Anyone use these?

[dubmaneh]

Planing my fish room where space is at a premium and was looking at using this http://www.uline.ca/Product/Detail/...elf-Black-Wire-Shelving-Unit-36-x-18-x-34wire shelving as 2x4 construction just eats up too much space.

Would be holding a 40g breeder as a sump on the top (with 1/2"ply on top to distribute the weight and prevent any flex). With probably a 20gallon on the bottom for mixing water for WC.

Just wondering if anyone has used them and how they worked out. Thanks in advance.

 

[bimini_bread]

Hey dub,

We have a few of the 4 shelf units in our fish room on our campus. I built stands for my big setup out of 2 x 4 but we are currently using the wire shelves for 10 gallon tanks. We have two on each shelf and they have been holding for the past month but there is some flex to them. Plywood would probably help. Bottom line, they seem to work fine but I do have some reservations.

 

[SGT_York]

I have these in my garage and they work fine for tools, but there is too much flex to put a fish tank on them. The weight is held by small plastic pieces, not a good solution in my book.

My vote is a resounding no.

 

[FraggledRock]

 

[sleepydoc]

+1 to York's comments. And to Fraggle's comments, perhaps not as bluntly!

 

[dabob79]

These are really sturdy shelves, I have several of them in our studio here. The "small plastic pieces" are compression grommets that absolutely do not budge once there's weight on the shelves. If you're worried about any flex (which isn't much) cut a piece of sturdy plywood to put on the shelf and put the tank on top of that. I wouldn't see any problem at all using them for this.

 

[dubmaneh]

Hey dub,

We have a few of the 4 shelf units in our fish room on our campus. I built stands for my big setup out of 2 x 4 but we are currently using the wire shelves for 10 gallon tanks. We have two on each shelf and they have been holding for the past month but there is some flex to them. Plywood would probably help. Bottom line, they seem to work fine but I do have some reservations.

Flexing with only 20 gallons gives me serious reservations as well. Do you know what the load per shelf is rated at? They sell shelves with different gauge wire. This one is rated for 800lbs per shelf which should be more than double what I'd need.

I have these in my garage and they work fine for tools, but there is too much flex to put a fish tank on them. The weight is held by small plastic pieces, not a good solution in my book.

My vote is a resounding no.

As dabob79 points out, they are compression grommets which I'm not too concerned about. The flex thing is another matter altogether.

LMAO!!:lol:

+1 to York's comments. And to Fraggle's comments, perhaps not as bluntly!

Fraggle sure doesn't beat around the bush!

These are really sturdy shelves, I have several of them in our studio here. The "small plastic pieces" are compression grommets that absolutely do not budge once there's weight on the shelves. If you're worried about any flex (which isn't much) cut a piece of sturdy plywood to put on the shelf and put the tank on top of that. I wouldn't see any problem at all using them for this.

It is the flex I'm worried about but adding ply "should" distribute the weight evenly across the entire frame. Do you know what the load per shelf on your units are?

Although I really don't feel like being the guinea pig on this one. Unless someone has used it in a similar application (40gallons or more) I think I may have to look for another solution.

Has anyone else out there used these as a table for a 40gallon or larger tank?

 

[rwb500]

i have these and I definitely would not use them for a 40 gallon tank. They bend noticeably when I put a few one-gallon jugs of chemicals on one shelf.

 

[dabob79]

i have these and I definitely would not use them for a 40 gallon tank. They bend noticeably when I put a few one-gallon jugs of chemicals on one shelf.

Mine must be rated for a higher weight per shelf than yours because my barely flex at all with well over 300 lbs of equipment on them.

 

[sleepydoc]

Mine must be rated for a higher weight per shelf than yours because my barely flex at all with well over 300 lbs of equipment on them.

This is a common shelf design. There are undoubtedly many design/construction variations available that affect the strength and stability. Load distribution also plays a large role as well.

My big concern with the plastic compression grommets is that all the weight is supported by a thin (<1mm) ring of plastic that nests in the groove in the pole. I don't know what the weight limit of that plastic is before it shears off, but that would likely be a rapid and catastrophic failure when it does occur.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Actually, because the contacting surfaces are conical and the inner piece has slots the main load path is actually friction between the plastic and vertical pipe. The piece that goes into the groove just holds everything in place until the load is applied and friction takes over as the primary load path.

Still, I wouldn't use them to store anything significantly heavy. Proper support is key to the longevity of a tank.