Upgrade to 180 - Time to plan!

[michaelr7170]

This past January, we purchased a new home (very long term home might I add), and luckily for me the basement is unfinished! No surprise to anyone on this forum, the first thing I visioned was where I would set up my tank. I currently have a 90 gallon mixed reef, running for about 1.5 years. I want to go bigger however to a 180, so my plan is to start finishing off my basement while planning around where I will place my future 180 gallon tank. I have attached some photos of the main living area in my basement, where we will set up our lounge area, etc. and of course the big display.

There is a nook approximately 7' deep by 10' wide in the photos I've attached, which looks to be a great area for placing the sump, supplies, etc. Making it into a fish room. My inital thoughts are to frame up and wall in that nook, with a peninsula style tank featured in the middle of the room plumbed through that wall, and an access door of course. I would finish this section off with all moisture resistant drywall, flooring, etc. I live as far east in Canada as you can get, so heat isn't really an issue especially in our basement. I'm not overly concerned about ventilating the area to be honest...

That being said, I'm fairly new to DIY projects so would really love to hear your opinions on these plans, what you would do, etc. as I'm sure there are things I'm missing! Thanks in advance

 

[melev]

Awesome space!

 

[RyanCSGO]

Welcome to R2R!
ooooo looking forward to seeing this come along

 

[michaelr7170]

Thanks guys. I'm very anxious to get started, planning on making a build thread for everyone to follow the progress. Just need to figure out where to start :/... Always the hardest part

Excuse the mess - this is where everything is being stored from the move to the new house. My dog also likes to rip up plastic bags for no reason and leave them scattered around the floor.

 

[michaelr7170]

What are your thoughts on ventilation in that nook if I were to frame it in, and use it as my fish room. I would use moisture/mold resistant material and like I said, heat isn't an issue. Maybe just have a dehumidifier running?

 

[cbear44]

I'm in a similar situation and have a HVAC guy coming just to get his $0.02 (although it's not a new construction). Depends on how many open tanks you are going to have in there. A "consensus" is that a humidity sensing bathroom fan is a good choice.

I'm about to start my build thread and will probably go that route but I'm going to have an open fuge and 150g rubbermaid in there and it's already on the humid side.

 

[michaelr7170]

I plan on having a 40 gallon breeder for a frac tank, and my sump.. But humidity and heat is not an issue in my basement. Look forward to your build - definitely going to sub

 

[michaelr7170]

Anyone have any thoughts on the concept? Would love to hear some lessons learned, ideas, etc of what I can do ahead of time (before I start putting up drywall) to make maintenance easy and to make the build look as clean as possible.

 

[michaelr7170]

Bump - come on folks I know there is a ton of knowledge out there to help with this build!!

 

[melev]

I don't see a floor drain, which would be excellent.

Make sure your walls are wrapped in plastic before the sheetrock as a moisture barrier.

The fishroom needs a vent fan to draw out heat and humidity. Always. Unless it is crazy cold (which I mean 32° or below, then I'd turn off the vent fan at night and turn it back on during the day time.

How are you cooling this room for a decent ambient temperature? 74°ish, or what?

Shelves to put stuff to keep the floors clear, and outlets everywhere. I like some up high for lighting, and others lower for pumps and heaters. Multiple circuits are best, so if one trips the power still runs most of the tank.

Controller? Cameras? Quarantine? Water mixing station? What else do you think you'll be doing? No matter how much space you allocate, you'll usually want more. How about a work station to do water testing, fragging, etc...

 

[michaelr7170]

I agree, unfortunately this will be difficult to do as the concrete is already poured.. I was thinking about plumbing a drain line for water changes through the ceiling joists and connect into one of the drains coming from upstairs.

Thanks, I was just planning on using moisture/mold resistant drywall, but this is a great idea as well - will do

For a vent fan, I wasn't planning on using one originally but after thinking about it I will. I was planning on hooking up a humidity sensing exhaust fan - that should probably do the trick?

I'm planning on getting an electrician in to set up a dedicated circuit for the tank. Will get some additional outlets at that point as well.

I will have an apex controller, 40 gal breeder frag tank, 20 gallon quarantine, and a mixing station. I plan on having the frag plumbed to the main system, and the mixing station plumbed in as well. I will be using a 1200 litre tote, and want to have everything plumbed so that water changes are a breeze.. This will take a bit of thought and planning on the best way to do it. If there is room left over, i'll set up a small table for fragging, etc.

