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#1
02-10-2011, 05:19 PM
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Building codes for aquarium in mechanical room
Planning a large size aquarium for the basement of my new house. I was hoping to build an in wall tank with the tank being located in an over sized mechanical room (with furnace, water tank, electrical box, ect.). I will be getting a framing, electrical and final building inspection and I'm just thinking if this tank will be against building code. I know I could add the tank after inspection but would prefer to keep everything 100% legit for resale. I'd ask my inspector but my faith in him is deteriorating by the day, so far I've gotten better advice from this site.
Last edited by sphelps; 02-10-2011 at 05:22 PM. 
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#2
02-10-2011, 05:43 PM
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Maybe talk to Tony as I know he's gotten everything done legit. I'm also getting a permit and didn't think they'd even care about the tank. Certainly no hiding the thing! I'm guessing so long as my outlets aren't wired under the stand the electrical guy won't care but I guess I'll see.
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#4
02-10-2011, 07:34 PM
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I don't even have a drain on my fishroom side of the basement. I sure hope the city won't even comment or care about the tank stuff.
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#5
02-10-2011, 07:45 PM
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My guess is they won't. The only thing the electrical inspector said to me when we talked about the tank room was "make sure you use CSL approved ballasts." The only thing about the floor drain for me was that I was draining the laundry sink into it and apparently this is a huge no-no. My advice is if you intend upon having a laundry sink make sure it's either: 1) drain is hard-plumbed and vented properly, or 2) not there on inspection day.
__________________
-- Tony My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
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#7
02-10-2011, 07:26 PM
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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.
__________________
-- Tony My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
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#8
02-11-2011, 01:22 AM
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Quote:
What do you think might give you issues?
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#9
02-12-2011, 05:25 AM
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Nice size tank!!!
We have a 300gal tank with an opening from the mechanical room when we built our house. Here's a couple of things I did when I planned it that you might want to consider. 1) Have separate circuits with breakers and GFI's for your lights vs your pumps. This way if you ever have a problem your entire system won't go down. With such a large system I would consider putting two circuits just for your pumps in case you have a problem with one you still have circulation with the other circuit. 2) Have a separate drain at the bottom of the tank with a cement border around the tank. My entire tank and stand sits on top of a pond liner for additional protection. 3) I had a hole drilled into my sump with a valve that drains directly into the drain that allows me to release water quickly when I do a water change. 4) Have a plastic garbage can to hold reverse osmosis water for automatic topping up. Used for the water change as well. 5) I have a waterbug (water sensor) as well as a temperature sensor in the furnace room that is attached to my alarm system in case anything goes wrong 6) Physically shield your wall outlets and power bars from water accidentally dropping on them. Try to place them on the sides of your tank instead of below your tank in case the tank breaks or leaks. We never had any issues with any of the inspectors and they knew it was roughed in for a tank. I think you just have a make sure that the electrical meets basic code. If there are too many things plugged in that's what the breakers are for. i agree with the discussion regarding insurance and doing any electrical after the fact ie. do all the electrical at the building stage and have it approved properly by the inspector. Good luck with the tank! Puffer http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/ima...s/icon_lol.gif
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