Designing a Fishroom.

C

cichlid_guy

AC Members
Nov 27, 2002
105
0
0
50
photos.yahoo.com
ok, i want to start designing a fish room on paper for when i move. the wife said i can have the basement!!!!

So what would i need to start a fish room.
now the kind of room i'm tanking about is kind of like a mini Aquarium! a place to sit relax, watch the fish, intertain friends.
i also want a hidden room for all equipment, fry tanks, grow tanks. etc...

I'm thinking of having 8 - 55gal, 2 - 75gal 1 - 120gal
and two in-wall 300gals

I picture the two in-walls on one wall with a door between them going to the hidden room.

I want the 55's and 75's to have its own type of cichlid.

one tank with oscar, one with texas, etc...

Sould i do all 75's or is a 55 ok for pairs of fish?


anyone with a Fish room out there, let me know how you have them set up!

scottie
 
cichlid_guy, I have a fishroom but I doubt it is what you have in mind. Mine is strictly utilitarian with one tank built into a wall. I do however have a few tips for you. Make sure you have a supply of water close at hand. Hopefully you will be able to build near a floor drain. When you wire up the lights, wire up a series of plugs and use a timer on the circuit rather than each light set. Notch out your 2 x4 frame work rather then just flush mounting them together. I found it much easier to heat the room rather then each individual tank. My room has 50 tanks in it. Heating the room allows me to keep the tanks at different levels at different temperatures. The higher the tank the warmer the water. With that much water a dehumidifier may not be a bad investment. I bought one for my house. An obvious one but you should not carpet the room. Here is a link to my photo album with some pictures of my fish room: http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/tippmann_dad/lst?.dir=/My+Fish&.src=ph&.view= I also lag bolted my stands together. The original stands were screwed together and after about 5 years the screws rusted to the point of being strengthless. If you are going to use air powered filters I would go with one large air pump rather then several small ones. Perhaps a The Pump 20 or 40 or similiar type. Post back if you have more specific questions. Later.
 
this room will be over a few years, but i wan t aplan to keep to.
so i will know this tank will go here, and this line will run here.

thanks for the input DarkAngel.

i never thought about the wires or drains.

I'm not sure what your saing about the flush 2x4s?

as for the one big tank. i'm just going to set the two up.
one on each side of the door.

scottie
 
By flush I mean when you join the frame work together cut a slot in one piece to fit the other piece into. This way the weight is resing on the wood rather then on the screw only. I am not sure how best to describe it. I am not much of a carpenter but I know there is a term for what I am trying to describe. It makes for much more sturdy joints. Even if the screw or bolt rusts away to nothing the cross member is still supported. I have added a pick to the above link of the type of joint I am talking about. It is the last pic in series. Also something else to consider. If you are doing the room from scratch, I recomend putting in insulation on both walls and ceiling. Then cover this with a vapour barrier. This will accomplish a number of things. It makes it easier to heat the room, it keeps the moisture more or less contained in that room, and it muffles the sound of the tanks. It is not a nescessary step but one I think is worth the extra few dollars. I went a bit overboard on mine I think as I went with R20 pink fiberglass. Setting the tanks up like that you should put some type of sturdy door stop to ensure the door can not contact the tank.
 
Scottie, that is a whole lot of water you are dreaming about. If I added it up correctly, it is over 1,300 gallons. My fish room has 24 tanks & approx 800g of water and I must tell you, moisture is a problem throughout the house. Each tank has a tight fitting glass lid, but I still need to run a de-humidifier on all 3 floors of the house to keep the moisture from building up on the windows and causing mold growth. De-humidifiers are not cheap ($150 for 30 qt & $200 for 50qt), so you might want to look into an air exchanger. The initial price my shock you, but it would cost less in the long run and be more energy efficient than multiple de-humidifiers.

One Source of Air Exchangers

Along with the previously mentioned water supply & drain, I would recommend serious consideration of an automatic water changing system, or you will be spending a lot more time doing maintenace than sitting back & enjoying.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom