Cheilinus' basement pool (and rum bar) build

[markfmvl]

As far as rock on the liner goes, A trick that I learned from studying pond building is to put a sheet of landscape fabric under the rock which will minimize the chance of liner tearing. A cool project!

 

[679x]

Awesome! Some day I want something like this, but not sure how to handle mold/moisture with such a large volume of water.

 

[CoralWealth]

Awesome! Some day I want something like this, but not sure how to handle mold/moisture with such a large volume of water.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I have to run a dehumidifier almost 24/7 in my basement just from my sump turnover (it is like 2,000gph) but can only imagine what this is like and how big your dehumidifier is.

 

[renato120]

This is so cool!

 

[puffy127]

Big fan of your pool/pond. I was following your thread over at RC. Are you posting updates here now?

 

[Boops]

So nice . Don't you think it would be possible to put some easy keeping corals in the pool, like soft corals?

 

[BenitaSolo]

This is amazing! Top down is my favorite view of a tank. This is now up towards the top of my 'when i win the lottery' list...
Few Questions:
Do you know of any other similar setups? I would love to see some.
Have any of the fish died during the scapes and rescapes?
Are you tired or tiring of the top down view?
Is keeping that liner clean a challenge?
How are you heating the system? I imagine that batting doesn't do much with all that water flattening it down.
Thanks!

 

[Shon]

I like that pond liner idea.

I know premo poly-clay is not food safe. My mother used to make doll heads and parts for her crafts with it when she used to do craft shows in South Florida (member of Southern Handcraft Society). She used an oven specifically for it because it shouldn't be used with food. I took a few classes she did to fill the req minimal seating.

Here is a "self image" head I did. lol

 

[Deniss]

That's a sick build mate! Verry nice looking, i like the dock bracing alot.

Some sand on the ground and the party can begin

 

[Jason mack]

Amazing !!!! Brilliant !! And so very cool !!

 

[Grey Guy]

Maybe you have started a new trend in reef keeping. Go for it!

 

[Grey Guy]

All over the country pools and jacuzzis will be converted to reef tanks. "Honey, I've got this great idea. You're going to love it.!"

 

[Greybeard]

You had me at 'Rum bar'

My daughter bought me a tshirt for my birthday this year, says 'I am the reason why the rum is all gone'.

I saw a small, shallow cube, probably 30x30x10", many years ago, with a high hanging pendent over it, stocked with mainly clams and pipefish, sitting low, open top. I've _loved_ top down view ever since. I've envisioned some sort of marine fish pond at some point in time, but never have had the guts to do so.

I could easily put one on my patio, humidity concerns wouldn't be an issue, and the concrete floor would be suitable, but I'd have a fight to keep the temperature stable. The patio isn't really heated or cooled... ranges from 85f to 40f or so in there. I suppose a really good in-line heater and a chiller... probably be cheaper to just heat/cool the patio... but then you've got the humidity issues. Eh, maybe one day.

Beautiful system... keep with the photos!

 

[Lowstorm]

What about jumping fish, any issues? Sand living small fish and the like? Yeah, I want this now!

What kind of wood did you use for the dock? Is it treated with anything in particular? Painted?

 

[Cheilinus]

Very nice! This makes me wish I lived where I could have a basement!

Thank you! I actually built a smaller outdoor in-ground saltwater pond when I lived in South Florida. Different challenges of course, but I think I would trade the basement to live in an area where I could do another outdoor pool build!

Awesome work! Been waiting for your "tank" thread after seeing a couple photos you posted in another thread. Loving the mangrove island

Thanks!! Can't wait for the mangroves to grow up a bit!

Wow! What kinds of fish and inverts do you have in there? So awesome

I'll have to post a current stock list here soon. Aside from hitchhikers that came in with the LR, I'm only keeping fish, at least for now. I did manage to trap (and relocate to the sump) a very large - 3" carapace - stone crab that came with some Aquacultured Florida rock a few months back.

Cool I want to come sit and Drink at your house

C'mon over! Bell's Oberon on tap, and enough rum to sink a pirate ship!

