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Building a Fish Room & Materials


FirstContact

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Tile floors, duo rock, fiberglass reinforced plastic, air exchange, negative pressure room? Where does one start and how far does one go?

 

With an unfinished basement after ten years, we have a line of green on the copper pipes and rust on those that aren`t copper. I had a plumber look at it. He suggested not doing anything until a problem arises, but if we were going to finish the room he suggested replacing the pipes.

 

I feel more comfortable finishing and separating the area off from the rest of the house before more damage happens long term. The other option would be to leave the hobby.

 

Any suggestions, advice, or threads regarding construction, materials, and how to properly separate the tank room from the rest of the basement?

 

Below is a link to an article I found.

 

http://www.angelsplus.com/ArticleFishRoom1.htm

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I did a lot of research and planning for my tank build. If you look at my tank build, my tank sits in a corner of my garage.  I covered all the walls near the tank with the plastic wall board.  I had the benefit of having a 60 amp circuit in my garage that I repurposed. I installed a sub panel and ran new electrical and plugs around the area.  Each set of outlets is on its own circuit in the sub panel and of course each outlet is gfci. Proper ventilation is key.  I have a dehumidifier and an extractor fan tied to a humidistat. It keeps the garage around 50-55%.  If you have any questions, let me know.  

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I like the FRP panels too.  I put them in the area around my sump and caulked in the bottom seams to try to keep leaks from soaking in to the base studs.  

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(edited)

Hi Scott & Alan,

 

Thanks for the responses! So FRP is a good thing going forward, and I probably should have had a dehumidifier with an extractor fan and humidistat a long time ago.

 

Not sure what to do regarding a dehumidifier, humidistat, and fan short term. Do I just get a dehumidifier and plug it in? How about the fan? Do I need a window unit? Plus, it's the middle of winter; how does that work?

 

Appreciate the advice!

 

Hi Velas, not sure what plywood vats have to do with damaging my basement, but okay. I guess I like glass and Rubbermaid stock tanks better!

Edited by FirstContact
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Hi Scott & Alan,

 

Thanks for the responses! So FRP is a good thing going forward, and I probably should have had a dehumidifier with an extractor fan and humidistat a long time ago.

 

Not sure what to do regarding a dehumidifier, humidistat, and fan short term. Do I just get a dehumidifier and plug it in? How about the fan? Do I need a window unit? Plus, it's the middle of winter; how does that work?

 

Appreciate the advice!

 

Hi Velas, not sure what plywood vats have to do with damaging my basement, but okay. I guess I like glass and Rubbermaid stock tanks better!

 

Damaging your basement?  

 

I used 300 gallon stock tanks but there is a lot of wasted space between each tank since they are round.  You can get large fiberglass tanks but the freight charge makes them at least 3x's the cost of rubbermaid stock tanks.  Maybe there is someone local in the NOVA area?  I know there is a great supplier for all that kind of stuff in Florida.  

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FRP is what I used.  Just make sure you glue it down well.  It also gets really heavy when you put glue on it. I took a huge spill when I was hanging it from a ladder.

 

dehumidifier- get a really good one. Look for large capacity ~70 pints/day.  Some have built in pumps if you want to pump it to a drain.  Others you just have to dump it. I have a sink near mine, so I just dump it.  Window unit dehumidifier are not very good.  

 

Humidistat and extractor fan- here is a link

Extractor fan:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M04B4EU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Humidistat:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FQKXRXA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I have a window in my garage that I installed the fan.  The fan has a damper that helps minimize heat loss.  It hasn't gotten below 50 degrees in my garage.  Humidity is kept in the 50-55% range with no problems.

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Thanks Scott! This helps a lot!

 

Thanks also to zygote2k/Rob who reached out to me and walked me through some fish room ideas and suggested that covering everything with glass lids will reduce the evaporation and humidity levels!

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Hi Scott,

 

The humidistat is for the fan? When the humidity gets too high, the fan kicks in?

 

Thanks,

Gary

 

yeap, the fan plugs into it and cycles the fan on and off.

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(edited)

Picked up a GE 70 pint dehumidifier from Home Depot last night. Will order the other parts from Amazon tonight.

 

Will look into getting glass tops for the tanks this weekend. My 150g Rubbermaid sump will be a little more difficult to cover since all my equipment and pvc sticks out of it. I might get something from Piedmont Plastics, trace out the needed holes and ask them to make some cuts. Not 100% on how that will work out.

Edited by FirstContact
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You are welcome to take a trip down to Leesburg and take a tour of my basement fish room.  Some things I did that I like and dislike about mine.

 

Things I would do again:

 

1. Ceiling fans hooked into my apex, they come on if my water temp goes above 79. 

2. Exhaust fan to outside.

3. Vinyl plank flooring, glued down looks great and is indestructible. 

4. Water room separate 50 gals of RODI water stored at all times.

5. 20 gal ATO tank autofilled from that tank using solenoid hooked into  APEX

6. Tapped house drain and ran pipe though the room so I can drain tanks from several locations within my room.

7. Auto water changes using DOS dosing pump.

8. Bare bottomed frag tanks, easy to see detritus build up and remove with hose or turkey baster.

9. Plan for things you don't know you need yet! ex.  manifolds should have extra space so you can use existing plumbing when adding new features.

 

Thing I need to change.

 

1. Black tank stands. They look great for a display tank in a living room, but in a basement go with white to hide salt drips and spills.

2. Put a sink in the room. I have a bathroom about 20 feet away and a bar sink right outside the doors. Not convenient.  

 

 

Look at square ponds for stock tanks. I am going to convert my current sump to one of these in the near future... 

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You are welcome to take a trip down to Leesburg and take a tour of my basement fish room.  Some things I did that I like and dislike about mine.

 

Things I would do again:

 

1. Ceiling fans hooked into my apex, they come on if my water temp goes above 79. 

2. Exhaust fan to outside.

3. Vinyl plank flooring, glued down looks great and is indestructible. 

4. Water room separate 50 gals of RODI water stored at all times.

5. 20 gal ATO tank autofilled from that tank using solenoid hooked into  APEX

6. Tapped house drain and ran pipe though the room so I can drain tanks from several locations within my room.

7. Auto water changes using DOS dosing pump.

8. Bare bottomed frag tanks, easy to see detritus build up and remove with hose or turkey baster.

9. Plan for things you don't know you need yet! ex.  manifolds should have extra space so you can use existing plumbing when adding new features.

 

Thing I need to change.

 

1. Black tank stands. They look great for a display tank in a living room, but in a basement go with white to hide salt drips and spills.

2. Put a sink in the room. I have a bathroom about 20 feet away and a bar sink right outside the doors. Not convenient.  

 

 

Look at square ponds for stock tanks. I am going to convert my current sump to one of these in the near future... 

 

Forgot about the sink.  A sink is crucial for a fish room!  

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Forgot about the sink.  A sink is crucial for a fish room!  

 

And the sink needs to be at a comfortable height to work in.  If the sink is too low, you'll be bending over too long while you're scrubbing equipment or whatever.  I started with a tall sink and raised it up even taller.

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