# Tanks all setup, on rack (6 pics)



## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Ok here are the pictures of all my new tanks setup and on the rack. A little messy, and I am thinking on a way to move a lot of them into another room. I want them to be more viewable rather than stuff in a corner of a bedroom.

The new custom tanks:








whole rack:








Vent tank:








Fants tank:








Pumilio tank:








retic tank:


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2004)

*very nice!*

Very nice, Kyle!! I'm hoping to get some more front opening vivs built and set up my other shelf when I make the room. Keep it up!!

-Bill J.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

*Re: very nice!*

Thanks a lot, they need to grow a in bit, but I can not complain, all the frogs are active and bolder than I expected. I think the leaf litter is part of it. I am very happy with how the tanks came out, but I really want them in my livign room. Thinking about building something, but not sure how big... 



BillJohnson said:


> Very nice, Kyle!! I'm hoping to get some more front opening vivs built and set up my other shelf when I make the room. Keep it up!!
> 
> -Bill J.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2004)

*rack setup*

Kyle, 
Where did you buy the racks like that?I have a shelf set up like Bill's but the bottom has bowed some from my 2 20 high tanks that are on it.I want one similar to yours for my 3 20 high vert tanks I have made.
Thanks,
Mark W.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

If you don't mind the looks, they sell heavy duty shelving at most big hardware stores. And by heavy duty, I mean the same stuff they stack pallets of lumber, ceramic tiles, and other heavy items on. Some of those shelves are rated to hold more than 8000 pounds. They can be had fairly cheaply, too.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2004)

Mark, 

Mine has bowed as well, but luckily it is only 8" from the floor so I stacked blocks of wood of various sizes to support the middle of the board. So far it is holding up nicely. The upper shelves hold smaller vivs evenly distributed so the bowing isn't visually occuring. I do have many complaints with these shelves and will most likely switch to the wire shleving that Kyle is using. For one, these steel/wood shelves are very difficult to attach light strips to, are a pain in the *** to put together and very heavy. As soon as my local Lowes orders the 4 foot models, I'll pick up a few. 

-Bill J.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

I like the set-up Kyle. I almost had a rack like that for free. The grocery store I work for remodeled and we threw out one but my friend grabed it for his fish tanks. 
Hey Mark,
You can pick them up at Kmart, Target, and a few other stores for around $39-$50. I think they come up for sale around $35 at Target.
Later and Happy Frogging,
Jason Juchems


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2004)

*shelving*

Thanks fellas,
I will be hunting them down this weekend.I will just use the shelf I have now for tad cups and fruit flies and other things.The one I have now would be ok with more support but they are kinda deep for my tanks.I have the vert tanks drilled for drains and it would end up being a hassle to drill holes in the particle board for a lines leading to the pvc pipe I am going to use that the tanks will drain into. Wish me luck, I want to have everything set up by this weekend so I can start sorting through my imitator froglets and get pairs estabished.My pair I have now have a tad in a brom axil.I think I'm going to just let them raise it and watch the show.More on that later..
Thanks again,
Mark W.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Just a note on this, the cheaper ones are almost always the 3 foot ones, and light will cost more for only 3ft. I paid $78 for the 4ft one, and have seen it one time on sale for $68. Of course after I bought it. Mine is bowing a little also if you look at the tanks you can see the tops are leaning in a little. I know they can hold a ton more weight than those tanks though so I am not worried. I plan on building a wood stand to hold them in my living room, just not sure how big I want to build it.



JJuchems said:


> I like the set-up Kyle. I almost had a rack like that for free. The grocery store I work for remodeled and we threw out one but my friend grabed it for his fish tanks.
> Hey Mark,
> You can pick them up at Kmart, Target, and a few other stores for around $39-$50. I think they come up for sale around $35 at Target.
> Later and Happy Frogging,
> Jason Juchems


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

Very nice Kyle,

In the second picture, there's a large viv to the right, what's in that one? It's not on the rack. I may have to look into those racks, mine are bowing also.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

The 3 footers are much, much less expensive than the 4 footers (exact opposite of the lighting situation).

So... you buy 2 or 3 of the 3 footers... you buy the "S" hooks to use to replace the "common" set of legs (when they're next to each other), and you end up with 3 or 4 sections with 2 or 3 shelves each.

Something like this:










It is looking a little better than that now... but that's all I have in my pic storage area.

s


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

AMAZING! I want to do somehting like that at some point, but how do you keep your basement warm enough? My basement has to bee in the 60s all year around. I have a finished room that I plan to use at some point.

Do you make your own tanks or buy them? I've had good luck with making mine, and plan to make 3 more. I should be able to get 12 tanks on a stand.



