5ft of questionable decisions....
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Knology
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Hey! I did a thing! I built a wall....
So, this will be the fish room. The reef tank is just above the room against the wall with the staircase. Lines will come down the right side and routed to the sump. At this point, I'm leaning towards a 75g tank as I already have the baffles to make one into a sump.
I'm having my wife go out today to grab some 55g water barrels I found for $3 a pop. I want to stage the barrels under the stairs to see how I can design a water storage and saltwater mix station out of the way and under the staircase. I figure 110g of each RO/DI and Premix saltwater is a good number. Plus $12 for all 4 barrels is far more agreeable than the cost of a 100g+ water tank.
Sorry I have been out for so long. We have been working with some other projects and I was doing a lot of work on a car I picked up for myself. Now I'm back to trying to spend a couple hundred a month on getting this rolling.
The "room" is 9.5ft x 5.5ft. It will be part of a larger utility room but I think I want to enclose the fish room on it's own within the larger utility room. That way I can keep the room removed from contaminants. The other side of the utility room I will most likely use for indoor projects. Like finishing furniture, small projects, storage. Stuff not to be next to circulating water. Plus, it'll keep it away from the HVAC. I'll just run a powered vent fan to pull air out of the room and have a vent, with a filter, than allows air to flow in. There will be no real reason to have AC in there. It's always cool down there.
More to come on the design of the fish room. My goal is to have it enclosed and the pipes ran down to the room by mid Sept.
So, this will be the fish room. The reef tank is just above the room against the wall with the staircase. Lines will come down the right side and routed to the sump. At this point, I'm leaning towards a 75g tank as I already have the baffles to make one into a sump.
I'm having my wife go out today to grab some 55g water barrels I found for $3 a pop. I want to stage the barrels under the stairs to see how I can design a water storage and saltwater mix station out of the way and under the staircase. I figure 110g of each RO/DI and Premix saltwater is a good number. Plus $12 for all 4 barrels is far more agreeable than the cost of a 100g+ water tank.
Sorry I have been out for so long. We have been working with some other projects and I was doing a lot of work on a car I picked up for myself. Now I'm back to trying to spend a couple hundred a month on getting this rolling.
The "room" is 9.5ft x 5.5ft. It will be part of a larger utility room but I think I want to enclose the fish room on it's own within the larger utility room. That way I can keep the room removed from contaminants. The other side of the utility room I will most likely use for indoor projects. Like finishing furniture, small projects, storage. Stuff not to be next to circulating water. Plus, it'll keep it away from the HVAC. I'll just run a powered vent fan to pull air out of the room and have a vent, with a filter, than allows air to flow in. There will be no real reason to have AC in there. It's always cool down there.
More to come on the design of the fish room. My goal is to have it enclosed and the pipes ran down to the room by mid Sept.
Last edited:
Looking good.Hey! I did a thing! I built a wall....
So, this will be the fish room. The reef tank is just above the room against the wall with the staircase. Lines will come down the right side and routed to the sump. At this point, I'm leaning towards a 75g tank as I already have the baffles to make one into a sump.
I'm having my wife go out today to grab some 55g water barrels I found for $3 a pop. I want to stage the barrels under the stairs to see how I can design a water storage and saltwater mix station out of the way and under the staircase. I figure 110g of each RO/DI and Premix saltwater is a good number. Plus $12 for all 4 barrels is far more agreeable than the cost of a 100g+ water tank.
Sorry I have been out for so long. We have been working with some other projects and I was doing a lot of work on a car I picked up for myself. Now I'm back to trying to spend a couple hundred a month on getting this rolling.
The "room" is 9.5ft x 5.5ft. It will be part of a larger utility room but I think I want to enclose the fish room on it's own within the larger utility room. That way I can keep the room removed from contaminants. The other side of the utility room I will most likely use for indoor projects. Like finishing furniture, small projects, storage. Stuff not to be next to circulating water. Plus, it'll keep it away from the HVAC. I'll just run a powered vent fan to pull air out of the room and have a vent, with a filter, than allows air to flow in. There will be no real reason to have AC in there. It's always cool down there.
