Fish Room Construction Ideas

[Aquatek]

Just looking for some input and ideas for my fish room setup. If you have built one then let me know your thoughts. Regrets? Things you wish you did or didn't do. I've set up and designed many systems but I've never built a dedicated room.

I'm going to build the room behind the tank and ventilating the room with an exhaust fan to cut down on humidity in the house. The stand will be constructed out of wood and be part of the wall. The tank is 180g and I'm not sure what size of sump I'm going to use. I already have all my equipment including my lighting which is a Photon light with 3x250w mh and 12 39w t5's. I have a 60g cube that I am also going to plumb in as a frag tank.

What I'm really looking for is ideas for the perfect room. Things I should be looking out for and do's and don'ts from your experiences. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Myka]

Number one, look at heat recovery ventilators so you're not tossing out the nice warm (or cool) house air with the humidity. Then make sure you have at least 2 dedicated GFCI electrical breakers to the room. Have half your pumps on one breaker and half on the other, same with lighting. That way if a breaker trips half the stuff will still be running. I would also plan a floor drain if possible.

Some other ideas...If you have room and you would like it, plan your sump to be in an open area instead of under the tank so you have lots of room to work. I also like refugiums higher than the tank so they can overflow directly into the tank so pods make it in there without getting mulched by pumps.

[mark]

Like my laundry sink also what's handy is a have a garden hose and spray nozzle off the hot water tank for blasting the filter socks before I put then in washer and cleaning the skimmer cup.

For drywall I just used the greenboard with kitchen/bath paint and no problems after 6 years. Could also consider the blue aquaboard.

[Aquatek]

Originally Posted by mark

Like my laundry sink also what's handy is a have a garden hose and spray nozzle off the hot water tank for blasting the filter socks before I put then in washer and cleaning the skimmer cup.

For drywall I just used the greenboard with kitchen/bath paint and no problems after 6 years. Could also consider the blue aquaboard.

Did you drywall the inside? I was debating on not doing it. I was also thinking about insulation and vapour barier as well and then using FRP over the wall to stop the salt spray from eating the drywall.

[Aquatek]

Originally Posted by Myka

Number one, look at heat recovery ventilators so you're not tossing out the nice warm (or cool) house air with the humidity. Then make sure you have at least 2 dedicated GFCI electrical breakers to the room. Have half your pumps on one breaker and half on the other, same with lighting. That way if a breaker trips half the stuff will still be running. I would also plan a floor drain if possible.

Some other ideas...If you have room and you would like it, plan your sump to be in an open area instead of under the tank so you have lots of room to work. I also like refugiums higher than the tank so they can overflow directly into the tank so pods make it in there without getting mulched by pumps.

I have my sump in an open area right now on my cube and I am wanting to do that on the 180 but I may be limited on space. The sump I am going to use is 4x3x3.

The bad part is that there isn't a floor drain in the basement. The plumbing is 1 foot above the floor. I am getting a sump cut into the floor for a drain and bathroom in the near future so that will eventually get done.

[mark]

Originally Posted by Aquatek

Did you drywall the inside? I was debating on not doing it. I was also thinking about insulation and vapour barier as well and then using FRP over the wall to stop the salt spray from eating the drywall.

fishroom is also the the mechanical room in the corner of the basement. Insulation/vapour barrier on outside walls, just insulation for noise on interior. Drywalled the walls only (not ceiling). Since didn't drywall ceiling did pay a bit of attention in insulating and sealing rim joist as concerned with condensation.

Had also considered the interlocking panels for on wall behind the sump but ended up just with the drywall/paint. Again no problem with the little bit of spray I get.

[Baldy]

Flfrom an electrician standpoint, I would highly recommend running #12 wire and using 20A breakers and plugs. Not much extra cost, they're doing that in kitchens on new houses anyways.

And plan if you would like normal wall switches running puumps or lights or anything. You can get some neat devices like Christmas light timers andsuch to run your lighting.

At least that's what I dream about for mine someday

[reefwars]

another good thing to think about when doing your fishroom is to build your sump up on a stand high enough to work in where as you dont need to be bending over.....wish i had that option lol

[lastlight]

The things I like most about my fishroom so far (still under construction)

- sump is elevated and not under anything
- lots of light to see what I'm doing
- 2-part epoxy floor is nice to walk on and cleans up perfectly
- laundry tub is a no-brainer but wow it's so convenient

[mseepman]

Excellent thread guys...I was going to ask this exact question soon myself.

I've heard many times to put the electrical plugs high so no fear of water issues or drip loops.