SeaStar's Fish Room

[seastar]

I am currently using a closet off of my office which has been "ok" as a fish room so far. It's always a bit of a mess. To make matters worse my RODI/salt/buckets/hoses are all in the other side of my house in the garage, which means tons of lugging water back and forth across the house and the Mrs. is never too pleased with the inevitable trail of water droplets that have followed me step for step.

My DT is also located in my office so it would be fantastic to be able to stretch a hose the 10 or so feet from my closet to the tank for water changes. Sadly there isn't a sink in there... YET!

I'm fully committed to the reefing lifestyle at this point, so let's fix that with a proper fish room! I am posting this because I'm hoping it'll keep me motivated as I sink my entire weekend (and then some) into this project.

Current mess (nowhere but up from here right???)

 

[stevo01]

Nice! Please add to this https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-fish-cave-whats-yours-look-like.265095/

 

[seastar]

I started this bad boy last weekend. What a fun project! I will go on the wall that's in the last photo. Luckily right behind that wall is a bathroom + sink (SCORE: Easy plumbing!)

 

[seastar]

Those with a keen eye might say, "But wait! There's carpet in there! That's a disaster waiting to happen!"

To that I say, I couldn't agree more. I am going to be putting some very poor tiling skills to work this weekend and hopefully by the end of it have something decent to set everything on and that won't be a problem for the occasional spill or two. (Wish me luck!)

Note: Lowe's might be a bigger money pit than my LFS... sigh.

 

[seastar]

Alright! UPS man just appeared and dropped off some goodies. Looks like I can work on my plumbing skills now too if I need a break from the tile.

3/4" pvc pipes, connectors and dry pump.

 

[seastar]

Nice! Please add to this https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-fish-cave-whats-yours-look-like.265095/

Will do!!!

 

[stevo01]

Will do!!!

Thanks you very much sir. If you like just post the list to your thread

 

[seastar]

Tile is all in! Now it's time to call an electrician and a plumber for two GFCI outlets and the utility sink. Tiling can burn the house down or flood the entire first floor. Jobs better left to the pros .

 

[stevo01]

Well done!

 

[seastar]

Well done!

Thank ya! What a brutal process, everything from the waist down is basically sore. I have so much respect for tradesmen that do that day in and day out.

 

[ReefTalk]

How many sumps are going to be included there, and if so how are you going to connect them without fear of them spilling if power goes out.

 

[revhtree]

Looking good man!

 

[seastar]

How many sumps are going to be included there, and if so how are you going to connect them without fear of them spilling if power goes out.

I will probably only have one sump on a frag tank. The other tank will be a QT/hospital tank. They are really pricey but look up "wye valves" I have one of those I'll be using on the return line which will limit the amount of water that can return to the sump.

This "fish" room is more my command central for the main DT which is about 10ft away.

 

[seastar]

Looking good man!

Thank you! It's coming along. I LOVE this hobby/lifestyle so so much. I am taking a zero short cuts approach this time around. I considered just painting in there because it's so much easier, but I know I never would have been fully happy.

 

[seastar]

It's been a little while but I have an update to my fish room and I'm finally making water!!!!



I have since:

-re-organized a TON
-had a sink plumbed in (by the pros)
-had two separate GFCI outlets wired in (by the pros)
-plumbed the mixing station (by the rookie - yours truly - zero leaks I might add)
- gotten the RO/DI added and I am now successfully mixing water!

to-do:
I will be replacing the 40g breeder with a tank specifically designer for frags.
I have 30' of tubing on the way so that I can reach my DT for the water changes
I will be plumbing in an inlet right before the pump to suck water out of the DT (hopefully - I have no clue if this will work but it should)

 

[s2nhle]

wow, it looks so clean. Thanks,

 

[revhtree]

Looks great man! I just ordered two of those same 55G storage tanks! I need to make a stand too and now I have your design to go with!

 

[revhtree]

Where did you get your plumbing parts from?

 

[seastar]

Where did you get your plumbing parts from?

http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/ - they got here pretty quickly and were more reasonably priced than local places (not that I could even find most of this stuff locally)

My advice is order a few extras pieces or you'll be doing some "do not do this at home" type stuff to reuse the one's you've messed up on! lol. I have a photo a a flame treatment I did to heat up a few elbows but I wont include them here - don't need people trying to replicate my stupidity!

Did you get you containers at ruralking.com? Even though it was a long wait it ended up being about half the price of anywhere else with their free shipping. It's definitely the way to go!

 

[revhtree]

Thanks for that and yes I did get it from Rural King! How long did it actually take to get to you?