thing right now - so I'm not worried about it breaking. I would look into powder coating it...plastidip may work too.

 

[JBradford]

I have one of those in my garage but not for aquarium stuff since I keep that stuff indoors. But I have thought about using the bottom shelf for a mixing station build.

 

[Humblefish]

I found some others at Lowe's which claim to hold 1800-2000 lbs per shelf:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gladiator-...r-Steel-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/1000040591

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gladiator-...r-Steel-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/1000003004

https://www.lowes.com/pd/edsal-72-i...Tier-Steel-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/3172913

https://www.lowes.com/pd/edsal-84-i...ier-Steel-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/50124305

But I think no matter what, I would remove the wire decking and run at least four 2X4s vertically for each aquarium to sit on. Use the shelf unit as the frame only.

 

[jeff williams]

Your only going to be roughly 360 lbs per shelf if you put one tank per shelf should be ample for load capacity and a lot of racks are powder coated so rust shouldn't be an issue
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gladiator-...r-Steel-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/1000040591
Ya this one is hammered granite finish that is a powder coating it's very durable

 

[cracker]

humblefish, How did this stand work for You?

 

[JMetaxas]

The PETCO near me is having an after Christmas $1/gallon sale and had a stack of 40 gallon Breeders laying around.

I'm thinking about buying a bunch and using these stands to set up a basement system. The whole thing (say 4 40 gallon tanks and 2 40 gallon sumps) would be real nice.

 

[Skydvr]

If you are concerned about them rusting, I wouldn't go with one of the big box store ones without investing some time and money into coating that thing better. They can sell them cheaper due to volume pricing, but also by having the companies build to lower standards. I'm sure they can support the load no problem, but those things will rust in a year or two in a New England basement just storing boxes on them.

 

[JMetaxas]

Just picked up some Plastic-Dip spray to paint on my Home Depot metal stand frame. Going to set up a 2 40 gallon breeder system, with 20 gallon sump on the system and see how it goes. It's rated for 4000lbs, and I'll only have about 1000lbs on it, so feel pretty confident.