Building my Fish Room- (will need lots of help/advice)

T

T-dub

New member
I'm new to Reef Central but I've been a reef keeper off and on for the last 15 years or so. My wife and I bought a new house in June and I talked her into giving me the corner basement room for a fish room (yay!!). Right now I have an empty room that I will be putting a linoleum floor in and I am going to patch and paint the walls. I am picking up my 220 gallon tank on Saturday. My plans are to have a 220 sps tank. A 55 corner LPS/softy tank. And a 75 FOWLR tank. I bought the coralife RO/DI unit which I will be installing and I have access to a floor drain through one of the walls so I can have a direct drain. I will be starting with the 220. It comes with a 30 gallon sump which I'm thinking of replacing with something bigger. I'll give a status report on the lighting after I get it moved in but I'm thinking I'll need to upgrade. At this point I'm just looking for ideas on what I need or things that I can add now that will make life easier. The room is approx. 11'6" x 11'.
I have outlets on all 4 walls that I will be replacing with GFCI's. Shoot me any ideas that you have and I'll try and keep up with postings and pics. Thanks in advance for all of the help!
T-dub
 
Maybe 2 sinks? We have 2 sinks and I LOVE it! counter tops to work on.
We put fiberglass reinforced board (FRB) on on 4 walls,
Electrical outlets are a must, but more important is how many amps are in the room.
Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation, it is a MUST!
 
welcome to RC!
Set aside plenty of time to read the excellent build threads here.
You can learn so much from taking the time to research here and avoid mistakes others have made.
 
Looking forward to following your progress. I'm in a bit of the same situation and maybe we can help each other. I just finished building our house and I built in an area between two rooms for a 265 gallon 84"x24"x30" tank that will be see through.

I'm in the process of setting up a fish room in the basement under the tank. I'm in the very early stages but my plan so far is as follows:

1) A slop sink
2) Rubber matting on the floor (like a gym) I figure this would be good for water as well as absorbing sound.
3) I plan on walling off a section in the basement for the fish room and putting a door so it is its own room.
4) I plan on using green board for the sheet rock and plan to put it on the ceiling in the fish room as well as placing insulation above the fish room to further keep sound from traveling up stairs.
5) I plan on using the green board as I hope to avoid humitidy/moisture from going upstaris and swelling my hardwood floors.
6) I have a return duct for my HVAC very close by so I anticipate that I will cut in a duct for the fish room. This will help out in the summer and winter months. There is a fair amount of time in Rhode Island where I would not be running my HVAC so I plan on having a de-humidifier in the room piped into the condensate pump for the HVAC.
7) I'm building two tables. One will hold a 100 gallon rubbermaid container and another one that will hold my skimmer and future add on equipment like CA reactor etc.
8) In between the two tables I plan to have another 100 gallon rubbermaid container. One will be a refugium and the other a sump.
9) I plan on piping the lower container to the sink so I can turn a valve and empty the water for water changes.

Thats all I can think of for now. I'll load some pictures soon.
 
I would not use my my home HVAC for anything in the fish room. Remember this is saltwater and if that gets into the duct work it will ruin the HVAC. I would use a air exchanger, way cheaper to replace when/if the saltwater ruins it.

I have a 240g tank with 150g sump in my basement in its own room, the air exchanger will be here within the week. Way too much humidity in the basement now.

Before with the 150g upstairs and the 100g sump in the basement stuff on the other side of the basement (20ft away) would rust and there was never any signs of humidity.
 
I have thought about the air exchange but how does that help with humidity in the summer? I guess a dehumidifier on a humidistat would help as the basement doesn't really need to be heated or cooled.

Where do you live? Keep me posted as to how the air exchanger works. I am very concerend about humidity in my basement as I don't want it to ruin my hardwoods.

As for humidity above the tank, I placed an inline exhaust fan (a plastic one which is made for bathrooms) in the attic above the tank. I'll put a humidistat on that and that will hopefully keep the humidity down in the room.
 
