# Homemade frog rack?



## dendro-dude (Jan 25, 2010)

So... I would like to make my own frog rack.

I'm not sure of dimensions. But I have 52inches of Length to work with. Odes anyone have tips or pictures?

I'll get more info up soon


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

Wood or metal racks?

Michael


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

I make all of my racks out of 2x4s and plywood. It's jsut easier for me to fit all of my tanks on them instead of trying to find metal racks that may fit a majority of them. I will link up a few build threads I did below. 

These are very simple to make. I have a jig saw, circular saw, a drill, and about 2 summers practice working with my dad back in high school (he is a contractor). They still turn out like crap, but I paint them black to hide anything, haha.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/44905-aquarium-rack-ideas.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/34320-space-utilization.html

Hope that gives you some ideas. I redid that 40 breeder rack to match that 65 rack, it's pretty much a heavy duty table for the 2 rows of tanks, much easier to move and take apart. I move every year being in college with short leases so that's important to me.

Derek


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## dendro-dude (Jan 25, 2010)

poison-beauties- wood

Derek, Thank you! that helps! I'm going to get a new tank for my powder blues on july 10... not sure how big soo that's an issue for building a rack.... (?)

EDIT: Ok, so I like this guy's idea of a cabinet stand:http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/75g_stand/index.shtml 
But I'd like it to be a rack. Like Derek's- http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/34320-space-utilization.html (first pic)


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## zcasc (Dec 8, 2009)

Building a rack is certainly an option, but if you want to go nice and quick, I would suggest checking out Home Depot or Lowe's.

I just picked up a 72" tall, 48" wide and 24" deep multi-unit rack that was only about 75 bucks. Even better, the rated capacity is 4000 lbs, which is great for dry terrariums (I would be REAL careful with aquariums...)


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## dendro-dude (Jan 25, 2010)

Well yeah, my first thought was to just buy one. But since the tanks will have a few gallons of water in them (Just enough for water features and access) I thought, just build a nice sturdy one that'll work for what I want... cause I'm building it


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

Here's another option.










Mounting is super easy.

You can bolt it to the wall using these.


















You can use the shelving standards that are available to support the center of the shelf, but my favorite method is to hang the shelving at the front with chain. This works very well. If you have cement walls in the basement, you could hang the entire shelf with chain, making shelf adjustment extremely easy. Just use either S hooks or chain links.


Tubing for misters, foggers, wiring lights all can be easily mounted to the wire with zip ties to keep everything neat and trim. Plus the wires, lines and drain lines can be run up and down through it. The shelves cut easily with a bolt cutters or a hack saw.

The shelving comes in 4', 6', and 12 foot lengths, in depths of 12" and 16" inch.

Best of all this shelving is really cheap. It costs a little over $1.00 per foot for the 12" size. A 12 inch x 4 foot shelf is $4.85, a 12 inch x 12 foot long shelf runs about $13.85, while a 16 inch x 8 foot shelf runs about $16.00. Lots cheaper then most other systems. 

Home Depot and Lowes carry them.



I have even used rope to build temporary shelving units on job sites to store heavy tools and materials for the duration of a job. I installed them with a dry wall screw with the line or chain sandwiched between washers screwed into each stud up near the ceiling. Using rope and tying each shelving in with a bowline knot hung works well. I used this type of shelving with rope to hold my TV and lots of other stuff in my college dorm room for many years. Chain is likely to be stronger and more permanent. Using this method would work extremely well for someone in an apartment as you only have to patch one screw hole at each stud up at the ceiling.












*Hanging Shelves At Work*
Here is a picture of this system in action I built on one of my job sites. I have attached the wooden shelves by running a drywall screw / washer through the chain and into a scrap of 2x4 which holds the wooden shelf up. It also holds a plans table and a working table where my volunteers sign in.


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## devin mac (Oct 4, 2004)

another think i would think about is what size tanks you plan to put on it. take (or acquire, if you don't yet have the tanks) some measurements of the actual outer dimensions of the tanks, and then determine how long the rack needs to be to have just the right amount of space.

this will help keep things looking neat and clean, and also guarantee you have ENOUGH space. 

as an example, i am using a 3ft wire shelving unit as a rack, and unfortunately it won't fit three 20H verts on a shelf... so i'm stuck with some space on the side that is barely usable. measuring and figuring out how much space you need, before building, will help avoid this problem.


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

devin mac said:


> as an example, i am using a 3ft wire shelving unit as a rack, and unfortunately it won't fit three 20H verts on a shelf... so i'm stuck with some space on the side that is barely usable. measuring and figuring out how much space you need, before building, will help avoid this problem.


This is exactly why I went to wood for the shelves. And in the event that I want some other sized tanks on there, I would just have to modify the rack. Most of the time that jsut means unscrewing a shelf and lowering/raising it.


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