Joe's Tank Raising and Ultimate Fishroom Thread

[joefitz]

Ok. So, I am finally going to get my darn display tank back up! It is going to be quite a process though and I was hoping to get some feedback on my plan, and in particular, on the "fish room" to see if anyone else has good ideas I could steal for my project.

The first thing I'll do is post some photos of the current situation...please give me a few minutes to upload the photos and describe things and outline my plan...

First, a photo of the empty tank.

Basics: the tank is 6' long by 3' wide by 2.5' tall. As you can see, the tank will extend into the room and be viewable on 3 sides. This is currently a "sun/mud room" but will probably turn into more of a den once the tank is up we'll have a reason to use it.

The room is 16x12 so there isn't a ton of extra space, but enough that we'll be able to put other things in the room. The wall to the left is the back of the house which is south facing and receives sun all day long. Hopefully that won't pose a problem. There is about 2' between that back wall and the length of the tank -- I may need to push the tank towards that door a bit more but I don't want to make the entryway feel too cramped.

I'll probably mount the canopy to the ceiling the same way I did before, so that it slides off in either direction (which is why I think I may need to move the tank a bit more towards that door).

The "fish room" is the room immediately below it in the basement, with the same dimensions. And on to the next post...

 

[joefitz]

Ok, so now a photo of the current fish room, which is immediately below the tank...pic is from the same angle as the tank photo...

I'll walk through the details after I post the other pics of the room.

 

[joefitz]

This next photo is from the corner to the left of the first pic...it shows some of the equipment a bit better than the first pic...

 

[joefitz]

Ok, and the last shot of the "current" situation shows the "other" half of the fish-room, which right now contains 4 55g drums and a lot of trash.

 

[joefitz]

So, the "quick" summary of the current situation:

You can see the two 150g rubbermaid trough tanks where everything has been living for the past year and a half. I have two Euro-reef skimmers going, one on each tank...the best shot of them is in the 2nd photo, an 'in-sump' CS-12-2 is just to the left of the CO2 cylinder and the other one (a recirculating/external 12-1?) is directly between the two reflectors.

Speaking of reflectors, they are two diamond lumenarc reflectors with 400w MH bulbs in them. My main canopy for the display tank has three more of the same. You can see the calc reactor (blue). You can make out the nilsen reactor in the first fishroom photo...it is to the left of the fan on the right side of the pic...it is sitting in a white bucket so it may be hard to make out.

The wood you can see on the right side of that first pic is the stand for my 90g surgugium which is not currently hooked up, but that is where it will eventually end up. Right now you can see the laptop which is permanently connected to my Aquacontroller and currently a single webcam (soon to be more).

The room is equipped with it's own dedicated 60amp circuit (and also has access to another if I get rid of the hot tub) and all the electrical is "marine grade".

It is currently bare concrete everywhere, which is one of the many things I want to change. There is also no ceiling in place right now (well, I stapled a sheet to the ceiling to reduce crap falling into the tank).

What else...oh, you can barely make out my "sump", which is in the far left corner of the first pic...it is a custom made glass sump, roughly 80g or so capacity. Beside that is a 20g tank on a small stand that was my old refugium...it still serves that function but may end up as something else down the road.

So, in order to fill my tank I have to reinforce the floor. Dennis V (denvig) was kind enough (actually, far more than kind enough...amazingly generous would be more accurate) to draw up some plans for me to make sure I didn't hurt anyone or destroy my house...and even though I've since re-oriented the tank, I'm going to hopefully follow his suggestions which was basically to double-up the joists and put a beam in supported by temporary columns.

But having lived in this situation for a year and a half now, I know there are a lot of things I want to be different as far as the fish room is concerned, so I am planning to take the opportunity to completely re-do everything (since the first time there wasn't much of a plan, it was just a temporary situation after all!). Here are some of my big goals with the fish-room change:

* Seal the floor/walls
* Add a sink (or at least a drain)
* Eliminate the zillion power cords/wires dangling everywhere
* Add a ceiling of some sort?