Mighunter said:
I have thought about the air exchange but how does that help with humidity in the summer? I guess a dehumidifier on a humidistat would help as the basement doesn't really need to be heated or cooled.

Where do you live? Keep me posted as to how the air exchanger works. I am very concerend about humidity in my basement as I don't want it to ruin my hardwoods.

As for humidity above the tank, I placed an inline exhaust fan (a plastic one which is made for bathrooms) in the attic above the tank. I'll put a humidistat on that and that will hopefully keep the humidity down in the room.
Click to expand...

I was told in the summer it would be no different than if the windows were open. If the whole house is humid their should be no ill effect, but it won't be more humid than it is outside. At least thats what I'm hoping for.

Here in Ohio were getting ready for fall/winter so it will be awhile before I know how the summer months are going to be.
 
Lot's of good ideas so far. I'll take some pics tonight of what I'm starting with. I bought some flooring which I plan on putting down tomorrow afternoon. nothing to fancy, just a nice patterned linoleum. Other than some patch work on the walls I just plan on using a moisture resistant paint. Same kind you get for bathrooms, etc. I do plan on having a sink but not a faucet. sink will go to the common drain and over to the floor drain. The fish room will have a common door to the furnace room so I'm not too worried about humidity right now. Should be a good flow of air and in the winter in MN, a little extra moisture in the air is a good thing. I will make sure and leave room and plan for a vent fan/humidistat in the future.
One question about water storage... People talk about using big Rubbermaid storage containers for water. Where are you finding these big containers? I'm looking for about a 50 gallon container (preferrably not a garbage can) that I can use to hold my RO water, and probably a 30 gal or so for a mixing tank for fresh saltwater. Let me know what you're using! Pics soon
T-dub
 
This is what we are doing for water change outs

The RO/DI design was inspired by glassreef(Tom). MY goal was to have the capability to do any thing I might ever need or imagine in the design; stir water in either tank (independently), move water from either tank to the other, drain each tank independently, move water to the reef tank from either or both tanks, maintenance the pump without cutting pipes, and lastly an automated RO top-off system. The true-union valves enable every need I could imagine.... They are the bomb - not a single leak!

DSC_0019-2.jpg


DSC_0020-2.jpg


The cam lever cap (banjo fitting) is on the return line. I added this and built a hose apparatus that we use to pump water (from either or both tanks) during water changes!!! The controller is setup to stir the water (in either tank) the night before a water change.




DSC_0029-3.jpg


On the lower right side you see a second banjo cam lever CAP.
We use the cap when not in use. The drain hose uses a banjo lever cam designed to fit on the end of a 1" hose. They will not come loose or leak! The only metal are the levers and they are aluminum and do not come into constant contact with the salt water.....

The same concept was use to drain the tank with regard to the banjo cam fittings. This hose apparatus has three different length pieces of PVC that are used to drain the tank. One for 25gal, one for 60gal, and one for 120gal. This ensures we do not over drain for the amount of salt that is prepared. The pipe is in the tank (under the water) therefore a glued fitting is not necessary. Now we can get distracted (finish that beer) without
having to stand over the tank when draining..........

The ATO was interesting. The first plan was plagued by Isaac Newton. I plumbed the return to the sump. I have a sensor in the supply tank and the sump. Once it started it would not stop!

Then I re-plumbed it to the over flow box! Isaac-1 Ed-1. The advantage (rationalization) of the new and improved design was that the RO/DI water in the overflow box gave the un-salted water more time and distance to dilute with the tank water!
I have always thought is was unnecessary stress on the tank to have to deal with un-salted water. The dynamics of the un-salted water do reverent it from mixing as well as you might think. Hence the recommendation to stir over night.


We purchased the water tanks from US Plastics.
 
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That set up looks sweet. Any way you can post or email some type of schematic that I can build off of. I haven't yet thought about water storage/water mixing.

As for the storage containers, I know you can buy them online but shipping usually costs more than the container depending on where you live. I've seen these types of containers (although the smaller ones we would use are horizontal instead of vertical) at the Tractor Supply Stores. They also have the large Rubbermaid open tubs or troughs that you can use for a sump or a refugium.

