Upgrading Basement Fish Area
- Thread starter fillibar
- Start date
zachxlutz
New member
Yeah! We want updates!
fillibar
Premium Member
Darn... Let's see... I moved all the rock in and the fish. Lost my shrimp and mandarin in the transition. I will get some pictures tomorrow and post them. Overall it just looks a lot messier at the moment. I mean, it is fully running and the lights and everything are there. But I still have not completed the rest of the canopy so I just have foam covering the remaining openings.
fillibar
Premium Member
Pictures from earlier today... Had to resize them a lot to make them reasonable. First view is from the right side, basically when you walk into the basement.
Moving across there is a slightly closer view of the top. The wiring is not the best but this IS the basement after all, and on a giant stock tank. I put lift cables on it so if I need to do major work in the tank I can lift it up and have it held in place until I am done. The lights are sitting directly on the wood, about 3 inches up from the plexi. The plexi is screwed into the wood in MANY places with stainless steel screws.
Next is the left view of the setup.
Finally a view that focuses more on the back tank, more to show the plumbing connections that will be able to lead up to the display at some point. The tank is covered with a foam panel to help with moisture but I plan on building an actual top for it at some point so I can have an opposing light schedule for that.
Moving across there is a slightly closer view of the top. The wiring is not the best but this IS the basement after all, and on a giant stock tank. I put lift cables on it so if I need to do major work in the tank I can lift it up and have it held in place until I am done. The lights are sitting directly on the wood, about 3 inches up from the plexi. The plexi is screwed into the wood in MANY places with stainless steel screws.
Next is the left view of the setup.
Finally a view that focuses more on the back tank, more to show the plumbing connections that will be able to lead up to the display at some point. The tank is covered with a foam panel to help with moisture but I plan on building an actual top for it at some point so I can have an opposing light schedule for that.
fillibar
Premium Member
It was a happy coincidence more than anything else. Our old house my entire setup was in the basement. But then when we moved here we had this perfect space on the opposite side of the wall you see there. Because of the split-level it was only a short drop into the basement from the display aquarium.
Unfortunately it looks like this was mostly a move in vain... The family room remodel my wife was looking for (needing me to shut down the display) is going to be postponed for some time because we found ventilation problems in the attic (mold). So we need to have that dealt with and the roof too... so there goes 2017 & 2018's budgets, if not longer.
Oh well. At least it gave me an excuse to put this setup together and I have all the materials already to finish it... I just need to. I have some vacation this week so I hope to get the canopy assembled and maybe even get the edges painted like I wanted.
Unfortunately it looks like this was mostly a move in vain... The family room remodel my wife was looking for (needing me to shut down the display) is going to be postponed for some time because we found ventilation problems in the attic (mold). So we need to have that dealt with and the roof too... so there goes 2017 & 2018's budgets, if not longer.
Oh well. At least it gave me an excuse to put this setup together and I have all the materials already to finish it... I just need to. I have some vacation this week so I hope to get the canopy assembled and maybe even get the edges painted like I wanted.
fillibar
Premium Member
Got the outside edge of the canopy's main section coated with paint to prevent any mildew or such (it is high humidity when closed up). I also constructed the two frames for the remaining open areas. Going back and forth about covering them in plexi or filling with foam...
fillibar
Premium Member
Have to get a couple more pictures. I realized I never posted about completing the main lid, painting it all, making 3 panels for the sump, etc...
Plus I just finally replaced my Apex Classic that died during the March wind storm... Saved up and bought the new model as well as some accessories. I had been debating about building my own system and even started on it. But the probe cost (beyond temperature) is what pushed me over the edge to go back to an Apex. Plus now my old Energy Bars have a purpose.
To help mount it all and keep it out of the way I attached a 2x4 framework to our basement wall, with 1/4" bolts coming through it to mount a plywood sheet as the surface. To that I have mounted a couple Apex items but also an old LCD TV we had. It is broken EXCEPT the VGA port. So with the help of a Raspberry Pi it now acts as a massive dashboard for my setup and will hide most of the stuff. Next on my list is cable management.
Plus I just finally replaced my Apex Classic that died during the March wind storm... Saved up and bought the new model as well as some accessories. I had been debating about building my own system and even started on it. But the probe cost (beyond temperature) is what pushed me over the edge to go back to an Apex. Plus now my old Energy Bars have a purpose.
To help mount it all and keep it out of the way I attached a 2x4 framework to our basement wall, with 1/4" bolts coming through it to mount a plywood sheet as the surface. To that I have mounted a couple Apex items but also an old LCD TV we had. It is broken EXCEPT the VGA port. So with the help of a Raspberry Pi it now acts as a massive dashboard for my setup and will hide most of the stuff. Next on my list is cable management.
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fillibar
Premium Member
Unfortunately the cabling is a still a bit wild. I have not dealt with that yet. Here is a partial top view with the multiple sections of cover, lights mounted, and the piles of cables. You can also see the Apex mounted in the background. I have an old LG TV (most of the inputs no longer work, except VGA) that is being used to display the Apex dashboard. Nice easy way to control things.
