Planning a large plywood build - thoughts and questions

[Brian Crook]

Hi everyone, although I am currently running a 220g reef setup (build thread here: Brian's 220g In-Wall Build), I have always wanted to go bigger! A sickness many of you share, I'm sure. When I started my original build documented above, I didn't spend enough time thinking about how I would layout the rest of the rec-room and furniture, and this has been a problem which has nagged at me the entire time of running this aquarium.

There were also a few other concerns with the original location, notably it did not have its own dedicated electrical, minimal ventilation, the 'back' of the tank could be seen while coming down to the basement before seeing the display side, and it shared a space with our laundry/utility room.

So, I feel like I am getting very close to pulling the trigger on this new build design and an overall layout for my basement living space, and would like to put my idea out there for some feedback. Currently my rec-room measures about 36' long by about 12.5' wide, excluding the hallway as seen in the photos below. I plan to build a wall separating it into two rooms: A fish room measuring 12.5' x 8', and the rec-room 12.5' x 28'. I plan to do some tiling and add a nice bar bench and stools on the display side of the tank.

The 'fish room' side of the rec-room currently has a floor drain, its own small window, and independent electrical because it was originally intended as a second kitchen. I would just need to run hot/cold water to it. Ventilation has been a huge concern for me and I want to get it right the first time.

I am planning to build a plywood aquarium measuring ~96" x 42" x 31" tall, over 500g. This + sump + water reservoirs will mean a whole lot of water in a small space. Ventilation is critical. I have been reading a lot of great things about the Panasonic WhisperSense bathroom fans and have been considering this. Any thoughts / suggestions? I plan to insulate/soundproof the room on all sides, and use cement board for the walls and ceiling (and tiles for the floor).

My house is new-ish and already runs a LifeBreath 155MAX HRV, + AC and furnace. Although the LifeBreath works great for the whole house, I simply could not expect it to handle the extremes that this room would be faced with 24/7. It needs it's own form of ventilation. I am concerned that a bathroom fan on all the time would cause some negative pressure concerns - any thoughts on that?

Anyways, here's some pictures of my current room setup and proposed build (I'm no SketchUp expert):

And here's another angle on the proposed area for the new fish room:

And a picture of my current tank for the hell of it:

 

[Bogue Chitto]

I have built several plywood tanks and some big. I would be glad to tell you how I did it. Never had any problems with not holding up. I can't help you on the fans though, not too familiar with air in basements.

 

[Brian Crook]

Thanks. Yes after re-reading my above post I see I started a plywood thread and didn't ask any questions about the plywood build itself.. haha.. I'm sure I will have plenty of questions when I get to that point. I plan to fibreglass and use the pour epoxy method, as others have in some of the big popular plywood threads.

Although I have never done a project like that before, or used fibreglass before, but I will watch lots of videos and take my time with it..

But the plywood tank part doesn't scare me as much as getting the ventilation right (at least not yet, anyways)! I'd like to try and keep the humidity in the room down (knowing that I will still be running a dehumidifier in the basement anyways in the summer and shoulder months). I live in south western Ontario, so a spot ERV won't work for me since they can't handle freezing temperatures.

 

[dave.m]

Can your existing HVAC system add a separate, isolated zone? You may have to confer with a heating contractor to set this up correctly. If so, you could run the fishroom independently from the rest of the house to meet its unique requirements.

Dave.M

 

[CyclistMT]

The easy and DIY way is a ventilation fan and a humidistat. And I would use a Panasonic Whisperline inline fan (oh, that's right, I did). They just seem more rugged than a standard on ceiling bathroom fan. Maybe that's what you meant, I don't know. Using a humidistat will keep the fan from running 24/7 and allow you to control the humidity level in the fish room or in the house depending on where you place it. One thing I didn't expect with a ventilation system like this was how much it is part of the cooling mechanism for my tank. Obviously evaporative cooling is taking place because I'm venting the tank but a difference of just 5% humidity at the humidistat is the difference in the tank temperature of 80 vs 84 degrees depending on the season (is the AC or heater running often or not).

Given the volume of water and the fact that the tank and sump will be open in the fish room, Dave's suggestion my ultimately make better sense. It will be more expensive but will give you complete control over the tank room and leave the rest of the house relatively unaffected.

And welcome to the plywood club! I personally don't think you need the fiberglass with the pour method but everyone needs to feel secure in the tank they're building so certainly ok if you choose to go that route.

Good luck!

 

[Brian Crook]

Can your existing HVAC system add a separate, isolated zone? You may have to confer with a heating contractor to set this up correctly. If so, you could run the fishroom independently from the rest of the house to meet its unique requirements.

