Moving sump to Garage

[pledosophy]

Hello, I am looking to move my sump into my garage. My garage is semi insulated, so I part of the move will be to build a fully enclosed insulated cabinet, with an exhaust fan to help with temperature control.

I am looking for advice on what might be best to build the cabinet out of, whether to just construct it out of plywood, or if I should dry wall it. Maybe another material? My plan as it sits now is to frame it out with 2x4's. Skin the exterior with plywood, then use Formular NGX (pink panther insulation board), then skin the interior with plywood, and paint the whole thing with Killz. I will make doors for the front that should seal, hoping to keep the laundry chemicals or random garage stuff out of the sump.

The anticipated size of the cabinet will be along the lines of 6x6x2. This would give me room for the sump, a shelf with a refugium, and room for other reactors etc so they be needed. The cabinet will be two feet away from a garage sink, so I would be able to pump water change water out straight down the drain. I will put a Brute trash can next to the cabinet to make water in for easy water changes. Potentially set up AWC in the future.

I also plan to keep all of the electronics/Apex under the fish tank in the house with just the necessary cords going through the wall so there is some layer of seperation, and it will free up space in the garage cabinet.

Any input on this before I get started?

We are going on a trip in a couple months, so I would like to get this completed this month, so I have it running for a full month for problems to arise.

I really appreciate your input. I have basic wood working skills and pretty OK fish tank plumbing skills. Not a lot of material experience outside of wood.

 

[Rocks reef]

What you have envisioned sounds good. As long as the plywood is sealed/painted, you will be fine. You already mentioned you will have an exhaust fan as well so humidity should not be a problem.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

Consider the cost of a chiller as I think you may need one

 

[pledosophy]

Consider the cost of a chiller as I think you may need one

I do have a 1/2 HP standing by. I haven't used it with the tank inside, but with the garage setup it is definitely a possibility. I am actually a little more concerned with heating the tank than cooling. We keep the interior of the house at 74-76 on the warmest days here so even in the summer my heaters run. I live close to the ocean and it rarely gets hot, but we do get several weeks a year where the outside air hits 40's. I only heat my house to 69, so it's a bit of a jump. I do have an idea of teeing off my HVAC to go into the garage cabinet. It is on the shared wall above the tank.

 

[cilyjr]

I am about 4 hours north of you in Pismo Beach I live 1 mi from the Pismo Beach access. So never below 40 and never above 75.

I built a shed that houses all of my equipment. It is heavily insulated used foam board as well. I do not have much issue in the winter time. Though my heaters will run. They are usually dormant in the summer. In the winter time they only run at night.

I used FRP board on the inside of the shed just to make it easier to wipe down etc.