Fish Room

[Ryan-b]

Hey everyone,

I'm in the planning stage of making a fish room in my basement with a frag tank, and a grow out tank. This will all be plumbed into my 150g display upstairs. I have gone over a couple of threads and got a couple of ideas on how I want to do this, but before I proceed with ordering anything I would like some constructive criticism/feed back, on my plans.

frag tank= 48"x30"x16" 100g (thinking tek 6 bulb t5 lighting opinions/different options appreciated)

grow out tank standard 90g (thinking tek 4 bulb t5 lighting opinions on this as well)

sump standard 90g (reeflo dart super gold return) Is this the right pump for my application? I have roughly 15f of head loss. Anyone with experience with this pump or other external pumps please chime in.

Couple pics of what I'm think
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s484/haedith/fishroom2.png

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s484/haedith/fishroom3.png

I was thinking I would have the over flow water from the display go directly into the frag tank, then into the sump. I would then have another pump to feed the 90g grow out tank, which would also be draining into the 1 sump for the system. How would guys run the system on a whole for flow?


1. Display>sump>grow out/frag tank(with the return being tee'd/manifold)>back to the display. Will the dart be strong enough to do this?

2. Display>frag tank>sump>extra return pump (to feed the 90g grow out)>back to the display.

3. Am I completely wrong on both accounts haha.



I'm a little concerned that the 90g sump wont be enough in the event of power failures/water changes and what not. I guess I could run the sump at about 8" deep across the whole thing and that should give me plenty of wiggle room(roughly 45 gallons of return water)

This is going to be in a unfinished bathroom in the basement, so its a little tight in there, being 6ft across the back wall and 10ft long.

I realize that is a lot of water evaporation in a little room would just a standard bathroom fan running all the time be sufficient enough to keep the moisture down?

Im sure I will have a lot of other questions/modifications but its a start I guess.

Any and all opinions/critiques greatly appreciated.

Ryan.

Already realized that my calculations are way off, on the left wall and the grow out tank will probably have to be on the right wall for space reasons.

[sphelps]

Hey Ryan you're welcome to come check out my fish room if you're looking for ideas. Pretty similar in some ways.

A couple things I'll point out:


You'll want the room sealed from the rest of the house to prevent moisture spreading
You'll want some kind of water resistant layer to prevent mold growth
You'll want humidity control, I wouldn't use a bathroom fan 24/7, it probably won't last long plus not very efficient.
90 gallon grow out tank would still probably be better suited as a low tank similar to frag tank, don't see the need for a 24" tank unless you plan on growing corals 24" tall. Actually don't really see the need for a grow out tank and a frag tank but you probably have different plans than most hobbyists?
I'd make better use of the space with racks, stacking tanks three tall instead of 2.

[Myka]

^ Good points.

I also don't understand why you would want a frag tank and a growout tank. Could you explain? Are you planning on running a bit of a side business? It seems like rather an over-sized system to feed a 150-gallon reef. I would imagine you would have plenty of space using a standard 40-gallon tank or two (and much cheaper to set up).

Check into an HVR unit. They are a bit pricey to get going, but they will pay for themselves in no time with energy savings. Not mention saving your house form rotting out... ;)

Consider adding glass tops to the tanks (keep the sump open, skimmer will provide plenty of air exchange) to help lower evaporation. If you make shallower tanks like sphelps suggests you should be able to use T5s for lighting so heat won't be so bad, and the tanks can handle having a lid.

With the amount of water you have going I would suggest you look at 55-65 gallon drums for RO and salt mixing vats. Your proposed 30-gallon vats will need constant refilling.

[Milad]

Use rubbermaid water troughs for the sump. I have 150g and 100g stacked and filled with live rock. I also used another rubbermaid 30g and drilled holes at exactly 8 inches which empty out into the sump that has my skimmer in it. so no matter what, the level where the skimmer is never changes.

I was going to use another rubbermiad for a frag area but I think having some glass you can see through to see the frags would be more ideal.

My whole system (around 500g) is ran by 1 hammer head pump which is tuned back to less than half!

For the moisture, I have one 120mm fan blowing air out. I think two would have worked better but so far so good.

[Milad]

Take a peek at:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=750066&postcount=91

It could give you some ideas