[Delphinus]

I just drew the aquarium into the drawing I supplied for the development permit. They didn't care that there was an aquarium at all in the plans - just things like where the drains were, were the light switches and fixtures were, where the plugs were and how many per circuit and per 8' of wall and so on .. think the biggest concern the development inspector had was where the smoke detector was going. My drawings showed where the tank plugs would be and that there 4 15a circuits going to the plug array in the tank room.

I passed the development rough-in inspection on the first go, needed 2 attempts for the plumbing and electrical rough-in inspections, but FWIW I have not had my final plumbing or electrical yet. I asked if I could have final inspection on part of the basement so I could start using the plugs but was advised by the inspectors that I'm allowed to use plugs before the final inspection so I have the tank going now obviously. But I'm a little afraid that when they see just how many things are plugged in and the mess of wires and ballasts and whatnot, that the inspector is going to cough up a bird or something when he sees all that. So I'll let you know how THAT goes.

If I understand correctly the spirit of the code (if not the letter of the law so to speak) when it comes to mechanical rooms, I think their concerns will be that it is sealed off from the rest of the house because of the possibility of CO seeping into the rest of the house if an exhaust pipe gets blocked or whatever. So my guess is that if you have an inwall tank that backs onto a mechanical room, you probably will have to demonstrate that it is properly sealed (ie., silicone the seams from glass to drywall maybe ... no cabinet doors into the sump area or light canopy from the front side ... and so on). Just my guesses though. In my case my tank room is not also the furnace room so I didn't go through any scrutiny like that.