jonnydalejunior
New member
i have been running a 125 Reef for about 3 years now. i have come across 405 Gallon and would like to make the move.
The "problem": I live in a townhouse and our entire "main floor" is located above the garage and while they may hold a 125, i am pretty sure the joists would give under the tremendous weight of the 405.
The "solution": i have a slightly deeper garage than normal at 27'. So i am planning to build a temporary wall 8.5' from the back end of the garage giving me an 8.5' x 11' fish room. the tank dimensions are 72"x36"x37". At this point i am planning on putting the tank along an 8.5' wall, centered giving me 1.25' access on either side. the garage is 95" tall and the tank on stand is 70", giving me 2' of access on top, when the lights are out of the way. this will leave me with a 7.5'x 8' "veiwing" area in the room. just enough space to throw some beanbag chairs in to sit and appreciate the veiw. i relize this is tight quarters but we are planning to move to a larger house next year or the year after. we will see.
the "concerns":
1. i live in MN and in the dead of winter the temps outside drop to -20. The garage is well insulated on either side and on the back, but the door is not so it can get down to the 40's in there sometimes. in the summer it stays upper 60s lower 70s.
my solution to this is so insulate the garage door as best i can with 2" polystyrene type insulation and as i said i will be walling in the fish room with this same type of 2" polystyrene sandwiched between 2 sheets of plywood. 2" polstyrene has an R of 10. the new fish room will be connected to a current storage room that is heated and Air Conditioned so i will use that room to help regulate the temp in the new room. if worse comes to worse in the dead of winter i can run an oil filled radiator at night in the room. but i am thinking if the room is well insulated the MH lights should keep the room plenty warm.
2. moisture. i am not sure how big this will be at this point. i dont want to turn my garage in to a mold factory. 2 of the walls are concrete, one will be standard construction, and one will be as described above.
3 power. i am running 2 new dedicated breakers just for this room. downside, if the breaker pops i wont know till i go down there next.
4. unknown. i dont know what else i should be concerned about.
please offer any suggestions or experiences. at this point i am feeling extremly tenious about the whole thing. excited but nervous.
The "problem": I live in a townhouse and our entire "main floor" is located above the garage and while they may hold a 125, i am pretty sure the joists would give under the tremendous weight of the 405.
The "solution": i have a slightly deeper garage than normal at 27'. So i am planning to build a temporary wall 8.5' from the back end of the garage giving me an 8.5' x 11' fish room. the tank dimensions are 72"x36"x37". At this point i am planning on putting the tank along an 8.5' wall, centered giving me 1.25' access on either side. the garage is 95" tall and the tank on stand is 70", giving me 2' of access on top, when the lights are out of the way. this will leave me with a 7.5'x 8' "veiwing" area in the room. just enough space to throw some beanbag chairs in to sit and appreciate the veiw. i relize this is tight quarters but we are planning to move to a larger house next year or the year after. we will see.
the "concerns":
1. i live in MN and in the dead of winter the temps outside drop to -20. The garage is well insulated on either side and on the back, but the door is not so it can get down to the 40's in there sometimes. in the summer it stays upper 60s lower 70s.
my solution to this is so insulate the garage door as best i can with 2" polystyrene type insulation and as i said i will be walling in the fish room with this same type of 2" polystyrene sandwiched between 2 sheets of plywood. 2" polstyrene has an R of 10. the new fish room will be connected to a current storage room that is heated and Air Conditioned so i will use that room to help regulate the temp in the new room. if worse comes to worse in the dead of winter i can run an oil filled radiator at night in the room. but i am thinking if the room is well insulated the MH lights should keep the room plenty warm.
2. moisture. i am not sure how big this will be at this point. i dont want to turn my garage in to a mold factory. 2 of the walls are concrete, one will be standard construction, and one will be as described above.
3 power. i am running 2 new dedicated breakers just for this room. downside, if the breaker pops i wont know till i go down there next.
4. unknown. i dont know what else i should be concerned about.
please offer any suggestions or experiences. at this point i am feeling extremly tenious about the whole thing. excited but nervous.
