Building My Own Fish Room: Can I do it?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

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

Tax write off for me! HA!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

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.

LOL! Thanks man!

 

[jsker]

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.



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?



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



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.



Thanks!

On the second floor deck I would us a minimum of 2 x10's with 3/4 decking ply. Depending on the height you could hide the stand pipe in the flooring and make a simple chase for the pipe going up to protect the pipe. I would make sure everything is done to code for insurance reason

 

[jsker]

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.

You can alway run a mini split later if it is not enough.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

On the second floor deck I would us a minimum of 2 x10's with 3/4 decking ply. Depending on the height you could hide the stand pipe in the flooring and make a simple chase for the pipe going up to protect the pipe. I would make sure everything is done to code for insurance reason

I'm not sure what you mean by running the stand pipe up??

 

[redfishbluefish]

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?

Yep! It's that easy.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Yep! It's that easy.

Suggestions for tying the ceiling joists into the existing walls?

PS. I am going to get some help here I would just like all this info for myself and for someone who don't know about fish rooms!

 

[jsker]

I'm not sure what you mean by running the stand pipe up??

The pipe that is coming down and L's off to the right. Hiding and covering that pipe up. I am guessing that the pipe is water or a drain pipe.? Covering the pipe would protect it from someone leaning, bumping etc

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

The pipe that is coming down and L's off to the right. Hiding and covering that pipe up. I am guessing that the pipe is water or a drain pipe.? Covering the pipe would protect it from someone leaning, bumping etc

OOOHH! LOL! That's a track for a small garage door that is not in the area the room will be. The photo makes it look like it is but the room will miss it by about a foot.

 

[jsker]

My bad, it makes it look like it's the middle of that room. Ok Christmas tree light running up the support

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I'm getting more confident. LOL!

 

[Diesel]

Dave, pretty much follow @d2mini as that's how I did my room too or he did it like my room as I had it first
As mentioned before you work in a wet area so use the bottom plate (2x4) from treated wood.
From there on you can go all yellow pine (2x4) corners and doors entry can be made from double 2x4.
Any re enforcement's you can work with the plan you have if you like to hang heavy stuff from the wall or ceiling.
I suggest to let the electrical work done by a licensed electrician, two 20 amps GCFI would be enough each on their own breaker.
Before you attach the Greenboard (it's sheet rock for highly damp areas) you can use a piece of 8x1 hardy plank on the floor and install your greenboard on top of that or you can have your greenboard about 2" of the floor.
It saved me a few times with a spill.
Run a bead of silicone on the concrete floor before you attach the hardy plank, it will make your room water tight.
For the ceiling I suggest to use 2x6 with 3/4 plywood on top as you can walk on it for storage for shipping boxes as you will send of tons of frags in a few years.
Now you might ask some help from the Armadillo squad to help you a hand in order to put the greenboard on your ceiling.
By a door before hand and don't with a small 30" but use a 40" door as you might need to bring in large pieces of Diesel coral later on

 

[TylerS]

Depending on the equipment you plan to run I would consider soundproofing. There's a couple of ways to achieve it, but it would be more difficult with the in wall tank cutout. You would need to seal around the tank very well. Alternatively you could just run the plumbing through the wall which would seal out a lot of the noise from the fish room.

If you're really going for noise-proofing then I would separate the living space from the fish room by 2 layers of drywall sandwiching green glue.

For moisture control I'm installing this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Panasoni...LED-Light-ENERGY-STAR-FV-05-11VKSL1/205418148 for exhaust out of the fish room. The air that's sucked into the room as replacement will be from the basement utility room (which is usually a stable 60ish temperature for free). This way I only have to dehumidify the incoming moisture into the basement instead of all the moisture in the fish room.

 

[Black Pearl]

Perfect place for it. With that much space of course do it, mine is less than half that size. It will add to the grandeur of what we are all expecting. Don't let d2mini have all the gloryLOL

 

[edosan]

If your wife agree, that's all the go for it you need