Following along. I have done this same thing with an indoor top down reef and rubbermaids. Great job on the facade! This has been my struggle... what to do to make it presentable, lol. I agree with you on how much less maintenance it is. I used to be OCD about having clean glass. No worries now, I just throw a glove on and rub it off the sides. I enjoy seeing the fish more and not having them hide or get freaked out when you come in to see them. Great job and can't wait to see more!

Nice!! Before I decided on the pool, my original idea was to set up a 300 gallon Rubbermaid. Wasn't sure whether or not I could fit one down my basement steps (measurements were super close). Turned out that it just barely fit. I have a few tubs of various sizes on hand in case of an emergency with the pool. Do you have a build thread or maybe some pics of yours? Love the idea of doing a top-down reef. Couldn't think of a better way to showcase Tridacna clams!

As far as rock on the liner goes, A trick that I learned from studying pond building is to put a sheet of landscape fabric under the rock which will minimize the chance of liner tearing. A cool project!

Thank you for the tip! I'm planning on a small sandy lagoon area raised up near the middle of the pool. I'll have to add some landscape fabric as an underlayment, as whatever container that I decide to use may get a bit heavy, especially being filled with sand/LR.

Big fan of your pool/pond. I was following your thread over at RC. Are you posting updates here now?

Thank you! Yeah, I thought I would do a build/updates over here as well.

So nice . Don't you think it would be possible to put some easy keeping corals in the pool, like soft corals?

I'm going to give it a shot. Once I get the raised shallow mangrove "lagoon" in, I'll try acclimating and adding a couple softie frags from a friend's reef. Just need to come up with a way to do this to keep my non reef safe fish from getting to them. I keep the pool a little on the cool side, so I may be limited when it comes to what corals I can add.

This is amazing! Top down is my favorite view of a tank. This is now up towards the top of my 'when i win the lottery' list...
Few Questions:
Do you know of any other similar setups? I would love to see some.
Have any of the fish died during the scapes and rescapes?
Are you tired or tiring of the top down view?
Is keeping that liner clean a challenge?
How are you heating the system? I imagine that batting doesn't do much with all that water flattening it down.
Thanks!

Thank you! To answer your questions, I did see something similar on youtube using a 300 gallon rubbermaid tub (was actually an inspiration for doing the pool). I've seen a few others online since, but can't say offhand where.

As far as losing fish redoing the 'scapes, Unfortunately I did lose a couple damsels hiding out in small holes in the LR. The re'scaping was done over the course of about 3 years, maybe 6 months apart. I try to be as careful as possible and thoroughly inspect each rock before placing it.

I like that pond liner idea.

I know premo poly-clay is not food safe. My mother used to make doll heads and parts for her crafts with it when she used to do craft shows in South Florida (member of Southern Handcraft Society). She used an oven specifically for it because it shouldn't be used with food. I took a few classes she did to fill the req minimal seating.

Here is a "self image" head I did. lol

Wow! That is incredible!! Polymer clay is not an easy material to work with! I'm very impressed! When I was researching poly clay for aquarium use, I read that certain makers (Fimo being the one that I used) switched to non-toxic, non-petroleum based materials a few years back. When I contacted the manufacturer to confirm, they said that the unsuitability for use in food applications comes from the clay's porosity which gives bacteria places to thrive. Maybe this is why it was so difficult to keep looking clean). They had no information in regards to it's suitability for aquarium applications (of course not... why would they? Lol!), so I had to do some experimenting with a small aquarium and large amounts of clay.

All over the country pools and jacuzzis will be converted to reef tanks. "Honey, I've got this great idea. You're going to love it.!"

Lol!! I think these are the exact words that I used when pitching the idea to my wife!

You had me at 'Rum bar'

My daughter bought me a tshirt for my birthday this year, says 'I am the reason why the rum is all gone'.

I saw a small, shallow cube, probably 30x30x10", many years ago, with a high hanging pendent over it, stocked with mainly clams and pipefish, sitting low, open top. I've _loved_ top down view ever since. I've envisioned some sort of marine fish pond at some point in time, but never have had the guts to do so.

