Fish room.

cableguy69846

Member
Dec 18, 2011
56
0
6
Chicago, IL. USA
So, I have some plans to start a fish room in my basement this winter. Need to finish clearing it out, and get some lumber, but I am going to do it for sure this time.

I have two stretches of wall that I am going to be using. One is roughly 60" long, give or take a couple of inches. I am thinking a rack that will put two 20long tanks side by side and three high will fit there.

The other wall is roughly 7' of useable space. I want to do two racks that will hold six 10gallon tanks and one 40gallon breeder. I am thinking a row of three 10gallons on the bottom, the 40gallon in the middle and a row of three 10gallon tanks on top.

The 40's will be used for plecos and the 10's for pleco eggs to hatch and as grow out tanks. I can also try my hand at some smaller cories or tetras in the 10's as well. The 20's will be for shrimp and other smallish fish. All will have air powered sponge filters and shop lights. Don't want to mess around with that many power filters. I am planning on a water storage tank of some sort for WC's, and I want to use a central drain system for draining the tanks for WC's. Not going to use an auto fill system though. I want a little more control then that. I am also planning on a separate circuit for all the electrical and I need to add a water line for ease of use. I have some stuff drawn out, but need to get it to the comp, so I will have to post that later on. An RO/DI unit will be later down the road as I need one for the reef tank anyway. I am thinking a 50 gallon drum for the water storage tank, and I can drain all the tanks directly into the floor drain when I do WC's.

My biggest hurdles are going to be stand construction and plumbing. With all the tanks, will 2x4's with dato joints be sufficient? I am thinking something along the lines of this, only on a larger scale.

As for drain plumbing, I was thinking of this plumbing or this plumbing. They are both essentially the same with minor differences. I am thinking of drilling for 1/2" bulkheads about 3/4 of the height of the tank, so when I open the valves, it will auto drain about 20%ish of the water to be refilled. Would that be sufficient? Or should I lower it? Also for the rack that will hold the plecos, I am wondering if I should sump the system or not. Or maybe sump the two 40gallon tanks and just lose the bottom row of 10gallon tanks and put the sump there. I really would rather not do that though, and think it will be more cost effective to have sponge filters.

Thoughts or ideas? Pictures of your setups? Advice or criticisms? Let me know. I will try to get some pics up of my idea so you can better see it.
 

cableguy69846

Member
Dec 18, 2011
56
0
6
Chicago, IL. USA
OK. I finally got some diagrams of the stands together to better explain things. First, let's talk about the 20long stand.



This shows the complete rack and the detail on the underside of the shelf.

The left image is the complete front view of the rack. Maybe I should put a legend on here first.

Brown - 2x4's for the shelf frame
Red - 1/2" plywood for the shelf top
Purple - 2x4's to support the shelf.
Tan - 2x4's to keep everything together
Yellow - 2x4's for extra support
Blue - 2x4's for added support


Ok. Back to the picture. Use the above to see what I am talking about. The blue and yellow is where the tank frame would rest. All three shelves would be made like this. On the left is the front, the middle is the side, and the right is the underside of the shelf. The tanks would fit in between the supports so the rack could fit in the space allotted. The whole thing would be +/- 60" wide and 20" deep.



This is without the outer Tan supports and it shows the top of the shelf with the plywood on it.



And this is the top minus the plywood. The yellow and blue would be attached to the brown with datto(sp?) joints. Those are where the tank frames will rest when setup.

Now on to the 40gallon/10gallon rack. Same legend as the above.



This is the complete shelf. The views on the right are the shelf the 40breeder will sit on.

The top one is the shelf top down with no plywood.
The second one is the shelf top down with the plywood on.
The third is the shelf underside.

The next one is the rack minus the tan supports on the sides and it shows the shelf the 10gallon tanks will rest on.



