Building My Own Fish Room: Can I do it?

revhtree · Jul 28, 2016

I am seriously considering building my own fish room, with help of course.

I have had a little building experience, built walls, hung sheet rock, etc.

The room is going to be 12ft by 14ft. It literally already has 3 walls because it's in the corner of the room. I would have to tie into those three walls.

I would not be installing the electrical at all.

Y'all think I could do it? What are some things I need to consider? Advice?

Here is the where the room will go. Pardon the boxes and trash! Still a wreck from moving.

CRUDE art to show where the back of the tank will stick out and where the wall would go.

nitro · Jul 28, 2016

Go for it

revhtree · Jul 28, 2016

Come on y'all talk me out of it or in to it! HA!

What's some things I need to consider?

1. How tall should I build the room?
2. Should I use the existing walls and tie in to them or build all new walls? How would you do it?

kschweer · Jul 28, 2016

I personally would do 8' standard walls and use aluminum studs it will be easier. I would tie into what's already there no use adding more work.

redfishbluefish · Jul 28, 2016

I agree....do it! First board down is a pressure treated 2 x 4. Then lay out and built the stud walls on the floor, top nailing them, and simply stand them up on the pressure treated "sill plate" and nail them off. The interior walls of the fish room, I wouldn't use sheetrock. Instead I'd use oriented strand board (OSB). It can take the abuse of being bumped into, easy to hang stuff on with nails or screws, and is comparable to the price of sheetrock.

redfishbluefish · Jul 28, 2016

Being a man of God, you have to ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" Oh wait, Jesus was a carpenter....of course he'd build this fish room. Now you have your answer!

najer · Jul 28, 2016

Sort out a floor drain / pumpable (possibly not a word) small sump.

Diesel · Jul 28, 2016

Will this room be a totally enclosed room with ceiling and vents?

Waters · Jul 28, 2016

I would do it.......actually a lot of the work is already done since you only need to put up one wall

MCooper · Jul 28, 2016

DO IT, DO IT, DO IT

d2mini · Jul 28, 2016

It's not too hard Rev. I documented my build here...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d2minis-200g-reeftastic-reef-part-deux.178519/page-2#post-2058226

I did have someone come do the sheetrock because i HATE sheet rocking and he knocked it out in a day. Hung AND floated.
Also had someone do the electrical because that's just not my thing and I had extra circuits put in, and the HVAC work.
But putting up the walls, insulating, door, building the shelving, etc was fairly easy.

nitro · Jul 28, 2016

Think of the feeling of accomplishment you will have, and the things you will learn along the journey. You will be able to help so many people after this and the things you will learn about yourself. You don't want to look back and say what if or I wonder..

Taso1 · Jul 28, 2016

sweet!

jsker · Jul 28, 2016

One thing I would do is build two levels. Above the fish room would be storage.

Myself I would completely CAD the concept using as much of the existing walls to save on cost.
I would use shower board for the first 60 inches and run dry walk up the rest of the way.
I would caulk and seal the joints at the floor and up to the 60 inches then FRP panel the first floor area.
I would use led can lights for lighting
For the sealing I would us the same FRP and you would not have to be concered with moister
I would put some kind of ventilation so that the room does not hold heat. look at a mini split to keep the system cool and room comfortable to work in. You might not need a chiller durring the hot months or from heat from the lights

How is that for a start?

willieboy240 · Jul 28, 2016

Actually as the part owner. You must build a fish room and document everything. Gotta practice what you preach. Lol. Can't be the president of the Porsche club and not have a killer Porsche. Hehehehe.

revhtree · Jul 28, 2016

kschweer said:
I personally would do 8' standard walls and use aluminum studs it will be easier. I would tie into what's already there no use adding more work.

Good info! How would you tie into the other walls? What would the best way be? I want to be able to use the top for light storage.

redfishbluefish said:
I agree....do it! First board down is a pressure treated 2 x 4. Then lay out and built the stud walls on the floor, top nailing them, and simply stand them up on the pressure treated "sill plate" and nail them off. The interior walls of the fish room, I wouldn't use sheetrock. Instead I'd use oriented strand board (OSB). It can take the abuse of being bumped into, easy to hang stuff on with nails or screws, and is comparable to the price of sheetrock.

Thank you! So lay down the pretreated first and then build the whole studded wall, bottom and top plate, and set it up on the pre treated 2x4?

najer said:
Sort out a floor drain / pumpable (possibly not a word) small sump.

No drain except through a sump sink that's going in. Well no floor drain that is.

Diesel said:
Will this room be a totally enclosed room with ceiling and vents?

Yes but I plan on purchasing a industrial size dehumidifier to vent to the outside wall. Also want to use over top for light storage if possible. Not a game changer though.

Waters said:
I would do it.......actually a lot of the work is already done since you only need to put up one wall

Thanks!

Triggreef · Jul 28, 2016

Absolutely you CAN do it. But why? It looks like it's already being used as a fish room if I'm looking at a big mixing station. I would use the area as is. Forget about adding a wall it's a limiting factor. Just install your tank, all the equipment you need, and call it a day.

Triggreef · Jul 28, 2016

Dehumidifiers are expensive to run... It's like running an a/c all the time.

revhtree · Jul 28, 2016

jsker said:
One thing I would do is build two levels. Above the fish room would be storage.

Myself I would completely CAD the concept using as much of the existing walls to save on cost.

I would use shower board for the first 60 inches and run dry walk up the rest of the way.

I would caulk and seal the joints at the floor and up to the 60 inches then FRP panel the first floor area.

I would use led can lights for lighting

For the sealing I would us the same FRP and you would not have to be concered with moister

I would put some kind of ventilation so that the room does not hold heat. look at a mini split to keep the system cool and room comfortable to work in. You might not need a chiller durring the hot months or from heat from the lights

How is that for a start?

Thanks for the info! I forgot to mention that I have an air conditioning run into that work space I am going to split off of to cool and heat the room. It won't be perfect but I think it will do.

revhtree · Jul 28, 2016

Triggreef said:
Absolutely you CAN do it. But why? It looks like it's already being used as a fish room if I'm looking at a big mixing station. I would use the area as is. Forget about adding a wall it's a limiting factor. Just install your tank, all the equipment you need, and call it a day.

The main reason to enclose is I want to contain the humidity and keep it from ruining the other parts of the house. Total water will be around 600g.