Anyone built an upside down stand before?

[Racersk]

No joking...

I have 3 tanks I am rearranging and I pretty much have the big tanks sorted out.

125 and 90 dual tank stand-custom beefed up iron stand with the 125 on top, 90 on the bottom with room below for 2 canisters and a small sup/bio-tower for these 2 tanks.

Now the 55 that I currently have stacked on top of my 3 tier cinder block/wood stand will not fit with the iron stand, mostly because of the 12x48 footprint. I like the stacked idea, so I thought why not hang it from the ceiling?

All tanks are in the garage, so no worries about attaching the 2x4's to the garage joists(finished but unpainted ceiling). My thoughts are to build a frame out of 2x4s to support the tank, 2x4 lagged to the ceiling joists, 2x4 supports supporting the corners of the front of the tank, and finally lagging the frame to the wall behind the tank. The weight won't be as much as a typical setup, as I will be using very little if any substrate-this will most likely become a hospital tank.


Will 2x4's be too much? I was pondering using metal angle, like the stuff used to hang garage doors/openers, but those holes are a bit ugly...The up side is I can attach panels with magnets - downside of 2x4s is the thickness of the uprights would look a bit odd.

Opinions/thoughts?

 

[Pharaoh]

That seems like a lot of weight to just have hanging by bolts/screws. Hanging them takes away all the support of the wood being used. I would suggest just building an entirely new stand that is capable of holding all of your tanks.

 

[Racersk]

So your thinking that a 55gallon is heavier than a double wide garage door?

I will be using the support joists that hold up the garage and that will only be supporting the front of the tank, the wall will support the back( this was proven before with the previous 55 only stand I had).

I hang digital Xrays, Dental lights and panoramic xrays for dental for a living(along with fixing them when they break), I know that by using 3/8" x6" lags across the span and 3/8 or 1/2" lags along the base for the uprights and against the wall will support the weight, there will be no screws in this build, only lags-possibly utilizing dove tails to further strengthen the joints in the front.

It's the 2x4s I am not sure about...I can step up to all metal if your thinking that there might be too much flex in the wood to support this build...I have the tools, just not the material to go metal atm. I do have the wood, but my woodworking skills are hobbiest at best.

Thanks for the feedback Pharaoh!

 

[bassguy]

It's almost 600LBS. That's much more than the door. Also ceilings are not built for the same load rating as floors, much lower. I'm with Pharaoh on this one, that thing falling from the ceiling would be funny to watch as long as it wasn't at my house.

 

[Racersk]

OK, so if not from the ceiling, how would you make up a 3 tier stand that has an overall width of almost 7'?

The middle tank is a 125= 6'

The bottom is a 48" 90 offset to the right.
The sump for the 125 is an 8.5acrylic tube that will be standing in a 15gallon, partitioned as a sump.- this was going to be offset off the bottom shelf by ~9" so the bio-tower would be next to the stand and not in it.

Then I have the smallest tank a standard 55gallon long...

Since my new stand that I got with the 125 is going to stay-to many/much hours/$$ refurbing it for this project, I have to use it now. As is it will not hold another 600lbs safely (IMO) without further strengthening of the leg structures.

Here are the rest of the pics of the stand-it was a single 125 stand.
(before and afters mixed together...)
Picasa host


The stand now is comprised of 1.25" angle with 1" tube supporting under both 'shelves'. The legs are 1/2"rod bent to form legs. I added cross and vertical 1/2" straps along with fully welding all joints overall, I also added the 1" tube under the bottom frame + cross-bar to support the 90G-possibly adding blocking under the corners of the 90 to the floor once in place

 

[pimpercrombie]

so you can weld and and have a welding machine, rod/wire? so couldnt you just add another level to fit the 55and whatever else you might want to sick down there? if you use 2" angle it should be able to hold all of those tanks plus.

 

[Dracor]

Is the wall you are anchoring to a load bearing wall? I would be more worried about the the bowing of the joist after a period of time. I used to do Audio/Video and have hung a ton but most of the time we add extra anchor points for our bracing so there was no sag and the equipment would stay in that exact spot for years on end.

 

[Racersk]

so you can weld and and have a welding machine, rod/wire? so couldnt you just add another level to fit the 55and whatever else you might want to sick down there? if you use 2" angle it should be able to hold all of those tanks plus.

Just priced out the materials, well over budget @ $160. The steel to support the 55 above the 125 safely is pricey, as it needs to go to the floor, unless I can see a print that uses 72"x18" racks that looks different than my design....And there's still $60 to build the 3rd shelf...

I already have 2x4's and 4x4's, and if more are needed then off to the box store for less than $5 per board...

Is the wall you are anchoring to a load bearing wall? I would be more worried about the the bowing of the joist after a period of time. I used to do Audio/Video and have hung a ton but most of the time we add extra anchor points for our bracing so there was no sag and the equipment would stay in that exact spot for years on end.

I was talking to a fellow tech yesterday about this. I do plan on spanning the load across 3 joists in the ceiling, by mounting a 2x6 perpendicular to the tank, with at least 2 2x4's (or 2x6's) or 4x4 posts in the corners of the span.

The span as stated above, I am going to go with 1" angle/square tube just like the metal stand. I will be lagging this to the corner supports and the outside load bearing wall along the back of the tank to studs.



Also just to complicate things further, I am going to go ahead and do a 6 foot shelf for the 3rd tier...Another members post got me thinking. They are making a stand for x2 55's and a 29.

Well I have a 29 that I just pulled from the living room that is currently set up as a hospital tank...It is 24 x 12.5 x 18...The 55 is 1/4 wider than this tank...It's going next to the 55. It will make a 72x12x18 tank, like an 80 long or something, with built in divider. and since I run HOB's on these anyways, I will make the shelf the same as the rack- @ 18" deep.

Enough planning, I off to measure and build.

 

[Racersk]

I got some materials, so here's the plan.

I cut costs BIG time, by getting 3/4" steam pipe for the uprights. Steel is about half the cost of 1" angle, not to mention the price savings if I went with 2"!

I am still going with angle on the upper shelf though for strength. I am dropping the current setup 3rd tank by about 9 inches in heigt with the use of steel, and since it is being supported on concrete it'll hold.

On a side note, while removing some un-needed stuff around the current setup I was able to get behind the tanks currently running...I'm betting not one person on this site can guess what it was...

One hint I have NO mosquitoes in my garage-now I know why.


OK back to work!

 

[Racersk]

Here's my finished all iron 3 tier stand.

Paint is drying and I am off for parts to finish up the sump idea I have... It'll be monster!

BTW since no one guessed...

I found a small frog living behind my 'artificial pond' tank setup in the garage, he moved in from the outdoor 100gallon pond over the winter, lol-he's staying for pest control.