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Okay, another hobby that I am getting into.

I am starting to get ready in setting up a portion of my carpetless basement with an array of tanks. I will have bio-wheels for every tank and I plan on doing fishless cycles on each one.

But the first step that I find myself at doesn't seem to be coming easily to my mind. What do I store/display all the tanks on? I have seen a setup in a magazine with cinder blocks and wood planks. I this decent? It looks good, the guy even had some tanks that looked like they were at least 55 gallons set up like this.

Depending how much money I put into this from my money and from selling items from another hobby (Star Wars, sick and tired of Lucas) I will at least have a couple of bigger tanks, 2-55 gallon, 1-125 gallon, and around 10-10 gallon tanks for breeding and fry holding. I will be adding aquariums as I get them for cheap and in some cases for free so I need a system that is easy to arrange and rearrange. I am alittle compulsive so it has to be organized with the same size tanks grouped together of course.

Right now I just want to dive right in (as soon as the cycles are done) so aesthetics are not a priority. Idealy I would like to build official frames for everthing, but that is time and money consuming, and you can't really take it with you when you move. The fish will already pose a challenge if and/or when i do move, I don't want to throw custom shelves into the challenge of moving.

So who here has a room or basement set up with a lot of tanks and what kind of shelf units or displays do you use?

I'd say wait and make sure everything is set up correctly before you add fish into the equation. Once you do that, you have little room to re-arrange the things as and when you decide to upgrade things. Secondly, that many tanks is going to require some serious maintenance and I'd just ensure that you are fully committed to ensuring success before you 'jump in'.... I'm sure you have the best intentions but poor Mr Lucas (ahhh) will be missing your interest now.... might be the poor name for EpIII that did it for him though.

I don't have one, but I know that water is really heavy (over 8 lbs per gallon) and rocks, etc that you might put in the tanks are even heavier. So you need some very sturdy shelving to put them on. I don't think multiple levels of large tanks with cinder blocks and wood planks will hold up very well if they're not supported very well (ie cinder blocks every couple feet... you might be able to fit 20's (or smaller) on most shelves and then a larger one on top if you have each row of cinder blocks directly over the one on the level beneath it... Heavy-duty industrial-type shelving it probably your best option as it is built to support heavy loads.

Rearranging the tanks maight also be very difficult especially with larger tanks because they're REALLY HEAVY. An empty glass 55 would be difficult to lift by yourself, nevermind a 125. Add water and/or rocks and forget about it. It's a major undertaking to move a tank that big. Plan on the large tanks staying in one place.

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On anything 29 gal and larger, I would use a legitamate stand. To do it cheap, either make the stands yourself or get with a carpentry inclined buddy. I wouldn't trust the cinder block/plywood on anything bigger than that, personally.

heh, if you're worried about strength issues jake, cinder blocks hold up F250 HD trucks here for years on end, double wides, various other structures.. if a 55 busts your blocks, you've got a bad mason!

Yup, cinderblocks should hold just about anything you throw at them. I'm willing to bet your house is setting on cinderblocks...especially since you have a basement.

The one important thing that you cant slack on is making sure they are level. If they are not level, your asking for trouble.

Cinder blocks and planks work well for a quick setup. Make sure that the bottom row is supported well, i.e. both ends and the center of the tanks. I know of a couple LFS's around here that have all their tanks on stands like this.

For a more permanent installation though I would consider building a tank "rack" out of 2x4's or 2x6's with 4x4 legs. It isn't really that complicated or expensive. I saw a site a while ago (the krib perhaps) that dealt with this same kind of setup. You could try to google DIY fish room for some ideas.