Fishroom Reality Check

[User]

The build looks awesome chief. Just wondering why the one that i had never gave me babies. LOL And i'm absorbing some knowledge from what i seen from your build and might incorporate in my 200g

It could be that not was too far dead. Mine had a bit of flesh stuck deep in a radial rib valley, about the size of the circle inside this ‘o’. I noticed babies right above that about 6 months later

keep watching- making improvements on 2.0. When I can get time, lol. Highlights include a live food buffet station and a proper mounted apex and dosing station (never got past the planning stages before and always regretted it- but Covid lockdown meant I committed to keeping the girls out of school and I lost all my free time).

 

[drawman]

My very first fungia plate met a cold end after a heater failure in QT 2 years ago- but I put it’s remaining skeleton in the display anyway

today- I counted 28 babies that has come from that one skeleton. Don’t throw away your fungia skeletons people!

I moved a few to the sand lagoon portion of the temporary lowboy holding tank and they fill out nicely

That's awesome!

 

[User]

Ok. So.

had a meeting with our realtor to discuss the steps needed to get the house up to market- and her first concern is that she is super freaked out by the fishroom. Like- it’s going to knock 25k off the price not being able to propose a use for it.

she wants it gone, and with the price of building materials right now, and the fact that it’s constructed of only 3 year old materials- I’m going to break it all down, recover it, and use it in my new fishroom.

so, yeah. Anyone have any links to threads were people TAKE DOWN a fishroom, not build one? Lol

 

[User]

Ok. So.

had a meeting with our realtor to discuss the steps needed to get the house up to market- and her first concern is that she is super freaked out by the fishroom. Like- it’s going to knock 25k off the price not being able to propose a use for it.

she wants it gone, and with the price of building materials right now, and the fact that it’s constructed of only 3 year old materials- I’m going to break it all down, recover it, and use it in my new fishroom.

so, yeah. Anyone have any links to threads were people TAKE DOWN a fishroom, not build one? Lol

@drawman

I’m kinda ok with it. I won’t be there to use it, and the new owners will ask for a price reduction, then rip it out with no concerns about what it means or it’s emotional value.

This way- I need to put work into dismantling it- actually, wife wants me to pay the literal same guys who built the framing, to take it all down- and I get to reuse the panels, the outlets, wiring etc. I can bring the emotional attachment into the new room!

only issue is the epoxy floor. But I put down a fresh 1/4” layer of self level compound as a substrate, and a powered floor scraper should pull it up pretty quick. Then it’s just clean up work. Backbreaking clean up work, but easy.

But the aim is to get the house ready for pictures and listing by the 19th...

 

[Subsea]

Good fortune on your tear down of previous fish room.

Not sure where this fits in your new build and at the risk of unnecessary suggestion, I see one drain of gravity feed going into detritus settling tank. In the event of blockage in that drain line, what stops it from overflowing. It’s the Engineer in me.

 

[User]

Good fortune on your tear down of previous fish room.

Not sure where this fits in your new build and at the risk of unnecessary suggestion, I see one drain of gravity feed going into detritus settling tank. In the event of blockage in that drain line, what stops it from overflowing. It’s the Engineer in me.

The second drain that is still in the white tote on the floor...

that one drain is a full siphon, 1” bulkhead with the valve at half, so about a 1/2” true size

the second backup drain is a full 1.5” unrestricted overflow. I tested this out in my old fishroom and couldn’t flood it using a hose on an outdoor spigot opened up full

appreciate you looking out for me!

you can see the hole here-

 

[Subsea]

Uuuuggghhhjh guys... we just bought a house!

woodworking is my second hobby, just started last year, and I’ve been working in my cramped 11x14 space a few hours a week when the girls nap and I’m not bogged down with chores.

the new house has this-

Now, obviously, because I have kids and a wife that loves me for some reason, most of this space will be turned back into kids recreation area and walkout entertaining pool area.

but we looked over the floor plans and Katie pointed out a really convenient unfinished room that is central and will make for a nice fishroom and water prep area. I’ll need to get creative with rolling carts and a mobile QT station for when I buy new fish and corals- but the benefit is that I can plumb in a shallow mangrove lagoon for the rec area and share the sump. Or a separate small sump if I want to make it self contained for insurance

So I’ll have space for the tanks and a
40% upgrade in shop space (12x14 to 17x17 plus nooks). And an upgrade to a 300g peninsula is also still on the cards

Rest of the house is for the girls

close on December 30th.

EEK

Neil,
You are a hopeless addicted reefer that looks for a new house as a fish room project. Better than that, you have a wife who supports that. It’s a winning combination. Kudos to you.

Prior to moving to Austin, I had a 150G display in my den and a 1500G extended system in 1/2 of two car garage. Also during that time, I gifted my wife with a
30’ by 50’ greenhouse, but she wouldn’t share greenhouse with my reef stuff. She knew I was addicted and would take it over.

 

[User]

Neil,
You are a hopeless addicted reefer that looks for a new house as a fish room project. Better than that, you have a wife who supports that. It’s a winning combination. Kudos to you.