More to come on the design of the fish room. My goal is to have it enclosed and the pipes ran down to the room by mid Sept.
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Knology
Active Member
So, this will be the new layout of the basement.
I realized my original plan for the reef equipment room may have been too small or the added utility/workshop room next to it would be too large in comparison. So, I decided to just make the entire utility space for the reef tank equipment and I will add more utility to my garage for workshop projects.
The reef/utility room will be completed first. Over the next few weeks I am going to get the remaining walls for the utility room up and put in the guest room closet door as well as the utility room door which will be on the side of the office. Then the walls will be 1/2 plywood. I figure this is appropriate for a utility space vs a finished room. Also, it leaves me the ability to mount anything to a wall, anywhere, without worrying about constantly anchoring into drywall. Of course, we will seal the plywood with exterior paint and make the room look good. Also, I may go ahead and just put in a dropped ceiling in this space as it would hide piping and allow me a flexible space to add ventilation to the outside of the house. I figure a good utility/storage room will one day be a selling point on the house. Plus, this new layout adds and office, rec room, guest room, and family room. All solid additions to a house.
I'm going to enclose the new HVAC system and water heater in the surround that used to be there, just slightly larger. It'll reincorporate the vented bi-fold doors that used to be there I kept from the demo.
The utility room also has the main circuit panel in it as well. I have found 4 slots that I can decommission and utilize for the reef equipment. 2 are for a range oven we don't have, as we use gas, and one is for a 40A plug in the garage I won't use and I believe isn't wired to the plug correctly anyway.
All in all, I like the new idea. I figure the sump, QT tanks, equip, etc will go in the southern section of the room and the northern section will be water storage, a freezer/fridge, and some shelving.
My next step will be drawing up some plans and seeing how I want to put counter tops/shelving in the equipment area. Then I can design electrical around that.
I realized my original plan for the reef equipment room may have been too small or the added utility/workshop room next to it would be too large in comparison. So, I decided to just make the entire utility space for the reef tank equipment and I will add more utility to my garage for workshop projects.
The reef/utility room will be completed first. Over the next few weeks I am going to get the remaining walls for the utility room up and put in the guest room closet door as well as the utility room door which will be on the side of the office. Then the walls will be 1/2 plywood. I figure this is appropriate for a utility space vs a finished room. Also, it leaves me the ability to mount anything to a wall, anywhere, without worrying about constantly anchoring into drywall. Of course, we will seal the plywood with exterior paint and make the room look good. Also, I may go ahead and just put in a dropped ceiling in this space as it would hide piping and allow me a flexible space to add ventilation to the outside of the house. I figure a good utility/storage room will one day be a selling point on the house. Plus, this new layout adds and office, rec room, guest room, and family room. All solid additions to a house.
I'm going to enclose the new HVAC system and water heater in the surround that used to be there, just slightly larger. It'll reincorporate the vented bi-fold doors that used to be there I kept from the demo.
The utility room also has the main circuit panel in it as well. I have found 4 slots that I can decommission and utilize for the reef equipment. 2 are for a range oven we don't have, as we use gas, and one is for a 40A plug in the garage I won't use and I believe isn't wired to the plug correctly anyway.
All in all, I like the new idea. I figure the sump, QT tanks, equip, etc will go in the southern section of the room and the northern section will be water storage, a freezer/fridge, and some shelving.
My next step will be drawing up some plans and seeing how I want to put counter tops/shelving in the equipment area. Then I can design electrical around that.
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Loving the build so far, everything looks really gorgeous! Looking forward to how the plumbing room turns out.
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Knology
Active Member
So, I have been putting a lot of thought into what kind of sump I want to run. My 40b was way too small, so I'll just turn that past purchase into a QT or something. Add a baffle in the middle and have two 20g spaces? Sounds good. I only paid like $20 for it.
