D i y stand shelf ?

Dont go to builder m8 they going to rip u off and then you are going to have to still find someone to cut it for you. Rather find a metal working shop , you must have loads up there, you can then get the metal and it cut from the same place which will work out cheaper. For 25mmx25mm square tubing you looking are about R140 a 6m lenth depending on the thickness of the tubing walls

 

thanks .will look around for a steel works .builders is just close to my house.
I used google sketch up for the drawings.

 

Stormbringer... Alert Steel On Hendrik Potgieter road will be able to supply very good priced steel, as well as cut it for you. Alternately contact a company called Five Star Steel in Laser Park (Opp Ferreiras.) Give Jan your diagrams and specs, and he will be able to MAKE it for you within about 5-7 working days. All you might need to do is spray it black... but he might be prepared to do that for you too. We use him for all our stell fabrication in building industry.

 

ahh i was just gonna come on and moan about builders prices and ask for help ....
zoom you da man.

any way here is what i came up with.bear in mind im not a fabricator so please let me know if ive got the wrong idea going .

 

Why the blue legs and bracing at the top? If you are planing on hanging light form it OK.

 

the blue legs will be bolted to the wall as the tank will be sitting almost 1.5m up and i dont wont it falling or tipping on any one.

 

Stormbringer101-

The I couldn't quite read the dimensions of your picture with regards to the frames... so I hope this suggestion makes a a bit of sense.

The top tank bracing I would add the green bracing and an extra yellow bracing as per your bottom tank stand... else there is no support in the middle of the tank.

Then I would add some diagonal bracing.. basically going from the FRONT of the tanks to the BACK WALL at +/- 45degrees going down...


W ------------
__________ *
A________*
_______*
L____*
___*
L*

(The stars are the bracing diagonal bracing.) Please excuse the _____ lines... TASA wouldn't accept the spacebar as suitable spacing

Put 2 in for each tank up against the walls on either side. Basically you have all the pressure of the weight working on SHEER against the bolts in the wall, and the floor will obviously take some of the load... the diagonal bracing will take some of the weight and distrobute it directly to to back wall and work on opposition to the SHEER pressure.

(Really hope that makes sense)

 

i think i know what you mean... problem is the arowanas tank sits inbetween the red legs and it is 60 wide and 65 high there is only 10 cm spare on the sides and 1cm against wall. thats why i want to use 50mm tube as apposed to normal 20mm for added strenth against the weight. the 1.5m will sit on a steel plate on the yellow bars and will only go half way up the blue tubes. but there is a masonite box on the top1.5m tank going al the way to the roof with clear perspex infront for viewing my archers jump and spit.

 

Oh... ok... sorry.... So your bottom tank is going to be on the floor basically, and the second tank on the first shelf! That makes better sense. Then your design might work.

Am I correct in saying that the blue posts is only going to be holding the masonite box and the clear perspex? If so you can reduce that in size... no need to go 50 x 50 on that, unless you looking at making it all uniform. If it's only holding the masonite box, then you could even go as thin as 20 x 20, or 25 x 25. You could also look at using 50 x 50 ANGLE iron there if you want to keep the sizes uniform?

I'm just throwing ideas your way with regards to saving a few penny's. (A penny saved is an extra fish!)

Is 750 height on the bottom tank high enough to allow you to fit lighting above the tank and maintenance? if the tank is 65 high, with a 10mm (?) polistyrene under... that will only allow you 90mm of space (or 9 cm) to put a light in and allow maintenance. Why not raise the top tank 75 - 100mm?

 

Storm - make sure that the steel is galvanised after welding - or at least a decent primer before painting - nothing worse than rust after a few months...

Also agree with Zoom - clearance on top is all important - I have built a number of multiple stands and learned this lesson the hard way...

 

thanks .no there is enough space for light and still plenty space to get my hands in just dont want to much space as the light box also works as a cover cause as you know arowanas can jump. As for the top the box fits on the tank exactly i just want the stand to be solid and not fall thats why i put the legs going all the way up to bolt to the wall .can i leave them out

 

Storm: Could you post a pic/diagram of how your tanks are going to fit together on this stand? Would make it easier to make better judgement on what is absolutely necessary, and what can be cut back on.

I agree with building something firm and sturdy, and going a little overboard a bit. Most engineers are a little conservative and add extra to compensate for the "what if" scenario. My only concern is I don't think it necessary to go completely over-the-top and land up with a monstrosity of a thing.. of worse still... not like the design and look in the end.

I think what we all forget sometimes is that a fishtank is also a showpiece, and an artwork. It needs to look appealing to the eye. I can't stand pictures of fishtanks where filters are all over the floor, piping is hanging everywhere, cables are all knotted... and then we must comment on how "nice the fish-tank looks." (Maybe this is my compulsive nature coming through)

 

thanks zoom will put up pic tonight havent got that drawing on my laptop.but if you look on the 1st page the photo of the arowana tank just picture the stand sitting on the sides of it and the new tank about 10cm above the light box the new tank is only 1.5 X 45 so there will be plenty of space on the shelf and with the box ontop it will go up to about 5cm before the ceiling .the struts going up is cause the stand will only have four legs on the sides and i figure it will strenthen the whole thing.