Fish room setup advice...

[fishdance]

Floor drain wherever you have an island rack otherwise you will be tripping over the exposed horizontal line.

Floor drain about half a tank rack width in from the wall. Doesn't have to be precise but does have to be out of the way of rack legs.

If you haven't planned out your racks yet, your in trouble but if you want to future proof, add additional Floor drains. They are easily capped or concreted over if unwanted later.

I interconnect my floor drains, so if one section blocks, the water can escape the other side.

I use a flowerpot/bucket around each vertical pipe during the concrete pour so I have a small void to back fill later. Allows me to bury or cut flush or extend joints. On very large slabs, wrap expansion foam around the pipe. Not sure if needed but easy to safeguard cracked pipe if slab settles

 

[Orthopod]

Coming along slowly - deciding where floor drains will be now - any advice on where and how many ?

thx

 

[Orthopod]

Also, window or no window in a fiah room?

thx

 

[pacu mom]

I still say you should consider trench drains around the periphery and as many floor drains and water lines near your tanks to make it convenient for you. (The trench drains would be for a catastrophic tank fail). My first thought was no windows, but that is based on my experience with floor to ceiling picture windows and two large sky lights in my living room and the resulting green water problem that I had. Of course, a large UV sterilizer cleared up the green water, and the oxidative potential of a UV sterilizer makes me afraid to run a tank without one. Your fish room will be so large, that in the event of a power outage the room would be completely dark without windows. I do hope you are planning to use a large generator, preferably a whole house generator (like a 20 or 22 KW Generac) to protect your investment during a power outage. If you aren't going to have a generator, then you probably need some strategically placed windows. UV sterilizers would take care of any green water problems.

Before you build any further, you really need to have a game plan firmly in mind -- whether or not you will have a separate equipment room.

outlets - 1 cluster per big tank

i have 2 -20amp & 2- 15amp circuits and it’s not enough

GL!

Heed dr exum's advice. We have multiple outlets on three walls. We have eight 20 amp circuits dedicated to the fish room and on the generator system.



We tore down our garage before building our fish room. The floor was poured over the existing old cement floor. The area under the fish tank was reinforced with extra rebar, per our engineer's recommendation.

 

[fishguy1978]

Yes, to windows. I have a wall of windows on 2 sides. The other 2 walls are interior walls.

 

[dr exum]

Also, window or no window in a fiah room?

thx

that’s a good question - Maybe one in proximity to door for asthetics?

light =algae

could do skylights with blinds or high windows for light / ventilation

looks like you’ve been digging - just picked up one of these ?‍ let me know if you need to dig more ?

 

[dr exum]

I still say you should consider trench drains around the periphery and as many floor drains and water lines near your tanks to make it convenient for you. (The trench drains would be for a catastrophic tank fail). My first thought was no windows, but that is based on my experience with floor to ceiling picture windows and two large sky lights in my living room and the resulting green water problem that I had. Of course, a large UV sterilizer cleared up the green water, and the oxidative potential of a UV sterilizer makes me afraid to run a tank without one. Your fish room will be so large, that in the event of a power outage the room would be completely dark without windows. I do hope you are planning to use a large generator, preferably a whole house generator (like a 20 or 22 KW Generac) to protect your investment during a power outage. If you aren't going to have a generator, then you probably need some strategically placed windows. UV sterilizers would take care of any green water problems.

Before you build any further, you really need to have a game plan firmly in mind -- whether or not you will have a separate equipment room.



Heed dr exum's advice. We have multiple outlets on three walls. We have eight 20 amp circuits dedicated to the fish room and on the generator system.
View attachment 1468028


We tore down our garage before building our fish room. The floor was poured over the existing old cement floor. The area under the fish tank was reinforced with extra rebar, per our engineer's recommendation.
View attachment 1468029

that’s a lovely looking panel ?

 

[Orthopod]

Fish room build coming along:

updated pics below:

decisions made 8 foot trench drains back center and side

11 foot ceiling with extra thick concrete slab.

still trying to decide stained concrete verses epoxy cover to floor - any thoughts?

First 2 pics are the attachment for the trench drains and 3rd is overall view.

 

[fishguy1978]

I am a professional mechanic and have worked on epoxy coated floors. They are amazing to look at but once you get them wet they become an ice skating rink. I would do stained. My current fish room floor is exposed aggregate and I hate it. Wish I had smooth concrete because I can't find food pellets the drop to the floor but I can walk around on the wet floor and not slip.

 

[SalviniCichlidFan]

Fish room advice

First: Any advice on where to have drains and faucets placed in a fish room - can’t really put this in DIY as I am not doing it myself.

Second: laying concrete this week - any other advice that people have in retrospect after building your fish room would be appreciated.

thanks

the main thing is to put your fish tanks near a water source. It makes water changes so much easier. also put your fish tanks on sturdy ground such as basement or garage.