On the right is the shelf.
The top is the shelf top with no plywood.
Second is the top with the plywood, and the bottom is the underside of the shelf with the plywood. The dimensions of this rack will be +/-40" wide and 20" deep. And I will have 2 of these. I am still working on exact dimensions and will get them up soon. Also need to plan out the plumbing.

I hope this makes sense to everyone out there. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.:)
 

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
6,306
1
36
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
ok it is good to get some feedback.
1. the room will have a lot of humidity, so you will need to plan some sort of dehumidifier so your do not get mould build up.
2. I would not use plywood, as with the humidity it can swell and break, have you though of a steel frame etc ?
3. i can highly recommend a drain pipe just for the old water
4. remember to leave space for access to the tanks and to catch fish and fry.
5. also remember to leave space for your filters. My own personal view is not to use a sump filter for the racks, but individual cannister filters, as then you control each tank and have less chance of a major outbreak of disease ( not like a sump where all tanks are fed through and can spread disease etc)
6. for lights i would look at shop bought LED lights, they are much cheaper to run and produce far less heat.
7. Again just my view, I am not a lover of sponge filters as I find they clog up to much and each time you disturb fish to remove them from the tank to clean, the less the fish like to settle.'

anyway these are just my thoughts so far, but I find it great that you ask for help and input. keep us informed cheers jk :thumbup:
 

cableguy69846

Member
Dec 18, 2011
56
0
6
Chicago, IL. USA
Every bit of planning helps. :)
Thank you. I though so too.:)

ok it is good to get some feedback.
1. the room will have a lot of humidity, so you will need to plan some sort of dehumidifier so your do not get mould build up.

Might not be in the budget, but I will look into it. Might have to make it work. And am also planning on glass tops on all tanks too.

2. I would not use plywood, as with the humidity it can swell and break, have you though of a steel frame etc ?

Was going to seal the plywood. And steel frames are not an option. I don't have the tools and can't afford the people that do have them.

3. i can highly recommend a drain pipe just for the old water

I have a floor drain that all the tanks will drain to. The centralized plumbing is for water changes only and I wont do a big refill system. One hose that reaches all tanks so I can fill them one at a time.

4. remember to leave space for access to the tanks and to catch fish and fry.

Planning on 8". If I deep six the bottom row, I will up it to 10"

5. also remember to leave space for your filters. My own personal view is not to use a sump filter for the racks, but individual cannister filters, as then you control each tank and have less chance of a major outbreak of disease ( not like a sump where all tanks are fed through and can spread disease etc)

No sump. Canisters are too expensive up front and would kill my power bill. I can run sponge filters much cheaper.

6. for lights i would look at shop bought LED lights, they are much cheaper to run and produce far less heat.

Going for the cheap T8 shop lights from the big box stores.

7. Again just my view, I am not a lover of sponge filters as I find they clog up to much and each time you disturb fish to remove them from the tank to clean, the less the fish like to settle.'

anyway these are just my thoughts so far, but I find it great that you ask for help and input. keep us informed cheers jk :thumbup:
Thanks for the help. I did my best to answer all the things you told me. See the bold print. And thank you for all the help again.:D
 

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
6,306
1
36
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
ok well at least you have thought of everything and have replied to all of my queries.

One last question, how will you do water changes ? By hand or will the tanks above hold the water for the tanks below ?

Looks like a great project so just keep us informed and maybe post some pics when done. cheers and good luck jk :thumbup:
 

cableguy69846

Member
Dec 18, 2011
56
0
6
Chicago, IL. USA
ok well at least you have thought of everything and have replied to all of my queries.

One last question, how will you do water changes ? By hand or will the tanks above hold the water for the tanks below ?

Looks like a great project so just keep us informed and maybe post some pics when done. cheers and good luck jk :thumbup:
I tried. Lol. I am planning on plumbing them all up so I can drain them all with the the turn of a valve. Going to drain them all to the floor drain in the basement. As for refilling them, going to get a 55 gallon drum as a water storage container with a pump and hose. Simple as that. And, I will be posting pics for sure.:thumbup: