18x 63 Ltr. Aquarium Rack

[ADC Nederland]

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to share some photos of my new fishroom and aquarium rack project. I took a break from the hobby last year just before I got married and didn't pick it up after because we had a baby on the way. I decided to sell all my tanks and all my left over stuff and decided that I wanted to start all over again with brand new equipment and tanks and get the chance to build everything the way I had it in visioned from the start.

After drawing up some ideas on paper I decided to keep it simple but effective and I didn't want to go overboard with a ton of technology and advanced tank systems. I decided the best way the go was to look at my past experiences and look at aquarium brands that I have good experiences with.

Early on the process I decided the tanks had to be complete sets from either Juwel, Eheim or some other good established brand that sells starter kits or complete tank systems. I have always favored Juwel in the past and hold their internal filter systems in high regard. So I wanted to stick to what I know and that works for me.

I decided early on that I wanted a professional look, keep my space clean and functional and I also needed to rewire some of the electricity and make sure the amounts of watts created by all the equipment can be handled by our electricity system because it's all taken from the house.

After I put everything on paper and made a huge shopping list. I started my build and took my time to make sure I didn't skip anything. We wired the electricity professionally and according to the EU Guidelines.

I took some pictures of the several stages of the build and I hope you'll enjoy them. I am certainly very excited and can't wait until the tanks go into the rack.

Hopefully somewhere this week my order of the 18 tanks will arrive and I can start filling the rack. Before I put the tanks in place I will paint the back and the sides black... I can't wait !!

 

[Frank Hättich]

Very nice, so far! Is this room in the basement, because there will be some weight on the floor when all the racks are filled with tanks.

 

[ADC Nederland]

My old set up was actually heavier then the new one. I bolted everything to the walls, as well as to a long plank which spreads out the weight "in theory".

But the room held more water at one time and this set up in better spread out. The new set up has less water actually.

 

[skoram]

Very nice setup. I also want to set up a fish rack someday but wife + tiny apartments in Korea make this idea just a fantasy.

I'm curious - how does your wife feel about your involvement in this hobby? I "only" have 4 tanks and my wife thinks I am too obsessed =/

 

[themountain]

I would start with the same rrrright away...only if I could hit the lottery Thats quite an investment there! Kudos!

 

[Mike Wise]

It looks a whole lot better than my cinder blocks and 4x4s (10x10cm) boards. My wife is bugging me to re-do my fish room with similar shelving. I think it's her way to keep me home and out of trouble.

 

[ADC Nederland]

Very nice setup. I also want to set up a fish rack someday but wife + tiny apartments in Korea make this idea just a fantasy.
I'm curious - how does your wife feel about your involvement in this hobby? I "only" have 4 tanks and my wife thinks I am too obsessed =/

My wife thinks it's overkill but supports me regardless. I import and sell to other hobbyists and my wife knows that it's what I like to do and how I like to spend my time. I don't really make money importing and selling and it's just pure for the hobby aspects, but it keeps us both motivated for future plans or maybe start our own aquarium shop one day.

It did take a little bit of convincing before I could put up 18 tanks But you know... Some flowers, a nice night out of town... some quality time...

I would start with the same rrrright away...only if I could hit the lottery Thats quite an investment there! Kudos!

My advise is to not build up slowly like I did at first. You'll end up with 18 different tank sizes and it never looks the way you want it to look. I started out with this rack set up in mind but started it slowly... but I was never satified. So I decided to completely sell all my old stuff and start over completely and save up some money and then buy everything new.

The racks cost about 30 euro's each, so that is 180 euro's. The wood about a 100 euros total, the electricity materials and the re-wiring in total cost me about 250 euro's... and then you'll have your screws. The 18 aquariums cost me about 1500 euro's.

Then you'll have to calculate your substrate, temperture meters, time-clocks for the lights, rocks and/or drift wood.

But the most important thing you can never forget, is to calculate your new electricity bill because 18 tanks are gonna suck up a lot of electricity... and that is also the reason why I don't make any money when I import and sell fish. I always have to take into consideration that I am using power and water to keep everything running. Electricity is expensive here and last time I put up a rack I had to pay a 1000 euro's above our average power bill.

It looks a whole lot better than my cinder blocks and 4x4s (10x10cm) boards. My wife is bugging me to re-do my fish room with similar shelving. I think it's her way to keep me home and out of trouble.

