sanity check my fish 'room' plans please

[Ap0ll0]

Hi there,

I have a spare room that I am planning to turn into an aquarium room.

The setup will be fairly simply, as I'm not planning masses of tanks with central filtration etc.

I am planning to tap off the water main and run it into the room, into a 50 gallon storage tank, with the option to run a RODI unit on that supply so I can mix RODI and tapwater as desired to control the pH etc as my water comes out the tap at 7.4 but goes up to about 8.

The tank will be floorstanding (or on a small table) in a cupboard, so I'll need a pump to get water out of it into tanks for water changes, and a heater to get it to the correct temp.

In terms of tanks I currently have a 50g freshwater tank in the room above, which I will keep there and run a line back up to it (from the storage tank) . I plan to get a 90g tank for another freshwater (probably move my existing fish into that one and add a couple of other compatible species and convert the 50g into a softer water tank. Later I plan to get a 120g reef tank (and add a second storage tank for that, fed purely off RODI

Then in the room I will have a standpipe that goes under the wall outside for drainage, with overflow setups on the aquarium(s) perhaps (or manual siphon draining for substrate cleaning at the same time etc)

Then I hope water changes just become a matter of filling the tank with the appropriate mixture of RODI and tapwater a couple of days prior to a change. On the day I want to make the change, flick the heater on until the water is at the right temp, take the pump line and pump as much water as desired for the change into the appropriate tank.

Anyone see any obvious problems or issues with this or have any suggestions for improvement?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I had a fish room which held 6 tanks at full capacity each tank was an independent system. I've just upgraded to a full on fish house. I'd fit a sink to deal with all the waste water. That's the best new addition since "the room" I really had a problem carting masses of water around the house to the kitchen. It wasn't so bad on the regular tanks but the big one had 100-200 litre changes twice a week. Not much fun though doorways!
Water in, break into main supply feed not from the loft storage tank, split again to feed RO. The other split for a tap supply (needs a sink and waste away) of regular water. Handy for rinsing buckets etc. consider some type of humidity fan. Your not nuts, or we both are!

See YouTube 4tanks2day my fish house video.
Have you got your RO unit yet?

See new acquisitions my fish house.

 

[Fishlover3578]

What are your plans for the electricity used to run filters heaters etc can your system in that part of house handle all of it without shutting off ?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

See new acquisitions. New fish house by j.mcpeak. It's a separate room from the house. Like a glorified shed. It has it's own consumer unit and runs separate circuits. I have one 32a ring main. One 32a ring for the reef. A 6a light circuit. Two circuits that deal with heating and cooling ( this runs on 40a which should be 16a) and a single 6a and a mini 16a circuit for the freezer and spare plugs, used for quarantine tanks. The line feed into the house and back to the meter.
Follow link to my flickr page. Set is called my fishes and fish house build.

The old one I just extended the ring main, I didn't actually do that because I didn't know how to at that time. 4tanks2day my fish house for further pictures.

I will answer as many questions as I can for you.

 

[Ap0ll0]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to set up a standpipe type drain to the outside for run/siphoned off water. I'm only planning one 90g tank and my quarantine tank (think is 20g maybe) initially, but if it seems to be working well I might consider a couple of smaller more specialized tanks (I expect), but I want to go for a big (120g) reef tank eventually. I can't imagine I'll have an issue with electricity with that number of tanks, but my dad is helping me out with all of this anyway as he's more diy inclined and is a certified electrician (as well as a half-decent plumber). the room is the ground floor bedroom in my town house, I used to rent it out but now I don't need to so much so decided to do this with it. I'm hoping I still have the space to put some exercise equipment in too, make it a sort of gymquarium (easier to run for a time on a treadmill when you can watch fish) but if I did need to do something with the electrics, the main junction box or whatever is in the cupboard (the same one that will have the water storage tank in it )

I have only ordered the 200l storage tank so far. I have just started looking at RODI units and would be interested in recommendations/advice? I want to get something that will be best for saltwater tank in the future, I'm guessing I'd want one that does around 50g a day so I don't have to set it running too far in advance of needed changes. From the looks of it I'm looking at 100-200 quid for a decent unit, not a problem. I will also need to find where I can get big-*** (90g+ tanks) and work out if I can actually get them in the room (fortunately the room has a door to the outside)

hopefully I can get water change effort/time for such large tanks down to a bare minimum is the main goal (obviously actual cleaning/maintenance still required) and also to the point where if I was away on holiday or whatever for a large amount of time it would be simple enough for whoever I had looking after them to do changes

 

[J.Mcpeak]

If you live in the UK. Tanks direct.co.uk

I have only used the RO-man 75GPD (U.S.) they have gone out of business.

