Fish room disasters? DIY fish room pitfalls and problems

[ericatdallas]

I'm planning a fish room. I see a lot of people showing off their hard work but no one talking about the pitfalls. I built a fish room a few years back and I found my lack of planning definitely added problems as I was expanding. I'm moving into a new house with an unfinished basement. I got a go from the wife to build a basement fish room.

My plan is to start small. Maybe four 48" tanks from the start.

I'm curious about the things that you run into 4 years or even 10 years later.

Some of what I'm currently planning is based on my previous fish room and what others have posted on other forums.

My current plan is to create a 200 sqft room. I will run dedicated GFCI branches and probably use outdoor/weather-resistant outlets. I'm planning 2 sockets per tank or about 5 tanks per 15A branch which gives me about 288W per tank at 80% load.

I will use pre-treated lumber for the framing and use mildew/mold resistant drywall. I'll then seal the drywall (with something?).

For humidity, I'll run a combination of air exchangers, dehumidifiers, A/C's, and/or bathroom fans.

I'm not sure what's most cost-effective, but I'm thinking of heating the room and having submersibles.

I'm plumbing each tank for WC and will have barrels to age/store water with RO/DI system.

I would like to do aquaponics, but that's secondary.

Am I forgetting anything?

I'm also interested in financials and cost-cutting measures that worked and didn't work for you.

I can and have done framing, insulation, dry walling, painting, plumbing and electrical myself. I'm not against hiring someone though.

I actually kind of excited about doing this but I want to do it right. This will be our first house we plan to stay at "forever" so I don't mind investing on this room and spending a little money to get as close to perfect as possible.

 

[deeda]

We converted our approx. 11x13 basement bedroom to a fish room about 2 years ago. One wall is below grade, the 2nd wall is 1/3 below grade with a 2x3 operable window and the remaining 2 walls are interior.

We stripped the poorly done drywall off the exterior walls, used Drylok sealer on the below grade block walls, applied 1" pink foam insulation directly to the block walls, taping the seams and then framed the walls using regular kiln dried 2x4's with the wide side against the foam. We also used foam sill barrier below the bottom wall plate to avoid contact with the cement floor. We routed slots on the back side of the 2x4's to run the wiring and used shallow boxes for the outlets. We added 3 20A circuit breakers for 8 outlets total.

We used 1/2" green board on the 2 exterior walls and just painted with regular latex paint that is washable. The floor covering is vinyl flooring with a textured surface to avoid slipping hazards during water change accidents.

Now for some answers from you!

Is your basement mostly/fully below grade?

Humidity issues could depend on air circulation in your home. Operable windows work well for control during the year. Keeping the tanks covered snugly goes a long way. If the room will be heated and cooled by your home's furnace or A/C, this could be helpful. I have no problems with humidity with my room but I do have a walk out basement and good air circulation.

What is the reason you are considering RO/DI storage? If it's because of the species you want to keep, that is understandable. Barrels and water storage containers can take up a fair amount of space in the fish room.

You also may want to consider running air operated sponge filters or HMF style filters to reduce your electricity cost and filter purchase expenses. I am currently only using the wall outlets for lighting, occasional power filter use, heaters and the air pump. A multi-outlet power strip mounted on the wall above the 2nd tier of tanks is used for heaters and power filter, easier to reach than crawling on the floor or trying to locate your tanks away from the wall socket.

If possible, see if you can install a laundry tub in the fish room as it makes it so much easier to work in the same room. A floor drain will make it more convenient for mishaps but it takes a bit of planning beforehand and is messy. We relocated a floor drain about 2 foot in the adjoining laundry room and just ran the aquarium rack drains through the wall to the new floor drain.

Locating the new fish room near to hot/cold water and the drainage system is your ideal set up.

Also check out some links here http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/search.php?searchid=8637330

Also here is a link to another forum, my basement construction pics are on the 2nd page http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=13796&start=20

 

[ericatdallas]

It's mostly below grade.

That's a good consideration for the sockets and reach. I remember that being a problem. I might have to do something with the racks.... like how work benches and a lot of desks do it now where there are outlets extended.

I did want a laundry sink and refrigerator for frozen food and beefheart mixes. I totally forgot!

The RO/DI was because I want to breed Discus and shrimp. I'm also considering one saltwater tank for my daughter that wants seahorses. My current house I think the copper was killing off my shrimp.

It will be next to hot/cold water and I do want a floor drain. I was worried it would be prohibitively expensive. It's expensive but I'll have to consider the trade-offs.

Thanks for the advice. We just sold our house and I'm going to have a slightly bigger budget than I planned for. My wife also agreed to give me the entire basement if I give her my upstairs office for a playroom. We were planning on part of the basement as a playroom.

So I might be able to do a bigger fish room now too

 

[deeda]

I just suggest taking your time with setting it up and look at some other members posts on setting up a fish room.

I have hard well water so I chose to keep fish that fit the type water I have. I also have copper water pipes and have had no problem keeping and raising Red Cherry Shrimp but I do understand that many shrimp varieties require different water parameters.

Adding or moving a floor drain can be extremely messy and costly if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself. We got lucky that we only had to extend ours a short distance but I am still cleaning up cement dust a year or so later!