I went for a very clean look and I didn't want to end up in a barn or a shed. We litterly cleared out a bedroom we weren't really using and put in the racks, and I also have my office desk with the computer in the same room and I also have a refrigerator in the room for the fishfoods and cold drinks

 

[ADC Nederland]

Yesterday I was able to pick up my 18 aquariums. I went for the Juwel Rekord 600, 63 liters each and filter, heating and lighting all included.

I went for the Juwel system because I have very good experiences with their systems, especially their internal filter systems and it only made sense to stick to what I know and what I like.

The next step will be to paint the back and the sides black. I've already finished 3 aquariums so far and luckily I only have to apply 2 layers of paint to get full coverage. The other 15 aquariums received their first layer and will receive their second layer tomorrow... If all goes well, I will have all of the 18 aquariums in the rack.

I will make some photos tomorrow and keep you guys up to date.

 

[ADC Nederland]

A new update with photo's, as promised...

Today I was able to finish all of the aquariums with a second layer of paint on the back and the sides and after letting it dry I continued placing all the aquariums in the rack.

Sunday I will be adding substrate to the tanks and I will color code and number all the wiring of the pumps, heaters and lighting systems. I will post photo's of how I plan to do this as well.

All in all I am very satisfied with the end result and I will take my time with adding fish.

Stay tuned for more updates...

 

[skoram]

The racks cost about 30 euro's each, so that is 180 euro's. The wood about a 100 euros total, the electricity materials and the re-wiring in total cost me about 250 euro's... and then you'll have your screws. The 18 aquariums cost me about 1500 euro's.

1500 Eur for 18 tanks sounds very inexpensive given that each tank comes with light, filter and heater.

Electricity is expensive here and last time I put up a rack I had to pay a 1000 euro's above our average power bill.

1000 Eur extra per year, right?


I can't wait to see the end result of this project. So far it looks fantastic.

 

[Frank Hättich]

I can't wait to see the end result of this project. So far it looks fantastic.

I agree, it already looks awesome!

 

[ADC Nederland]

1500 Eur for 18 tanks sounds very inexpensive given that each tank comes with light, filter and heater.

I have contacted several aquarium builders and asked for a price range for 18 tanks and non of them were cheaper then 1500 and all of them didn't include light, filter and heater... So yeah, I think for 1500 EUR it's a very good investment.

I can't wait to see the end result of this project. So far it looks fantastic.

I agree, it already looks awesome!

Thanks a lot guys, it's a lot of fun working on this project as well.

 

[ADC Nederland]

Today I've been color coding and giving each electric wire a corresponding number so that when I have to disconnect something I can see what to pull without too much hassle.

YELLOW = Lighting
RED = Heating
GREEN = Filter

 

[ADC Nederland]

Here is a photo of how I connect all my wiring. As you can see I kept everything clean and organized, so no large pile of wires and power outlets that are all over the place.

I am using analog Time Clock adaptors for the lights, simply because I've always used those in the past and never had problems with it.



Below you can see a total overview of my first wall of tanks. These first 9 tanks have their lights connected and the tanks have received a hardscape. The other 9 tanks are still waiting for 5 Time Clock adaptors, but because the local Do-It-Yourself store didn't have enough of them I will have to wait a week to connect the other 9 as well.

Below, another photo of Tank number 1 with it's hardscape and substrate. All tanks will receive a simular hardscape. I've actually had the same kind of set up in the past and it has brought me excellent results in terms of keeping the Apisto's in such an enviorment. I could add some simple and easy to keep plants at a later point but for now I'm gonna stick to what worked for me in the past.

Let me know what you all think and stay tuned for more updates...

 

[fart]

Looking nice.

 

[aarhud]

So you have had a lot of luck breeding apistos with that aquascape? I have never kept them in tanks so open.

 

[ADC Nederland]

These particular tanks are not for breeding but yes, I did have several successful batches in the same type of aqua scape.

 

[aarhud]

Cool! I love your setup. Very elegant and clean.

 

[ADC Nederland]

Our local hardware store has an aquarium section which sells these small pieces of driftwood with Anubias Nana and Java Fern, which are excellent for these type of tanks. That way I can add plants and remove them real easy when I have to do something in the tank.

 

[ADC Nederland]

On the technical side my rack is finished and all I have to do now is add a bit more caves to finish all the hardscapes for all the tanks. I've ordered the PVC caves that I use online so I am waiting for them to arrive.

After I've finished all the tanks with their hardscapes I can start adding water to the tanks and start my cycling process... I won't be adding fish right away because I am not in a hurry.

I'll give some updates when the PVC caves have arrived and I'll hopefully be able to post a bit more photos of the entire rack filled with water.