Equipment Rooms, Closets and Spaces....You know you want one!

It is a reefers dream to have a dedicated "room" or "space" for all the aquarium gear!

  • TRUE

    Votes: 1,099 94.5%
  • FALSE

    Votes: 64 5.5%

  • Total voters
    1,163

revhtree

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I am pretty confident in what I am about to say and if I am wrong let me know. Here goes. It is a reefers dream to have a dedicated "room" or "space" for all the aquarium gear!

So how did I do? Yes or no? VOTE in the poll above! Anyway let's talk about it.

If you don't have a dedicated equipment room you'll want to stay tuned in!

So for me, on my latest dream build, a room behind my tank for the sump, equipment and more was a must. I had never had a dedicated space and I was finally going to get it done. But how do I do it and where do I start? Seems pretty simple until you really start getting into the details. I mean if you're going to put this much time, money and effort into something like this you don't want to make mistakes. But mistakes will be made!

Side note I'll be on a LIVE broadcast with Ryan of BRS in Minnesota coming up on Sept. 19th talking about some of this stuff!

For me I really "leaned" on information I could find here and the answers I got as the build progressed. As I gathered info I would formulate a plan and relay that to whoever needed to know! In the first phase it was the contractors who we're building in the room in the basement behind where the tank was going to be placed. But as I went along and finished certain phases I realized that I missed something or I messed something up. Educating myself and researching sure mitigated a lot of problems but inevitably there were going to be mistakes.

This is where you come in to either help educate others or learn for yourself. So I really want to hear from all of you that do have these dedicated spaces. Here goes the question.

What are some mistakes you made or things you wish you would have done when building in your dedicated tank room?

BONUS: Let's see your equipment rooms!


This was shortly after I got the tank set up and most everything done. Some things have changed and some things are still glaring at me in the photo. I'll post some of my mistakes as we go along!
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Crabs McJones

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We moved recently, and the best part is there is a room in the basement I have deemed my fish room. My RO/DI, saltwater mixing station, dosing chemicals, test kits, filter socks and other equipment is in this room. I absolutely LOVE IT!

And how do I get one of those AWESOME R2R Controller mounting boards??!!
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Daniel@R2R

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I think it's my wife's dream too. ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious
 

Auquanut

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Oh. That is just a tease! I actually have my shop behind the wall where my 125 sits. I've been threatening to wall off the portion of the shop behind the tank for an equipment room. Maybe this is the incentive I need.
 

JCOLE

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I have my 150 plumbed into my garage. I have always dreamed of a room and it finally came true in January of this year. This isnt the whole setup. I have a mixing and testing station to the right. This is a screenshot I took of a live camera feed I have on the equipment. I know, obsessed much??

Screenshot_20190905-190654_DW Spectrum.jpg
 

Chessmanmark

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I have my main display tank in my home office, but what I don’t have is this dedicated room behind the tank. That would be a godsend.

I have seen many builds, mostly in reefers basements, that had this space for equipment and a water station behind the tank. One reefer I know built a wall closing off his dining room to have an “in wall” build with an equipment room behind it.
I also have seen builds where people keep their display on the main floor with a sump in the basement.

I explained this to a friend who immediately proceeded to plumb a basement sump for his 180 that was on the main floor. A few months later he showed me how that created problems with his furnace. His copper pipes were all rusted.

I have considered drilling a hole in my tank room and plumbing my display to a large sump in the unfinished basement, but I worry about ruining my furnace. I need to install an exhaust fan and the idea is a little intimidating.
 

Falco

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I got back into this obsession last year after taking a 10+ year break from my last tank. The only way I was doing this build was if I had a dedicated tank room. After A LOT of planning and spending countless hours on R2R looking at members builds I started to work. I am a contractor so I was able to do 90% of this myself but I definitely learned a few things along the way.

Room1P.jpeg
Room2P.jpeg
Room6P.jpeg
Room7P.jpeg
 

its.jojo

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My new display is about 37”x37” with a 39”x40” stand. All my water storage is hidden under some cabinets right here in my office. (I keep the tank here at work and store about 130 gallons)

I feel like I have plenty of space under the stand and the cabinets. But wish I had a fish room just so I wouldn’t have to bed down to get in the sump.
 

andyg1960

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No equipment room here. No basement, and on the other side of the tank is outside... water mixing station, RODI, etc., in garage but that’s not an adjacent area.
 

vetteguy53081

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I got back into this obsession last year after taking a 10+ year break from my last tank. The only way I was doing this build was if I had a dedicated tank room. After A LOT of planning and spending countless hours on R2R looking at members builds I started to work. I am a contractor so I was able to do 90% of this myself but I definitely learned a few things along the way.

Room1P.jpeg
Room2P.jpeg
Room6P.jpeg
Room7P.jpeg
WOW
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 69 37.5%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 62 33.7%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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