If You Built A Fish Room....

[Rorie]

So at my new house i am going to build a fish room in my second garage. I will build a room within, insulate it and put a heater in the room. The room will be heated to 26 degrees with a thermostatic heater. Any tanks which need more heat than that, will have a conventional heater in. That way, saving a fortune on the sparky bill with all individual heaters on the go.

I will buy shelving which is about £120 and can support MORE than enough load from the aquariums, and will give me space for around 9 3foot tanks. I will, of course, build the room big enough for expansion room

BUT, i am not sure how best to do things..... Anybody with ideas, tips or suggestions, this is your chance to help

I have seen a set up where all the tanks use one common sump. The end of the sump has a pump, which pushes the water around into each tank. Each tank has a weir, in the way of a pipe sticking up on the water line. THis drains into the sump. On top of that, each tank has a sponge filter within. To drain a tank, the pipe/weir is just rotated around do the depth of water still required, and then the water floods into the sump. ANy excess water from the sump goes down a waste overflow line.

Sounds ideal, can do water changes in all tanks with minimal effort! But, this requires the water to be at the same temp in each tank.....or does it? Not much use when i am breeding everything from discus to barbs and shrimp.

Is there any other smart ways to do water changes with ease, having everything plumbed in together?

I could, of course, have a couple sumps, one for the cooler water tanks and one for the warmer....but maybe not ideal....

 

[Tolak]

The problem with a common sump for filtration is not just one of having the temperature in all tanks the same. Most breeders get new stock in, trying for different species or varieties of the same species. Having all tanks on a common filter ends up the same as a shop with the same setup in regards to the spread of disease.

Knowing this to be an issue, I drilled most of my tanks some time ago for water changes alone. The overflows drain into a sump with a pump for removing waste water. Each tank is individually filtered, air driven sponge & box filters.

This for all practical purposes eliminates any cross contamination, as long as you are smart with nets & so on, allows for a difference of temperature within reason, due to room temperature, and allows changing water on an individual tank, or a series of tanks, depending on how you run water to the tanks. Lower tanks are generally cooler, upper are warmer.

This also allows you to work with different species due to water parameters other than temperature. You can't reconstitute RO for a tank or three in a centralized sump system unless you take those tanks offline, which is an option if you can cut off the water feed from the sump in the system you are mentioning, but it in many ways brings you back to not having a sump for filtration.

 

[MBOU]

All I can say with heating a room like that and lots of tanks running (and you know over time they will add up!)... dont use wood!

Thinking long run to an extent... tanks... all running tropical... lots of evapouration and humidity in the long run, you end up with paint and varnish peeling, wood warping, mould growing and lots of problems. Goes for shelving and walls/ceiling...

That would be my worry...

The filtration you're talknig about sounds much like the fittings they use at P@H!!

This link is to the website showing you the designs of the systems...

http/www.cascoeurope.com/1110aquatics.html

And good luck with anyone buying from them lol last time i looked it was something ridiculous like £6K per bay!! would be awesome lol... but not practical...

 

[Rorie]

The problem with a common sump for filtration is not just one of having the temperature in all tanks the same. Most breeders get new stock in, trying for different species or varieties of the same species. Having all tanks on a common filter ends up the same as a shop with the same setup in regards to the spread of disease.

Knowing this to be an issue, I drilled most of my tanks some time ago for water changes alone. The overflows drain into a sump with a pump for removing waste water. Each tank is individually filtered, air driven sponge & box filters.

This for all practical purposes eliminates any cross contamination, as long as you are smart with nets & so on, allows for a difference of temperature within reason, due to room temperature, and allows changing water on an individual tank, or a series of tanks, depending on how you run water to the tanks. Lower tanks are generally cooler, upper are warmer.

This also allows you to work with different species due to water parameters other than temperature. You can't reconstitute RO for a tank or three in a centralized sump system unless you take those tanks offline, which is an option if you can cut off the water feed from the sump in the system you are mentioning, but it in many ways brings you back to not having a sump for filtration.

Yeh the disease is always a risk, but i would have a QT separate i think - keep an eye on things before adding them into my 'central units'. But the other point is also valid - i will have discus which prefer soft water, but i may wish to have hard water fish too at some point.....

I'm a little confused with what your saying though - you highlight the problems, which i agree with, but then you say you have done this anyway? You have overflows on your tanks feeding into a sump....just as i have suggested i may do? Or have i misread? you said you have holes for drainage only.... so what is the sump for? I use the word 'sump' as meaning a tank used as a large filter....

Why can i not use Ro water in a centralised system? If all my tanks are ok with RO?

Thanks

 

[Tolak]

Humidity control is another facet of building/running a fishroom. You'll see less evaporation heating the room than you will with individual tanks, and much less damage from the humidity. Keeping tanks covered as much as possible, as well as setting up a ventilation system minimizes humidity to the point that using wood is not a big concern.

If you heat individual tanks, and leave them mostly uncovered with no ventilation humidity will take a toll on wood, steel, wall coverings, insulation, you name it. A big concern is corrosion in the electrical system, that can be a disaster.

 

[Tolak]

My sump is there for removal of waste water only, it pumps to my sewer system. Sump filtration, or with multiple tanks centralized sump filtration, utilizes the sump as a filter. A sump by definition is a lower area that collects water, what you do with that water depends on the individual situation.

