The start of my fish room, woot!

[authmal]

I'll point some of the things out to my hubby tomorrow when we work on it. He's took carpentry in school and should know what he's doing, and we have looked into the local codes here, and seems everything looks fine as far as I can understand them.

I look at it, and I don't think things look fine. I'm in Arizona, and I know what kind of work my dad had to do just on his foundation for his shed to go up in the back yard. It really looks like this project is going to have a less than optimal level of strength. As mentioned before, a bed of sand is a huge necessity. The thick concrete foundation helps keep everything relatively stable as it shifts on the sand bed. Overlapping blocks all the way around keeps it from starting to buckle (rebar or not) in the slightest, which prevents catastrophic wall failure. With glass/acrylic tanks holding live animals, I'd be inclined to take extra precautions to make sure that everything is done as solidly as possible. Then again, I've been told that everything I've actually gotten around to building (I'm mechanically disinclined---DIY just doesn't interest me in and of itself) is way over engineered (for example, once the bricks were set and mortared well, I'd be inclined to use place rebar in there, and then pour cement, but I haven't built a structure like this so don't know if that'd be the best way to go), and will last, relatively speaking, forever. It also costs more, but I sleep better at night.

I'm not trying to tell you not to do this, because, if I owned instead of rented, I'd be inclined to make a fish building, myself. I just don't feel confident in the start, but hope that, whether or not you take the advice given by any of us, this project is successful for you.

 

[shewolfgeo]

Thanks for you all input. I do plan to discuss it with the man about it. We talked some last night about it.

 

[GuppyMan]

opcorn:

 

[GraphicGr8s]

Couple of things on the building. It needs a footer for the block to lay on. The footer needs to be below the frost line. All organic material (grass) needs to be removed. As it starts to decay it will compress and cause the slab to crack. You need to remove the top layer of dirt and get down to a solid surface. Gravel and sand need to be installed and compacted. 2" put down and compacted then another 2" until you meet the thickness required by building code. You may need to get a permit depending upon said building code. Remember, building codes are the minimum. You can always make it better.

 

[authmal]

Remember, building codes are the minimum. You can always make it better.

+1. Best line on building a structure yet!

 

[GraphicGr8s]

I've yet to build any structure that just met code. I've never had a red tag and don't intend to. I have however had inspectors compliment me on going above what's required. Best part? I sleep at night knowing my building will be there after a hurricane. Not bad for something I don't make a living at.

 

[Khemul]

^ Agreed.

Plus when you consider how much weight a fish-room often handles (tanks stacked on racks, large tanks, etc crammed into as much space as possible), the building codes may not be enough for 100% worry-free security anyways.

 

[chefjamesscott]

rebar is well worth the expense in the end products reliability as a foundation

 

[dundadundun]

one thing that hasn't been covered yet. the cinder blocks need to be trimmed only in specific ways. either you make a single square out of the block without cutting into the side wall of the square that remains or you trim a solid capping block. anything done otherwise is simply engineering a fail point into the block. the blocks that are trimmed at the corners there with one long side wall will fail prematurely without a doubt. whether that transfers the fail back into the remaining whole square on that block will depend on an individual basis. i can't say for sure, but given the ground slope and the fact the ground doesn't extend far past the wall, i would assume that almost definitely the corner that's towards us in the pics is going to fail before it's time... especially with the structures intended purpose being to hold tanks full of water. once one block goes, it's only a matter of time until the weight transfer and angle shift caused starts tweaking and decimating the rest of that wall. i would absolutely say the same thing if a sufficient footer were laid with the appropriate drainage/trap rock layer. unfortunately in this case it was not, so it should not be long.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

One of the main things is there is no mortar between the blocks. How will you attach the rest of the wall to those blocks? What material will the rest of the walls be?

3000 psi concrete with a 3.5 - 4" slab will take the weight of the tanks without a problem if done right. The slab needs wire not rebar. Although you can get concrete with nylon reinforcement (Fiber Reinforced Concrete) which avoids a few problems like the wire mesh sinking to the bottom and doing nothing to strengthen or actually coming to the top like part of mine did.