Awesome shelves

[fishmosy]

So as noted in the "flimsy shelves review",

I was having trouble with the set-up sitting on a flimsy set of shelves. Last weekend I swapped over to the "Rack It" shelves from Bunnings - the thickest steel version which comes in black (which I used) or galvanized. I am super happy with this set-up and still kicking myself that I didn't use it to begin with. Its 1200 long BETWEEN the uprights, and 400 mm wide. All the shelves are fully adjustable to any height and you can have as many or as few shelves as you like without paying extra because all the pieces for the stand come separately. I went with four shelves.

The set-up:

Sorry for the blurry pics, I forgot to switch the camera from macro mode

While setting up I stood in the center of one of the horizontal beams and it barely flexed. I lay down on the shelves and there was no movement.

 

Only one minor issue/change:

To get the bottom horizontal beam to sit on the bottom, you have to trim the bracket on the two ends of the two horizontal beams (and paint the bare metal to stop corrosion). This gives you an extra 50mm between the bottom shelf and the shelf above. I used an angle grinder to make the cuts and I had some paint left over from painting the mdf shelves (which you should also do otherwise they will swell if they get wet, and they will get wet being around tanks! ) which took about 20 mins total including dragging the angle grinder out of the cupboard and fitting a new blade. Cutting time was only 2mins for all four cuts. I think an extra 50mm is worth 20 mins of extra set-up time.

 

Usual bracket

Trimmed bracket

 

Edited June 22, 2015 by fishmosy

[Callan]

Very nice Fishmosy, they were the ones I was talking about as well. The rack looks really good fully assembled. The extra side bracing is really good and dosen't take away from the overall look.

It's gonna look really good when the tanks are set up. Looking forward to seeing photos of the entire setup when you have finished. 

[OzShrimp]

@fishmosy how is this holding up a couple of months later? Care to share price as well?

[fishmosy]

@fishmosy how is this holding up a couple of months later? Care to share price as well?

will grab a picture ASAP as soon as I get my camera back from a friend! I'm extremely happy with it and it looks superb. I've added more and more tanks with space to spare for two more tanks I'm getting shortly, and its still solid as a rock with no bowing (well at least as far as I can tell). I should have brought this rack from the start and not cheaped out.

Old saying - Buy cheap, pay twice. 

[OzShrimp]

will grab a picture ASAP as soon as I get my camera back from a friend! I'm extremely happy with it and it looks superb. I've added more and more tanks with space to spare for two more tanks I'm getting shortly, and its still solid as a rock with no bowing (well at least as far as I can tell). I should have brought this rack from the start and not cheaped out.

Old saying - Buy cheap, pay twice. 

what size tanks u got on it?

[fishmosy]

They range from one foot to four foot. Will outline dimensions with the pictures. 

[fishmosy]

As promised, here is the stand today. I've whited out one tank as its a special project.

The sizes of the tanks from top to bottom (and left to right) are:

4ft wide *1 high * 1.5 deep - holds L333 colony and rummynose tetras. Currently building an LED light for this tank.

AquaOne 32 Ecostyle - currently a temporary home for my Caridina cf. confusa.

Whited out tank: 2ft wide, 1.5 wide, 1.5 deep - classified

Aqua One 1ft cube - new setup for my Bloody Mary variant of Caridina davidi

No-name glass tank - cull tank holding cherry variants, some Aus. natives, natives, mosses and a few other bits and pieces. Will be retired once I purchase some new tanks.

Plastic tanks - temporary housing for moss and/or shrimp as required

Bottom tank - 3ft wide * 1ft high * 1.5 ft deep. New set-up for my confusa.

 

The plan is to purchase four new tanks (1.5 ft wide * 1 high * 1 deep) and put them 'end on' on the shelves - two on the second shelf down, one next to the cube, one next to the 3 ft. I have another 2 ft, (same size as 'classified' tank) which is currently (...................................redacted........................................................) but will be returning to the right hand side of the third shelf down (where the plastic tanks are). This should give me plenty of tanks to set up a dedicated tank for the Malanda, a choc cherry tank and a dedicated tank for KK, as well as a spare for culls and mosses ect.