And then naturally, a lot of little things. Like have a place to mount the various controllers I have, re-implement the surgugium, add some shelving, implement a permanent QT tank that is tied into the main system (the qt system will drain through my commercial UV system to ensure nothing gets introduced back into the main system)...and generally clean the darn place up.

So, in order to do all these things I need to empty that room of everything in it....which complicates things a bit since not everything I have in those two trough tanks will fit into the display tank (although most of it should).

Anyway, I'm going to post my current plan next. I'm hoping other people might be able to critique the plan (what did I forget...) and/or provide suggestions about what other things I may want to consider for the fish room.

In addition to describing the "process" I'm hoping to follow to move everything from the basement to the display tank, I'll also post a sketch of what I think the fishroom will look like at the end.

 

[Behrmon]

Joe, are those your hats??

 

[joefitz]

Ok, so, now the plan:

1. Re-finish/re-seal the display tank (sand, seal w/marine epoxy)
2. Once empty, move each 55g drum to boiler room temporarily
3. Refill all 55g drums w/RODI
4. Fill all "extra" trash cans w/RODI (a few brute 32g that will hold extra rock that won't fit in the display tank)
5. Seal temporary columns, footings...with marine epoxy (seal the beam with something as well)
6. Clean, seal areas where footing for columns will be placed in fish room
7. Double-up joists
8. Install beams and columns
9. Plumb display tank; put ball valves on all drains and close them

At this point, the display tank should be ready to be filled.

1. Fill display tank w/tap water for leak test...leave it for several days to be sure
2. Once we know it holds water, drain it, put in pvc support structure (if doing that), put in sand, and fill with RODI (or saltwater if I find a way to have that made already)
3. Connect ampmaster via closed loop for in-tank circulation, also use tunze...add heaters, rig up lights
4. Move rock -- anything with coral on it goes to the display, anything without can go to temporary storage container
5. Move remaining livestock

At this point, I think the display tank should be all set...it should be self-contained and able to support life without anything in the basement, which means I can start work on ripping apart the fish room...

1. Drain basement tanks
2. Move everything out of fish room (either outside or in the basement proper)
3. Wash/vacuum every surface
4. Seal every surface
5. Re-frame exterior wall (rotted areas)
6. Install ceiling (?)
7. Install sink/drain (may need to go through concrete wall into fall-out shelter to get access to plumbing)
8. Set up 90g surgugium in same corner where the stand currently exists
9. Install sump along far wall...so that return pump is directly beneath display tank
10. Build frames to raise rubbermaid trough tanks off the ground a bit (and glass sump too)
11. Re-plumb everything -- need more connections between two trough tanks
12. Install panel on wall beside surgugium to mount controllers/computer(s) on
13. Install humidistat/fan (?)
14. Install shelving along far wall above where RODI containers will sit
15. Setup nilsen/calc reactor under the surgugium
16. Install QT tank and UV system along exterior wall
17. Build enclosure for ballasts? Maybe locate them in another room?
18. Mount surge protectors to ceiling

This is still missing a lot of detail but I think it is reasonably complete.

 

[DavidGallant]

Joe, are those your hats??

LOL.
look into some of those american dj power controllers. they are becoming a big thing.

 

[joefitz]

Joe, are those your hats??

What? You don't like my hats?!

I knew some wiseguy was going to comment on those... I took my wife's coat down off the winch on the canopy, but I left the hats. She looks darn good in hats. ;-)

 

[joefitz]

I'm still working on the sketch of how I'm hoping to set up the fish room when it is all said and done...

Thanks for the note re: those controllers. I remember reading about those on RC a while back and haven't followed up on them since.

 

[joefitz]

BTW, I may be looking for volunteers in the May-June timeframe... ;-)

 

[ScottM]

a lot of work listed out...
i have a beam and some jacking posts if you need them.

why do you have to reseal the tank?

whats your plan to seal the room?

i have a ton of extra equipment if you need to borrow stuff for the transition.
55 and 30g barrels, pumps, tanks, lights, etc.

