Fish Closet

[Discordian]

Hi all,

I am in the early stages of plotting and planning my first salt water tank. I am an IT guy, love electronics, and enjoy building things. I like designing simple well thought out systems that delight the user and are easy to maintain. I also don't want to over complicate things with expensive components that will wear out, need replacement, or come with functions I would rather build myself. (No Apex controller) I have a KISS mentality and a healthy fear of automaton.

That said one of my goals for this project is an elegant water storage and changing system. When I am done with this build I want to be able to turn a valve or flip a switch to send water down the drain and use another to add fresh saltwater. Space is my primary limitation.

The space we have is next to our stairs so there is space behind the wall and this space is joined with a closet and our laundry room. I have included a picture below. This closet space is great for storing water, and probably some equipment. But once you get too deep into it you are a bit cramped and wouldn't want to spend too much time in there.

So my question for you all is which equipment would you want on the display tank size of the wall as you need to maintain it frequently and what would go on the harder to access side. Would you put everything but the water storage and drainage on the display side? Would you be willing to put a refugium on the far side? Where would you put the skimmer? Thanks for the advice and feedback!

(Tank would go on bottom left of picture)

 

[MERKEY]

Hello and welcome to R2R!

That will be a sweet spot for a tank. I would try to fit everything if possible in the "tank room" . If you need to access things from the from perhaps you could build a nice cabinet doors. This way it could pass through to the room as well.

I'm excited to see you bring this one to life. What are you thinking livestock wise?

 

[dbowman5]

there are a lot of build threads on this site, ideas on them might inspire you. what a great take on our hobby. you will have a lot of fun figuring out how to modify others' ideas!
Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Discordian]

Hello and welcome to R2R!

That will be a sweet spot for a tank. I would try to fit everything if possible in the "tank room" . If you need to access things from the from perhaps you could build a nice cabinet doors. This way it could pass through to the room as well.

I'm excited to see you bring this one to life. What are you thinking livestock wise?

I'm excited to see you bring this one to life. What are you thinking livestock wise?

Thanks! Let's hope it goes well. I really enjoy the lps corals, Acans, lobos, and favia. So most of my plans are around those corals. Fish I'm planing for a utilitarian approach. Wife wants a shrimp. Kids want some nemos. Beyond that we haven't made a specific list yet. Still trying to dial in equipment, budget and tank size. It will be a process and being an IT backend guy I will proabably build it back to front. Meaning the first thing I will install is probably the RODI system, then water storage, then plumbing to and from the tank, the sump, then the tank, rock, cycle, fish, coral. (I will proabably be a year into the hobby before I have any fish. I should probably listen to my front-end IT friends and build it front to back - this might pass as an IT joke)

 

[Discordian]

Ok... I am taking the plunge. True to my word... building back to front. I have 90% of what need to build a saltwater mixing station. It is a pretty cramped space in the closet, where this will live, so I am going to need to be creative. I will not be able to do much PVC gluing in there and will need to assemble it in pieces. I went with some cheap Chinese DC pumps. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me later... I figure when the return pump fails the one on the mixing station will still be good while I wait for a nicer one to arrive. This hobby isn't cheap and it seemed like a decent way to defer some costs. I also went with the cheap schedule 40 valves - pretty sure I will regret that one. I'll share some pictures or a video before I glue to get some feedback. I will also want to ask about ventilation and/or a dehumidifier. But right now I am looking forward to starting the building process.

 

[Discordian]

PS - next post will proabably have a proper title for a build thread.

 

[KWT]

Looks like you have a good start to a very nice project

 

[dbowman5]

you will want the ability to rinse the mixing drums. so think unions vs all glued connections. i have a basement set up and have a dehumidifier available. i turned it on and found 65%. I had been depending on the AC to keep humidity down but with the turning of the season it has not run very much. Enjoy!!

 

[Discordian]

you will want the ability to rinse the mixing drums. so think unions vs all glued connections. i have a basement set up and have a dehumidifier available. i turned it on and found 65%. I had been depending on the AC to keep humidity down but with the turning of the season it has not run very much. Enjoy!!

Thanks for the tips! One of my challenges is space. It will be a bit of a pain to take the RODI water tank out, I think I can get creative with the salt water one and make it pretty easy to take out. How often should I plan on cleaning the RODI water tank?

 

[dbowman5]

Thanks for the tips! One of my challenges is space. It will be a bit of a pain to take the RODI water tank out, I think I can get creative with the salt water one and make it pretty easy to take out. How often should I plan on cleaning the RODI water tank?

i would think that would depend on:
how effective your RODI is,
how much water you make,
how long it sits in the drum,
how much residual water remains in it
how much airborne stuff can fall/get pulled into, the drum
whether it has a light source and whether anything grows in it.
if it is well covered and occasionally flushed out, maybe never.

 

[Discordian]

i would think that would depend on:
how effective your RODI is,
how much water you make,
how long it sits in the drum,
how much residual water remains in it
how much airborne stuff can fall/get pulled into, the drum
whether it has a light source and whether anything grows in it.
if it is well covered and occasionally flushed out, maybe never.

Thanks! That was what I was hoping to hear. There is no light. It is an industrial drum which seals air tight, and our water is pretty clean. So it sounds like it should be possible to take out, but not something I need to plan on doing every 6 months.

 

[revhtree]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family!

 

[Discordian]

So this is the closet my wife said I could convert to a fish "room." Not working with much space, but it is better than nothing. My plan is to put the sump in the front closet. I use an HDPE process tank, from tank depot or elsewhere. It will be is just about the right size to fit in the closet. I'll then get custom HDPE baffles cut at tap plastics to make my chambers. This should give me some good water volume and the ability to customize it just how I want. It will also leave plenty of room for equipment I may want to add down the road. I just need to be sure it wont be too hard to get the barrels out.

Wanted to show off the progress I have made so far on pluming my water mixing station (and document the process for my self).

That back "wall", which is just some siding, is under our stairs. I need to remove it to make room for the other barrel. A drain line will go out the covered "dog door" the previous owners put in, it leads right to a concrete area with a drain.

Salt water will be the barrel closest to the door and I am going to get a nice hazardous waste funnel for the bung whole on the drum so it will be easy air tight storage. The RODI water will be the far barrel that is not in the "room yet."

Do I need to create a closed loop to mix the RODI water or is it sufficient to just be able to flush it? Have I lost my mind? (If I have, who cares I am having fun!)