Building the hidden fish room

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pyroswmr

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Mar 17, 2008
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Howdy all!

I hope to use this thread to chronicle all the work and progress i'm going to be putting into my new project. Building a "fish room" in a small bit of attic off of my bedroom.

The main objectives of this project are:

1. To clean and prepare the area in order to make it a usable space.
2. To insulate the area in order to make it a controlled environment.
3. To set up a basic system of tanks for the humane keeping of various fish and invertebrates.
4. To keep all major costs to a minimum, and spare no expense on caring for individual inhabitants.

advanced objectives:
1. To design and install a system to ease water changes
2. To create an environment that is comfortable to read, sleep and relax in surrounded by fish.
3. To make each individual tank freely independent of the others
4. To make the entire operation as independent and self sustainable as possible.

I would imagine that the main objectives will take approximately 3-4 months to complete, while the advanced objectives could take as long as a year.

I will be documenting this project with pictures and text updates as frequently as possible.

I am open to every suggestion available, and would love input, ideas, compliments and criticisms from anyone interested.

I have always loved fish, and can't wait to make this addition to my home, i suspect it will be in use for years to come.

I will happily accept any donations of supplies or plants (no fish yet please; i want to be able to take proper care of them) for the project, and upon it's establishment will remember these donations by offering those individuals first pick of my breeding and growing stock. (although I'm definitely not begging for anything, i will take extras and happily pay postage or possibly more for any contributions)

I can't wait to get started; this is going the be one of those things i will take pride in for a long, long, time.
 
Definately check the structure. Attic space is not like floors. They are not required to be built to the same strength as floors (usually about 40Lbs per square ft. load bearing) and therefore the floor joists (which are actually ceiling joists for the floor below) are not as large. Most joist will be at least 2' x 8" but the attic joists may be 2" x 6" or even 2" x 4" since they are only holding the ceiling finish such as drywall or plaster. Both of the latter may actually hold the weight but will eventually sag if not fail in time.
 
I thought about that, but i guess i wouldn't actually call it an attic then; it's more like a small closet off of my bedroom, on the same floor, instead of above. I'll try to get some preliminary pics up tonight.

I would assume it should take the weight, as the floor is supported by the same joists that support the second floor.. you never know though.. the house is about 90, so it's actually old enough where the 2by10's are actually 2" by 10", and theres a load bearing brick wall literally 3 feet away. my initial reactions would say not to worry about it; but then again, water is heavy..

i'll get some pics up and perhaps that will help.

Thanks for the caution! It probably wouldn't have hit me
 
i'll be uploading some pictures tonight when i get home. i took them today, but i've got to resize them. keep in mind i used a wide angle lens, so it looks bigger than it is.. (and that's not saying much
 
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