I think that documenting my tank's progression will make me a better reefer, and I've been bad about taking progress pictures and reflecting on my mistakes, so here goes.
I see a lot of build threads where people have seemingly unlimited resources, are effortlessly perfect DIYers, and never make mistakes. Rest assured, this thread will not be like those.
I'm located in Vermont, and while the freshwater club here is very active and has a number of top tier hobbyists, the local salt water world is very lacking. I suspect this is due to a combination of local fish stores charging double online prices and the low median income in this area.
Here's where we're going:
Our story begins in 2013 or so. I had been living in a condo previously, but after some unfortunate water-related incidents, complaints from the downstairs neighbor, a drywall repair bill of $1500, and several very nasty emails from the condo association, it became clear that I was simply too, oh, let's say, "eccentric" to continue living in a condo. But that is a story for another time, for now, on with the build thread.
I had two requirements for a house:
1. No HOAs
2. A basement that could be turned into a proper dedicated fish room
After touring several homes, I added two additional requirements to my list:
3. If the house is a foreclosure, I will not forgo the home inspection, thankyouverymuch
4. If the joists have fire damage, and rather than repairing them you painted over them, I will not go in the basement
And after 6 months of looking, I finally I closed on a house in 2014. It met all my requirements, but most excitingly, the house's previous owners left the basement a real mess, perfect for my fish room! This is the spot where the reef tank will eventually sit. The dangling electrical wires will all be replaced, a lot of them had ripped insulation and, even in the hypothetical world where code allows dangling junction boxes, were not even close to code.
The basement was partially finished, but had clearly been water damaged. There was some 70's fiber board and old 2x3 studs which I ripped out.
Above is the exact spot where the reef tank will go. The horizontal line is efflorescence, water wicking through the cement blocks. I took two steps to remediate this - first, I painted the basement with drylok (next picture), which did absolutely nothing, and second, I re-graded the soil away from the house, which completely solved the issue.
Dry-lok on the walls, 4" polyisocyanurate insulation with Great Stuff expanding foam between the boards. I spent a total of $1500 insulating the basement, and the project reduced my heating bills by about $1400 per year. Insulation: highly recommended. Despite applying the drylok to the manufacturer's instructions, there were several places where I found water on the floor after rain. Drylok: not recommended.
One thing that I wish I had done differently here is to raise up the insulation about an inch off the floor. The 2x4s that contact the concrete are all pressure treated, but when things get wet, the bottom of the polyiso is sitting in water. I did rip out some drywall a couple years ago to see if it was molding and it was fine, but still, it would have been so easy to do when this was going in.
New electrical wires in, new studs on the walls, soffit built, and insulation between the ceiling joists.
I hate how messy these picture are, but they are unfortunately a reflection of how I work. I saved almost $100 by not removing any trash until nearly the end of the project, which is nowhere near enough to cover the hassle of navigating around a huge pile of trash. Not the first time I have been cheap to a fault.
Drywall in and mudded, the ceiling is even pained in this pic. The greenboard drywall is mold resistant, which I felt was worth the 20% premium it cost. I would later go on to test its mold resistance by letting the bottom of it sit in water for extended periods of time.
Painted! I don't know what the ladder was doing here, it's not like I need it to reach the 7' ceiling. Perhaps I just wanted more trip hazards.
This is the spot where the reef will ultimately go. The two PVC pipes going through the wall lead out into the back yard, and the ends are capped and the wall around them sealed. At one point, I had debated putting a pond it and they would have allowed me to connect it to my fish room. I had someone come out to put in a basement bulkhead and had him drill those holes. It bugs me a bit that they aren't at the same level, but it's not like I haven't half-arsed stuff before... The PVC at the bottom right of the pic is the air line for my fish room's central air system, a linear piston air pump moves air in, and the PVC runs around the walls bringing air to my sponge filters.
I did cut the cement with a diamond saw and put in a number of drains. I don't seem to have any pics of the process, sadly. You can see the drain (PVC in the floor) and the air admittance valve next to it in the bottom right of the above pic.
One of my regrets is not putting in a proper floor drain, but as my system has gotten better dialed in and I spill less water on the floor, it's become less of an issue.
The fish room doubles as a computer room. The reef is just visible on the left. I still haven't put flooring on the stairs in this pic. I don't ever remember this room being so clean.
Here's the freshwater side of the fish room. You can see the dehumidifier in the corner, this ultimately was too expensive to run (despite being a high efficiency unit) and I installed a bathroom fan that pulls air continuously out of the fish room. I only run the dehumidifier when it's below zero outside.
