rack system

Tee504la

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 22, 2011
452
84
46
New orleans
after buying a new home im looking into building a rack in the garage to hold two 55 gallons on top and two 55 gallons on bottom. i dont have a lot of experience on building anything so any links or sites that could assist me would be great. doesn't have to be fancy just solid and sturdy.
 

tomomothy

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 14, 2009
1,000
3
68
Long Beach, Ca
Looks ok to me. What kind of filtration you running?
 

Oscar Mike

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 9, 2010
642
173
76
CA
Check out diyfishkeepers.com for a detailed guide and YouTube video on how to make a strong stand/rack. I just finished a rack over the weekend to put my 4ft 90g on top and 4ft 55g on bottom. It's a little more difficult designing a stand for tanks with the same dimensions though because you have to consider how your gonna fit the bottom tanks in without too much overhang on both ends. As you can see from mine and Tee's racks, if you dont make the stand 10'' longer than both tanks (5'' overhang on both sides) then the front/side supports will overlap the edges of the bottom tank instead of sitting flush with the front. Here's some pics and a link to my other thread in case you want to avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way http://diyfishkeepers.com/forum/showthread.php?8713-How-to-make-bottom-tank-fully-visible
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Tee504la

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 22, 2011
452
84
46
New orleans
yeah what i did was just pull up you tube videos and sites to just guide me in building the stand. i had a few minor setbacks but nothing major.
 

Oscar Mike

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 9, 2010
642
173
76
CA
Yup Joey's video series are my favorite but there's a ton of guides out there on how to make different style racks. It's kinda hard to avoid that 5'' of overlap on both ends tho (I say 5'' because with the perpendicular 2x4 supports its 1.5'' + 3.5'') because if you make the stand 10'' longer instead then the tank's trim won't sit on the outer frame. My suggestion would be to use 4x4's instead for the risers/supports (legs), or make it longer with additional supports under the inner frame. Unless you don't mind the stand overlapping the corners of the bottom tanks lol. What are the tank dimensions anyways? All 4ft right? If so then dont forget to factor in the trim if they're glass (48.5'' and 48.25'' in my case). That extra .25'' on the 55 ruined my original design to make it flush with the front because i made the inner bottom frame EXACTLY 48''
 

Tee504la

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 22, 2011
452
84
46
New orleans
Yup Joey's video series are my favorite but there's a ton of guides out there on how to make different style racks. It's kinda hard to avoid that 5'' of overlap on both ends tho (I say 5'' because with the perpendicular 2x4 supports its 1.5'' + 3.5'') because if you make the stand 10'' longer instead then the tank's trim won't sit on the outer frame. My suggestion would be to use 4x4's instead for the risers/supports (legs), or make it longer with additional supports under the inner frame. Unless you don't mind the stand overlapping the corners of the bottom tanks lol. What are the tank dimensions anyways? All 4ft right? If so then dont forget to factor in the trim if they're glass (48.5'' and 48.25'' in my case). That extra .25'' on the 55 ruined my original design to make it flush with the front because i made the inner bottom frame EXACTLY 48''
i used 2x4's all around and once fisnished i ended up with about a inch or so overhang.
 
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