 

[joefitz]

Thanks Scott... I'm not resealing the tank, just the stand -- some parts of it started to rust a bit and I want to make sure I halt that process.

As far as sealing the room goes, I'm not entirely sure what I am going to use just yet. I may use something like Rustoleum epoxy-shield or a similar product. All I want to do is make it look a little nicer while helping give a bit more protection to the concrete -- I just want to be able to clean up spills rather than watching them soak into my concrete.

The only big thing I know I may need at this point is additional storage containers and water...if I get the containers though I can make the water. In particular, I don't have a great place to keep the rock that isn't going to fit in the display tank. I'm just not sure if I'm going to buy new containers (I may pick up another trough tank or something) or borrow them. I'll probably be in touch for something though, thanks!

 

[PenMan]

Hoping to do a move on our tank in April also. Let you know what is left over from the move. Looks like I am going to need a stock tank for a week over two.

 

[JayM]

Thanks Scott... I'm not resealing the tank, just the stand -- some parts of it started to rust a bit and I want to make sure I halt that process.

As far as sealing the room goes, I'm not entirely sure what I am going to use just yet. I may use something like Rustoleum epoxy-shield or a similar product. All I want to do is make it look a little nicer while helping give a bit more protection to the concrete -- I just want to be able to clean up spills rather than watching them soak into my concrete.

The only big thing I know I may need at this point is additional storage containers and water...if I get the containers though I can make the water. In particular, I don't have a great place to keep the rock that isn't going to fit in the display tank. I'm just not sure if I'm going to buy new containers (I may pick up another trough tank or something) or borrow them. I'll probably be in touch for something though, thanks!

I can lend you a 300 Gallon stock tank to hold your rock.......LMK if that helps.

 

[ScottM]

i also have a spare 7 stage RODI if you need it.

 

[Aquadiva]

Wow....you think you can get all that done by April/May.

What are you thoughts on the humidity situation. That would be step #13. With summer fast approaching, my thoughts are going to humidity control. I know there have been a lot of different methods tried. Have you come to any decisions on this?

 

[joefitz]

Well, I don't know that I'll actually get to all that by April/May, but I'm trying to remain optimistic.

As far as humidity goes, I haven't had a problem so far...the basement in general hasn't really had a problem with humidity although I do have a dehumidifier set up (which drains into the sink) to make sure humidity is controlled. In the fish room, I end up running an air conditioner to help maintain temperature and control the humidity and it has worked out well.

There were a few times when the AC appeared to struggle, I think primarily due to the humidity, so I was thinking of putting in a humidistat controlled fan to exhaust the humid air from the room outside. My home isn't exactly "air tight" having been built in 1952 so I think a fan would help draw in "dry" air from the basement while pushing out the moist air from the fishroom.

I'm hoping it isn't a problem in the "den" with the main tank since that room isn't completely enclosed but I'll have to play that one by ear. I'm more concerned about heat during the day -- that room will be a challenge to cool. I'm hoping that between a combination of AC in the basement and fans will help the system maintain a reasonably consistent temperature.

There will be over 600g of water in the system (probably closer to 750-900g all told) so I think this will be one of my bigger challenges. Keeping it warm is easy...keeping it cold I think will be a lot more difficult. I'll buy a chiller if I have to go that route, but I am really, really, really hoping to avoid it.

 

[mchud]

wow i got tired reading all that. very detailed plan ans well thought out. good luck on it. i also have some rubbermaid stock tanks if you need them.

 

[joefitz]

Yeah, I have more planner tendencies than do-er tendencies unfortunately. I also thought this would be a decent way for me to record/document the progress -- I always end up looking back and thinking "I wish I had before and after photos" after the fact.

Thanks all for the offers -- I will definitely let you know if I need them when the time comes!