# Gorilla Rack type shelving for tanks



## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

Have any of you used these industrial type units for fish tanks?
Just wondered how much weight a 4 foot shelf could stand.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i wouldn't try anyhting more than 10 gallons on anyhting that doesn't touch the floor, but you should check the manufacturer for the load rating, make sure it's mounted to the studs, and use wieghts to equal the weight of a filled tank before ever putting a tank on it, i have considered putting a tank on a shelf, i love this little 6.6 gallon bookshelf aquarium they have at petco, I think it's about 28 inches long, but i worry weather a shelf could hold up in the long run
In fact I just realized that the tension on a shelf bracket is so much more than screws on a stand because it's at an angle away from the wall so it pulls down and out... wall mounted shelves are probably a bad bad idea


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## ictoae (May 17, 2008)

If you go to their website, it says that the 4 ft shelves hold up to 500lbs/shelf.

That's just not strong enough for me to feel secure with any 4 ft tank, even 4 10gallons side by side would worry me depending on the load on the other shelves.

http://www.gorillarack.com/products/storage/Storage.htm

I went with a rack from Costco that has 6' long by 2' deep shelves and is rated for up to 1500lbs/shelf. I have a 125g on one shelf, a 33g and two 10g on another shelf and will be putting 2 40br on the top shelf. It came with 4 shelves and cost $150, but all the other shelves that I found were just not rated for enough weight to satisfy me.


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## Geddonight (Aug 7, 2009)

I have 2 different types of shelving.

One I got on sale at Menards. It's the tan industrial gorilla rack. I got it after visiting a LFS in Omaha and seeing how well it'd work for my home application.

97" racks are rated at 2200lbs. The LFS had 2x 75 gallon tanks per shelf + substrate, rock, etc. Worked real slick.

I used 3/4" plywood. Put 2 55 gal aquariums side by side with no complaints. Sturdy as a rock.

The other ones aren't as sturdy, so I don't put as much weight on them, but they're still good.

Go for it.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

hey guys i wanted to come back to this post to ask a few questions, aside from ictoae, has anyone had any success using pre-fab rack type shelves? i saw some at home depot, but they don't seem to be rated for enough weight to put too many tanks on it, plus they give a total weight limit, not a per shelf, which makes me doubt putting any tanks on it

i'm looking for a way to buy a rack to stack two 48 inch tanks i already own a 55, I would like to have a 75 and 55 or maybe just two 55's if i must

is 1500 pounds really enough for a 125? and most of the shelves i see have particle board shelves on the metal, will the particle board hold up a tank or should the tank sit over the metal parts
if the tank has to sit over metal then I wouldn't be able to put tanks of different widths on the same rack

i don't really want to be a guinea pig so hopefully someone has tried something and knows it works


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

i am using industrial shelving for my 150g and the guy that did it for me does all his coorporate work using that system.

industrial kits are designed to hold loads that far exceeed anything that a fish tank can throw at it but what you need to do is avoid consumer outlets ..you need to find someone that does the shelving for warehouses and storage establishments. The loads will be specified and you can easily calculate what the tank will come in at. The only extra thing you should do is to add something like a good plywood base and a styrofoam layer between that and the glass to accomodate any preassure points that might arise.

it will be really easy to fix panelling to the frame at a later date since the metal extrusions are full of holes ...end of the day it will look just like it was made the usual way ..only it will be stronger.


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