 

[michaelr7170]

I don't see a floor drain, which would be excellent.

Make sure your walls are wrapped in plastic before the sheetrock as a moisture barrier.

The fishroom needs a vent fan to draw out heat and humidity. Always. Unless it is crazy cold (which I mean 32° or below, then I'd turn off the vent fan at night and turn it back on during the day time.

How are you cooling this room for a decent ambient temperature? 74°ish, or what?

Shelves to put stuff to keep the floors clear, and outlets everywhere. I like some up high for lighting, and others lower for pumps and heaters. Multiple circuits are best, so if one trips the power still runs most of the tank.

Controller? Cameras? Quarantine? Water mixing station? What else do you think you'll be doing? No matter how much space you allocate, you'll usually want more. How about a work station to do water testing, fragging, etc...

I agree, unfortunately this will be difficult to do as the concrete is already poured.. I was thinking about plumbing a drain line for water changes through the ceiling joists and connect into one of the drains coming from upstairs.

Thanks, I was just planning on using moisture/mold resistant drywall, but this is a great idea as well - will do

For a vent fan, I wasn't planning on using one originally but after thinking about it I will. I was planning on hooking up a humidity sensing exhaust fan - that should probably do the trick?

I'm planning on getting an electrician in to set up a dedicated circuit for the tank. Will get some additional outlets at that point as well.

I will have an apex controller, 40 gal breeder frag tank, 20 gallon quarantine, and a mixing station. I plan on having the frag plumbed to the main system, and the mixing station plumbed in as well. I will be using a 1200 litre tote, and want to have everything plumbed so that water changes are a breeze.. This will take a bit of thought and planning on the best way to do it. If there is room left over, i'll set up a small table for fragging, etc.

 

[Jimbo662]

Very exciting! I've got a 175g peninsula and that's my main concern when I start looking for a new place. In my last place I converted a bedroom to a fish room and put the tank in the wall into the living room. I got a dehumidifier for the room and it put out way too much heat. I'd definitely go for the humidity controlled fan. One idea I've had is if the new place has a spot to put the tank with a room on the other side of the wall suitable for a fish room I was going to switch out the stand for one that is open underneath to try to open the space up rather than have this large piece of furniture acting as a barrier.

 

[melev]

If you can run a dehudifier (I have one as well), it would be great to have the heat vent out of the room. You can create a niche for it in your new walls, with ducting behind it so the heat has somewhere to travel.

A vent fan is really important. Mine runs all the time. Having it run via a humidistat is a nice option, but make sure you can verify it is running when desired. My vent was a Braun bathroom fan I found at Home Depot that had a very low sones rating, so I can't hear it at all. This was my first vent fan: http://melevsreef.com/node/821

And then later when I rebuilt the room, I got another and this time it is not directly over the tank. Scroll down on this page to see the details: http://melevsreef.com/tanks/fish-room

 

[michaelr7170]

If you can run a dehudifier (I have one as well), it would be great to have the heat vent out of the room. You can create a niche for it in your new walls, with ducting behind it so the heat has somewhere to travel.

A vent fan is really important. Mine runs all the time. Having it run via a humidistat is a nice option, but make sure you can verify it is running when desired. My vent was a Braun bathroom fan I found at Home Depot that had a very low sones rating, so I can't hear it at all. This was my first vent fan: http://melevsreef.com/node/821

And then later when I rebuilt the room, I got another and this time it is not directly over the tank. Scroll down on this page to see the details: http://melevsreef.com/tanks/fish-room

This might be a silly question, but does the exhaust fan NEED to vent to the outside? Or can i have it vent to a large room of the house, such as the main open space in the pics I've attached where the DT will be.

 

[Lynn52]

Better to vent outside. It will make the rest of the house humid.

 

[melev]

Definitely vent it out of the house. Imagine moving humid warm air into another part of the house. You'll see that room begin to deteriorate. Mine goes out the whirley bird on the roof.

 

[michaelr7170]

Question regarding plumbing, the black ABS drains shown in a few of the pics I've attached, each have a Y towards the bottom which looks like an area I can join in with a drain from my display for example. Can anyone confirm this is ok?