They may not be ideal, but they are cheap, strong and hold alot of water. The one thing I dont' like is there is no lid so I plan on making something to cover them to reduce evaporation and humidity.

I'll take some picutres this weekend and post what I've got going on so far.
 
T-Dub, you might want to give some thought to putting a facuet if you're going to have a sink. You're going to want something to clean whatever down in the basement. If you're drain lines are in the ceiling of the basement, you can buy a pump made for sinks in basements that will pump the water up into the drain lines. They run about $100.00. You just plumb the drain lines and the vent line into it and plug it in. Its like a big condensate pump that you would see on a hydro air HVAC system. You may be able to buy something like that at Home Depot, if not, any local plumbing store would most certainly be able to get one.
 
New flooring is down!

New flooring is down!

Love the water change out pics. That's a little more than I have room for but I might try and do a scaled down version. Thanks for the pics. As far as adding a faucet... I do have a laundry sink in the laundry room in the basement if needed. I figured if I just had a tub with a drain, I can always rinse it with RO water or haul from the laundry room if I need. I'll keep thinking about it though, as I don't have the room totally planned out yet. Here are some pics of my empty fish room with it's new floor. The flooring was almost a disaster. The room is only 11'6x11'6 and I had to get the flooring in, cut it, roll it back up, spread the glue, and then roll it back out by myself!!! I won't lie, there are some bubbles that I probably missed but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Next is the walls, and outlets. I'm picking up my 220 on Saturday and I'm getting excited.

Ok. I'll have to try and attach later. taking way to long. Keep tossing me ideas!
 
Mighunter said:
That set up looks sweet. Any way you can post or email some type of schematic that I can build off of. I haven't yet thought about water storage/water mixing.

As for the storage containers, I know you can buy them online but shipping usually costs more than the container depending on where you live. I've seen these types of containers (although the smaller ones we would use are horizontal instead of vertical) at the Tractor Supply Stores. They also have the large Rubbermaid open tubs or troughs that you can use for a sump or a refugium.

They may not be ideal, but they are cheap, strong and hold alot of water. The one thing I dont' like is there is no lid so I plan on making something to cover them to reduce evaporation and humidity.

I'll take some picutres this weekend and post what I've got going on so far.
Click to expand...

Sorry, we don't have schematic :(
all we used were 1" plywood and 2x4's then we glued the FRB on the plywood.
 
picked up the new tank today

picked up the new tank today

drove 5 hours round trip to pick up my 220 main Display tank today! Thing is sweet but heavy as hell. The stand made it to my garage but the tank is still in the back of my truck until I can get some help tomorrow to get it into the garage too. First coat of paint is on the walls. We're baptising my son next weekend so I'll have my 4 brothers-in-law to help me get the tank down the basement (thank God my wife has a big family). I'll try again to post some pics tomorrow.
 
T-dub said:
drove 5 hours round trip to pick up my 220 main Display tank today! Thing is sweet but heavy as hell. The stand made it to my garage but the tank is still in the back of my truck until I can get some help tomorrow to get it into the garage too. First coat of paint is on the walls. We're baptising my son next weekend so I'll have my 4 brothers-in-law to help me get the tank down the basement (thank God my wife has a big family). I'll try again to post some pics tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Just moved a 240 into my basement a few months back, heres a suggestion that may help. Get a piece of plywood, cut it the height of your tank (maybe a few inchs wider) now find a piece of insulation foam, like we use under the tank. I set the face of my tank on the foam, on the plywood. Two people in front and one in back. slide it down the steps. The 8' long plywood keeps the tank from bouncing, and the foam protects the glass. When the plywood reaches the floor, slide the foam and tank until you can tip it up on end. pretty simple.
 
edandsandy, I meant do you have something you can post that shows the piping and how the two tanks are plumbed so I can duplicate it. Thanks.
 
I will have Ed comment on the plumbing. I just told him what I wanted it to do, and he did the rest. :lol:
We are off to the Jags game tonight, so it will be in the morning...

GO JAGS!
 
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