# fish room



## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

I Finally got the ok to have a fish room kind of, I will have to share it with washer, dryer, water heater and furnace. 
Not a problem I will make it work. My biggest question right now is the stands. Do you make it out of wood only 2/4, 4/4, and ply. Or do you use cinderblocks and wood. I have heard all wood is better and safer

I would like three levels tank sizes 2-55 3-30 5-10 5-2.5 something like that may vary a little most all filtration will be sponge.

The floor is concrete and is level

Am open for any comments and help 
Thanks all 
:fish:


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## D-007 (Jan 3, 2008)

You can use either. It is up to you. I would say, ask the missus whether she'd like to see wooden stands or brick stands when she walks down to the washer and dryer.


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## murcat (Jan 29, 2008)

it's up to you but I would go with wood, looks better when well planned and built but of course it costs more.


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

2x4s take up less room than cinder blocks.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

thanks every one


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## Murky (Jun 13, 2007)

My vote goes to all plywood. Stop the 2x4 madness!!!! =D


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

If your looking at doing 3 tier set ups, I think you'd be better off doing steel frames. After all this is not a display set up by the sounds of it and location. Almost everyone down here does steel frames when setting up fishrooms.

http://www.qldaf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=9824

p.s. Big thing to watch out for is the dryer. They put a fair amount of dust and lint, you really want to make sure your tanks are well covered in an enclosed room with a dryer in it.


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## Maddog (Nov 7, 2008)

i wish i had the money, time, and fiancee approval to do a fish room!


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## Cich of it all (Mar 29, 2007)

Murky said:


> My vote goes to all plywood. Stop the 2x4 madness!!!! =D


What am I missing here? How do you create vertical support using only plywood? Do you cut little 1.5" x 3.5" rectangles and glue them into a stack? :lol: 
Surely you're not saying that plywood turned on it's side is designed to support heavy loads? Sorry if I'm being insulting or I'm misunderstanding you, but I'd hate to see someone's tank stand collapse because the laminates of the plywood seperated from bearing a load sideways!


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## nick a (Apr 9, 2004)

> I will have to share it with washer, dryer, water heater and furnace


All of those with the noted exception of the dryer are bonuses to have in the fishroom. You've got to have some hot water for the washer & it's got to drain.....good stuff :thumb:

While metal racks are great, a well-planned 2X rack is very strong & very cheap and can be constructed by most of us with just the basic tools.


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## nick a (Apr 9, 2004)

Basic tools + $30 worth of lumber. Note: I spent a good hour culling thru the pile at HD to get the best ones I could find :thumb: Notches cut with just a plain ol' circular saw--the plane & chisel just for clean-up!









Because the rack is anchored into the studwall behind it, I didn't use any gussets (corner braces) for diagonal support








Some paint, some tanks (a few brewskis :lol: ) and ....


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## Morpheus (Nov 12, 2008)

Nice looking set-up.


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## D-007 (Jan 3, 2008)

I like that setup *nick*. :thumb: What's the height and width of the rack?


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

I think I might use ply I heard it is the new concrete. :lol: :lol: 
I am going to use 2x4â€™s they are strong and take up less room. The space I have is shaped in an L. the smaller wall is 4o inch from door frame to wall and the other is 69 inchâ€™s from wall to end of my space and beginning of wifeâ€™s space. The small wall I was thinking of 3 29 gals so a stand 31 by 12 and 3 high. The other wall I will build a stand 69 by 18 for my 2-55 gal 2-20 the space left 10â€™s and 5â€™s. I would like some different tanks (like 30â€™s and 50â€™s) but for now I will make what I have in my shed work. I am open for any info. 
Thanks to all. [/code]
Ps I would post picâ€™s but I am to stupid to get it to work for me. If you want to help me with this to I will listen


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

[No message]


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## D-007 (Jan 3, 2008)

Are you trying to load pics from your PC?


