Jacko

Hey, I think this is the right forum to place this.

I was wondering if a ready built shed from HomeDepot or Lowes would be able to hold the weight of a couple (not really a couple, more like wall to wall) of fish tanks? Could the shelves be simple shelves screwed into the studs using metal brackets or would I need to add additional support beams under the shelves? If I were to add insulation to the wall would I be able to get away with an electric heater to heat the tanks?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.
Jacko

zeddy

if your shed is slab on grade you can do that but i would suggest some steel in your slab, probably 18in grid will be lots. don't hang your tanks off of the wall but build a post and beam style shelf and just anchor it to the walls so they cant fall over. make shurethat you go over kill on the structural wood, because you wouldn't want to have one break. as far as insulating i would do that regardless but using an outside heat source for your water doesn't sound ideal. make sure you have proper venting because with fish tanks you get allot of humidity in the air and that will cause mold over time. you have a very good idea there and if my wife would let me i would already have one. good luck with your venture.

Jacko

Would the shelves work if I used ground contact 4by4's with a 1 inch varnish coated peice of plywood (varnish to protect the wood from water), they all have bases made out of treated 2by4's and 4by4's with a composite board flooring.

The ventalation would be good of course because we get a lot of humidity through the ground.

I talked to someone at the LFS the other day about it and she said if I had any questions to ask HER and none of the men because it is a family run store and she doesn't want them to get any ideas, they have enough tanks as is because they breed more than 1/2 of their fish.

zeddy

personally i would go with 4x4 uprights, 2x6 stringers, 3/4 ply decking put ridge board @ every join and under tanks treated lumber works good but isn't as strong as say spruce and fir. i am trying to make a drawing but i am no good with computers.

Trpimp147

i used 2x4s and its holding a 75 gal tank with like 65lbs of rock in it just need to know stress factors in wood just think a normal house is held up by 2x4s the largest beam is usly 6x8" and that usly supports all the walls and the center trust. use deck screws i have pics on another web site of my stand this site has to small of and attachment for pics of mine. http://www.africancichlids.net/forum...stand#msg_6095
http://www.africancichlids.net/forum...g+for#msg_5355
this one only has one pic that shows up there used to be more but you can still see all the key points i used to build my tank, i also had an architect help me design it for most sturdyness i could get. hope this helps ya.