Racking

[elaine]

Morning Guys,

Needing a little technical advice here. I am looking for some new racking for 4 ft tanks ( 48'' x 18'' x 15'' ), can anyone tell me what a single tank would weigh ?

Cheers
Elaine

 

[scatz]

its 212Ltrs, so 212KG of water, plus whatever the tank weighs

 

[elaine]

Thank you scatz.

I've been looking at some with a 300kg per level weight so they should be ok, or would I be better going up a level just to be on the safe side ?

 

[scatz]

i would always go over rather than leave it as "close enough", the last thing you want is to spend every night unable to sleep waiting for the crash of falling tanks lol

 

[elaine]

Agreed lol !

So it would be better to look at a 400 kg weight per shelf for a 4ft tank ?

 

[scatz]

300kg should be fine, unless of course there is very little difference in price, then i would get the strongest possible without paying silly money

 

[D-MAC]

I would just like to add that 300kg shelving would have been tested to a much higher weight before they settled on the 300kg safe limit, most probably a 400kg test.

 

[scatz]

I would just like to add that 300kg shelving would have been tested to a much higher weight before they settled on the 300kg safe limit, most probably a 400kg test.

yep, there is no doubting that 300kg would be an ample limit, even the 200kg would have taken probably twice the weight in testing, but in my view, i'd go for the strongest that i could afford

 

[AndyEllard]

I was looking for some racking and found this, it is fully galvanised and looks very good. Hope this helps.

http://www.bigdug.co.uk/shelving-c2/galvanised-shelving-c338/galvanised-heavy-duty-shelving-pp1954?pfm=browse

 

[OwNz]

also dont just look at water and tank you also have to think about bogwood / caves / sand etc it all adds up

 

[meloizias]

yeah remember the stones and stuff oyu have in there will add up quite alot, in a 4ft tank you will proberly end up using 10kgs of sand or so. but all your caves and bogwood and so on

 

[scatz]

yeah remember the stones and stuff oyu have in there will add up quite alot, in a 4ft tank you will proberly end up using 10kgs of sand or so. but all your caves and bogwood and so on

that wont really matter to the weight, the 10kg of sand will simply take up the room where 10kgs (ish) of water would be, so the weight/ volume remains the same

 

[bigbird]

i would also agree to go for stronger more weight rack. With such an expensive hobby so to speak, you might as well do it right. better be safe than sorry. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[elaine]

Thanks everyone for all the sound advice, duly noted.
I had come across racking with a 300 kg per level weight at half the price of the next one up at 400 kg per level. Was seriously considering it, but wasn't sure it would hold the 4ft tanks.

 

[Brengun]

If you are going triple tier and up on a small ladder to service inside the tank, I would recommend you add a bracket to the back wall. Thats an awful lot of weight should you slip and pull it over.

 

[Joby]

Just be aware when buying your racking that it may not fit 4 foot even though it states it as you have to consider it fitting between the uprights. My rapid racking is 48 x 18 but I can't fit tanks on that size as it won't fit between so have had to go for 36 x 18 or could have gone for 48 x 15". Its the same for the other type of racking I bought which was 30" long and 12" wide, my 12" wide tanks could not fit between the uprights :wb:

 

[Brengun]

Also make sure there is going to be enough clearance above tanks between the tiers.
I bought frysavers but on some they are just a tad too wide to fit under there.