Design by Committee???

[pch90265]

Fellow addicts:

Those of you who have been given the ultimatum I recently received from my spousal unit know who you are... I was given the edict last month to "get the house down to one tank in the next 12 months," but I wasn't given a size limit!

My wife has agreed to let me suck up nearly all of the available space in my 18' x 15' office with a 10' l x 4' w x 30" t tank!!! It will probably be 5-6 months before I have it bank rolled, but the planning stage is always serious fun...

I'm working with my ISP to figure out why my personal domain isn't up, so I'll post more schematics there once it is... In the mean time, any input on the attached would be great. I need input from other large tank ownsers on framing -- I figure my 675 Gallon baby will be a serious heavyweight -- I'm thinking 8000lbs of load with H20, LR, DSB, etc.

I'm thinking of using 6 x 6 beams and posts, with dado joints to keep things strong but simple. Any other big tank experience in framing for a project this side would be most appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Sean

[pch90265]

Oh, by the way -- in the drawing the dark brown at the bottom is the sub-floor and the floor joists... I'm thinking I'll use jack-stands to brace the weight. Any ideas there would be great too.

Cheers!!!
--SM--

[d-town tony]

I'm getting the ultimadem too! I have a 300gal in the basement with a leopardshark and smoothound shark and stingray growing fast. I'm looking into something BIG soon too.

[KenT]

6X6 is overkill, but great for piece of mind. I built the stand for my 535 out of 4X4s. No problems! I did however have to re-enforce the flooring. I started getting cracks around the house.

I read a long time ago that 2X4s are fine up to about your size. Makes sense since that is what your house is built out of!!! Again, better safe than sorry.

[myreef]

I also used 4x4's to build my stand for my 400. I used them in conjunction with joist brackets and 2x6's. I put the joists 12" on center. I did not the 4x4 so the 2x6's are resting on them. Here is a shot of some of the underside of the stand.

http://www.myreefcreations.com/personal/tankpics/400/stand_corner.jpg

and a picture of one of the joists...

http://www.myreefcreations.com/personal/tankpics/400/stand_joist.jpg

[jwm2k3]

d-town tony = tony detroit over at swf.com!

jwm2k3 = Bullshark over at swf.com

Hello, welcome to the board!!!

[getwet]

Along for the ride, as I am finally getting ready to move stateside again...and that spare bedroom is just wasting space, when it could be full of water. (12'x12'x8' ceiling)....drooooooooool

My own SCUBA park with rooftop access. Sorry, tangent.

[MarkS]

Design by committee, huh?

So, you want an inadequate design, seriously over budget that takes 2x longer to build than quoted and is out of date by the time constructions begins? OK, we can do that! The question is why?

:D

[pch90265]

Absolutely! I work with Federal Government Customers all day, so I figure if I have a well-planned, under-budget tank I'll end up with too much ego to work with them any longer... ;-)

--SM--