I'm planning a fishroom for the basement, display on the next floor up. Taking forever but I've got it framed. Some unique challenges since my sewer drains out of the house just a foot below the top of the basement wall instead of through the basement floor. One of the things I never liked about the house, but to redo that would cost a bundle. So washer has to pump up about six feet & basement bathroom drains into a sump which also pumps water up to the main sewer line. This sump is quite a distance from the fishroom & washer, so I'll probably look at installing another one in that area. This way the washer as well as a utility sink for the fishroom can all drain into that. Might also be a good backup for flood prevention if I install it strategically under the sump for the fish tank. Plan to elevate the fish tank sump a fair bit to minimize the head pressure for the return pump.
I painted the concrete wall behind the laundry appliances & the fishroom, not sure whether I'll insulate or install any kind of vapour barrier on that wall. Been doing some reading and moisture control can be an issue if you don't do this properly.
For electrical I'll likely run an extra 15 amp circuit rather than any 20s. May go with 12 ga wire, but some 20 amp hardware such as GFCI receptacles are a bit harder to source & more costly. Best to have at least two circuits available for tank stuff so that if one breaker or GFCI goes, it doesn't take all tank related equipment down. Since the lighting will be provided by an upstairs circuit, I have redundancy there anyhow and there's already at least one 15 amp circuit in the fishroom area of the basement. Here's a pic.
