47 second "instructional" video on Rack-building

[MatsP]

When I re-assembled my tank-rack over the weekend, I took a photo for each part (missed a few):


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Mats

[2wheelsx2]

Nice vid. I was wondering why the floor though. Extra torsional resistance?

[MatsP]

Just spreading the weight over about 45% bigger area - it's still a fair bit over the "when you build a house it must hold at least this weight" building regs. It holds 1100 liter, and covers 2.7 m2. The building regs say 2kN/m2 or about 200kg/m2.

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Mats

[Shane]

Mats,
Looks great and I can't wait to see it full of tanks. Just a question. Why wood over wrought iron? I had the below rack built in Colombia almost ten years ago for about US $50. It weighs about 25 pounds empty.
-Shane

[MatsP]

Because I don't own any welding equipment, and it's size (it's 10ft long and about 6ft tall) means it has to built in place - it's hard to take something that big up the stairs!

I've also got lots of experience in building things in wood - I built lots of wooden "carties"(according to Google translate), Skateboard ramps, and even worked as a builder for a summer between school terms.

I'd love to have the "stuff" you need to build it in metal - in fact, I do have an angle-grinder already, so it's mainly a case of a welder and some smaller stuff... I suppose you could build it in sections outdoors, and then assemble in place with bolts.

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Mats

[apistomaster]

I use 2 X 2's and plywood platforms for my three tier tank racks. This is possible by using 2 X 2 X ~6 inches corbels at every shelf level, which are tapered to 45* an their bottom. I routed all the edges so the stands have a nice, graceful, "finished" appearance. A finished American "2 X 2" is actually only 1-1/2 inches on a side.
My structural engineering background has heavily influenced me in the sense of getting building materials to perform well by getting ever more out of ever less. I am thoroughly grounded in steel, reinforced concrete and wood but like Mats, I am more competent in wood work but am professionally a construction inspector where I analyze all work in accordance with plans and specification more than performing this work myself.
You gain much more efficient use out of less timber which equates to more usable tank space although not less than angle iron/steel. When you make longer racks you get the column "group action" effect. There are no length limits except those imposed on you by your available space. The intersection details are the most complicated aspect of my "toothpick" designs. Additional floor reinforcing is only necessary when you know the supporting floor joists are insufficient. The floor deck effectively transmits all loads to the joists. You usually place aquariums along structural walls so there is plenty of bearing capacity in most cases. My house was built in 1948 and may be over designed to some extent by today's building codes although I kind of doubt it.
Steel has it's own problems as a aquarium stand material because it must stand up to corrosion. More people know how to work with wood than steel at home. Steel stands must usually be built by others. Shane's steel stand may have cost only about $50 in Mexico but it would cost closer to $250 in present day America. My wood stands that hold about the same weight as Shane's only cost me about $50 for all materials. Only when you can weld the steel yourself can the stand be competitive with wood in price.

[MatsP]

A 2.4m length of 93 x 38mm wood (which is what most of the pieces are in the rack) costs £3.75. 3m of steel 40 x 40mm box is around £15. I'm sure you can build the rack with a few less pieces of steel than wood, but not a quarter of the lengths...

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Mats

[apistomaster]

I found a steel stand which simply snaps together at the large American chain hardware store, Home Depot, for only $125. It has an inside span of 72.5 inches and shelves 18 inches wide. My two 40 gal breeder tanks per tier are a little wider so I had to elevate and widen the stand with inlaid 2 X 2's and 1/2 inch plywood bases. It holds 908.5 liters. I could never have had this steel stand custom built at this price. 240 US gals or 908.5 liters.
Each tank has two Azoo #6 sponge filters; equivalents to the HydroSponge IV. I run one on air and the other with a Maxijet 600, 600 lph, 160 gph power head. Most also have an air stone now.

006 (Small).JPG (44.4 KiB) Viewed 2626 times

[MatsP]

Yes, those sort of shelfing systems are available here in the UK as well. Never used them for my tanks...

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Mats

[apistomaster]

The specifications claim this system can support 2-1/2 times as much. It is my favorite stand. Very small foot print for so much water and 6 American style 40 gal breeder tanks. I wish I had room for several but space is in short supply in my small house.
Regardless of the type of stand I have always found it difficult to breed fish on the lowest tier but the middle and top tiers are really productive so I mainly use the bottom tier as grow out tanks. All my bottom tier tanks are only about 10 inches above floor level. At least that is still low enough for me to siphon them out to the front yard when changing the water.
My MagDrive 9.5 pump in the two, 55 gal plastic barrels which are connected so I have a 110 gal RO reservoir, is easily able to fill the top tiers through 50 feet of 1/2 inch RV potable water hose despite the fact their tops are about 6'-8" above the floor. I can refill the top tiers with RO water in less than 15 minutes by pumping. Middle and lower tiers really fill fast from the RO reservoir.
I don't use RO water very often in these tanks but when I do need it is nice and easy.

[PlecoCrazy]

Looks good Mats. Very nice video! I had plans to take pictures as I did things but it didn't work out. I prefer using wood as well. I bought a radial arm saw and used a dato blade to cut notches out of my legs for the shelves. You didn't do that but it sure looks pretty solid to me.

Since everyone is posting pictures of their racks, here is mine. Everything is painted black so it doesn't show too well.

[Shane]

Steel has it's own problems as a aquarium stand material because it must stand up to corrosion. More people know how to work with wood than steel at home. Steel stands must usually be built by others. Shane's steel stand may have cost only about $50 in Mexico but it would cost closer to $250 in present day America. My wood stands that hold about the same weight as Shane's only cost me about $50 for all materials. Only when you can weld the steel yourself can the stand be competitive with wood in price.

Iron/steel, I strongly believe, will hold up far longer than wood, so while there may be an initially greater cost, there would be a huge savings over time. The only "maintenance" my wrought iron stands require is a quick spray paint job every 4-5 years. A wood system would all need to be taken apart and re-stained and painted and decaying pieces replaced in that same time period.

A huge factor for me, and others living in warm, huimid areas is also the local environment. Wood, unless one used very expensive hardwoods, just does not hold up over time in the tropics. That is why it is almost never used in construction. I also suspect that a typical fishroom, unless it had a really good ventilation system, would cause the same problems.

-Shane

[MatsP]

Over the approximately four years I had a dedicated fishhouse, the wood did't show any notable degradation (and that's without any treatment/coating). But yes, long term, steel is a better product. Wood is more readily available, quite easy to work with, and as I said before, it's familiar to me.

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Mats