DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 this thread is a ton of fun - wish i had more room...never ennnnnnough! Never enough room, and never enough extra stored water...even if you have to store it outside in palletized containers! right! Wow Ken, now that you've started your build you are moving at lightening fast speed! I'm encouraged to do more after reading your thoughtful planning. Thanks! trying to lay it all out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 I don't know much about LVL in the commercial world but heard you will get super true and straight members as well as smaller. That's always a plus! I'm not sure I understand what you're saying though. If you want a cantilever, why would you have posts on either end on the finish side? This is how I picture it: You have 2 beams, one at the back of the tank and one just behind the wall that are sitting on a number of posts that are structurally anchored to the concrete. Then you will have joists running front to back that sit on top of the 2 beams. These joists will cantilever into your room whatever inches. Then you put a skirt or edge beam then finish it off. Think deck design. You'll have to talk to your engineer to verify the member sizes and to design the connections (simpson strong?) and whatever other bracing (tying to ceiling?) is needed. It can definitely be done. I just takes a vision (you), time (you) and money (you too! haha). Hopefully we're on the same page. Hard to explain, they are there to stand above the height of the tank to hold a load for a platform to lay on to service the tank. I know, it is confusing, I have never seen it done before, I just don't want service panels above the front of the DT so I have to make sure I can reach everything. We are saying the same thing with the cantilever, the beams, and the joists. I just don't want the extra height of the frame with the joists on top of the beams (add the heights together) I want to have them at the same height. This is where the posts would help. The only beam I can have is where the wall will be located. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 Tagging along. Very good information here. Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 Hard to explain, they are there to stand above the height of the tank to hold a load for a platform to lay on to service the tank. I know, it is confusing, I have never seen it done before, I just don't want service panels above the front of the DT so I have to make sure I can reach everything. We are saying the same thing with the cantilever, the beams, and the joists. I just don't want the extra height of the frame with the joists on top of the beams (add the heights together) I want to have them at the same height. This is where the posts would help. The only beam I can have is where the wall will be located. Ah... OK. I was not on the same page. I was thinking engineered lumber. Haha. Sent you a pm with some pictures. Sent from my rooted Nook HD+ running CyanogenMod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 OK, so your fish room is 8' x 16' main room, 6' x 3' entrance hallway, 15' x 3' closet area that starts as a walk in, then extends under the stairs where the last 5' is a dog leg left. You have quite a bit of space, and being a landscape architect I'm sure you have it perfectly planned. Now c'mon, are you SURE you don't want to make it just a little bit bigger? You know you can do it. I would if I could, that is as large a tank as I could get down the stairs......now I really did think of cutting a new ingress / egress window in the basement so that I could get a larger tank in the basement. I liked your gallery of pics. A couple observations: it didn't look like there was much extra space on your mail electrical panel. Do you plan on pulling more circuits for your fish needs? Perhaps you could create some space with smaller breakers. Also, your floor drain is a great idea. You probably have already considered this, but before you finish the walls and floor trim, if you caulk the place where the bottom plate meets the concrete floor with silicon caulk it will help hold water in the room instead of having it get out and onto the carpet in the rest of the basement. Many basement floors are not poured level and it could be that your drain is half an inch or more higher than other parts of the floor. In this same vein, you might consider using a masonry blade and cutting some lines to the floor drain from other points in the room so water will flow there naturally in case of a leak. Beware, those types of saw blades (when used dry) create a huge amount of dust. I like your framing. Whenever you finish the walls you might consider using greenboard drywall instead of regular. The greenboard is treated for moisture and will withstand the humidity of the fish room for much longer than regular drywall. You might even consider using a 4x8 sheet of FRP (I think that stands for fiber reinforced panel, but i'm not sure), then your walls will withstand any type of water and it is easily washable. Keep up the good work. That picture is of a subpanel. I have another 2 200amp panels on the other side of the basement. I have not posted the pics yet in the thread, but in the gallery there is a close up pic of the the bottom plate which has liquid nails shoot under the bottom plate, and I will also be using silicone. Then tile base board to seal the deal. There are also pics of the drywall going up, and it is all green board. I was thinking of using PVC, Azek or Hardieboard, but I think I will be OK with the tile on the bottom, primed green board with a couple coats of paint. Further back in the thread I went over using a transit and a automatic leveling laser level to shoot elevations to make sure everything was OK with the concrete floor pitch. We used a Hilti Vac and another shop vac to collect the dust when we dry cut the channel drain. Having read more of this thread more slowly, I must say how nice it is to see that you are doing great planning and great construction work. Very well done! Thanks, please feel free to keep checking that I have not forgot to do anything that you may have run into, or things you would have done differently. That is why I spent so much time reading everyone's threads. I took notes, no reason to reinvent the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 Tagging along. Very good information here. Thank you very much. thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 now I really did think of cutting a new ingress / egress window in the basement so that I could get a larger tank in the basement. now that's the kind of determined impassioned nonsensical reefing logic i like to hear and be part of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 now that's the kind of determined impassioned nonsensical reefing logic i like to hear and be part of! When Davelin315 posted that huge tank for sale I really did run down stairs and try to figure out what was the easiest way to get it down there, meaning- which wall is coming down! You think that is bad...I had total tool envy when you produced that Milwaukee pipe cutter!........so I could not