Tips for building a aquarium room in my basement.

theMeat

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Just went through this. A sink is a must. And whatever you do, DO NOT attempt to protect the cement floor from water with Thompson's Water Seal. It will not dry and stays very tacky. Thwick thwick thwick as you walk across it.

I pulled my hair out for six weeks trying to get it to dry... I tried everything, including special downward-facing fans etc.

Then I tried to take it up with a belt sander. In the end the only way I could remove it was with mineral spirits scrubbed in with a brush, then mixed into a slurry with Simple Green degreaser and vacuumed up with a wet/dry Shop Vac.
Sorry you had a problem. Sounds like your cement wasn’t fully cured or more likely you put it on too thick and the top dried, which didn’t allow what was under it to dry. Better to do a few light coats with a couple of days dry time in between. Thompson s is pretty much the cheap crap with no radon protection to speak of. Which in PA would think is an issue.
 

theMeat

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I have a pump system in my basement where the washer and toilet pump into the sewer line. I do not dump straight salt water into the pump. It gets mixed with water from the washer or mixed with fresh water. Over my career, I saw bad things happen when salt and metals mingle. I will even go so far as lugging buckets out to the curb and dump salt water in the street. Any gravel or sand in the water goes to the curb. Guess I'm a little paranoid over that. I did Drylock also. While walls are open, are there enough outlets? Salt and concrete don't mix too well.
What’s bad about drylock is that any moisture that comes from outside to in will get trapped and cause what is referred to as explosions. Where some concrete will peal away with the drylock. It’s better to seal from outside, of use a breathable sealer inside.
 

theMeat

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I've been thinking about the possibility of having humidity and co2 issues (2 pilot lights, Furnace, gas dryer and minimal ventilation) and think I may have found a solution to both. This ventilator should help with both issues I'm assuming. It has 2 fan speeds and basically sucks fresh air in as it pushes the old stagnant air out. Anybody have a better solution or any suggestions that would work better? I don't want to have ph issues down there due to excessive co2.

This thing should also be good in the winter time because it somehow heats the fresh air getting sucked in with the old stagnant air being pushed out. No clue how, but as long as it works I won't ask questions lol.

FV-04VE1-3(1).jpg
Thats an hrv or an erv exhaust. What they do is exchange energy/conditioned inside air (heated or cooled) inside the home with the air from outside which saves a bunch of money over time. It also balances the incoming air with out going. Another words a typical exhaust in the basement may start to pull air that is supposed to go outside, as in from furnace or dryer, into the house
 
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theMeat

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Personally if I was doing a basement fish room the first thing I’d do is take out the garden hose. Spray water all around the basement to see where the low spots are. If you have a convenient low spot would put a floor drain in that spot that runs to sump pump basin. Then run your sink to that basin too.
 
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bud_rick

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Personally if I was doing a basement fish room the first thing I’d do is take out the garden hose. Spray water all around the basement to see where the low spots are. If you have a convenient low spot would put a floor drain in that spot that runs to sump pump basin. Then run your sink to that basin too.
That’s a solid idea!
 

theMeat

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A Zoeller sump pump is hands down the best. The only one I’d ever use
 

jmatt

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Sorry you had a problem. Sounds like your cement wasn’t fully cured or more likely you put it on too thick and the top dried, which didn’t allow what was under it to dry. Better to do a few light coats with a couple of days dry time in between. Thompson s is pretty much the cheap crap with no radon protection to speak of. Which in PA would think is an issue.
The cement is 18 years old and I lightly applied the Thompson's with a sprayer not a roller. It was just a bad idea and not really necessary. Lesson learned.
 

theMeat

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The cement is 18 years old and I lightly applied the Thompson's with a sprayer not a roller. It was just a bad idea and not really necessary. Lesson learned.
When it comes to sealers they fall into two categories. Penetrating and film forming. Thompson s is a penetrating with film forming properties. That’s not necessarily a good thing. When applying Thompson you MUST back roll. After you spray you roller it to eliminate pooling and helps to apply it evenly. It’s a good idea to back roll any brand. And I’m sorry you had a problem but it is a good idea to seal, in some way, a concrete floor in a fish room. Thompsons would be my last choice.
Fwiw, even tho you cleaned off the tacky stuff from the surface, and it may not look great, there is still sealer that penetrated the concrete and you’re still somewhat sealed
 
