hi everybody, joey here again and welcomeback. in today's video i am going to show you howto build a cheap and easy aquarium rack. when it comes to smaller tanks, you can minimizethe space that they take up by simply stacking them on top of each other. now in the past i have actually have shownhow to build aquarium stands and multiple
snake rack systems for sale, level aquarium racks in the past, but havenot done a video on how to build a rack for smaller aquarium. if you haven't watched myvideo on how to build an aquarium stand, i suggest you do, before attempting this project. now this racks that i'm about to show youis intended for aquariums 30 gallons or less.
with that said we will be using half the materialswe usually do to make rack. for this build i used seven 2x4's and about120 wood screws that were #8's and 2.5" long. using wood glue for this build is optional,but if you do intend to use it, it will make the stand a lot stronger. the total cost for this entire project wasunder $25. the plans for this are so simple that youcan adjust how you want to put it together. i first start out with the platforms thatthe tanks will sit on. i makes these about 1/2"-1" larger than the bottom of the tankto allow for a bit of wiggle room. screwing the front and back on the outside of thisformation.
i repeat this for as many tanks as i need.in this case, i needed 3. next, i sit the tank supports up, and screwin the side supports. i use at least 4 screws for each contact point. now this is whereyou can use wood glue if you want to. these side supports will depict how tall the standwill be. the spacing of the tank supports needs to account for not only the tanks heightbut also how much working room you will need. i suggest at least 4 inches allowing for ampleroom for you to work on the tanks when the time comes. you will want to make sure the tank supportsare level and square. so insure you use both when building the stand.
now obviously as is, we have a make shiftstand. however, all the weight of the tanks will now be on the screws. so we will wantto alleviate that a bit. a 2x4 cut to the width of the stand and placedunder each tank support will provide a lot of extra support. again, 4 screws into eachcontact point. now we still have the tank weight on the screws,but we have more than enough support from them to worry about it. a wood screw, on averagehas a shearing strength of about 100-150 pounds. meaning, how much weight they can take beforesnapping. each tank is supported by 32 screws. the tanks that i'm using are 30 gallon aquariumand if you do the math this rack is 10 times stronger than i need.
the is a tall stand and it is evident thatthis might tip over.. one of the best things you can do is actually is to secure the topof the rack to a wall. that will not be possible for everyone, so what i do is add in a coupleof supports to the bottom of the rack. the supports at the bottom should be the widthof the stand and secured to each leg with more screws. the supports should come outand extra 6" from the stand. this will prevent it from tipping. the benefit to this type of rack is that itis cheap and easy to do. it also takes up
less space in width than my typical standsdo. on that same note, this style rack is only for tank 30 gallons or less, so it doeshave its limits.
anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed the video,i definitely want to thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time.
