My crazy idea to build a fish room.

[stanleo]

Ok I have been perusing some build threads over the last few weeks. Especially those with fish rooms and my husband and I have decided to wall off a section of the basement and turn it into a fish room. This is crazy!! I have some pics and I want you all to tell me HOW crazy.

On the other side of this wall behind the tank is the basement area that we would wall off. It's not even a complete wall just the drywall separates this floor and the basement. Its a split level house so the basement floor is only four feet lower than the floor the tank sits on.

The X marks where the drain and return plumbing would go through.

I will make a sump out of this 55 gallon aquarium and use the pump that I currently use for the return. I want the sump to be big enough for the skimmer and refugium. Plus the 20 gallon aquarium will be used as a frag tank on the same system. The sump will stay where it is in the picture and if my measurements are right the return pump I have is enough to pump the water the 10 feet up to the display tank.

the crazy part of this is:

A. This tank has been running for ten months and I have it stable and things are looking pretty good, why would I want to change things and possibly mess up the whole system? Well, its loud and plumbing it to the basement would cut down the noise considerably. And I could have a larger water volume. And I like the idea of having a place to do water changes, store water long term and make the water that is not on my carpet in my living room. And I like the idea of having room to expand like adding carbon reactors and UV sterilizers. The cabinet under the tank is already full with the current sump and fuge. Plus, I can set up a QT tank that won't take up room in the house so I won't be tempted to turn it into a permanent tank for something.

B. The sump will be right next to the house's water heater and the plumping for it will go right through the pipes that feed the water heater. IS that crazy?

Obviously this will take a while. I'm thinking six months before it's all ready. First I have to build the sump. Then wall off the area before I even start plumbing everything. What do you guys think? Is this doable or is this too crazy?

 

[lapin]

Nothing wrong with playing with toys

 

[Murica]

Anything is doable if you do it correctly! Having a fish room is so worth it... after creating a basement sump myself I’ll never own another tank with the sump in the stand. Good luck!

 

[CasaReefer]

Just remember there is nothing MONEY can't fix.....

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I don't think you are crazy at all. You should see my 2 car garage lol

 

[jtl]

Having a separate fish room is worth the effort to build it.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I recently added a basement sump to my established 1 year old setup. Went from a 20 gallon sump in the stand to a 125 gallon sump with the whole room in the basement for reef storage. Took me a good 6-7 months to do, but was SO worth it. My display is now dead silent...to the point that it's actually weird. I'm so used to the hum of the return pump and skimmer and stuff that it's more weird than anything that it's now quiet. I also now have tons of space in my cabinet for test kits, fish food, towel for minor spills...etc. I don't have to wiggle things around just right to get my hand in the sump, or take the protein skimmer apart in the sump to get it out of the stand for cleaning. I've eliminated that "fish smell" that my wife often complains about by relocating the skimmer. Who would have thought that something blowing alot of air past skimmate would be smelly? I have room for a large fuge, almost doubled my water volume...and now it's actually sort of fun to work in the sump, where before I would put off maintenance way longer than I should because it was a pain. I'm not sure if it's the fuge, or the increased stability, but my coral growth has literally tripled within a couple weeks of putting the sump online.

If a remote/garage/basement sump build is something you'd enjoy getting ready than it's for sure worth the effort 5x over.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

BTW, I haven't made my wiring and all of my equipment pretty yet. Functionality is my strong suit...not so much aesthetics so you'll have too look past the mess. lol