Anyway, I had thought of getting a 125g and turning it into a huge sump but I think that may be a PITA in the long run. Cost of a used one, getting the thing in my basement, and the fact that is is pretty dang long.... Having a fish room is pretty cool, and spacious, but dropping a 72" sump in it may cost me some serious sq. footage.
So, I'm thinking of just getting a 75g, as they are 50% off right now at Petco, and getting this guy I found on eBay to customize a sump baffle kit for me. The below pictures are for a 40g breeder and is kind of a "Triton setup". The 75g version would have two inlets, 3 filter socks, and then I could make the refuguim section large, customize the width of the skimmer section, and call it a day. Adjustable water height. Dual return pumps.
(This is an example of the 40b setup. The baffles would just need to be taller)
$100 for the tank, $150 or so for the baffles, and that would be one heck of a sump when done.
Anyway, I had thought of getting a 125g and turning it into a huge sump but I think that may be a PITA in the long run. Cost of a used one, getting the thing in my basement, and the fact that is is pretty dang long.... Having a fish room is pretty cool, and spacious, but dropping a 72" sump in it may cost me some serious sq. footage.
So, I'm thinking of just getting a 75g, as they are 50% off right now at Petco, and getting this guy I found on eBay to customize a sump baffle kit for me. The below pictures are for a 40g breeder and is kind of a "Triton setup". The 75g version would have two inlets, 3 filter socks, and then I could make the refuguim section large, customize the width of the skimmer section, and call it a day. Adjustable water height. Dual return pumps.
(This is an example of the 40b setup. The baffles would just need to be taller)
$100 for the tank, $150 or so for the baffles, and that would be one heck of a sump when done.
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Knology
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OK, so I guess everything has changed/gone back to the original plan. Surprise....
We have decided to take the tank OUT of the wall in the kitchen and put in BACK in the dining room. The dining room is going to be setup as a room with a few chairs to sit in the bay window, a nice bookshelf, the reef tank, and my wife's piano. A room to enjoy away from the TV and relax. Plus, without direct sunlight on the tank, it gets a ton of natural light most of the day.
The thing is, I was watching an episode of BRSTV that got me thinking. It was about placing a tank in the area it is going to get the most traffic and attention to be appreciated. I realized that was not really the kitchen. That also got me thinking, alongside many other thoughts about how long we will be in this house, that I do not want to be faced with 15 years down the road ripping this tank out to sell the home and then being faced with turning that wall back into a functional are of the kitchen. The truth is, where the tank sits would require us to renovate that area and "finish" the kitchen to market our home when the time comes. That would require blending tile, finishing the ceiling, cabinets, countertops, etc. Long point short, I would have a large area to attempt to "blend" in to a 10 year old kitchen without it looking weird.
I'm also not going to rely on getting the fish tank up an d running based on when the fish room is done. So we have gone back to a more conventional stand and sump setup. This can later be plumbed into a fish room in the basement due to the wall placement of the tank. Also, the better bonus is that the tank will be up and running in the next couple of months instead of 6-9 months waiting on the fish room to be done-ish.
So, I took the old frame I had already made and finally got some trim and paint on it. I still need to design doors and finish it, but this gives you all a good idea of what's next.
We have decided to take the tank OUT of the wall in the kitchen and put in BACK in the dining room. The dining room is going to be setup as a room with a few chairs to sit in the bay window, a nice bookshelf, the reef tank, and my wife's piano. A room to enjoy away from the TV and relax. Plus, without direct sunlight on the tank, it gets a ton of natural light most of the day.
The thing is, I was watching an episode of BRSTV that got me thinking. It was about placing a tank in the area it is going to get the most traffic and attention to be appreciated. I realized that was not really the kitchen. That also got me thinking, alongside many other thoughts about how long we will be in this house, that I do not want to be faced with 15 years down the road ripping this tank out to sell the home and then being faced with turning that wall back into a functional are of the kitchen. The truth is, where the tank sits would require us to renovate that area and "finish" the kitchen to market our home when the time comes. That would require blending tile, finishing the ceiling, cabinets, countertops, etc. Long point short, I would have a large area to attempt to "blend" in to a 10 year old kitchen without it looking weird.