The only trouble here is this would require I run my A/C in the winter, which is far outside its design parameters. But perhaps consulting with a professional here could help, although tapping into the vast knowledge base of RC is pretty much the same thing, right?

The easy and DIY way is a ventilation fan and a humidistat. And I would use a Panasonic Whisperline inline fan (oh, that's right, I did). They just seem more rugged than a standard on ceiling bathroom fan.

Yes those are the ones I've been looking at as they come highly recommended. I'd like to replace my bathroom fans throughout the house with those ones too

The Pansonic WhisperComfort ERV seems like it's *almost* the perfect fish room air exchanger, except for these darn Canadian winters... Although apparently it will still operate in cold climates, just in exhaust mode only, essentially equivalent to a vent fan during that time period.

Would be nice if they had an HRV model instead.

 

[dartier]

I am in your neck of the woods, and am just getting started on planning a basement install in a recently purchased house. I am also looking for the best method of controlling the local air quality in the vicinity of the tank.

My current house has a Venmar HRV, which I love, so I was planning on looking into getting 2 Venmar units installed in the new place. One for the whole house, and one for just the fish room. I was even considering an on the wall AC unit just for the fish room incase I wanted to use halides.

The plan is to convert an existing bedroom into my new fish room with either an in-wall tank or a larger peninsula tank with one end inside the fish room.

The basement floor has radiant heating in the slab, so I am a bit concerned with how big of tank I can go without risking cracking/crushing the existing floor and jeopardizing the piping for the radiant heating.

Dennis

 

[Brian Crook]

I was even considering an on the wall AC unit just for the fish room incase I wanted to use halides.

I think this would work great for cooling the room/lights in the summer, but unless it's a portable A/C (compressor inside house and pumps air out through window or vent), I would think you'd be in the same boat as me and unable to run the A/C in the winter due to temps being below the design of the compressors/coolant.

There seems to be a lot of great options for cooling and drying the fish room during the summer months, but it gets more complicated for the cold months... especially to find a solution that doesn't unnecessarily remove the HEAT from the tank which would actually help heat that area of the house..

Let me know what you decide!!

 

[dartier]

When I was reviewing the Venmar units this morning, I noticed that some of the newer models offer a wall control that has a humidity threshold. It sounds like if the humidity goes above the preset, it vents to the outside. Which, if that is how it truly works, it should be perfect for winter moisture issues.

As for heat in the winter, the air circulation through the heat exchanger should allow for excess heat to be bled off. They are never 100% efficient at recovering heat, so the margin of inefficiency could be used to moderate the room temperature. I also noticed that the newer units offer more than Hi and Low air exchange settings (like the older unit in my existing home). The model I was looking at offered 4 or 5 different speeds of exchange which should give plenty of room to tweak things.

I wonder how complex the signal bus is on these things? Hooking one up to a controller would give a lot of options on how to respond to the local conditions.

Dennis

 

[Brian Crook]

When I was reviewing the Venmar units this morning, I noticed that some of the newer models offer a wall control that has a humidity threshold. It sounds like if the humidity goes above the preset, it vents to the outside. Which, if that is how it truly works, it should be perfect for winter moisture issues.

I'll have to look into those ones. I think most of them have a humidistat built-in somewhere, as even my LifeBreath 155MAX only turns on to control humidity to a set level.

Will an HRV effectively de-humidify a fish room during the summer? Or will other means still be required?


On the topic of flooring, I plan to rip-up the carpet currently occupying that area and replace it with ceramic tiles. I've been debating if I should tile the entire room versus building the aquarium stand first (directly off the concrete) and tiling the room around it. The former is easier and would probably look nicer, but I suppose the weight of the aquarium could crack the tiles if there is any inconsistencies in them... Thoughts?

 

[CyclistMT]

Build the stand first, at least the skeleton (can skin later). It is very likely you will crack tiles with the weight if you tile first.

Here's an alternative if you haven't thought about it. Concrete stain.

 

[dartier]

The HRV would not be helpful in the summer for humidity, or at least not like a local A/C unit would.

I wonder if you could have the external air intake be able to be switched to drawing from the rest of the house instead of from the outdoors so that during the summer it would pull cool dry air in an exhaust humid air when the humidistat was tripped. Then in fall you toggle back to drawing from outdoor air. You might be able to make 1 unit work for both seasons

I also have carpet in the room I am planning to use. I expect I will take it up and put down some inexpensive linoleum.

If you do tile everywhere except where the tank supports rest, make sure that you save the spare tiles so that they can be finished off in the event that you remove the tank.

 

[d-man]

I just got done building my 860. I install it on Sunday...fingers crossed