The new fish room (Just doing ok)

[RichE]

Dan

Thats a wise Idea have a meeting at peoples houses, Ice tea and summer weather Only problem Dan is parking:(

It is looking good

[djlamonica]

I did some filling of tanks today I'm now very nervous about the amount of weight these racks can hold....  Im emptying may be abandoing project and down sizing will take the night to think about it.

[RichE]

I did some filling of tanks today I'm now very nervous about the amount of weight these racks can hold....  Im emptying may be abandoing project and down sizing will take the night to think about it.

Looking at the one picture where you have the 2x4's going floor to ceiling and then the 2x4 going from one side to the other, there is no support there.So your shelves are basically sitting on what ever you used to attach the cross boards to the 2x4's. If you were to cut 2x4's to fit between the cross boards (floor 2x4 to middle 2x4 and then on top of middle 2x4 to the top cross bar in the 4 corners of each rack (16 total in picture needed) it will give you a lot of support Just my 2 cents

[djlamonica]

Actually the problem is bend on the side beam (or leg the is not doubled up)  To be honest I think Im just uncomfortable in general with that much weight.  The rack was built to maximize space if its not going to work and I have to add supports I might as well just go with all double iron racks which is possible I guess but not ideal and basically I would have wasted a ton of money not to mention the room just isn't set up for that.  I may try and re think some things or just do 2 20 Ls on top add supports on the bottom and do a cross beam basically but I'm just not comfortable right now.

Wife wants me to sell it all keep a tank or two  defiantly thinking about it as now this hobby is becoming more stressful then enjoyable. 

[linuxrulesusa]

Actually the problem is bend on the side beam (or leg the is not doubled up)  To be honest I think Im just uncomfortable in general with that much weight.  The rack was built to maximize space if its not going to work and I have to add supports I might as well just go with all double iron racks which is possible I guess but not ideal and basically I would have wasted a ton of money not to mention the room just isn't set up for that.  I may try and re think some things or just do 2 20 Ls on top add supports on the bottom and do a cross beam basically but I'm just not comfortable right now.

Wife wants me to sell it all keep a tank or two  defiantly thinking about it as now this hobby is becoming more stressful then enjoyable.

Hope it works out but don't feel pressure to have a 'fish room' just because others do.  My tanks are gradually consolidating which makes for tough calls on what to keep.  Also consider your wife's input as she is far more important than fish.  My wife is OK with my fish right now but push come to shove the tanks would be gone if needed.

Anyway, hope you can figure it out.

[Marty]

While I agree with Rich regarding notching your 2 x 4's to increase support, you should be fine with that configuration.  The weak points would be where the "shelves" meet the posts.  If you don't feel like completely rebuilding, you can always add metal joint plates or angles to help support the weight.  I'll take a picture of a rack I just built last year to give you an idea of how much weight 2 x 4's can support.

[djlamonica]

Well I may have imagined it I could have sworn I saw bend where the 2x4 leg meets the frame.  I'm just going to reinforce this weekend may add metal as well. 

[djlamonica]

I filled the 6 tanks on the rack I am worried about Im going to monitor for a couple days before I make final decisions.  I think alot of it was in my head and the fact that every is going slow and taking much longer then expected.

I also flooded the room for the first but not last time while doing this....

[Regalblue]

Lol!  Get ready for more floods..... it'll happen again. 

[Stan M.]

If you need help with your racks let me know.I will be more then happy to help you out.

[djlamonica]

hmm Well I filled up the racks felt really good about the amount they could hold so I started setting up sponges and air line.  I guess I needed a bigger pump.........

tanks on the bottom and middle wont bubble at all unless like half the switches are turned off.  back to the drawing board.  Again.

[Regalblue]

What diameter pipe are you using?

[RichE]

Are you using air stones in your sponge filters?

[djlamonica]

What diameter pipe are you using?

1/2 "

I have never used air stones should I?

[RichE]

What diameter pipe are you using?

1/2 "

I have never used air stones should I?

Blair taught me not to use air stones and it made a huge difference.

Go around and make sure all your valves are connected and there are no "open" line's. I had a line come off once and it caused the the sponge filters not to bubble correctly