Building In wall Salt Reef Aquarium in room?

saltyreefr

New member
Hey guys, Im trying this website because I need to know what to do...

I am building my basement, and I would like to put in a Salt Water Reef Aquarium Tank (150GAL)... However, this room that I am building it into, is my Furnace room... I am wondering:
is it safe?
is it a good idea?
Will anything Rust?
Will it be too hot?
Will this make my house smell?

....Please look at the pics I have posted of the room/ aquarium space and let me know the FLAW's and comments towards this project... the more critique the better!!!

Thank you!!!!!

ps i've included a picture of the tank that I will buy.. (exact one) $500 roughly
 

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Looking good so far. I don't think your placement will be an issue. If you take care of your tank, there should be hardly a smell. Also, that is hell of a deal for the tank and girl in the pic :)
 
That's going to look real nice, perfect space for it too. You are not going to have any problems. May be you should reinforce the legs that hold the tank, once is filled with water, sand and rocks could end up weighting close to a 1400 lbs. Congrats on such nice project.

Laz.
 
I wouldn't worry about the gas. It gets burned by the hotwater tank and furnace when in use. Both of those should be vented already through a chimney or pipe to the outside wall or up to the roof.
 
The thing to be careful of is creating negative pressure in the fish room side. If you have a vent fan setup to remove excess moisture from the fish room, be sure to have lots of vented access so air will not be drawn DOWN the furnace or HWH vents. A carbon monoxide detector would be good insurance.
 
My 2 inwall tanks (125 and 120) also back to my furnace room. One tank has been in operation for many years the other is just being set up. I have never had any issues.

Can you post better pics of the stand? It looks like you have the top of the stand resting on the bolts of the legs.
 
I'm pretty sure you'll get corrosion on your ductwork. Be sure to ventilate adequately to cut down on the chance.
 
Hey guys, Im trying this website because I need to know what to do...

I am building my basement, and I would like to put in a Salt Water Reef Aquarium Tank (150GAL)... However, this room that I am building it into, is my Furnace room... I am wondering:
is it safe?
is it a good idea?
Will anything Rust?
Will it be too hot?
Will this make my house smell?

....Please look at the pics I have posted of the room/ aquarium space and let me know the FLAW's and comments towards this project... the more critique the better!!!

Thank you!!!!!

ps i've included a picture of the tank that I will buy.. (exact one) $500 roughly

My DT is in my furnace room. You should be ok...I don't have any smells. It's a good idea to put a dehumidifier down there, however. Also the one thing you MUST do is wrap the framing with a vapor barrier (inside and out) and use green board. The good thing is that you have all of your plumbing that you need right there.
 
+1 on the recommendation to reinforce the wood-support structure for your tank. Another thought: do a search on people who have built in-wall aquariums and study their pictures. You will quickly see that the enclosed space of the tank room, situated behind the aquarium, has filled up with lots of aquarium-related equipment, be it: sumps, plumbing lines, reverse-osmosis setups, timer devices, power-strips, wiring, salt-water mixing stations, control modules, auto top-off setups, co2 cylinders for calcium reactors, etc., etc., etc.

As your tank evolves, your tank room will acquire more "stuff" that will potentially cram it significantly. So looking at those pictures now might help you plan in advance where things might be placed in the future--a build-out plan. That way, you'll be able to plan for such expansions in an orderly fashion, while your tank room is still relatively unfettered, clean, and open. Rearranging stuff later, especially wiring and plumbing can be a pain in the butt. You'll thank yourself later, for planning now.

Good luck!
 
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Mine has been in the wall in a small closet under stairs for over 35 years, I have a small exhause fan over it that vents outside. There is a boiler room near it but not attached. As long as the room doesn't get to hot it will be fine. All I found in all those years was that my stand got a little rusty but that was before I added the fan.
Yours is even easier because you have access to the entire back of the tank, I don't because of the stairs. But the entire front opens up to the ceiling which is important and my lights are on a counterweight so I can push them up out of my way.
IMG_2355.jpg
 
From my experience, I built my 300G in wall in my basement. Quickly the moisture & humidity got to me. My Equipment's started rusting. As in my Furnace/AC ducts started rusting, I had to replace my Water heater because the tank corroded, then my Furnace Motherboard burnt.
Well lesson learnt is, don't have a saltwater tank close to your mechanical room. I now have a vent fan over my tank sucking moisture to the outside.
 
Building In wall Salt Reef Aquarium in room?

Mine has been in the wall in a small closet under stairs for over 35 years, I have a small exhause fan over it that vents outside. There is a boiler room near it but not attached. As long as the room doesn't get to hot it will be fine. All I found in all those years was that my stand got a little rusty but that was before I added the fan.
Yours is even easier because you have access to the entire back of the tank, I don't because of the stairs. But the entire front opens up to the ceiling which is important and my lights are on a counterweight so I can push them up out of my way.
IMG_2355.jpg

That is a hell of a tank Paul. I think I'm jealous.
 
just like everyone above me said the main thing is ventilation. if you don't ventilate the room the heat in he room will sooner or later heat up the water, which is what you don't want.
 
Hey guys, Im trying this website because I need to know what to do...

I am building my basement, and I would like to put in a Salt Water Reef Aquarium Tank (150GAL)... However, this room that I am building it into, is my Furnace room... I am wondering:
is it safe?
is it a good idea?
Will anything Rust?
Will it be too hot?
Will this make my house smell?

....Please look at the pics I have posted of the room/ aquarium space and let me know the FLAW's and comments towards this project... the more critique the better!!!

Thank you!!!!!

ps i've included a picture of the tank that I will buy.. (exact one) $500 roughly

Yes it is safe
Yes it is a good idea, the basement is a great place for a tank. The temp is much more stable (cool in summer and warmer in winter).
My tank actually helps HEAT the basement.. both summer and winter.
The house should not smell unless something is wrong with the tank.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/Tankframing.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/Roomfull52009.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/Basement52009.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/TankCabclosed.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/TankCabOpen.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/MixRoom.jpg
 
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