Fish Room Suggestions

[Miah2bzy]

For all you guys who have or are currently making a fish room, wanted opinions on must haves, things you'd redo, experiences with humidity/plumbing/etc. I'm planning out a fish room that shares a wall with the living room - the 300 gallon display tank being in the shared wall between the two and then the other space being open for drains, electrical, my 60 frag tank, a sump, refuge, etc. Thinking I'll need a lot of shelving but open to experiences you all have and want to share. Thanks!!!

 

[FinsUp]

Random thoughts (some obvious, some not):

Tile floors that continue up the wall, with a good drain, so that if there's a flood, it doesn't cause a mold/mildew issue. If not tile, something completely impervious to water and easy to clean.
Build a spare return pump into your plumbing, with valves that let you close one off and open the other one. This will let you take one completely offline for repairs if necessary, without your system even noticing.
When doing your plumbing, build it such that you could add on every possible extra gadget, doser, or whatever that's available. If you never do, no harm done, but if you want to add something later and don't have a spot for it, you'll be kicking yourself.
Put electrical as far away from the water as feasible, to avoid disaster from either splashes or evaporation.
Build in your water change station so that your water changes take 10 min, tops, and can be done with the flip of a switch. We used a 55 gal tank for mixing the new water and bringing it up to temp, because the plastic tubs developed weird brown slime.
The long 10-outlet power bars at Lowe's/HD are your friends.
Make a comfortable seating area, so you're more likely to do your testing.
Put in twice as much countertop space as you think you need next to the utility sink, and get a faucet with a sprayer.
A bookcase with plastic bins makes great storage.
Put in lighting that's easy on the eyes but bright enough to see well. This is where you'll be checking digital readouts, doing water testing, etc, and you don't want bad lighting that makes it harder to see things.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Look at Baja mike's thread, Craig's thread and go over to the dark side (reef central) and look at the large tank builds. Plan plan plan. I did mine way too fast and would change just about everything! Visit anyone who will let you. Get doubles of all equipment that may cause catastrophic failure. Make the room comfortable so you want to spend time doing maintenance. Have fun as that's what this is all about.

 

[FinsUp]

Look at Baja mike's thread, Craig's thread and go over to the dark side (reef central) and look at the large tank builds. Plan plan plan. I did mine way too fast and would change just about everything! Visit anyone who will let you. Get doubles of all equipment that may cause catastrophic failure. Make the room comfortable so you want to spend time doing maintenance. Have fun as that's what this is all about.

+100

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

How much room do you have? Is it that back room? You will need an air exchanger of some sort. Over my head though!

 

[FinsUp]

If given half a chance, see Walter White's fish room. It's so perfectly planned and executed that it's not just a fish room. It's a work of art.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

If given half a chance, see Walter White's fish room. It's so perfectly planned and executed that it's not just a fish room. It's a work of art.

Hell yes, I meant to say that!

 

[Miah2bzy]

Thanks Cindy and Mike! I've been tracking with multiple fish room remakes as well as helped Scott chase take down his and got a lot of good ideas they when he was in Loveland.
Exhaust vent was definitely being planned in as was the 10 minute water change (it's all currently in the garage and I hate having to go back and forth so much.
What about breakers and electrical boxes? Should I install a second breaker box in the fish room that taps into the main line or add extras to the current box?

 

[halmus]

There a ton of great suggestions here already. I am personally going to try to use as many of the same type and model of pump possible. That way, I don't have to have a bunch of unique spares on hand.

Some people prefer to have one oversized pump that can run returns, chillers, skimmer, etc.

I prefer to run different pumps to feed different equipment. That way, I can turn off pumps to certain equipment for servicing without taking down everything. It's less efficient, but I am planning on having everything switched from a central location with something like a DJ Power Strip. So, I don't have to chase plug-ins if something needs to be killed quickly. A controller can also accomplish this, but I like a tactile switch when I'm in a hurry rather than pulling up an app to kill a piece of equipment.

I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but I recommend labeling each plug for each piece of electrical equipment. If you end up with a spaghetti pile of wires from poor cable management, you can still identify things without chasing cables.

It was mentioned to have a second identical pump plumbed in as a backup. I think it's a great idea. Personally, I am going to run two smaller return pumps simultaneously rather than one single one all the time. You have some redundancy there and it's unlikely both will die at the same time. That's just my approach, but the general idea is to have no single point of failure.

Easy access to equipment if space allows. If you have to move one thing to get to the equipment behind it or under it, you're less likely to service it when appropriate.

Towel racks. I live with a towel on my shoulder when I'm working on a tank. It's nice to have a place to hang them up or grab them quickly when needed.

 

[ayaws]

I just finished redoing mine again since I tend to learn slowly.

I have a fairly small space but have an ADHI-60 sump with dual return pumps plumbed in. I have a dolphin ampmaster 6250-3 as my main and a crappy BLDC-15 as a backup in case of emergency. (Learned that the hard way.)

Big fan of a larger pump to operate reactors, chillers, etc. Not a fan of multiple pumps since there always seems to be something wrong. That being said, a pump failure can hurt and big pumps are much more expensive! That diamond is nice but was $.