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

give me the sizes of the tanks and the room you have to work with and i could draw something up 
but i went with this idea for my little fish room. all tanks connected to one system to save some $. my end product was a little different from the drawings because i found some awesome metal braces for each corner


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

this is the larger area that is 69inch wide by 7.5 feet tall. i would like a 18 to 20 inch deep shelf there


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

this is the smaller area 3-29 gal tanks will go hear. shelf will be 31wide 12.5deep


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

i will work on that tonight but check out 
http://www.strongtie.com/ftp/fliers/DIY-PROJECT08.pdf
they sell these at home-depot. made my project so much easier


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## drungil14 (Jan 11, 2009)

You can look at my fishroom thats in my basement , but it doesnt really show the shelves. I built them out of 2x4s and osb plywood. I put water proof paint on the plywood so it doesnt rot over time when the water spills on it. My ceiling is kind of short for the three levels and the largest tank I could put on there was a 29g without a hood. I would at least have a foot from the top of your tank to the top of your shelf.


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

i was looking at the dimensions and it is a tight space for all those tanks but can be done. the unit will be very high so i hope you don't mind using a latter. the larger tanks will be on the bottom and the smaller tanks will be on top. can you give me the exact dimensions on the tanks you want to use? and how thick is that concrete on the wall? i ask this because you will have to attach the wood structure to that wall for support.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

I am looking to put 2-55gal 48.25 wide by 13.5 deep by 20 tall. Next to them 10 gall tank and the rest is in the air. I would also like some room to put supplies on shelves. So the third shelf is open. 
What does every one think about 12in deep tanks to 18 inch deep tanks whatâ€™s better. 
Thanks all
opcorn:


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

you man need a little more room for all those tanks  
here is a couple of your tanks and this about takes up the area you have i didnt draw the 5g tanks. the hole thing is 58"wide so i have no idea where to put the 30gallons
but here is what i got


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

I am going to make the stand 65 inch wide, which will give me some space to store stuff. 
I donâ€™t think I can fit the 30 gal tanks either
Thanks for every thing I will post pics as I go


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## Murky (Jun 13, 2007)

> Surely you're not saying that plywood turned on it's side is designed to support heavy loads?


I'm not saying take some 1/2" ply and slap together a playing card house and throw a fish tank on top. But if built correctly I'd venture to say it would be stronger that 2x4's... **psthhh.. radio crackle** 'calling for backup here' In a situation where you're stacking tanks on top of each other the metal framing sounds like a good idea.


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

good luck!


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## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

Murky said:


> > Surely you're not saying that plywood turned on it's side is designed to support heavy loads?
> 
> 
> I'm not saying take some 1/2" ply and slap together a playing card house and throw a fish tank on top. But if built correctly I'd venture to say it would be stronger that 2x4's... **psthhh.. radio crackle** 'calling for backup here' In a situation where you're stacking tanks on top of each other the metal framing sounds like a good idea.


I've seen the proof around here somewhere... a few times actually. Plywood stands are just as effective as any other stand if built properly.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

I hear what you all are saying about ply stands but if you get them wet they don't last and I am not willing to take that change. You can't tell me they are not going to get wet. If you get 2x4s wet they will last allot longer. I know you can paint to seal the ply but I still donâ€™t want to take that change with them.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

so this is what i have right now .Â the big stand is attached to the wall with three 4inch laong anchors in the concrete wall and the little stand is got 8 3.5 deck screws into the studs of the wall and they both are attached together.Â



















i like the 55 up top more room to get into it for now.Â will post more when the tanks are all ready.


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## scuba20v (May 28, 2007)

NICE!


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## justflow1983 (Feb 26, 2007)

Plywood *should* be as strong as 2x4s, and a combination of the 2 would be strongest. The main issue is the thickness, and of course using marine grade ply would be a smart move. A piece of plywood standing vertically at an angle to another standing vertically will hold up a lot of weight as long as that joint between the two doesn't fail. The reason you'd still need at least some 2x2s is to ensure a nice strong corner that will hold together.

