Don't build a fish room without this! What else would you add?

NanJ · Dec 30, 2019

More electrical outlets than you think you'll ever use - cause you will use them eventually! In your head walk through the processes you will do in your fish room - filling brutes, pumping water, RODI system, etc. Then put outlets in those areas - up high on the wall as others have suggested. We have at least 9 outlets in the room and wish we had a couple more.

bobbyM · Dec 30, 2019

Where is the “ I have a house, but it’s not just for the tanks. I live there too” option?? LOL

cmaxwell39 · Dec 30, 2019

A fish room is the first thing I made plans for when starting the new build in the new house. It will have a utility sink, the sump, water mixing station, QT tanks and eventually a frag tank. Put good lighting in. Do not have a floor drain, but it is the first room to be framed out in the unfinished basement of the new house, so spills will not be a worry at this point.

A couple of pics of the fish room build in progress. Still working on it, and rank is probably still a month out, but the fish room is important enough to me to make sure I get it how I want it now.

madweazl · Dec 30, 2019

Still a work in progress...

For me, the best part is having everything plumbed into the home sewer line so I dont have to haul buckets around. It's so nice to turn a couple valves and boom, water change done. The table top has a lip running all the way around it that holds about 6.5 gallons of water after accounting for displacement of the gear and has a drain in it. I drilled the mixing tanks and plumbed them into the same drain (along with the waste water line from the RO/DI).

All of the plumbing can be removed (without cutting) for maintenance/replacement.

Shawn Blevins · Dec 30, 2019

Tied an outlet from my central heat and air. As well as a 6 inch fan exhausting outside to help with humidity. Space for quarantine/ sick tanks not just Frag tanks. Wire mold for wire management. Used pvc trim and frp siliconed to floors to prevent water from seeping outside room/under studs. Sump catch basin made from pvc trim as well that runs into floor drains. Awesome for hosing away salt creep. On final phase of completion plumbing and adding water.

jrock flimflam · Dec 30, 2019

Double Wide so options are limited. Tank has been up 7 months and regret not doing the fish room at the beginning.
SOO,,,, LVT Flooring for my bedroom to fish room conversion behind wall to the tank gets here the 20th.
Plan to have fish room running in February.
Will be converting current sump into a fug, and adding new sump.
Already have dedicated electric, water, and drain in the wall. Just have to flip from tank side to fish room side of wall.
Have Brute barrels and full Apex to setup.
What other major items to have?

ESH · Dec 30, 2019

My display tank is in the living room and My fish room is in the basement. I have a water Mixing station plumbed upstairs for easy water changes, a Deep sink (but still need to Plumb it into the water line) , floor drain, lots of outlets and dedicated circuits. A window and dehumidifier with a drain tube run to the floor drain have also been great to have.

MnFish1 · Dec 30, 2019

IM curious - what is a fish room - does that mean you have a sump going from your tank into the room - or is it just a room where you can get messy - wash filter socks, store stuff. I use our laundry room as a kind of fish room - there's a drain - a sink with high pressure - but the tank unfortunately - is a bit far away to do plumbing. lolL

.

madweazl · Dec 30, 2019

MnFish1 said:
IM curious - what is a fish room - does that mean you have a sump going from your tank into the room - or is it just a room where you can get messy - wash filter socks, store stuff...

Yes

bobyboy · Dec 30, 2019

I love my sump room, it just make life so much easier for maintenance.

H3rm1tCr@b · Dec 30, 2019

Does my bedroom count? I have three fish tanks, an experimental saltwater pico tank, and two 30+ gallon terrariums. Fish tanks are a twenty high (reef), twenty long (planted freshwater), and a ten gallon I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-you tank for a crayfish I received as a gift. I really wish I had hardwood floors or something. It is really annoying to spill saltwater on carpet. Honestly though, when I have enough money I'm gonna have an actual fish room. It'll be weird not to hear the chirping of crickets, frogs screaming at three in the morning, filters blendering random things, lights having fits for no reason whatsoever, pistol shrimps destroying neighboring hermit crabs, and land hermit crabs falling off of sticks and crashing into oblivion. Dang. I really do need a fish room. No wonder I'm tired all the time. A moment of epiphany. Huh.

krash7172 · Dec 30, 2019

I converted a closet for a built-in. Space was very limited so rather than a floor drain, I installed an in-wall washer drain for WC's and RO discharge. Also:

Enamel paint on all surfaces
Vinyl tile floor
Return air vent to HVAC

krash7172 · Dec 31, 2019

In hind sight, I would have run separate electrical circuits dedicated to the tank room with critical and non-critical equipment outlets for power outages.

James210ReefLife · Dec 31, 2019

Dedicated fish room....
When I finally fill the new 210 I need to support the floor.
In the basement I'm building a wall. This will be where I will store all my fish stuff and my mixing station.
I'll also have my fresh water top off barrel in there.
So yeah, this is part of the 2020 goals post as well.
Watch for the new build thread coming to R2R soon!!

LadyMac · Dec 31, 2019

For me, it’s a complicated question. I did have a fish room, years back. Many of you know I bred fancy bettas. The best thing I had in the fish room was my heat tape along the bottom of the rack. It kept my guys at a perfect 84. Now that I am no longer breeding, I just have tanks I. Different areas of the home. Two in the living room and one I. The bedroom. Now I’d have to say my most used tool is my hands. If I need to catch a fish I’ll use my hands. I try to desensitize every fish I own to my hands so they are easier to catch. It’s less stressful than a net and (for bettas) much easier on the fins. I plant plants, move rocks, pull algae. Ect.

Now I’m missing all my fancy babies

here’s my old rack and some pics of the littles.

ca1ore · Dec 31, 2019

I have been using about 2/3 of my basement ‘mechanicals’ room for the sump and other tank equipment since 1997. Agree that a slop sink is a nice-to-have. With a large system, the main benefit is having space to layout all the equipment .... most of which would not fit under the stand. I do have to run a dehumidifier in the room during the hot and humid Summer months. Has prevented any major rusting problems.

emvanburen · Dec 31, 2019

ca1ore said:
I have been using about 2/3 of my basement ‘mechanicals’ room for the sump and other tank equipment since 1997. Agree that a slop sink is a nice-to-have. With a large system, the main benefit is having space to layout all the equipment .... most of which would not fit under the stand. I do have to run a dehumidifier in the room during the hot and humid Summer months. Has prevented any major rusting problems.

Good data point. That’s where mine is going. I’m a bit worried about humidity. May just plan for a de humidifier even though I have a vent fan.

Davidsim · Dec 31, 2019

MnFish1 said:
IM curious - what is a fish room - does that mean you have a sump going from your tank into the room - or is it just a room where you can get messy - wash filter socks, store stuff. I use our laundry room as a kind of fish room - there's a drain - a sink with high pressure - but the tank unfortunately - is a bit far away to do plumbing. lolL.

I have my sump and quarantine tank all in my fish room, along with my lab and mixing station

Brian W · Dec 31, 2019

I have a fish room / frog room. Best thing I have added is a water python to change the water in my tanks. No more buckets! Learned about this tool from my freshwater days.