It has lasted six years so far. Membrane lasts four years. CCB and micron filters 6 months. DI resin, depends on how much you make and how hard your water is, for me about 6 weeks. You will need a TDS meter of some description.

Water production speed affected by temperature of feed water, it is slower when it's colder. As it will be ground water you can't do much about it.

I would advise against a treadmill unless you are on a concrete floor.
The reason for that is everywhere I have read about fish tank placement advise against high traffic areas. All the banging will spook your fish. I'm not sure about all that weight of water and money in tanks and stock perishing as a result. Consider the flexing of the floorboards as you bang up and down on the 'mill.

There is no BARE MINIMUM with a large tank. I trust nobody to do water changes do this and the filters before you leave on all systems, you can't teach quickly what you've learnt in years. Set out meals per tank, per day with clear instructions. Only the person you feel most competent/compliant should carry out this task. Leave an emergency number. Only two adult people have put food in apart from me, with the exception of my niece.

Consumer unit, you may have an empty slot. If the kettle for example pops a fuse the whole lot shuts down, another bugbear with the Mk I fish room.
I would lay a new ring for just this room. If your pops is a sparky this should present no problems.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I forgot to say thank you for the thank you!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Something else, the standpipe to outside? This should be plumbed into the sewer line so it can be treated. Dumping it out the door is not the way to go. All them scraps of faeces and rotting plants and the salt residue will quickly mount up into an environmental hazard, you will probably end up in court.

 

[Ap0ll0]

the room is a ground floor room, I'll check but I'm pretty sure there's no space underneath, so weight shouldn't be an issue

I went away recently for 10 days and pretty did exactly what you recommend and was fine, the main aim is just to make the water changes feasible and simple while having large tanks, but my family lives around the area and I'd trust them with water changes (after instruction) if I had to be away for longer than a couple of weeks but that's just in case I take a year out in the next few years which would include some travelling

good point about the waste water, given where it is going outside I think it'll be fine initially with just the big freshwater tank, but potentially the saltwater would be an issue over time. fortunately the room is right next to a bathroom so I can easily run the waste water into there when need

 

[Fishlover3578]

Freshwater tanks water from water changes are great for flowers lol my flowers were awesome this year

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Freshwater tanks water from water changes are great for flowers lol my flowers were awesome this year

Agreed, however the general theme of this thread shows a complete disregard for the environment, yes I water my flowers with tank water, the nitrates are good food which by my experience provide phenomenal growth. I don't agree with polluting the environment with faecal matter and general detritus that accumulates in any system. The quick syphon change is perfectly fine, put that anywhere on land you own. I wish to neither aid or assist in such practices.

Small differences can decimate micro ecosystems, this is why we have nature reserves to protect areas from human intervention. Fish in the wrong river, plants in the wrong environment, bacteria which native species are unable to cope with, can have serious, detrimental, long term if not irreversible effects on nature.

Quick maths on 100 litre tank receiving two weekly water changes of 25 litres is 2600 litres per year per tank. 572 imp gal, 687 US liquid gal.

This will easily make its way to the water table beneath and into any nearby river systems.

Proposed water in room, 310 imp gals, 372 US liquid or 1409 litres=352 litres per change at 25% on all systems.

That equals 36,608 litres, 8052 imp gal or 9670 US liquid gallons per year. On a twice weekly 25% change for the complete set up annually.

THIS NEEDS TO BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED.

 

[Ap0ll0]

actually thinking about it since you stress the point, it'll be less work and barely any difference in convenience for me to just stick the end of the waste pipe out the door, into the shower in the bathroom next door (when I do changes, with some flexible tubing instead of fixed piping) than fit a standpipe to outside

it is coming along, we have the necessary pipes, some of the holes drilled and the necessary places measured and exposed. built a frame and put a 200l loft tank on it, couple more weekends, a few more purchases and I should be ready to get a big-*** new aquarium to use it with.

I'm thinking the Aqua One Aquience 1500R and then get the 1800R later for the reef assuming I like the first one

 

[Ap0ll0]

Ok update - water tank is plumbed in and fillable. New 400 litre aquarium coming on thurs

Going to try and get the substrate and non-living decor sorted this weekend and then fill it. To that end I will require a pump to pump the water from the holding/prep tank into the aquarium - some sort of inline non-submersible pump would be ideal, something that basically has an in and an out - from a quick scan of forums sounds like a small pond pump would be what I want - can anyone recommend one?

I also still need to order a RODI unit so also could do with recommendations (general advice or specific brands/models)