DIY Fish Room help/opinions needed!!

[billansor]

Hi folks....

Recently my wife and I moved (downsized) from a two story with basement house to a two bedroom one level, no basement with single garage,,,
Soooooo

The fish room that was in the basement had been built by my stepson who was living with us at the time...

Now, I am building the new fish room in half the garage and I will try to post pictures of the build.. from beginning to present to the end...

The cost so far of the build has been for the screws and a wall laser level. Oh and some drill bits with #2 phillips bits....

The wood has come from salvages... The 4 by 4 beams came from an outdoor swingset.. Two by fours have come from all over the place, even the 2 by 6's and two by 8's

I have gotten wood from behind the dollar tree, dollar store, groceries stores and even from a door store that had frames that had some great 3 by 3's that was used for pallets..

Now, I have the basic of the fish room walled up and am starting on the frame for the row of 135 gallon tanks... The support for the back wall is okay... but what I am concerned about is the front support which will be the 4 by 4's treated wood that was used outside for the swing set..

The 4 by 4's are slightly warped and I will be able to twist them a little bit.. Because of the area I live in, I am insulating all the tanks, the room and elsewhere I can...

When the front support of 4 by 4 is in place, it may not be totally leveled...but if I put a one inch thick blue insulating foam on the bottom of the support.... Would that be enough to level out any possible misalignments and prevent any cracks or mishaps??

Just trying to think out of the box....

Thank you for helping and answering

Bill

[cichlid1409]

When the front support of 4 by 4 is in place, it may not be totally leveled...but if I put a one inch thick blue insulating foam on the bottom of the support.... Would that be enough to level out any possible misalignments and prevent any cracks or mishaps??

Just trying to think out of the box....

Thank you for helping and answering

Bill

whats your biggest tank? we need of pics of the progress so far.

[myjohnson]

Told you to post pictures Bill. I can post them here from my e-mail if you want.

[billansor]

Mannnnn

I got pictures of everything so far but not of the 4 by 4 wood... I will try to do that... tomorrow..

First I got to figure out the picture thing on here.... Stupidity is not always my middle name... sometimes its my first name too....

The biggest tanks that I will be using will be the 6 foot 135 gallons... I do have dreams of on one side of the room being able to put a 7 footer on that.

but for now... it will be three 135 gallon tanks.. Underneath the tanks will be grow outs... a 120 gallon 5 footer and maybe a 90 gallon 4 footer.

The 4th wall will have two 55's 1 40 and them small fry tanks.

Bill

[cichlid1409]

with the biggest tank being a 135g i think the 1" foam should work just fine to level out any small problems.

[Darbex]

yeah need pics

[billansor]

Here goes

The first picture below is the three remaining 4 by 4's... the one left to it is one of the uprights presently being used..



The next picture is of another upright support



The last picture is a more on front shot.. I apologize for the last two pictures being blurried.... it was cold out there..



Bill

[cichlid1409]

uh, nice wood ).....wheres the wall you framed up

[billansor]

uh... the walls that are framed are the walls of the garage .... I will try to get the rest of the pictures up.... tomorrow...

I still have a problem with my arm from the cutting off of lessions the other day... sooooo will have to be tender...

I do have all the pictures.. I just now need to upload them.

Thai got a bunch of them a bit ago..

So all you guys think that I can get away with the one inch styrofoam under the tank..

How much variance of warp would be too much??

Bill

[cichlid1409]

ok gotcha, when reading your first thread i thought you already framed up a dividing wall in the garage.

[billansor]

No .... actually not yet..

When I get the rest of the pictures up... it will make more sense..

Because of downsizing... I have had to really be space economical and wise in making the best use of what I have left.....

The wife objected to sleeping on top of the fish room... not enough room to stretch... but nonetheless... downsizing was tough....

Anyway.. my main concern was using the 4 by 4's without having leaks..

Bill

[bethesdaboy]

Use pressure treated wood if possible, and wood screws not drywall screws.
You don't need one inch foam, get half in. insulation board.
You'll need a hole saw.
A cordless drill is worth it for this type of project.
Run all your power before you build anything, trust me here.
I don't like closing in stands that have sumps due to heat and moisture.
Plus in the garage animals are going to get in and die under there.

Viewing:
I like things higher, so don't build a stand under 30" tall.
Nightmare to work under is shorter.

[billansor]

Thanks to all who have replied.... I will be trying to post more pictures tonight..

Mike... the 4 by 4 are pressured treated.... I hear you on the 30 height... it is my intention to be at about 32 inch from floor to bottom of the braces.

I have three drills... two electrics and one cordless..

As I stated I will be adding more pictures and hopefully things will make sense...

But

Do understand that this is a salvage type project It looks like crap in many ways.. and I will be cleaning and painting as I go.

If I had to pay for all this word and such and had not lowballed the prices on aquariums and such... well.... There would be no fish or aquariums.

Not that I am cheap.... but being retired and disabled does not make for a lot of extra income, in addition to supporting a stepson and his family which really created that huge sucking sound that you hear North up in Ohio...

Any way.. I will start a new thread tonight on the project with pictures, my thoughts from beginning to present. Please... All constructive ideas, directions and thoughts are really welcomed..

Bill

[smk]

hi those 4x4's don't look to bad to me make sure you build your rack level and plumb and you shhould have no problems
scott

[RMD55]

The 4x4's will make great legs but you would be better with 2x6's for horizontal support. The bending of a beam is calculated by a constant times the width times the square of the heigth. For a given type of wood the constant can be ignored, ie pine whether treated or not. The 4x4 would have a 64 were the 2x6 would have a 72 when placed on edge but only a 24 when placed flat. The higher the number the less it bending takes place.
I second the use of wood screws. Bolts and nuts work well too, but don't rely on the fastners to support the load. Drywall screws are made of cheap materials that has to be hardened which makes them brittle and easy to break. Never use nails, I know many do. I also like to use glue. The yellow wood glue (typeII) is good enough, if you want something better use typeIII glue not polyurthane glue. Independant testing that the "yellow" typeII or typeIII glue gives a stronger joint. TypeII is water resitant while typeIII is rated for outdoor exposure.
If you have any question as to a board being straight enough see if you can find someone with a jointer that can put a flat edge on it or else someone with a router you can use to make it flat. the second option is a little more work but do able.