resist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 Do you think this is overkill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 Now it is time for a sink. It will go on this wall along with a small refrigerator, RO/DI system, and some counter space. The sink drain will tie into the sewer line. There will be a wall on the right that will enclose the sewer line (access panel) and the lally column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 (edited) When Davelin315 posted that huge tank for sale I really did run down stairs and try to figure out what was the easiest way to get it down there, meaning- which wall is coming down! You think that is bad...I had total tool envy when you produced that Milwaukee pipe cutter!........so I could not resist! haha, love it. i'm still on my first charge from when i set my tank up initially and it'll slice through 1.5" sch80 like butter. comeon, it's a must! Do you think this is overkill? i laughed pretty hard. we need to go out and have a shot or ten some time. this was funny not only because of the image but because it reminded me just yesterday i whipped out the electric pvc shears strutting my machismo for the lady to cut up some carrots for her salad. i actually earned big points, haha! Edited March 26, 2014 by monkiboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 I looked all over the place and finally found this bad boy at Home Depot online. This is the tub to get: 40" long x 24" wide x 13" deep. It is awesome!! I cleaned out a 29g tank inside of it and had plenty of space. The one thing I will tell you to do differently then I did would be to buy the TUB ONLY!!! I bought the kit with the faucet, pipes, waterlines etc. They are all junk. We did not use any of the pieces except for the faucet, and now I believe I will replace that plastic piece of junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 haha, love it. i'm still on my first charge from when i set my tank up initially and it'll slice through 1.5" sch80 like butter. comeon, it's a must! i laughed pretty hard. we need to go out and have a shot or ten some time. this was funny not only because of the image but because it reminded me just yesterday i whipped out the electric pvc shears strutting my machismo for the lady to cut up some carrots for her salad. i actually earned big points, haha! I love it LOL! Too bad it does not work on tomatoes! The right tool for the job just makes things easier, and more enjoyable. I love that thing! Drinks will be on me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 I like your big tub. I think that is such a smart investment because it will handle large items. All of us have had backaches from trying to handle bulky items around a small fish area and sterilize or clean them when you can just put things in this large tank and make the job easy. Again, very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 I like your big tub. I think that is such a smart investment because it will handle large items. All of us have had backaches from trying to handle bulky items around a small fish area and sterilize or clean them when you can just put things in this large tank and make the job easy. Again, very well done. Thanks Dave W! Yea, the downstairs bath with its standard sink was not really an option. The other thing I have been looking at is what could the space be used for when I sell the house and move on (hopefully not for another 10-15 years). Starting a Great Dane dog washing company came to mind! It could be used for many different hobbies or a great utility room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w March 26, 2014 Share March 26, 2014 DuffyGeo, One critical piece of design information that you've probably already taken care of but I'd like to remind you of. Design everything in your fish room around the height of your armpit! Seriously, as I stand flatfooted on the floor and reach both arms out, they clear the tank by an inch. You will forever hate life if the top of your tank is any higher than that. If you're not doing a tank deeper than 28-30", the next consideration is the length of your arms. Again, reach over something and see how far your arm goes down, that is the maximum depth to your tank. I used to have a 250 where I invariably had to change tee shirts after working on the tank. Don't repeat my mistakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 26, 2014 Author Share March 26, 2014 DuffyGeo, One critical piece of design information that you've probably already taken care of but I'd like to remind you of. Design everything in your fish room around the height of your armpit! Seriously, as I stand flatfooted on the floor and reach both arms out, they clear the tank by an inch. You will forever hate life if the top of your tank is any higher than that. If you're not doing a tank deeper than 28-30", the next consideration is the length of your arms. Again, reach over something and see how far your arm goes down, that is the maximum depth to your tank. I used to have a 250 where I invariably had to change tee shirts after working on the tank. Don't repeat my mistakes! Dave- You are right! I took that into consideration. One reason I am only gong 24" deep, but also why I am going to build a catwalk / scaffolding that can be raised up so that I am walking at a little above armpit depth (26") for the top of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 March 27, 2014 Share March 27, 2014 A catwalk !!! Pose LOL :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 27, 2014 Author Share March 27, 2014 Don't laugh till you try it! OK, let's call it a "OMPD" -Optimal Maintenance Placement Device! Examples: - " My back stopped hurting from bending over trying to clean the aquarium glass after I started using the OMPD" - "I fell off the step ladder once, but that has not happened since I now use an OMPD!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti March 27, 2014 Share March 27, 2014 I want to build something similar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 27, 2014 Author Share March 27, 2014 (edited) A catwalk !!! Pose LOL :) I want to build something similar OK Haywood who looks silly now!!! Motti is on board! I bet you would have laughed at the Wright Brothers when they were coming up with their concept! So the OMPD is born!! Edited March 27, 2014 by DuffyGeos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos March 27, 2014 Author Share March 27, 2014 I need to trademark OMPD. I also need to trademark the HTCP.....................Horizontal Tank Cleaning Platform of course!! Stay tuned, we here at WAMAS are going to reinvent STM.....Saltwater Tank Maintenance!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti March 27, 2014 Share March 27, 2014 Well my stand is 40" high tank is 24"... I want to build a platform at least 36" high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 March 27, 2014 Share March 27, 2014 Well my stand is 40" high tank is 24"... I want to build a platform at least 36" high. Post some photos of you on the catwalk for Vouge magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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