O.K. here goes If you are going to make the stand that tall I would build the upper deck for the tank first with the legs going all the way to the floor and then build the lower deck so that it is a center support for the upper deck legs. That way the legs of the upper deck will be supported horizontally and will be twice as stong at the center. You could drive a truck on top of it that way. I would love to get in on the action but I have another project or two to finish before I would be able to help. Give me a call sometime tomorrow and we can discuss your plan of attack. I'll PM you my number.
you also need to think about adding diagonal cross members in between the the legs to keep the stand from buckleing sideways and from front to back if you can put them in with your sump also a 4x4 isn't what you have to worry about at that hight it is usually not the wood that fails but the fasteners that give you a problem especially vertically loaded
The stand is going to be attatched to the house wall when all said and done. I am going to try and even it up with the studs.
So.. I found this build and after studying the way he has done his I want to do almost the exact thing but in an enclosed room. http://www.carolinafishtalk.com/forum/m ... build.html Question is.. I have never installed a header in a load bearing wall.... I was wondering if any of you have ever really done it and if so maybe could help or explain how you have done it before. I have a pretty good Idea but would like any info on this I could get.
I had a neighbor take a look at the wall who is a fire fighter... I am going to call an old friend that has his own construction business to come take a look but, after looking at it all day I went for it... I took the plung and cut drywall off from inside the garage... The wall seems to not have any weight on it. I will get another look before cutting the studs but here it is.. It has begun.
Ahh.. I am going to have to forgo the benifit of having access to the front. I figure with me in the tank and my GFÂ looking at what I am doing though we wont really need it.
I cut the studs out and framed up the hole today. Wired in two recepticles and just have to put the other in place that I have temporarily put at the top. It is going one over to the right and is going to be used for my lights.
Second on the GFI. I was using a non GFI one time and a hang on back skimmer (before I was using a sump) decided to overflow. Nothing like getting woke up to the smell of burning wires and getting a nice shock trying to unplug it.
Ohh yeah.. They are deffinatly GFCI...The one at the top is wired into the garage and is protected on the other wall by a single outlet. I put them on both at the bottom as a matter of fact.  The load is running left. I am going to have a main 10 socket bar that will span the wall when I am done putting everything together . I havent quite figured out exactly how I am going to organize my devices but they are for sure protected...
I got the sad news today that I am going to have to wait all month for a tank. Seems that all of the places I have gone have the same waiting time on them. Good news is we have setttled on the 60.5x36x27.5. which is between 240 and 250 gallons... Thing is the 36" depth is going to look sick when pearing into the wall. I am going to add the closed loop system to it also to try and minimize the need for a ton of power heads (hopefully I wont need any) Other good news is this gives me plenty of time to finish up and build the stand and get everythig ready. I am getting more and more excited as this thing progresses....
Enjoying all the pics !!!  looking forward to more !!! I am so DIY inept... builds always fascinate me  I really enjoy seeing them
I am no expert but I can do most basic stuff... I read a ton of stuff before I do anything though. Picked up a couple sheets of drywall this evening. I might try to work on it some more this evening... Need to move the top outlet over and then cut the sides better so that I will have a good fit when I put the sheet rock back up. Its mighty cold out there though... LOL
Moved the recepticle at the top, cut my edges better for a tighter seam later and put back in the insulation... It got a lil too chilly when I opened the garage door to bring in the sheet rock though... I had to come inside. LOL