Getting My Fishroom put together

[sunnysjourney]

Very nice!

 

[Hoplo]

Awesome set up there, very professional looking.
Just out of interest, what was behind the decision to do the filtration the way you did it as opposed to putting sumps on the tanks?

Haha, yeah towels and fishrooms for me are a must. I don't think there is ever a week when I don't manage to make some mess. Though once I finish my auto water changing systems it will be a lot tougher. -course at the rate I am going that entire system wont be done for another year.

Couldn't agree with that more, you can never have enough towels, even with just moving things around in a tank you need a towel to dry your hand off afterwards.

 

[ikevi]

Awesome set up there, very professional looking.
Just out of interest, what was behind the decision to do the filtration the way you did it as opposed to putting sumps on the tanks?

Thanks,

For me the key goal was ease of use, then noise level.

When I was in Atlanta I ended up having ~1500 gallons worth of tanks with 2 sump systems and a lot of canister/HOB systems.

The canister/HOB combos tend to get noisy + you really end up having to clean something nearly every week with that many tanks.

You can get really complicated with sumps to ensure you don't have overflow issues, and I do see sumps as the ultimate in versatility. But still they always tend to be nosier than an any enclosed system plus when you do have to clean them out it is a pain. (And you have to worry about topping off the sump, my entire system is geared towards not having a lot of water evaporate.)

The other key was space. I likely could have fit ~4 55's in that room, but this seemed better.

I have it set that I can plumb in a polisher if I want it, but I doubt I will use one for any of these tanks. (Might do a quick polish for photo ops I guess?)

The other good news is I can keep the filtration going, do +50% water change and still not worry about the pump running dry. (I can't tell you how many times I would do water changes and forget to turn back my sump pump after filling the tanks again.)

Anyways I could go on, but the other big factor is that cost really isn't a factor. (IE ease of use for me >> the premium for the filters. Just like the fact that I went overboard with unions/ball valves etc. I have long since learned that spending more now = much happier me in the long run.)

Course you can't really go with this type of system unless you have ~360+ gallons to deal with. Even a short backwash+rinse will chew through ~55 gallons in 1 min. But man the first time I used that backwash/rinse feature I was all smiles. So easy and right now I have it setup that I can do ~150 gallons of water change in about 10 min (Long run I will have ~400 gallons of 1 day old/primed/aerated water.)

 

[ikevi]

Note, I employed many folks to get this done.
First I contracted an engineer (Phil Sydnor at Integrate Architecture) to make sure everything was planned out well. (I had the vision/crud drawings, he got everything cad designed/spec'd out correctly with my input.)

Then I had the fishroom made/basement redone. (Ripped out a diagonal wall + got rid of false ceiling, a door, had more concrete/epoxy work done + added a split unit, a heat exchange unit, circuit breaker box, lots of outlets/lights and like a bunch of other stuff done by Laevon Hansen and crew.

Once done I designed how I wanted the tanks drilled/setup and found James at EnvisionAcrylics.com (4 120s, one 240 per stand) custom made (He did great work.)
Stands were created by Drew Gaston, Dyadic Iron Works, Inc (again they did outstanding work.)
Then I had a few tank moving parties... (Had to move the 240s from my garage to the basement when it wasn't soaking, had 8-10 folks on the tanks...)

Filtration was done only by me.
Pump -> Reeflo Dart / Snapper Hybrid
Filter -> Aqua Ultraviolet Ultima II
1-1/2 FNPT Large Series Nylon Strainers
Bukckheads/strainers/etc from Jehmco and plumbingsupply.com
PVC/unions/ball valves, etc -> all from Home Depot... way too many trips.

 

[wild bill]

Ahh and just when I was getting ready to hireyou. You go and blow it and tell us you had a tech guy. Great setup congrats on your system now all you will have do is watch your fish grow.
I am terriblely jealous but now Ihave something to strive for.

 

[StIcKy~RiCe]

that is insane filteration ive ever seen. great fish room and set up..how many Zebrina pikes you have in there?

 

[ikevi]

that is insane filteration ive ever seen. great fish room and set up..how many Zebrina pikes you have in there?

Splurged and got 6. Will see how long it takes till they stop getting a long. (Already had to put foam up to break the line of site.)

Note for the help, there is no doubt I needed expertise drafting up the stands, etc and doing the basement rework. That said I basically had the entire thing drawn out. I just didn't want to do the calculations for how think the steel had to be etc for the stands. (Plus I needed an official floor plan etc so I could get my permits.)

 

[wild bill]

Well it looks like your plans were bang on. Once again great setup.

 

[ikevi]

Brief update. Got my logs in yesterday (well stumps..) So I went a bit crazy getting everything (it was bare tank) + bought/setup some plants today. Stumps still float, so I had have pressure pushing them down. I still need to get another DIY lights below. (I have some more high intensity lights coming to make the lighting even on the top.)






And a quick shot of the other tanks

 

[Tig Phish]

wow, very clean fishrm setup