I’ve been looking around for a heavy duty shelf for my tanks and plants but I don’t trust what most of these pukes advertise. A 5 tier 72’H / 48’-50’ L / 18’-24’W is the ballpark measurement for a 55 gallon top fin set, 29 gallon top fin set, a zoo med reptile terrarium ( currently a 20 gallon but will up the size depending on the shelving space ), and will add a 10 gallon and maybe a couple 20 gallon longs if the shelf gaps are to my liking with substrates, real plants, and natural decor in all tanks. Does anyone know of shelves or own any that can handle this weight?
Posted by Daddy_Nasty
11 Comments
Just build one yourself? Its really not that difficult. Make it out of 4x4s, and use 3/4 ply for the shelves.
We use this for breeding tanks – between 5 and 20 long (I’d have to go check but I think we have 8+ tanks on this rack right now). Just right out of the box with 3/4” plywood right on the shelves: https://www.costco.com/p/-/gorilla-rack-industrial-shelving-77-x-24-x-72/4000295255
The example you posted is far, far too weak to hold any real weight in a stable way. You need one of the big boys for any kind of metal rack/shelving to hold up confidently.
How do you plan to service the tanks? Just because it fits, doesn’t mean you can do water changes etc 😉
That’s about 1,100 pounds of water. Would you trust it to hold 5 people sitting on it?
You are going to need to add cross bracing both fore and aft and left to right
As someone who currently has this style of stand holding my 40b
You likely won’t fit two 20gal next to one another. Also not sure about the 55gal on bottom either. I have a similar rack (mine is the wire rack type) with 20gallon breeder on each bottom shelf and two 5.5gal on the top shelf. Works great.
I have this shelf, the surfaces are mdf and will be destroyed by water and humidity over time. I sealed the mdf and covered it with stick on vinyl for terrariums but would not have got it in the first place if I knew it was mdf.
Someone else mentioned that you need space above the tanks to service them (gotta get decor/fish in and out, need to be able to siphon, etc), but you also need *height above the ground* to be able to siphon water out of them.
With the way the siphoning works, you’re going to struggle to get any water out of the bottom tank and into a bucket, and there’s no way that you could use a Python into a sink drain.
Ppl can’t read the fact you’re asking for recommendations, not asking if the shelf pictured can hold the weight… Anyways, I agree with the other comment saying to just build one. A premade shelf like this will probably cost the same or more than a homemade one. Just make sure the people who do your cuts actually have a straight blade and know what they’re doing
Husky racks from home depot, I currently have 4 of these un my fish room, one has 2x 29g on the top shelf, 2x 20L on the middle shelf and 2x 20L on the bottom. The other one have 2x29g on the top, a,10g and 33L in the middle, and 2x20L on the bottom. The other 2 are only 2 shelves. 75g on top and bottom of one, a 40 breeder, 2x10g on the top of the other and a 75g on the bottom. Each shelf is rated for some crazy amount of weight and be running this for several years now
I have the same stand, the boards it comes with as shelves are not adequate however I just bought a couple 2x4s and cut them to go from front-back of the shelf part and it supports the weight just fine. The frame is weighted well just not the board used. Also make sure the peave space for water changes and to have the lowest shelf elevated slightly; i had to rearrange multiple times after set up because either could pour water in well or the siphon not working cause the bottom tank was too low.