Fish room with 1000g pond build

PiranhaMatt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2012
7
0
16
Cincinnati, OH
I've been working on building an insulated fish room in my basement in an attempt to cut my fish heating bill and to make fish husbandry easier. After making a little progress and getting some walls up, a buddy asked if I wanted to house his wild caught pair of leopoldi rays to try to breed, so I stopped building the walls and started on a pond. My dad has been a huge help in this project, I wouldn't have gotten it anywhere without his help.


Pics of the pond after work today:

IMG_20150426_192339.jpg

I'll have more info and pics to share, but it is bedtime for now. I just wanted to get my first MFK post up!

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PiranhaMatt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2012
7
0
16
Cincinnati, OH
Measuring and marking ceiling panels
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Inside of the pond, showing foam insulation. 3" of foam on the concrete with a masonite-like material over it.
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Hauling insulated panels for the walls of the room
IMG_20140809_154310.jpg

The pond itself has internal measurements of 124"L x 57"W x 33"H. It's a large portion of the room, but it should be fun. Plus there is plenty more basement if I ever decide to expand.

IMG_20150426_132340.jpg

IMG_20150426_200616.jpg

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Evz jardini

Jardini
MFK Member
May 19, 2010
4,761
591
120
42
manchester /uk
Nice build so far can't wait to see the finished room :thumbup::)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

PiranhaMatt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2012
7
0
16
Cincinnati, OH
Not much of an update, but I only have a couple hours to work every night after work. Majority of the updates will be weekends. I painted the ceiling with an exterior latex to brighten things and have it work as a bit of a vapor barrier.

A bit of advice, cheaper MDF soaks up way more paint than the slightly more expensive mdf panels. Even with multiple coats of primer it looked brown, but it was enough to make one coat of latex make it shine bright. The pond area of the fish room is much brighter already. Lighting in the pic is a single 100w equivalent LED bulb.

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IMG_20150429_220430.jpg
 

PiranhaMatt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2012
7
0
16
Cincinnati, OH
Since the site was down so long I didn't do any updates while building, so here are some pics of what has happened.

Backup liner going in. I had this extra liner in my garage, and while it isn't quite big enough, it will serve as a good backup in case the inner one develops a leak.
IMG_20150501_222315.jpg IMG_20150501_223759.jpg IMG_20150501_231446.jpg
Outer liner folded and fully installed:
IMG_20150502_002358.jpg
Inner liner install IMG_20150504_202015.jpg
Filled with water: IMG_20150506_214925.jpg IMG_20150519_215637_1.jpg
For filtration I am using BRUTE trashcan filled with bio-balls, a drip plate, filter floss on the drip plate, and 2 filter socks. Each sock is fed by a 1000gph pump, but flows less with the amount of head to get to the top of the filter. The picture shows 4 1" bulkheads with temporary output pipes to keep water from splashing onto the walls. This has since been changed to 8 1" bulkheads, but I still need to come up with a nicer looking output for the water. With 8 bulkheads the filter does not hold any water in the bottom. I also added an air input to the filter to push fresh oxygen into the bio-ball area.

2000 bio-balls for overhead filter.
IMG_20150508_183906.jpg

Filter in action, with pothos rooting in water to help with nitrates once I make a basket/pot for it. IMG_20150523_122614.jpg

Added a couple fish, more to come soon:
IMG_20150519_203325.jpg IMG_20150521_191702.jpg IMG_20150603_214933.jpg IMG_20150603_214946.jpg
While standing on the 2x4 bridge to my filter, the rays always seem to congregate below me. IMG_20150613_215815.jpg

I also added 2" pipe around the ceiling for central air from a Jehmco (medo) linear piston pump. I have set up 100 air outlets on the pipe right now.

The plan now is to finish the last wall and add a door so I can better regulate temperature/humidity in the room. I will also be adding a fan to the window hooked to a hygrometer which will keep humidity down a bit as well as bring in some fresh air.
 
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