Scott said:


> The 3 footers are much, much less expensive than the 4 footers (exact opposite of the lighting situation).
> 
> So... you buy 2 or 3 of the 3 footers... you buy the "S" hooks to use to replace the "common" set of legs (when they're next to each other), and you end up with 3 or 4 sections with 2 or 3 shelves each.
> 
> ...


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

We had our house built a few years back. I had a seperate heating zone put in the basement. It also has the only Air Conditioner in the house (in the foundation wall). 

The tanks on the right are plexi and were made by Mark Pepper (and family). They're very nice tanks and I'm quite pleased with them.

The tanks on the left are a combination of 10g horizontal and 10g verticals (that I made).

I would *really* like to make tanks like yours, and like Ben Green recently displayed also. We'll see if I get to that.

s


kyle1745 said:


> AMAZING! I want to do somehting like that at some point, but how do you keep your basement warm enough? My basement has to bee in the 60s all year around. I have a finished room that I plan to use at some point.
> 
> Do you make your own tanks or buy them? I've had good luck with making mine, and plan to make 3 more. I should be able to get 12 tanks on a stand.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I plan to work on a larger sized version with a sliding glass front. It would fit 2 on a 4ft rack so would be about 2ft x 2ft.

I'm not sure if I will be able to heat my basement enough without going broke. 



Scott said:


> We had our house built a few years back. I had a seperate heating zone put in the basement. It also has the only Air Conditioner in the house (in the foundation wall).
> 
> The tanks on the right are plexi and were made by Mark Pepper (and family). They're very nice tanks and I'm quite pleased with them.
> 
> ...


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

What you might want to consider... is closing off part of your basement. Put a wall or two in to make your room a smaller space. Insulate the HELL out of it (including the ceiling - I had to tell my builder to insulate the ceiling on a seperate heating zone. Go figure.) and you can put baseboard heat in the room? Depends on what kind of heating you have.

It seems like it would be very doable... close the space up a bit so you *can* heat it.

I've got half the basement and it's on a programmable thermostat. The other half of the basement is the kid's play area and it has a straight thermostat on it.

s



kyle1745 said:


> I plan to work on a larger sized version with a sliding glass front. It would fit 2 on a 4ft rack so would be about 2ft x 2ft.
> 
> I'm not sure if I will be able to heat my basement enough without going broke.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Thats about what I want to do, I have made a large room, and it has been finished. We will see, no rush I still have a good amount of room in the rest of the house.



Scott said:


> What you might want to consider... is closing off part of your basement. Put a wall or two in to make your room a smaller space. Insulate the HELL out of it (including the ceiling - I had to tell my builder to insulate the ceiling on a seperate heating zone. Go figure.) and you can put baseboard heat in the room? Depends on what kind of heating you have.
> 
> It seems like it would be very doable... close the space up a bit so you *can* heat it.
> 
> ...


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Nice enclosures guys! I'm slowly swapping out most of my old enclosures with acrylic and 20H vert tanks. I'll have to post a pic when I'm done. 
Those racks are great, I think I got mine at Lowes, but I have seen them cheaper at target. They could hold two 20 high false bottom tanks side by side, and they were heavy! 
Kyle, are your hinges H channel plastic piano hinges? Where did you get them? 
Thanks! 
Ed


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

No they are just flat hinges. I bought them here:
http://www.tapplastics.com/

They are flat acrylic hinges, and come in 5ft or pre-cut to 12inches.

They do sell H hinges, but in this case it would have left a gap. You can order H hinges from:
http://www.mcmaster.com/

They also sell stainless steal mesh that is great for venting. 60x60 works great.



Ed Martin said:


> Nice enclosures guys! I'm slowly swapping out most of my old enclosures with acrylic and 20H vert tanks. I'll have to post a pic when I'm done.
> Those racks are great, I think I got mine at Lowes, but I have seen them cheaper at target. They could hold two 20 high false bottom tanks side by side, and they were heavy!
> Kyle, are your hinges H channel plastic piano hinges? Where did you get them?
> Thanks!
> Ed


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Thanks Kyle. I would not want a gap.... are you just siliconing the hinge to the glass or are you drilling it and attaching brass or plastic screws? 
Ed


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Silicon has worked for me. I'm not sure I would use silicon with a bigger door, but for smaller ones it is fine.



Ed Martin said:


> Thanks Kyle. I would not want a gap.... are you just siliconing the hinge to the glass or are you drilling it and attaching brass or plastic screws?
> Ed


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## Ed Martin (Mar 25, 2004)

Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how I make out! 
Ed


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