"rack" system

fish042099

Fire Eel
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Nov 24, 2011
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Hey, as some of you may know, i am going to be starting up a little business slowly in the next couple of months (thread here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?535943-Online-business). I decided on a cheap, easy, and not bad looking way of housing tanks efficiently: a rack system. Basically i am going to stack cinder blocks on top of each other and thread lumber through the holes in the cinder blocks. it is going to be 4 cinder blocks wide by 3 tall on each side, with a new row of 4 10 gallons every cinder block(16"). My question is are 2 of these pieces of wood really strong enough to hold up 4 10 gallon aquariums? I dont think so. How many pieces of this wood am i going to need to support the aquariums? Here is the wood: http://www.homedepot.com/p/2-x-4-x-8-2-Pressure-Treated-Lumber-218458/100077807?N=c3sr#.UXQz1b9yHF8
 

fish042099

Fire Eel
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Nov 24, 2011
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Anybody?
 

Tangs26

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Are you going to put any cinder blocks in the middle for support or just on the outer edge? I may not have read it right but I would definitely put some in the middle if you hadn't already planned to. I can't imagine that the wood alone could support all that weight in the center.


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Pharaoh

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Have a look around at the multiple build threads on stands. Many people that done exactly what you are attempting to do.
 

Oscarowner84

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Dec 4, 2012
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The two boards should have no problem to holding 4 ten gallon tanks.

One U.S. gallon of pure water weighs 8.34 pounds.

So that would be a 83.4 pounds.

So the total weight of 4 10 gallon tanks would be 333.6 pounds.

A single 2x4 can hold 1100 pounds but with two it can hold 13 times more than before.

2x4's are a lot stronger then most people think.
 

fish042099

Fire Eel
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Nov 24, 2011
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The two boards should have no problem to holding 4 ten gallon tanks.

One U.S. gallon of pure water weighs 8.34 pounds.

So that would be a 83.4 pounds.

So the total weight of 4 10 gallon tanks would be 333.6 pounds.

A single 2x4 can hold 1100 pounds but with two it can hold 13 times more than before.

2x4's are a lot stronger then most people think.
Ok thanks so much, this is very helpful!
 

fish042099

Fire Eel
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Now I am faced with at other problem: filtration. How do I filter multiple tanks(4) cheaply?
 

deeda

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Sponge filters with an air pump of sufficient size to operate multiple tanks. You will need to know how many tanks you will be running and the maximum height of the tanks.
 

fish042099

Fire Eel
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Nov 24, 2011
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Sponge filters with an air pump of sufficient size to operate multiple tanks. You will need to know how many tanks you will be running and the maximum height of the tanks.
Ok thanks, it's looking to be a 15 gallon, 2 2.5 gallons, and a 10 gallon
 

Oscarowner84

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Dec 4, 2012
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Sounds like a sweet setup! Be sure to post some pics of your progress!
 
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