Prior to moving to Austin, I had a 150G display in my den and a 1500G extended system in 1/2 of two car garage. Also during that time, I gifted my wife with a
30’ by 50’ greenhouse, but she wouldn’t share greenhouse with my reef stuff. She knew I was addicted and would take it over.

We have plans for a 350-400g upgrade- but it requires that we remove a wall, shore up the floor, drop a section of the living room ceiling down, move an outside door and window, and extend our elevated deck... what was that you said about addicted?

 

[Subsea]

I may have been doing this longer, but I suspect you may be more intense in your addiction.

 

[User]

I may have been doing this longer, but I suspect you may be more intense in your addiction.

I MISS MY SCIENCE LAB!!!!!!

but it’s also a learning and teaching experience for the kids, and it gets us our scuba fix while we are landlocked (we have 1000 dives in monterey california between us)

 

[Subsea]

The second drain that is still in the white tote on the floor...

that one drain is a full siphon, 1” bulkhead with the valve at half, so about a 1/2” true size

the second backup drain is a full 1.5” unrestricted overflow. I tested this out in my old fishroom and couldn’t flood it using a hose on an outdoor spigot opened up full

appreciate you looking out for me!

you can see the hole here-

why did you choose to split drain between surface skimming and syphon from below surface. As a process engineer and an instrumentation engineer, I would have raised 1 1/2” drain 1” higher and I would have put a high water alarm on that line. With respect to your syphon drain, I would have removed valve as biofouling will require adjustments continually. I see the valve as a weak point in process design.
Please explain T manifold downstream of valve.

 

[User]

why did you choose to split drain between surface skimming and syphon from below surface. As a process engineer and an instrumentation engineer, I would have raised 1 1/2” drain 1” higher and I would have put a high water alarm on that line. With respect to your syphon drain, I would have removed valve as biofouling will require adjustments continually. I see the valve as a weak point in process design.

If I don’t valve it, it outruns the BA siphon coming into the settling tank- also a valved 1”, so it gurgles constantly. So it is valves to balance the incoming.

Interestingly, I know if I have a reduction in flow from the display down the BA, because this drain gurgles and it annoys the patience out of me

I haven’t had to remove biofouling from that valve in 3.5 years. It’s running like a beam animal primary siphon and thousands are using that without need to clean the valves.

As for the other drain- it is purely a safety and is dry most of the time, and works exactly the same as a bean animal third drain in operation. It only gets wet if there is already a problem, and at that point, it’s there to stop the tank flooding over

the top of the standpipe in the second drain is 1/2” below the trim- it doesn’t skim, since it is dry.

 

[Subsea]

I MISS MY SCIENCE LAB!!!!!!

but it’s also a learning and teaching experience for the kids, and it gets us our scuba fix while we are landlocked (we have 1000 dives in monterey california between us)

Monterey Bay and the Aquarium is world class. Twenty years ago, when I was there, I was surrounded by a circular jelly fish display, as if I was in the water. Truely impressive.

 

[User]

Monterey Bay and the Aquarium is world class. Twenty years ago, when I was there, I was surrounded by a circular jelly fish display, as if I was in the water. Truely impressive.

Me and my wife’s first date was a 1.5 hour drive from Stanford to Monterey, whale watching, aquarium and then dinner at the British Pub.

she later told me that that was one of the greatest days of her life and she wanted to ask me to marry her at the end of the date.
Second date was me getting my dive friend to teach her how to scuba dive.

I later told her, that seeing how comfortable in the gear she was and watching her descend below the surface ( of the pool) was when I knew I was going to marry her, lol

 

[User]

Monterey Bay and the Aquarium is world class. Twenty years ago, when I was there, I was surrounded by a circular jelly fish display, as if I was in the water. Truely impressive.

I one found myself completely alone at the start of the deep sea exhibit, where they have a small atrium with the donut tank in the ceiling, filled with sardines (for those that don’t know, Monterey used to be the heart of US sardine harvesting, and the aquarium is located on Cannery Row)- this thing is 30 feet in diameter and the hole is 20. So imagine a donut that’s 5 feet thick , 30 feet diameter.

I just laon the floor beneath it and watched these guys swimming in circles, competing with but helping each other, for what seemed like hours.


It was then I knew my decision to stay in academia was a mistake, lol.

think the only thing that could have made it more clear would have been watching a bucket of crabs, but I’m not very quick with metaphors lol

 

[Subsea]

“WATCHING A BUCKET OF CRABS”

Too much, I am still laughing. I grew up recreationally shrimping & fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. A deck full of crabs brings home a memory from childhood.

 

[User]

Lonely mangroves... move home tomorrow.

 

[User]

Tearing down the electrics in the fishroom, and I just got saved by a freaking breaker and a rubber handle on my cutters

I had branched off the utility sink and water change pump outlet into the sub panel ages ago... but wrote ‘main breaker 20’ on the map. Idiot 1

idiot 2: ALWAYS VERIFY THE OUTLET IS COLD!!!! even if your basement lights are off because they are also on main 20, VERIFY.

uugghh.

may first ever electrics mishap.

oooff!

 

[User]

 

[User]

Today’s progess. I’m getting so bummed thinking of all the effort to build this out only 3 years ago.
Wife says not to worry - “onto bigger and better things”.

i just really, *really* despise waste like this.