 

 

what size tanks u got on it?

[OzShrimp]

@fishmosy theres sulawasi shrimp in that tank isnt there! ;)

[jc12]

@fishmosy theres sulawasi shrimp in that tank isnt there! ;)

Haha, that was my first thought too.

[fishmosy]

@fishmosy theres sulawasi shrimp in that tank isnt there! ;)

Ha I wish. All will be revealed. 

[revolutionhope]

hmmmm must be cooking up shrimp crack

[emoji337] .. starts dialling 000...

[2OFUS]

We should make a poll on what we all think is in there :) lol 

my vote is saluwasi :) was leaning towards baubalti 

[jc12]

I reckon they are the Peel River native glowing shrimp!!! First dibs on bubs.

http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/2897925/mysterious-shrimp-light-up-peel-river/

[fishmosy]

Heres a clue- Pics from the tank have already been posted on the forum, but only in its initial form during set-up. 

[s1l3nt]

Interesting that you are using 18 inch deep tanks on the 400 wide rack. Do you find any overhang doing this? I thought about this for the rack I am setting up but was worried the 1-2cm overhang would cause issues in the long run? Would make it easier to find 18 inch tanks rather than 16-17".

Have you got a photo of the tank edges? (Would like to see if it sits flat or with a bit of overhang.

Edited August 28, 2015 by s1l3nt

[fishmosy]

Interesting that you are using 18 inch deep tanks on the 400 wide rack. Do you find any overhang doing this? I thought about this for the rack I am setting up but was worried the 1-2cm overhang would cause issues in the long run? Would make it easier to find 18 inch tanks rather than 16-17".

Have you got a photo of the tank edges? (Would like to see if it sits flat or with a bit of overhang.

there will be around 1-2cm of overhang which I will have towards the back of the rack. The front of the tanks will sit flush with the front of the shelves.  I use rubber foam underlays under all my tanks so there is absolutely no issue in doing it. In fact, you can have a large overhang on just about any tank. A prime example would be the "Edge" series of aquariums. The important thing is that the weight of the tank is spread evenly over the area it is resting on. 

[Grubs]

My guess on the mystery tank is a Bucephalandra tank.

You've certainly built a great multi-purpose rack.

[s1l3nt]

Thanks for the info fishmosy, that puts me at ease a little bit and might end up using my 2x18x18 that is in storage after all... Haha.

Out of curiosity, any chance you know what the rubber foam is called? Going to head to clark rubber in an hour or so (hopefully you actually see this before then haha).

[fishmosy]

Sorry cant remember whats its called. I know its a 'seconds' material that costs about $50 for a sheet 19mm thick. It'll probably take 1.5 sheets to do everything I want but thats only because I wrapped the four foot on every side except the front and top. 

[s1l3nt]

Thanks for the info :) Ended up grabbing standard tank foam to go under the tanks. 10mm thick sheets. Looking forward to your progression shots :)

[fishmosy]

Number #457 and #502 solves the riddle of why I blanked out two of the tanks

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2015/index1.html

 

[JacksonL]

Well done mate, that's awesome!

[revolutionhope]

Congrats with the comp i love your work they both look very "realistic" and the shrimps look spectacular too :-)

anyway i wanted to to say thanks for posting your experience - is the rack still holding up well for you?

i was hoping you (and others using this or similar systems) could share some wisdom with me please !

im investigating setting up a rackit system myself but im thinking about two options.

i want to fit in 1x4ft and 8x 2ft tanks (plus i have another 2 1/2 and a 3ft tank i might want to accommodate in future.

option one is using the 1,2m x 600mm  shelves so that i can fit one tank in the middle and 2 at either end perpendicular (longways) to squeeze in 3 tanks per leve

other option is i may have enough space to fit in the 1.8metre rack in the new place i'll (hopefully) - based on your experience do you think  there would be any risk in having the 1.8m long system full of tanks?

thanks in advance

love n peace

will

[buck]

congrats dude! they looks great!

[NoGi]

Great job