HOLY CRAP !!!!. For GOD's SAKE go back and add some lag bolts to those end post. 4 screws going into each horizontal frame is NOT enough. That is a HUGE weak point for the amount of weight you have sitting on there. Those screws are not made to hold those kinds of vertical shear loads. An even better fix would be to add 2x4 legs in each corner INSIDE the frames like you did with the center vertical brace
Pharaoh's New Fish Room Build
- Thread starter Pharaoh
- Start date
HOLY CRAP !!!!. For GOD's SAKE go back and add some lag bolts to those end post. 4 screws going into each horizontal frame is NOT enough. That is a HUGE weak point for the amount of weight you have sitting on there. Those screws are not made to hold those kinds of vertical shear loads. An even better fix would be to add 2x4 legs in each corner INSIDE the frames like you did with the center vertical brace
I agree. The vertical supports should be under the horizontal supports. Also for rocking side to side you should attach 1/4 inch ply to the back.
Rookie mistake :beer:
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Shear strength on one of those screws is 350 lbs. Multiply that by 16 (4 per post) and it equals 5,600lbs worth of support. 6 tanks at 200lbs (20x10) is equal to 1200 lbs. (You should be more worried about the span). 5,600 lbs is 4 times that of the actual weight. It's fine.
Not to mention, there are additional vertical supports added in the middle after this pic. scroll down a bit.
It's good. Tis bolted to the wall. It's not going anywhere. Plywood would just get in the way.
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I overbuild things, but I also do the math as to not ridiculously overbuilt such that it is just a waste of money.
Yeah bolted to the wall is good for the rocking problem. I love the air line design. Thanks for the tip on putting a lot of fittings in. I'm going to set up an airline system in my grow out room also. Copied exactly like yours!
Just make sure to give yourself around 1-1.5" of space between each valve. I have a few that were too close and they were a PIA to get it. Had to as I had already drilled the hole.
Nice job on the build so far, thanks for sharing all the pics. I really enjoy having all your build pics and narrative at the beginning of the thread so as not to wade through all the comments.
Quick question here regarding the manual water change procedure. To perform a water change, are you opening a ball valve on a vertical bank of tanks, draining them to the strainer height and then manually adding water (cold or tempered?) to fill the tanks to the 'normal' water height?
Also, what size PVC did you use for the individual tank drains AND for the final main drain to sewer/sump pit?
Quick question here regarding the manual water change procedure. To perform a water change, are you opening a ball valve on a vertical bank of tanks, draining them to the strainer height and then manually adding water (cold or tempered?) to fill the tanks to the 'normal' water height?
Also, what size PVC did you use for the individual tank drains AND for the final main drain to sewer/sump pit?
The tanks are plumbed "together" on each row (Horizontal). There is a ball valve for each group of three tanks and a valve for the entire row. I can drain/fill three at a time or all nine at once via the quick connect on the end of the plumbing. I quick connect a hose, open the valve and drain the tanks. For filling, I snap on the fill hose and fill in groups of three. All the water drains into the shower drain and/or the yard. When filling, I treat the tanks with Seachem Safe and then fill with tap.
Future plans:
1. I have some plans for running a sump/drain so that I can potentially do a drip system, but that is a ways out and I'm not 100% that it will happen.
2. As an alternate option, I have a spot where I might install a holding tank to age my water.
Future plans:
1. I have some plans for running a sump/drain so that I can potentially do a drip system, but that is a ways out and I'm not 100% that it will happen.
2. As an alternate option, I have a spot where I might install a holding tank to age my water.
It sounds like you have a reasonable start on a drain system (the hardest part to a drip/trickle system). Just hard plumb the drain outside to your favorite tree or bushes. Then tap off the nearest cold water line and run flexible (ice maker) line to each of your tanks. I put a tiny valve on mine so I can adjust the flow to each tank when needed or you can put a irrigation tip that’s set for .5 gallons or whatever you want.
Start out with just a couple of your tanks you don’t care about like: Convict feeder stock, Goldfish grow out feeders and so on. Use unfiltered tap water (shutter) just to build up your confidence. Once you see that your fish will be fine and actually thrive on trickled unfiltered tap water, run some more lines to the breeder grow out tanks and so on.
Eventually you will be at 100% unfiltered tap water, money in your pocket because you won’t be spending it on prime and lots of time on your hands because you forgot what a water change is like