In my setup fresh water gets run to the tanks from the tap for water changes, or from a large drum when RO is concerned. The overflows remove the excess, plumbed to the sump, which is nothing more than a large bin on the floor at this point, to then be pumped to my sewer system.

 

[Rorie]

The filtration you're talknig about sounds much like the fittings they use at P@H!!

This link is to the website showing you the designs of the systems...

http/www.cascoeurope.com/1110aquatics.html

And good luck with anyone buying from them lol last time i looked it was something ridiculous like £6K per bay!! would be awesome lol... but not practical...

Haha, I see they have a UV system on it....P@H must think thats all they need to sort the ill fish!

That said, Dobbies next to me used to be AMAZINGLY clean, beautiful tanks etc. But the manager left, and i was in this weekend and there was dead fish everywhere, BG algae everywhere....it was horrible! So just shows you what change a manger can bring! ... anyway

My sump is there for removal of waste water only, it pumps to my sewer system. Sump filtration, or with multiple tanks centralized sump filtration, utilizes the sump as a filter. A sump by definition is a lower area that collects water, what you do with that water depends on the individual situation.

In my setup fresh water gets run to the tanks from the tap for water changes, or from a large drum when RO is concerned. The overflows remove the excess, plumbed to the sump, which is nothing more than a large bin on the floor at this point, to then be pumped to my sewer system.

Ok, thought that is what you meant, but thought i'd clarify.

I am in two minds.... one side of me thinks just having air driven bio filters in each tank will be ok, and then i can do the rest of the cleaning by hand. But i was hoping to get away from that to an extent. THough my idea for the weir overflow to the sump wouldn't have helped with that anyway as it would be at the top of the tank, where as waste and food is at the bottom.

hmm. I think i definitely want a plumbed system where i can just move the 'weir' of each tank and they will drain into a common drain. I also definitely want a plumbed system where I can pump round water and fill all the tanks - maybe not all at once. I.e. fill the low PH ones first, then from another storage tank (if using RO), fill the hgiht PH tanks.

But i still want to reduce the amount of plugs/electricity i am using..... so don't want loads of filters running. The thing with air driven box filters, is that i find they get so full of rubbish... and capture so much food! For example, my discus tanks have them in just now, and when i feed beef heart, some will float down on top of the box filter intake and go all foosty on the top! Where as internal electric filters generally pull water from the sides, and this seems to avoid this problem....maybe just bad experiences with them.

Sponge filters are fine as i can run off one big air pump....but i'll still need a solids filter i think....

 

[Tolak]

Turn down the air to the box filters at feeding time, use the sponges at a constant lower flow for bio filtration. If you run enough air to a box filter they will remove particulate matter as good as a power filter, this depends mainly on the air pump you use.

 

[karawr]

Just wondering where you bought your shelving, and assuming it's industrial heavy duty shelving?

 

[Rorie]

I have not got it yet, but have found a few places online doing various styles - they all look similar but prices vary massively!! I had to cut it down by saying the depth must be a minimum of 600mm to ensure i have room behind the tank. The width must be at least 1000mm to ensure i can get round the sides..... that then got me looking at this one

The choices

My Choice

But the thing is, this company is so expensive for delivery! Looking at £30 for this one.....normally the postage cost goes down as the product price goes up!

 

[Tizer]

personally i would be building all the shelving myself with standard timber, that way you can customise it to fit perfectly.

 

[Tolak]

personally i would be building all the shelving myself with standard timber, that way you can customise it to fit perfectly.

For the price of pre-made racks that is what I would and have done. You can utilize the space you have to work with more efficiently, and customize it to what works best for you. You'll find many, if not most fishrooms designed for breeding have the tanks on end, with the short side facing out. This is more space efficient, as there are more tanks, less aisles. For 3' tanks you'd want the rack 3'deep, tanks lined up next to each other. The 3' side facing out is more for show tanks, though most fishrooms do end up with some like this due to utilizing the space better.

Much of this also has to take into account your own personal preferences, as well as physical abilities. Someone 5' tall wouldn't be able to reach the backs of the tanks in my setup, someone 300 pounds would have a hard time turning around in my setup, much less working the tanks.

Since we're talking racks & space, what size is the space you have designated for this fishroom?

 

[Rorie]

well, i looked at the price of those frames and figured it was actually good value, by the time you have bought all the wood and screws.

I'm a structural engineer, but i am rubbish at actually building stuff - where as my father had rebuilt houses in his spare time! So i will be enlisting his help either way. If he thinks its cheaper/easier to go for a custom build, then that will be the answer.

I have seen the end-on tanks for breeding that your talking about, but only ever for a 1 or two foot long (or in this case, deep) tank. 3 foot becomes highly inpractical for accessing and cleaning i think! But thats a personal choice of course. I think you would need more hight above the tank clear to do that too, so gaining one dimension, but loosing the other.

As for the size - when i move to my new house in 10 days time, i will do a proper assessment of the garage and see what is worthwhile. But i am thiking it will be 9 foot square...maybe Off the top of my head! No point building for today, then wishing i had bigger tomorrow!

So i should maybe look into playing about with air box filters. Any suggestions where to get them>? The ones i have seen are over priced for what they are. I guess i could make them, but buying is often easier I have seen some on ebay that are much taller than the ones i have, maybe 7 inches tall.....may be worth a second look as it means more media!

Thanks for the help so far

 

[Juggler75]

There are quite a few vids on you tube for making box/sponge and even fluid bed filters.