The walls in a stick-frame house are supported largely through the plywood sheathing! Basically, if you think of a wall as a truss, the plywood is performing the high-stress role that the angled parts do in a traditional truss you'd see on a bridge or in a barn. The 2x4s are responsible for keeping the whole thing from flexing, and the plywood distributes the load evenly to the ground.

I haven't made this up, it was all covered in depth in college structures (in architecture school). A simple comparison is a SIP framed house, where 2 sheets of plywood laminated to a polystyrene core will hold up a house even stronger than a wood frame.

.....and btw, I am very jealous of the fish rooms


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## nchoe123 (Nov 11, 2007)

what does one do about all the humidity?

i dont know if i want to make my basement that mold-prone. it's currently very dry though.

i also don't yet have a sink in the basement but if i went with the basement fishroom idea i'd definitely get one installed first.

but i fear that i wouldn't spend as much time seeing the fish down there.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

So I am almost done. I have spent many of late nights; a lot of beer and this is what I have. I am still fine tuning it all but the basic model it there. I donâ€™t like my filtration set up I bought a to small air pump and have had to us some HOB filter for now.

1-29 gal 1-20 long 2- 20 gal tall 5-10gal 1- 40 gal breeder 1-55gal 1-5.5gal 
On the top shelf next to the 55 gal I am thinking I will build a little shelf to hold some 2.5 gal tank or 5.5 gal. But will have to see.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

i Am not going to paint the other stand that took me longer to paint then to build. O a little advice to any one who is going to build shelving like I did. Build it in the room because it doesnâ€™t fit down the stairs


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## gmaschke (Aug 23, 2008)

Thats good advice when I built 1 I lucked out I had about 1/4" to spare boy was I worried didn't even think of clearance til it was time to move it. If It didn't fit I would of had 1 **** of a tantrum!

Buy the way I didn't notice this post til recently, Nice build :thumb:


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## shoebag22 (Oct 14, 2007)

nick a said:


> Basic tools + $30 worth of lumber. Note: I spent a good hour culling thru the pile at HD to get the best ones I could find :thumb: Notches cut with just a plain ol' circular saw--the plane & chisel just for clean-up!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a great setup... do you have the plans/specs for the material and cuts you made? I'm having a hard time picturing how it all went together.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

gmaschke said:


> Thats good advice when I built 1 I lucked out I had about 1/4" to spare boy was I worried didn't even think of clearance til it was time to move it. If It didn't fit I would of had 1 #%$& of a tantrum!
> 
> You lucked out. I was not to happy when it didn't fit down my stairs. My friend that was helping me couldn't stop laughing. I had to take it all apart and start over. Allot of bad things were said.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

That is a great setup... do you have the plans/specs for the material and cuts you made? I'm having a hard time picturing how it all went together.[/quote]

I don't really have any plans just what was posted in this topic. I can try to put something together if it will help you. I built my stands seperet and then put them together. Once they made it down the stairs and into the room.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)




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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

Nice set-ups, all of you. I would post some pics of my set-up, but it's "fugly", seriously. But it does get the job done and keeps me from putting all of my fish into one tank. :lol:


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## con-man-dan (Aug 19, 2006)

Tice that looks great! Its really nice to know there is a nice fish room just down the street from me hehe. I will get pics of mine up when its finished, just gotta install the air system and take the tanks of several pumps and switch over to my linear.


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## tice214 (Oct 18, 2007)

sorry i have been sleeping about posting. I just got my air pump in last week and got everything on sponge filters and box filter. I also had a leaking 10gal tank and replaced it with a 15gal that some one gave to me. 









I also had to add a snake to my fish room for my kids, was a little different at first but it is growing on me and it is going to get moved to my sons room next month. :thumb: 









I will post more on air pump soon.


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