I see a lot of build threads where people have seemingly unlimited resources, are effortlessly perfect DIYers, and never make mistakes. Rest assured, this thread will not be like those.
I'm located in Vermont, and while the freshwater club here is very active and has a number of top tier hobbyists, the local salt water world is very lacking. I suspect this is due to a combination of local fish stores charging double online prices and the low median income in this area.
Here's where we're going:
Our story begins in 2013 or so. I had been living in a condo previously, but after some unfortunate water-related incidents, complaints from the downstairs neighbor, a drywall repair bill of $1500, and several very nasty emails from the condo association, it became clear that I was simply too, oh, let's say, "eccentric" to continue living in a condo. But that is a story for another time, for now, on with the build thread.
I had two requirements for a house:
1. No HOAs
2. A basement that could be turned into a proper dedicated fish room
After touring several homes, I added two additional requirements to my list:
3. If the house is a foreclosure, I will not forgo the home inspection, thankyouverymuch
4. If the joists have fire damage, and rather than repairing them you painted over them, I will not go in the basement
And after 6 months of looking, I finally I closed on a house in 2014. It met all my requirements, but most excitingly, the house's previous owners left the basement a real mess, perfect for my fish room! This is the spot where the reef tank will eventually sit. The dangling electrical wires will all be replaced, a lot of them had ripped insulation and, even in the hypothetical world where code allows dangling junction boxes, were not even close to code.
The basement was partially finished, but had clearly been water damaged. There was some 70's fiber board and old 2x3 studs which I ripped out.
Above is the exact spot where the reef tank will go. The horizontal line is efflorescence, water wicking through the cement blocks. I took two steps to remediate this - first, I painted the basement with drylok (next picture), which did absolutely nothing, and second, I re-graded the soil away from the house, which completely solved the issue.
Dry-lok on the walls, 4" polyisocyanurate insulation with Great Stuff expanding foam between the boards. I spent a total of $1500 insulating the basement, and the project reduced my heating bills by about $1400 per year. Insulation: highly recommended. Despite applying the drylok to the manufacturer's instructions, there were several places where I found water on the floor after rain. Drylok: not recommended.
One thing that I wish I had done differently here is to raise up the insulation about an inch off the floor. The 2x4s that contact the concrete are all pressure treated, but when things get wet, the bottom of the polyiso is sitting in water. I did rip out some drywall a couple years ago to see if it was molding and it was fine, but still, it would have been so easy to do when this was going in.
New electrical wires in, new studs on the walls, soffit built, and insulation between the ceiling joists.
I hate how messy these picture are, but they are unfortunately a reflection of how I work. I saved almost $100 by not removing any trash until nearly the end of the project, which is nowhere near enough to cover the hassle of navigating around a huge pile of trash. Not the first time I have been cheap to a fault.
Drywall in and mudded, the ceiling is even pained in this pic. The greenboard drywall is mold resistant, which I felt was worth the 20% premium it cost. I would later go on to test its mold resistance by letting the bottom of it sit in water for extended periods of time.
Painted! I don't know what the ladder was doing here, it's not like I need it to reach the 7' ceiling. Perhaps I just wanted more trip hazards.
This is the spot where the reef will ultimately go. The two PVC pipes going through the wall lead out into the back yard, and the ends are capped and the wall around them sealed. At one point, I had debated putting a pond it and they would have allowed me to connect it to my fish room. I had someone come out to put in a basement bulkhead and had him drill those holes. It bugs me a bit that they aren't at the same level, but it's not like I haven't half-arsed stuff before... The PVC at the bottom right of the pic is the air line for my fish room's central air system, a linear piston air pump moves air in, and the PVC runs around the walls bringing air to my sponge filters.
I did cut the cement with a diamond saw and put in a number of drains. I don't seem to have any pics of the process, sadly. You can see the drain (PVC in the floor) and the air admittance valve next to it in the bottom right of the above pic.
One of my regrets is not putting in a proper floor drain, but as my system has gotten better dialed in and I spill less water on the floor, it's become less of an issue.
The fish room doubles as a computer room. The reef is just visible on the left. I still haven't put flooring on the stairs in this pic. I don't ever remember this room being so clean.
Here's the freshwater side of the fish room. You can see the dehumidifier in the corner, this ultimately was too expensive to run (despite being a high efficiency unit) and I installed a bathroom fan that pulls air continuously out of the fish room. I only run the dehumidifier when it's below zero outside.
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