shelves for my fish tank help needed fast

[joshuashih1]

I am building shelves for my fish tanks I have 2 fish tanks and they are both 4 feet long and i will be putting them side by side and wanted to know if i needed to put a support in the middle and if I did not want one is there a size of wood that would be strong enough to be able to support the full 8 feet with out bowing. I will have a desk under them so i will not want a middle support if I don't have to.

 

[ReeferRob]

I would support them every 2 ft. Bowed boards and glass aquariums is a REALLY BAD mix.

 

[joshuashih1]

can I support it from a pecs of wood ankerd from the wall and nothing going vertacly or is there a size of wood that would allow me to not need to support it

 

[monique]

if your tanks are 4 ft long they are going to be 55 gal or better, that would be 450 to 500 lbs each when full of water. i dont think you can mount anything on the wall that would take that kind of weight. if you actually want them on the wall as if sitting on a book shelf with your desk under to be able to use then you are going to have to build some kind of big unit and you will need support in the middle unless you use steel to make it and you better go heavier then you think you need. better to much then not enough

 

[emmett0122]

You will either need to have gussets on the under side Evey 16" so they rest on very stud in the wall or legs to the floor every 2 foot to make it safe the last thing u want is the the tanks tofall

 

[joshuashih1]

what size of wood can I use that will be able to hold the weight without bowing and without needing anything to go virticly. Keep in mind that if it boas right against the wall its ok to go virticly and yes they are both 4 feet and 55gal tanks and will be used as saltwater tanks

 

[emmett0122]

You need something to support the front if you don't want legs then you need gussets

 

[joshuashih1]

can u explain why a gusset is and how I would use it in the situation and I plan on having wood (whatever size needed going from the food on the sides of the shelves virticly along the wall and front of the shelves and then making a horizontal rectangle frame with plywood on top for each shelf and at each stud in the wall having the appropriate size of wood anchored there and coming out to the front of the shelve and for the whole 8 feet nothing going vertically exept as needed along the wall and the sides of the shelves. What i need from u guys is the best way of going about this and what size wood i need and how to do the job right. I have built stand alone fish tank stands before but never a shelf that will support so much weight with no virtical support.

 

[monique]

i would use at least 4 by 4 studs for the whole thing and bolt it together instead of nailing it . it will be stronger

 

[joshuashih1]

ok and will that let me not have the need to have vertical studs from the frond of the tanks because i can shave them there because there will be a desk and also how how would i go about anchoring it into the studs in the wall

 

[emmett0122]

a gusset is a piece that would go from the front edge of the shelf to the wall at an angle

 

[Big K]

This will end badly, methinks.

 

[emmett0122]

not know what a gusset is and not wanting any legs in the middle yes

 

[ReeferRob]

I see 1000 lbs of water, live rock, aquarium, corals and fish ALL OVER THE FLOOR. End well, this will not. I don't think you realize the amount of stress you're going to put on that wall. You're going to have to rip off the sheetrock or paneling to get to the wall studs as well.

 

[Aquarian]

What's the budget on this project? There is only one way to do this and it's a welded steel frame ( mounting to the wall depends on weight and what's on the other side of the wall. We can come back to this.) after you have the steel frame in place wrap it with wood and the finished look will be tow tanks on a floating shelf.

 

[monique]

i dont think you can have wall mounted shelves of any kind. thats way too much weight. like big k says. its not going to end well. i see a metal wall unit with a space big enough for your desk to fit into and your tanks sitting above

 

[Aquarian]

There are ways to do this it just depends on how much money you want to spend on it.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Are you in an area that is earthquake prone? I sure would not want to be sitting under the tanks during one...

 

[emmett0122]

Best bet is to pay someone that can engineer, build, and install it that way there is no doubt that it will work

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

With wood, what you are asking isn't really plausible. You could basically build a header to span the distance and leave it mostly open (granted you make the header beefy enough). But even then, you'd still have to frame the sides and back out, and attach it to the studs every 18" inches. I'd recommend using lag bolts(screws). As far as strength is concerned, they would do the job. Hopefully that helps. If you need any more explanation, feel free to ask.

You can make the stand as tall as you want. As far as 4x4s go, they hold up decks which are much heavier then a half a ton. And vertically, they are strongest. This way, the comp can fit under. Only problem is, most ceilings inside a house are between 7-8' tall. Those tanks alone are 21-22" tall. After putting a computer under as well as a desk, comp, and chair, you won't leave yourself much access to the tanks without a ladder. And even then, it'll be difficult to do anything inside them.

So, like I said. Not really plausible. Kind of doable, but not very well thought out. You could always build the stands into the walls and kind of have the desk itself between the two fish tanks. If that makes sense?