I'm also not going to rely on getting the fish tank up an d running based on when the fish room is done. So we have gone back to a more conventional stand and sump setup. This can later be plumbed into a fish room in the basement due to the wall placement of the tank. Also, the better bonus is that the tank will be up and running in the next couple of months instead of 6-9 months waiting on the fish room to be done-ish.
So, I took the old frame I had already made and finally got some trim and paint on it. I still need to design doors and finish it, but this gives you all a good idea of what's next.
OP
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Knology
Active Member
Hey! I made a thing!
I have had this 40b and baffle kit laying around for almost a year. I figure, in the long run, I'm going to move up to a 4ft/75g sump but this will do for now as it will be quite a long time for the tank to have a high bio load. Honestly, my permanent sump will incorporate a roller mat.
The same guy I got this from actually gave me a 300gpd RO/DI system I need to pull out and clean. I heard that it was from a company that doesn't exist anymore but I need to find out where to replace the filters. Or, if it is even worth replacing the filters if they are no longer easy to come by.
Right now I am playing around with how to finish the return line plumbing, got the back panel painted, and starting to finish up the repairs to the dining room wall so I can paint it.
I think this week I'll go ahead and mock up an inside footprint of the tank and start to play around with some aquascaping.
I have had this 40b and baffle kit laying around for almost a year. I figure, in the long run, I'm going to move up to a 4ft/75g sump but this will do for now as it will be quite a long time for the tank to have a high bio load. Honestly, my permanent sump will incorporate a roller mat.
The same guy I got this from actually gave me a 300gpd RO/DI system I need to pull out and clean. I heard that it was from a company that doesn't exist anymore but I need to find out where to replace the filters. Or, if it is even worth replacing the filters if they are no longer easy to come by.
Right now I am playing around with how to finish the return line plumbing, got the back panel painted, and starting to finish up the repairs to the dining room wall so I can paint it.
I think this week I'll go ahead and mock up an inside footprint of the tank and start to play around with some aquascaping.
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Hey! I made a thing!
I have had this 40b and baffle kit laying around for almost a year. I figure, in the long run, I'm going to move up to a 4ft/75g sump but this will do for now as it will be quite a long time for the tank to have a high bio load. Honestly, my permanent sump will incorporate a roller mat.
The same guy I got this from actually gave me a 300gpd RO/DI system I need to pull out and clean. I heard that it was from a company that doesn't exist anymore but I need to find out where to replace the filters. Or, if it is even worth replacing the filters if they are no longer easy to come by.
Right now I am playing around with how to finish the return line plumbing, got the back panel painted, and starting to finish up the repairs to the dining room wall so I can paint it.
I think this week I'll go ahead and mock up an inside footprint of the tank and start to play around with some aquascaping.
Regarding the RO system, typically the general setup is the same, and a lot of the filtration equipment is universal. You have your filter, your carbon, your membrane, etc. They're fairly standardized between companies and it's likely that something from somewhere else will fit, even if the original company is now defunct.
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Knology
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^^ I was actually thinking about that last night. The more I look at it, and other systems, I noticed that pretty much all of the canisters seem to be the same but just very in size.
It is a 5 stage and the two main filters are ~3ft long. I could probably replace those with two normal sized canisters from BRS and then put their filters in there.
I go another 40lbs of dry rock in last night. There is a supplier on Amazon that does reef saver/Marco syte rock for around $1 per pound. Now I have about 80lbs of reef saver and several large shelf and pedestal rock. I'll start to play around what what I can do with all of it this weekend.
I'll also order the pump tomorrow so I can finish the tank to sump and return plumbing. I'm probably going to go with a Jebao DCP-8000. That would give me enough to also put a manifold off of it someday.
It is a 5 stage and the two main filters are ~3ft long. I could probably replace those with two normal sized canisters from BRS and then put their filters in there.
I go another 40lbs of dry rock in last night. There is a supplier on Amazon that does reef saver/Marco syte rock for around $1 per pound. Now I have about 80lbs of reef saver and several large shelf and pedestal rock. I'll start to play around what what I can do with all of it this weekend.