I could easily put one on my patio, humidity concerns wouldn't be an issue, and the concrete floor would be suitable, but I'd have a fight to keep the temperature stable. The patio isn't really heated or cooled... ranges from 85f to 40f or so in there. I suppose a really good in-line heater and a chiller... probably be cheaper to just heat/cool the patio... but then you've got the humidity issues. Eh, maybe one day.

Beautiful system... keep with the photos!

Great to meet another rum guy! I'm trying to put together a somewhat respectable rum collection (have maybe 80 different bottles so far, and have a long way to go), so if you have any recommendations...

The shallow cube sounds like it would be an awesome system! Would love to do something like this myself. I'm in the process of building the bar part of the rum bar, and have thought to build something similar to what you just described into the bar top, so that the top rim of the glass is even with or just slightly above or below the bar top (if that makes sense).

If sinking a pond in ground into your patio is an option (or maybe even an inline, underground reservoir), it may help out with your temperature concerns. I mentioned my outdoor in ground pond in Florida earlier, which really kept a stable temperature. I purchased a chiller for this system, which came on so infrequently that it wasn't really needed.

 

[Cheilinus]

What about jumping fish, any issues? Sand living small fish and the like? Yeah, I want this now!

What kind of wood did you use for the dock? Is it treated with anything in particular? Painted?

I haven't had one single jumper (knock on wood). I only recently removed my pair of California Horn Sharks, which are now in a temporary 650 gallon pool until I can get something built. They would hunt for inverts and the like in the sand bed, so that precluded me from keeping any fish such as smaller wrasse species that like to bury. Every now and then they would uncover a large worm, and slurp it down like spaghetti!

As for the dock, I built a frame from 2x4's attached to 5" round posts. The exposed wood is just "barn wood" planks and shiplap from Home Depot. It's held up very well so far with no treatment.

 

[Cheilinus]

Just pure awesome, do you keep any type of cover over the pool to keep fish from jumping and also what kind of humidity control do you have?

I did build a cover from pvc and mesh to preclude jumpers. I kept it on at night and when I was away for longer periods. Was a bit of a headache to remove/store every night, so I found myself using it less and less. I would say about 2 years ago, I only use it when introducing a new fish until they become settled, and still have not had a jumper. There is about 1' of space between the water's surface and the top of the "dock", plus a good 4" of overhang. I'm sure it can still happen, but so far, so good.

Awesome! Some day I want something like this, but not sure how to handle mold/moisture with such a large volume of water.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I have to run a dehumidifier almost 24/7 in my basement just from my sump turnover (it is like 2,000gph) but can only imagine what this is like and how big your dehumidifier is.

Thought that I'd answer your humidity control questions (or at least try to) in one post

I find that keeping the pool on the cooler end really helps to control the humidity in my basement. I keep the pool at 73 degrees, with the room temperature being very close to this - give or take a little depending on the time of year. I do an extra long quarantine for each new addition, where I'll slowly bring the temp down. Another reason for the extra long QT, is because with such a relatively large system and so many large fish, I have to be overly cautious about the potential to introduce diseases/parasites. I do have tubs/emergency filters and heaters at the ready just incase, but I would really prefer not to have to use them, not to mention that I would have to tear everything apart trying to get them all out.

I also run 2 70 pint dehumidifiers plumbed in so that I don't have to worry about emptying buckets of condensate. One is kept at 50%, which runs for about 15 minutes and shuts off for about 5, pretty much 24 hours per day. The other is on the side of the room furthest from the pool, and is set for 55%. This one comes on for a few minutes fairly infrequently. My energy bills can be a bit high, but IMO still reasonable, and just another expense of being in the hobby. Actually, when I had my 240 gallon SPS dominated reef up and running, my electric bill was a good amount higher.

 

[Cheilinus]

Just wanted to take a second to thank you all again for the compliments! I was hesitant at first to post a build thread of my humble FOWLR after drooling over so many of your incredible reef aquariums on R2R!

 

[Scarybo]

Very cool!!

 

[Labridaedicted]

Wellll.... this is dope..... my wife would definitely not approve