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bud_rick

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Does it make sense to install all gfci outlets in the room? I believe code is every 6' in NY for a finished space. I'm planning on installing 15 gfci outlets on 2 20A breakers (one for each side of the room) 4 1/2' high. My thinking is that if the gfci trips I will only lose 1 outlet instead of half the room. Is this overkill?
 

theMeat

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Does it make sense to install all gfci outlets in the room? I believe code is every 6' in NY for a finished space. I'm planning on installing 15 gfci outlets on 2 20A breakers (one for each side of the room) 4 1/2' high. My thinking is that if the gfci trips I will only lose 1 outlet instead of half the room. Is this overkill?
While there’s no specific limit to how many outlets you can put on a circuit in most locals, a general rule of thumb is 10 outlets per 20a circuit.
Think it’s overkill. Gfci can fail, and with so many you will get failures. Personally would put gfci breakers so that they’re somewhat more protected and less likely to fail. Another preference would be if the whole circuit goes off you’re much more likely to notice it straight away.
 
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bud_rick

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While there’s no specific limit to how many outlets you can put on a circuit in most locals, a general rule of thumb is 10 outlets per 20a circuit.
Think it’s overkill. Gfci can fail, and with so many you will get failures. Personally would put gfci breakers so that they’re somewhat more protected and less likely to fail. Another preference would be if the whole circuit goes off you’re much more likely to notice it straight away.
What worries me is if I lose a whole breaker and I’m not close to home to get everything turned back on.
 

Harpo

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I'm in the same boat. I'm building a new house and my fish room will be in the basement. Water mgt, electrical & venting are things I'm still wrestling with. Agreed no salt water into the sump. I'm considering running it out to a french drain.
 

dennis romano

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What worries me is if I lose a whole breaker and I’m not close to home to get everything turned back on.
Lets say that you have a series of five outlets. You put the GFI closest to the circuit panel. This will protect all of the four outlets downstream of the GFI. If you have five outlets, and you make them all GFI, if the second trips, all of the other GFIs will shut down because they are downstream of the original that tripped. Number one is the only one that will be live. If you have a series of five outlets and you put the GFI farthest from the breaker box, the four closest to the box are NOT protected. Hope this helps.
 

theMeat

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Lets say that you have a series of five outlets. You put the GFI closest to the circuit panel. This will protect all of the four outlets downstream of the GFI. If you have five outlets, and you make them all GFI, if the second trips, all of the other GFIs will shut down because they are downstream of the original that tripped. Number one is the only one that will be live. If you have a series of five outlets and you put the GFI farthest from the breaker box, the four closest to the box are NOT protected. Hope this helps.
It doesn’t have to work that way. If the next outlet isn’t connected to load on the gfci, instead connected directly to power as the first one is, then each gfci works independently
 

dennis romano

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It doesn’t have to work that way. If the next outlet isn’t connected to load on the gfci, instead connected directly to power as the first one is, then each gfci works independently
True. Will a novice know how to do this though?
 

theMeat

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True. Will a novice know how to do this though?
Would hope so. As long as nothing is connected to load side of any gfci, which is covered with yellow sticker, and instead connects each gfci at the line side, it will be as he described. Anything connected to load side will trip with any said gfci
 
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bud_rick

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It doesn’t have to work that way. If the next outlet isn’t connected to load on the gfci, instead connected directly to power as the first one is, then each gfci works independently
Correct. This is how all 15 of my gfci outlets are getting wired. My biggest worry is losing half my room because the 1st gfci in the circuit got tripped, which is also why I am not depending on a gfci breaker.
 
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bud_rick

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True. Will a novice know how to do this though?
I'd prefer for my house not to burn down so I have an electrician doing the wiring lol. He gave me a few different options on how these outlets can be done and left it up to me to figure out what works best for the situation.
 
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