I'll also order the pump tomorrow so I can finish the tank to sump and return plumbing. I'm probably going to go with a Jebao DCP-8000. That would give me enough to also put a manifold off of it someday.
Jacked Reefer
Valuable Member
Great thread! Really fun and informational.
But Man, The easiest part of reefing is deciding where to put your tank! Its gonna be fun(ny) to watch you make all the other decisions!
But Man, The easiest part of reefing is deciding where to put your tank! Its gonna be fun(ny) to watch you make all the other decisions!
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Knology
Active Member
The truth is, I was really over-complicating things. I was having a serious issue trying to figure out things I had never done before, which was an enjoyable challenge, but even those DIY projects were mounting to quite the large list to get the tank operational. I had a serious issue trying to figure out how to pull the air out of the canopy down into the basement and then expel all that humid air out of the house. I needed a dedicated circuit, the fish room would not be done for several months, and then I was only 70% in love with where the tank was placed. It really did turn out great but then I was left with the impact it would have when I renovated the kitchen.
So here is my thought process now. Keep things simple. A standalone tank in the dining room that we don't use. I finish the reno on the dining room and it becomes a room with the tank and a nice place to sit or stand and enjoy. It also is in an area where it can really be enjoyed by anyone without having to stand in the kitchen.
Also, this new plan allows me to get the tank up an running much faster. Realistically, this also allows me to decommission the tank a lot easier as well if I decide that it won't work out someday, I upgrade to a larger tank and put it in the basement, or if the tank needs to be moved to accommodate changes.
The trick, in the long run, I'll need to run an auto water change system to the tank in a different way. I do NOT want to do conventional water changes in that room.
So here is my thought process now. Keep things simple. A standalone tank in the dining room that we don't use. I finish the reno on the dining room and it becomes a room with the tank and a nice place to sit or stand and enjoy. It also is in an area where it can really be enjoyed by anyone without having to stand in the kitchen.
Also, this new plan allows me to get the tank up an running much faster. Realistically, this also allows me to decommission the tank a lot easier as well if I decide that it won't work out someday, I upgrade to a larger tank and put it in the basement, or if the tank needs to be moved to accommodate changes.
The trick, in the long run, I'll need to run an auto water change system to the tank in a different way. I do NOT want to do conventional water changes in that room.
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Knology
Active Member
Well, I have been on the hunt for some of the finishing touches and hardware so we can get water in this thing. One of those was deciding on sand, and Petco dropping 46% off Aragonite swung me.
So, this stuff was on sale for $4.89 for 10lbs. That's .49 cents per pound. So, I went to 5 Petco's and wiped out the inventory of the entire west side of Atlanta. 16 bags should do it.
I got half of the plumbing done yesterday and the Jebao pump came in. All I am waiting on now is a 1" check valve and a gate valve to come in to finish that up. Then I can move to finishing that wall the aquarium is on and we can get this thing moved to it's home.
I'm going to tear apart that RO/DI system I have and find out what kind of filters I need to replace or if I need to replace a few parts in it. All I really need now is salt, water storage, the RO/DI up and running, and I'll have what I need to get the tank started.
So, this stuff was on sale for $4.89 for 10lbs. That's .49 cents per pound. So, I went to 5 Petco's and wiped out the inventory of the entire west side of Atlanta. 16 bags should do it.
I got half of the plumbing done yesterday and the Jebao pump came in. All I am waiting on now is a 1" check valve and a gate valve to come in to finish that up. Then I can move to finishing that wall the aquarium is on and we can get this thing moved to it's home.
I'm going to tear apart that RO/DI system I have and find out what kind of filters I need to replace or if I need to replace a few parts in it. All I really need now is salt, water storage, the RO/DI up and running, and I'll have what I need to get the tank started.
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Good lord that's a lot of sand/rock/whatever. Should be enough. Probably. Hope everything else with RO, storage, etc. goes smoothly!
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