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Fish Rack build

frankoq

Members
At the risk of a divorce :unsure: , I'm moving forward and building a small fish rack. for the last few months, I've been asking questions to various members in this forum, and watching youtube videos.
The information provided has been extremely valuable for me to move forward with this project.
Aquamania was the final push for me to "just do it" as I have a bunch of fish that need separate tanks.

In this thread, I want to post a summary of what I learned by showing my progress. I hope this helps others also thinking on building racks or fish rooms.
I also would appreciate feedback in case I'm way off on my design. :wacko:

more to come soon.
 

Becca

Members
Good luck! I did mine Ted Judy-style and it works nicely, plus I'm still married!

Look up standard aquarium dimensions and figure out what you want to fit where. Remember that your ends and center supports take a few inches out of your usable space.

Also, if you're building it outside, figure out whether your plan is going to fit up/down any stairs, through hallways, etc... I had initially planned 3 levels but it was just a smidge too tall to fit down the stairs and through the door at the bottom of them. I had to shave the 3rd level off.
 

frankoq

Members
Thanks Tony and Becca. I did see Ted's videos, Reed videos, KG tropicals videos, and others. All helped.

Becca, I'm building it in my garage and will follow your advice to make sure it fits into the house. Nice reminder. I can see myself building something I cannot get into the house. LOL.
 

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
I'm in the process of building racks for my fishroom. So far I've built three, one more to go.

First lesson I learned: measure your tanks before you build the rack, or give yourself an extra inch of space. First rack I built for 40 breeders, I cut the horizontal supports at 36". I realized the tanks width was 36.25", so I tried adding some spacers, but still ended up breaking a tank trying to squeeze it in. I ended up having to disassemble the rack, cut new horizontal supports, and rebuild it.

Second thing I learned; more of a tip, but it helped me a lot to have 2 drills charged and ready to go. One with the drill bit, the other with a philips bit. Saved me a lot of time not having to switch back and forth between bits. Also, a single drill wouldn't give me enough juice to fully build a rack in one charge. This won't matter if you're using nails, but I think screws are the way to go.

I added plywood shelves to all levels. It doesn't have to be thick, I used the thinnest I could find at Home Depot, its labeled 5mm underlayment. Just gives it a nicer look, especially when the rack isn't full.

I also painted my racks with Kilz primer tinted gray. Looks much better IMO than plain wood, and gives it some protection.
 

Becca

Members
Second thing I learned; more of a tip, but it helped me a lot to have 2 drills charged and ready to go. One with the drill bit, the other with a philips bit.

Ditto. I also used wood glue and c-clamps to help keep things tight and together while I was putting the screws in.

Mine went in an unfinished basement and my dad, who helped a lot, had the foresight to put the center vertical support off-center so that it would match up with the wood bracing that was already in the unfinished room. This meant the rack could actually be screwed onto the wall...

Josh helped me with that, and thus ensued many jokes about nailing my rack to the wall, screwing my rack, drilling my rack...
 

frankoq

Members
BTW, when the good wife saw all the 2x4s in the garage, she asked: what are you doing?
I immediately responded: Shelves for the basement.
she said: ok.
to be continued...
 

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
BTW, when the good wife saw all the 2x4s in the garage, she asked: what are you doing?
I immediately responded: Shelves for the basement.
she said: ok.
to be continued...

lol!

Cheers.
 

Becca

Members
BTW, when the good wife saw all the 2x4s in the garage, she asked: what are you doing?
I immediately responded: Shelves for the basement.
she said: ok.
to be continued...

Nice!

I started with utility shelves... I just happened to put a few tanks on them. Then we started running out of space for things that actually went on the shelves and I decided something had to be done about it. The rack was a good move because the tanks were already there and taking up space, but this meant they weren't taking up space that needed to be used for other stuff. Still, my husband refused to help me install the rack once it was built.

I'm lucky he's found the arrangement useful for quarantining fish, raising the fry from the plecos in his 150, etc. Plus, now his tools can go on the utility shelves.

Maybe build some real shelving for the basement, too. Tuck your fish stuff away in bins that can go on the floor under the rack or under the shelves, and add some extra shelving where your wife can store things, or that allows you to clean up stuff elsewhere to give your wife some extra useful space she wants.

"Look honey, all of the fish stuff is organized and on shelves, so now there's room for..."

Also, never underestimate the power of finding a fish your spouse loves and making a little room for it.
 

lkelly

Members
I just put a lock on the basement door. Now there's no need to explain anything. Could be a library down there, could be aquariums, could be a meth lab. Marriages are based on trust, so she'll just have to trust me.

In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson, "It takes two to lie - one to lie and one to listen."
 

Localzoo

Board of Directors
I just put a lock on the basement door. Now there's no need to explain anything. Could be a library down there, could be aquariums, could be a meth lab. Marriages are based on trust, so she'll just have to trust me.

In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson, "It takes two to lie - one to lie and one to listen."

Smh!


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 

frankoq

Members
Here is the design. 5 tanks:
40g = breeder
29g = breeder
20g = grow out
10g = TBD
10g = Hospital

rack%20design_zpswvftbfbk.jpg
 

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I like the design. With the bottom shelf so low, won't you have problems siphoning and/or difficulty viewing?

Sent from my VS985 4G using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

frankoq

Members
I like the design. With the bottom shelf so low, won't you have problems siphoning and/or difficulty viewing?

Sent from my VS985 4G using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Good point Andrew. Having kids, I wanted them to be able to see as much as possible without going on a ladder. I also did not want to have to get on a ladder or step stool to see the top level tanks.
So, I bought a Mag7 water pump for water changes.
 

Pat Kelly

CCA Member
Staff member
I once mentioned wanting a fish room. The response was "you don't need a fish room. You have 4 tanks, thats plenty" One day she came home and asked what the wood was in the basement. "nothing". 3 days later there was a fish room. LOL
That was 22 years ago. Still married.

 

chriscoli

Administrator
I once mentioned wanting a fish room. The response was "you don't need a fish room. You have 4 tanks, thats plenty" One day she came home and asked what the wood was in the basement. "nothing". 3 days later there was a fish room. LOL
That was 22 years ago. Still married.

You've also got a fantastic wife! As fish-spouses go, she has a very high tolerance for the hobby.
 

lkelly

Members
You've also got a fantastic wife! As fish-spouses go, she has a very high tolerance for the hobby.

Yes, based on what you told me about her faithful attendance at fish conventions, I'd say that she goes beyond tolerance. I'm thinking more along the lines of a complete immunity to Iocane powder.

18a84ep4qqjqajpg.jpg
 
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