basement or adjacent fish room?

[rwb500]

For a large reef tank (400-800 gallons) would you guys prefer a fish room adjacent to the tank on the same floor, or one in the basement?

To me it seems like adjacent is best because everything is closer together. But then, that's a lot of space to take up on the ground floor of your home. I was thinking that a fishroom for this size tank would have to be at least 150 square feet (to accommodate sump, frag tank, fuge, mixing station, qt tanks, etc...)

any thoughts?

 

[slipknottin]

adjacent. or even better, a tank in the wall with the back of the tank being in the fish room.

Much nicer to have everything together so you can watch one thing while working on another.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Adjacent for sure, with a sink, countertop, room for rodi and saltwater tanks, and storage. I would think you could get by with a 10x7 room, or about half the 150 sq ft (although larger is always nicer).

 

[rwb500]

thanks, that i was thinking. yes i think the best part of adjacent is the option to have either the tank inside the fishroom like you said, or at least one side of the tank up against the wall, with the wall cut out.

in terms of size - i really prefer to not have things too cramped. its a dream setup, right? in ten years, if this gets built, i might have to compromise. but for now it is just a dream!

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Are you certain you want to engineer the first floor of your house for all that water, moisture, weight? My tastes aren't for the picture frame, however, it would be nice to keep all the mess from working on the tank out of the display space.

 

[rwb500]

good points. i was thinking the fish room would have to be sealed pretty well, and have a constant (but not very strong) exhaust fan.

I'm not a fan of the picture frame either. My dream setup has the end of the tank up against the wall of the fish room, like a peninsula.

 

[Vice333]

I would personally vote for the basement sump, for a few reasons, 1, the basement is usually colder which would negate the need for a chiller since you are probably going to have strong lighting. My basement sump is big, and I actually have a few small heaters in there to keep te temp where I want it. 2, the noise of the pumps and water from the sump are in an area where I dont hear it at all. 3, There will probably be more room down in the basement for ease of working on everything and adding stuff. The pump to bring the water back up will be slightly larger, but not that big of a deal. I have a panworld 200 that runs up 6 ft, over about 18ft and then up another 4ft and it is more than adequate and not expensive either. Just a thought.

 

[rwb500]

thanks! good points! does it bother you that you have to walk down to the basement to check on your sump?

 

[beanejar]

Although I have a smaller display than your question; I have everything in the basement. I like everything down there -- quiet! There is barely overflow noise when sitting next to the display in a dining/living area.

There is a workroom that is not quite directly below my display, but displaced by a few feet to the side and in back of the area where my display is. My display is nearly silent, except if a snail is vibrating on a Tunze. After a few "water incidents" years ago, having the greater amount of plumbing over concrete seemed nicer. Sump, skimmer, PO and Ca reactors, chiller and all probes are downstairs. Apex helps keep an eye on it -- I have a display module upstairs, downstairs and the app on every device. QT tanks have gone in there as needed.

Looking at the sump is an issue rarely -- usually once every couple of days I put an eye on the system downstairs. I dose into the sump, obviously, so you're in there for additives. I have a water monitor on the floor, just in case. I run a dehumidifier set to 50% to capture evaporative loss. This doesn't run very often, though.

If we're gone for extended periods of time and a friend is doing the feeding -- I have a webcam in there so I can look and listen to the mechanicals. There's a computer that faces the display in our living area that I can activate the camera remotely, also, to check the display. Again, Apex makes this nicely possible.

Good luck!

Jaret

 

[worm5406]

BMore??

Good luck ravens??

Anyway.. I go to Glen Burnie to a LFS, up near you.

Frankly I am in the process of moving my 120 to a 180 and I put it all down stairs in a dedicated fish room/time out area (for me... hahaha)