Hello Everyone,
After 6 LONG years out of the hobby, I am finally getting wet again, exciting to be back, WOW, have things changed!!!
Background: I was in hobby with various tanks for 8 years (2006-2014), had 28gal Biocube with Seahorses and Acan Garden, 40gal Cube Mixed Reef and 70 Gal SPS Dominant...was about to setup 250 gal DD tank, then came a horrible divorce...a few years later, remarried to my amazing best friend and incredible wife, we are currently in the process of designing our dream home, my dream tank is going to be the Focal Point of the game room, and I look forward to all your expert advice on this build thread!!! We are getting close to finalizing the floor plans so I am in need of expert advice, suggestions...Thank you all in advance for your views, thoughts and expertise!
As you can see in the plans, I am planning a two-side viewable in-wall build, starfire front and side viewing panel, tank is currently 60" long X 30" deep, haven't decided on height, but probably in the 28-30" range. The fish room is 3' wide X 9' long. I could probably widen the fish room to 4' if experts think it is necessary for more space.
The fish room will include a utility sink in the corner for cleaning and rinsing equipment, etc...I will have shelves above the sink for chemicals, additives, food, etc...CAN I tie the drain for water changes (Apex micro water changes) to the sink grey water? We are on city public water supply, my builder was wondering if it was ok to drain saltwater into the plumbing? RO/DI system will be on exterior wall (top of pic) next to the sink station, water line will come from sink plumbing.
I currently do not have a place for quarantine tanks (fish and corals), any thoughts on where to place two 20 gal longs? Should i put them on shelves above the sink since sink area is approx 3' wide? I could put additives/food, etc...in storage below the sink or other place.
I am going to do a concrete floor with drain in middle of open space and a drain under tank, is this overkill? Do I need just one drain in middle of floor? This drain will simply drain out in the yard through exterior wall in event of emergency. Is there anything else I need to tell builder/architect to prepare for in regards to plumbing?
What are suggestions for walls? I was going to do tile up about 3-4' to prevent walls from getting crappy over time, but do I need to do some other material for all the walls?
For electrical, I am going to have a designated GFI circuit for fish room, what are suggestions on how many and where to place outlets?
I am planning to place the sump underneath the aquarium (was a huge fan of LifeReef equipment back in the day), sump will be easily accessible in the fish room, and plan to put majority of equipment underneath aquarium, and controllers (Apex and Vortechs) mounted on bottom wall in picture. We plan to have carpenter finish out access panels above the front side of tank in game room to access front of tank for cleaning/maintenance.
My plan after visiting LFSs and learning all the new equipment and technology, is to have an APEX system with Triton for dosing, monitoring, timers, controller and automatic water changes. I want to make this system as maintenance free as possible.
For air filtration and cooling, some have suggested that I block the fish room from house HVAC and get a in-room A/C-humidifier, anyone have suggestions/success with this?
Any thoughts on what I am not thinking of?
Again, thank you in advance, I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
TxMaverickMH
After 6 LONG years out of the hobby, I am finally getting wet again, exciting to be back, WOW, have things changed!!!
Background: I was in hobby with various tanks for 8 years (2006-2014), had 28gal Biocube with Seahorses and Acan Garden, 40gal Cube Mixed Reef and 70 Gal SPS Dominant...was about to setup 250 gal DD tank, then came a horrible divorce...a few years later, remarried to my amazing best friend and incredible wife, we are currently in the process of designing our dream home, my dream tank is going to be the Focal Point of the game room, and I look forward to all your expert advice on this build thread!!! We are getting close to finalizing the floor plans so I am in need of expert advice, suggestions...Thank you all in advance for your views, thoughts and expertise!
As you can see in the plans, I am planning a two-side viewable in-wall build, starfire front and side viewing panel, tank is currently 60" long X 30" deep, haven't decided on height, but probably in the 28-30" range. The fish room is 3' wide X 9' long. I could probably widen the fish room to 4' if experts think it is necessary for more space.
The fish room will include a utility sink in the corner for cleaning and rinsing equipment, etc...I will have shelves above the sink for chemicals, additives, food, etc...CAN I tie the drain for water changes (Apex micro water changes) to the sink grey water? We are on city public water supply, my builder was wondering if it was ok to drain saltwater into the plumbing? RO/DI system will be on exterior wall (top of pic) next to the sink station, water line will come from sink plumbing.
I currently do not have a place for quarantine tanks (fish and corals), any thoughts on where to place two 20 gal longs? Should i put them on shelves above the sink since sink area is approx 3' wide? I could put additives/food, etc...in storage below the sink or other place.
I am going to do a concrete floor with drain in middle of open space and a drain under tank, is this overkill? Do I need just one drain in middle of floor? This drain will simply drain out in the yard through exterior wall in event of emergency. Is there anything else I need to tell builder/architect to prepare for in regards to plumbing?
What are suggestions for walls? I was going to do tile up about 3-4' to prevent walls from getting crappy over time, but do I need to do some other material for all the walls?
For electrical, I am going to have a designated GFI circuit for fish room, what are suggestions on how many and where to place outlets?
I am planning to place the sump underneath the aquarium (was a huge fan of LifeReef equipment back in the day), sump will be easily accessible in the fish room, and plan to put majority of equipment underneath aquarium, and controllers (Apex and Vortechs) mounted on bottom wall in picture. We plan to have carpenter finish out access panels above the front side of tank in game room to access front of tank for cleaning/maintenance.
My plan after visiting LFSs and learning all the new equipment and technology, is to have an APEX system with Triton for dosing, monitoring, timers, controller and automatic water changes. I want to make this system as maintenance free as possible.
For air filtration and cooling, some have suggested that I block the fish room from house HVAC and get a in-room A/C-humidifier, anyone have suggestions/success with this?
Any thoughts on what I am not thinking of?
Again, thank you in advance, I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
TxMaverickMH