 

[Balz3352]

Pics everyone with one!!!

 

[Miah2bzy]

Pics everyone with one!!!

Bump

 

[static reef]

http://www.thescmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15877
This is my build in the springs. I designed mine to upgrade as I went (as you will see) and for my wife to take care of the system while I am deployed. I just deleted the posts that came up along the way so that it is super easy to read with a ton of pics. Pics are sideways because it wouldnt't let me rotate until I got a new phone. Sorry for the kink in your neck.

Some suggestions from me:
-Incorporate a sink
-Understand what kind of reefer you are. I have seen a ton of people buy a calcium reactor or other high speed expensive equipment and then not use them at all. Are you really going to perform maintenance eveyday? Are you really going to go downstairs and check everything everyday?
-Plan for the future and not for now. Odds are you will end up wishing you had a frag flat and a quarantine set-up
-Don't use typical house lighting in your filtration room. The spectrums will make you hate the corals and nems.
-Flooring and bottom half of walls should be easily cleaned. (I drop water on my floor and don't even clean it up.)
-Anticipate floods and electrical panel overloads.
-Have a backup return pump and an electric resupply in mind (backup generator or battery backups for heaters and powerheads).
-EVERYTHING should be easy to get to.
-Dummy down all of your maintenance process so friends and family can manage for vacations.
-Keep small kids and animals out of your fishroom.
-Incorporate a small fragging/tinkering station with a heavy duty vice clamp.
-Anticipate salt creep and rusting metals (plumbing, tools, steel window frames and light fixtures)
-Think about ventilation and/or a dehumidifier
-Invest in dc pumps and save yourself some coin in the long run
-Hang a tv so you dont get blamed on selective hearing.
-Have a wireless router or relay installed in your filtration room for faster response times and updates from servers (only if you plan on having a controller). (Strongly recommend an apex.)
-Automate or ball/gate valve everything.
-Plan a simplistic top off system.
-Eliminate any possibility of getting on your knees for regular maintenance.
-Leave space between your pvc joints for additions and changes.
-A small freezer/fridge combo is awesome to have.
-Have a trashcan and towel hooks.
-DIY as much as you can. Alot of the hobbiest keep their longevity because livestock stays alive and the pride in their creativity and craftsmanship.

Lastly, take your time. When I plan anything for the system, I research and ask around (like you are doing now) and then go to the drawing board. I place the drawing in the bathroom and leave it there until my next visit. I sharpshoot every negative aspect and then quickly mitigate the problems or redesign. You will know when it will be right.

 

[Balz3352]

[video]http://www.thescmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15877[/video]
This is my build in the springs. I designed mine to upgrade as I went (as you will see) and for my wife to take care of the system while I am deployed. I just deleted the posts that came up along the way so that it is super easy to read with a ton of pics. Pics are sideways because it wouldnt't let me rotate until I got a new phone. Sorry for the kink in your neck.

Some suggestions from me:
-Incorporate a sink
-Understand what kind of reefer you are. I have seen a ton of people buy a calcium reactor or other high speed expensive equipment and then not use them at all. Are you really going to perform maintenance eveyday? Are you really going to go downstairs and check everything everyday?
-Plan for the future and not for now. Odds are you will end up wishing you had a frag flat and a quarantine set-up
-Don't use typical house lighting in your filtration room. The spectrums will make you hate the corals and nems.
-Flooring and bottom half of walls should be easily cleaned. (I drop water on my floor and don't even clean it up.)
-Anticipate floods and electrical panel overloads.
-Have a backup return pump and an electric resupply in mind (backup generator or battery backups for heaters and powerheads).
-EVERYTHING should be easy to get to.
-Dummy down all of your maintenance process so friends and family can manage for vacations.
-Keep small kids and animals out of your fishroom.
-Incorporate a small fragging/tinkering station with a heavy duty vice clamp.
-Anticipate salt creep and rusting metals (plumbing, tools, steel window frames and light fixtures)
-Think about ventilation and/or a dehumidifier
-Invest in dc pumps and save yourself some coin in the long run
-Hang a tv so you dont get blamed on selective hearing.
-Have a wireless router or relay installed in your filtration room for faster response times and updates from servers (only if you plan on having a controller). (Strongly recommend an apex.)
-Automate or ball/gate valve everything.
-Plan a simplistic top off system.
-Eliminate any possibility of getting on your knees for regular maintenance.
-Leave space between your pvc joints for additions and changes.
-A small freezer/fridge combo is awesome to have.
-Have a trashcan and towel hooks.
-DIY as much as you can. Alot of the hobbiest keep their longevity because livestock stays alive and the pride in their creativity and craftsmanship.

Lastly, take your time. When I plan anything for the system, I research and ask around (like you are doing now) and then go to the drawing board. I place the drawing in the bathroom and leave it there until my next visit. I sharpshoot every negative aspect and then quickly mitigate the problems or redesign. You will know when it will be right.

His system is no joke either. Way awesome!