Ideas for building a fish shed

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
S

shelferich

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 11, 2006
55
0
0
Magna, Utah
I am considering building a shed in my back yard to house my fish. I live in Utah, in the summer it gets up to 100 degrees and in the winter it drops down to 10 degrees. So the shed would have to we well insulated which isn't too big of a problem considering I've read other threads and it seems to work for them. I'm thinking of just using the rigid styrofoam and then a space heater to try and maintain 80 degrees so I don't need to use tank heaters. I plan on running cold water and electrical out to the shed and using air driven sponge filters on most of the tanks.

Do you think I need to worry about cooling or if it is insulated enough it will keep the heat out? My house is insulated and if we leave the windows shut and the swamp cooler off all day when it is 90+ degrees outside it will get up into the high 80's easily. If I do need to cool it, it would have to be a small AC unit I suppose. I've never seen a swamp cooler with a thermostat, its either on or off. Hard to maintain a constant temp that way.

What is a decent size for a fish shed? I'm wanting room to put a few bigger tanks like my 125 and then room to put a bunch of 10s, 20s, 29s etc. Having space to build an indoor pond would be nice too. However I'm not made of money and would rather have a small 8x10 shed than nothing at all. I can get an 8x10 shed installed for about $2k. How much would I save by building it myself?

Is a wood shed better, or would building one out of cinderblocks be better? I'm not sure if I want to try and build this myself from the ground up or just buy a pre-fab shed and start with that. I would imagine that a cinderblock shed would last longer due to the fact it won't rot. Most builds I see on here people use wood. I don't know anything about building with cinderblocks, they seem cheap. Do you just mortar them together and fill the insides with concrete or what? How many blocks would I need? I'm terrible with math.

Thanks for any input
 
Just did a little figuring and I came up with 352 blocks (8x8x16) to build a 10x10 building 7 feet tall, at $1.84 a block thats only $650. Sounds cheaper than a pre-fab shed. I would still need to factor in the concrete for the floor and mortar and then the roof and door.
 
I've not done this, but thought about it often. Ideally you would have a steady temp year round. You are going to acheive this better with cinder block (and have far superior moisture resistance). And if possible, dig down a little bit. Even better than insulation is earth surrounding the block. Shouldn't be too much work unless your yard is stone and root. The deeper you can make it, more basement like, the better. You will need pumps for water changes unless you want to haul buckets up a few steps. But if you dig down as far as you can, 3' or so, and insulate the heck out of the ceiling (You can use the dirt dug from the hole to mound up agains the outside of the building to really insulatie it), you will have a very efficient area for temp regulation. Maybe some vents in the eves that you can open in the summer. And a little area beneath dug before you pour the floor to drainage rock and a small drain in a slightly pitched floor if rain manages to pass your bilco door. .....okay.....maybe I am going a little over board,a nd if you're married, forget it!, but when planning, why not?

Above ground with cinder block and then some foam board would be nice in my book. No matter what you do you will probably need some means of cooling. Best to rough out a spot for a standard size ac in the block as you are building just incase thats what you have to do. Good luck!
 
One more thing, Prefab wooden sheds my not have been built to withstand the weight of several aquariums. Wood or block, do go with a slab floor. You will be happy you did.
 
Thanks for the ideas. I think I'm going to attempt something like this next spring: http://www.ta-aquaculture.co.uk/Fish_House.htm

Should be cheaper than buying a shed and trying to convert it to my purpose. The most expensive part of this build is those roof panels, they are like 50 bucks a pop! I figure I'll need 12 of them. I also have no idea what thickness he used, they sell from 1/32 of an inch to 3/8 thick. I want as thin as possible due to the cost but I also don't want them breaking or blowing away. 3/8 thick is 450 each haha
 
what is the most you would spend on this project? sounds like it could get expensive fast ....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom