Expert Advice Needed on building a fishroom

[Lousybreed]

Guys my dream has always been to build a house and make a purpose built basement for fish. However I am now looking at buying a already built house. And I think having over 700 gallons in a house poses its own challenges......SO...I was thinking about building an add on to an existing house for a 12'x5' display tank. Has anyone ever built a fish room as an add on to their house? I would be planning on two rooms, one for the big tank and one room for the frag tanks and equipment, RO/DI storage, etc. I would put in a dedicated HVAC system with a HRV to keep the area flush with fresh air. I have attached my idea that I am thinking about....please let me know your thoughts.

I want it to be a sunroom too......what are your thoughts on natural light (please read not direct sunlight) and a reef tank.....the consensus seems to be some light is ok, but too much is actually not good.....

 

[Lousybreed]

@Battlecorals interested in your thoughts as you did a custom garage build recently. Any advice would be appreciated.

@Dana Riddle looking to your thoughts on the natural light and the impact it could have on the tank. Again I would be trying to avoid direct sunlight with this build.

If any members know of someone that has experience with this type of project, can you tag them on this thread please?

 

[o2manyfish]

I have a 1300g system - only 400g is inside. All the rest is outside in direct sunlight. My frag tanks outside will outgrow any other system out there. Great color, crazy growth, and Acros could care less if they have AEFW on them.

Dave B

 

[Lousybreed]

I have a 1300g system - only 400g is inside. All the rest is outside in direct sunlight. My frag tanks outside will outgrow any other system out there. Great color, crazy growth, and Acros could care less if they have AEFW on them.

Dave B

I will do some research on your system. Thank you for the info! I would love to see massive growth!!

 

[ZoWhat]

Dont take this the wrong way. If you have the money to do this, you can afford the cost of aquarium builders/service companies in your region to help plan the design. Lots of great design/service aquarium companies.

This is too big of a plan to do it DIY.

IMO there is no "saving money" DIYing a plan of this scale.. it's a MIRAGE....only cost savings if this is your 5th time building one. Learning curve too costly.

Like putting in a solar panel system....I'm sure I would make very costly mistakes DIYing solar panels to my roof. More cost effect to do it right the first time around from experts who have circled the marry-go-round quite a few times.

I'd start by calling public aquariums in your region to see who they consult with.

Titan is a good place to start. They build extremely large systems for public aquariums, universities, corporate offices.... They have representatives in most regions:

https://www.titanaquaticexhibits.com/contact-us/



.

 

[Reefer1978]

Of course I can't find it right now, but I saw a tank thread long time ago of a big tank fully lit by the sun with mirrors. It looked awesome. My buddy is running a small all-in-one which is his dump tank, if coral are not doing well he throws them in there. It's right by the window and has no other light source, everything does great in it. Only issue is heat, so he keeps it in a cool room.

 

[JoshH]

Of course I can't find it right now, but I saw a tank thread long time ago of a big tank fully lit by the sun with mirrors. It looked awesome. My buddy is running a small all-in-one which is his dump tank, if coral are not doing well he throws them in there. It's right by the window and has no other light source, everything does great in it. Only issue is heat, so he keeps it in a cool room.

I'm in the same boat theres a member here half way through his addition fish room, pretty much exactly what the OP is planning and I can't for the life of me find the thread;Shifty

 

[Lousybreed]

Dont take this the wrong way. If you have the money to do this, you can afford the cost of aquarium builders/service companies in your region to help plan the design. Lots of great design/service aquarium companies.

This is too big of a plan to do it DIY.

IMO there is no "saving money" DIYing a plan of this scale.. it's a MIRAGE....only cost savings if this is your 5th time building one. Learning curve too costly.

Like putting in a solar panel system....I'm sure I would make very costly mistakes DIYing solar panels to my roof. More cost effect to do it right the first time around from experts who have circled the marry-go-round quite a few times.

I'd start by calling public aquariums in your region to see who they consult with.

Titan is a good place to start. They build extremely large systems for public aquariums, universities, corporate offices.... They have representatives in most regions:

https://www.titanaquaticexhibits.com/contact-us/



.

Very cool idea and something that might help out big time!!! Thanks!

 

[ca1ore]

To me, personally, the fun is in doing it yourself ….. IF you feel up to it. I have adapted existing space within my houses (over time) on a few occasions for a 'fish room'; but I have never done a build-to-suit structure.

 

[LiveWire]

I agree that the fun is in doing it yourself if you are capable of doing so. If you design a stand to hold a tank you may want to consult an engineer on their thoughts of your build thats the biggest thing that I would be worried about. I am in the middle of my build out and just got the drywall hung. I designed it a bit different and will not be using any natural sunlight as I hear that a lot of the time it needs to be shaded and you also dont get the same deep colors in your corals that say LEd or T5 produce but I would guess that also depend on where you are located. I did include a way to vent out excess humidity and that will be automated through my wifi. My house is not super tight so I have in the plans an HVR but will wait to see how things pan out before I install that as i may not need it with the venting that will be in place. I have a dedicated sub panel for the fish room room that I will also monitor all my electrical consumption. I still have a lot of work to and I am getting there slowly but surely. I say go for it if you can build it. I'm sure once II am done mine there with be things that I would have done differently but I am enjoying the process of doing it myself.

 

[Lousybreed]

I have been doing extensive research towards this build. I feel I have the HVAC part figured out. I have designed a lighting system that can add or subtract lights as needed for the seasons (looking at around 600 PAR for the reef crest year-round). I am not bragging but I am a chemical engineer that has designed chemical plants up to 30MM and have started up and commissioned plants that were in the 190MM range. This project doesn’t really scare me, I am more looking at advice from people that have done this sort of thing to identify look outs or talk about problems that they have identified. (Thus why I liked the advice about talking to a company that does this for a living.....more for guidance than anything). My current plan is to do a crawl space underneath the sunroom that connects to my existing basement. Based on load calculations, we will determine how the floor will be constructed. My guess right now is traditional wood joists with I-beams every 4-6 foot for support. I will route everything from my crawl space. I will use a separate HVAC system with a HRV system that controls the air exchange rate based on humidity. Additional heat loads from the aquarium, lights, and solar radiation will be considered for mostly AC sizing. For sunlights I am looking at solar tubes or traditional sunlights. I will mount a fan in the sun room to avoid thermal gradients. The heart of this system will be in my basement. I want to keep the tank as quiet as possible.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Ohhhhhh its alot of FUN!!!!
Has kept me stone cold sober for 14 1/2 months...

 

[Lousybreed]

I agree that the fun is in doing it yourself if you are capable of doing so. If you design a stand to hold a tank you may want to consult an engineer on their thoughts of your build thats the biggest thing that I would be worried about. I am in the middle of my build out and just got the drywall hung. I designed it a bit different and will not be using any natural sunlight as I hear that a lot of the time it needs to be shaded and you also dont get the same deep colors in your corals that say LEd or T5 produce but I would guess that also depend on where you are located. I did include a way to vent out excess humidity and that will be automated through my wifi. My house is not super tight so I have in the plans an HVR but will wait to see how things pan out before I install that as i may not need it with the venting that will be in place. I have a dedicated sub panel for the fish room room that I will also monitor all my electrical consumption. I still have a lot of work to and I am getting there slowly but surely. I say go for it if you can build it. I'm sure once II am done mine there with be things that I would have done differently but I am enjoying the process of doing it myself.

I hear you on the stand. I built my stand for my current 250 gal DT. The construction methods are pretty straightforward if you follow DIY king. I used the compression construction method and it was easy to build. I did put in significant cross bracing for structural rigidity. For a large tank I would add additional braces and put plywood on top. I have watched WWC’s large tank builds and my stands look very similar.

 

[Lousybreed]

Ohhhhhh its alot of FUN!!!!
Has kept me stone cold sober for 14 1/2 months...

Tell me more!!! You have my curiosity peaked!

 

[lapin]

My tank room is in my house so no advice on how to build a fishy house. I would just cover the swimming pool green house style and go big :-}
I built my tank myself. 600 gallon square tank. Fun stuff. Stand consists of 4 beams with 2x12's for support across the middle (blocking). 3 walls support the beams. I have seem a solar tube thread somewhere. Sunlight is natural. You might not get the day-glo coral colors, but stuff will grow. Something to think about.