Kessil

People who have built a fish room...

S

sfsuphysics

Supporting Member
BARcard
... especially Jon the contractor :D

I'm going to make the plunge and wall off a portion of my downstairs for my fishroom simply to keep the heat confined so PG&E doesn't rape me as hard the next time its cold.

I have a question aimed at those who have done so. Did you insulate around it at all? I'm thinking of insulating. (Question for Jon) also am thinking of using some sort of vapor barrier (or using the insulation with that attached. I'm assuming me closing off the fish tank would instantly make that the "warm side" compared to any other part of the house and the vapor barrier should be on the inside of the fishroom and not the outside walls.
 
Sounds good Jon, not quite sure of the time table as I sorta promised to expand the bedroom closet to be a large walk in. But hey the fish room could be a good "practice" room :D
 
Mike,
You know I'm in for the discussion as well! Although you will spend some $$ to enclose it if it's as cold as I bet it is this will pay back within the year. I don't have anything fancy, but I can most assure you it works.
 
I have built a few fish rooms for people. Basically build it just like a bathroom.

Insulate the walls for noise and temperature. A small AC for the space in a great idea and nice split systems can be installed almost anywhere.
I don't put vapor barriers up, but use Green Board (water resistant sheet rock) for the space.
Install an exhaust fan or window for the space. Very important IMHO. Can attach to your controller for humidity and temp control.
Install a sheet good flooring and roll up the walls 4"-6". Cheap sheet vinyl works.
Install FRP on walls that will potentially get wet that you can't access, like behind your sump.
Paint everything semi-gloss or glossy.
Install a drain and sink in the space.

Good luck
 
Great ideas on the fish room.
+1 on basically treating it like a bathroom.

If you want something a lot cheaper and more temporary, simply staple 3/4" styrofoam to all the walls,
and paint over it. They sell foam sheathing panels cheap at Lowes. It can be painted (after lots of primer),
and even has a hint of texture. Insulates + moisture barrier.

But if heating is your only issue : Consider a gas heater, or a "heat pump" style electric heater.
Expensive up front, and you would need an isolated heating loop, but could save a lot over time.
You can even recirculate through house hot water heater.
 
The problem is the room where the tank probably would be considered a cold zone (nothing but air and concrete under the floor, back door tends to be open for pets to wander in/out, and not exactly any insulation in the wall) and it's rather huge (25' x 20')

I'm fairly certain with something as simple as 2x4s (wall isn't going to be load bearing in any way, probably could go even smaller.. but hell 2x4s are cheap) and greenboard I can trap a lot of the heat in a smaller space (I'm thinking 10' x 5') and do fine, the insulation is there to really make sure no drafts come into question, and the vapor barrier is just in case for the moisture.

I thought about a pump hookup to the water heater, but I think building a room will probably be a cheaper option in the long run (and not really that long of a run, since I'll do all the labor myself).

I really wanted to do a room a long time ago, however I've been putting it off simply because I wanted that "bigger better tank" that everyone seems to want, I figure that isn't happening any time soon (OT wanted more than I was willing to spend for their coral flats), and the size I picked will allow a larger tank to fit in there, I'll just have to cut some of the wall I made away.
 
Qwiv said:
I have built a few fish rooms for people. Basically build it just like a bathroom.

Insulate the walls for noise and temperature. A small AC for the space in a great idea and nice split systems can be installed almost anywhere.
I don't put vapor barriers up, but use Green Board (water resistant sheet rock) for the space.
Install an exhaust fan or window for the space. Very important IMHO. Can attach to your controller for humidity and temp control.
Install a sheet good flooring and roll up the walls 4"-6". Cheap sheet vinyl works.
Install FRP on walls that will potentially get wet that you can't access, like behind your sump.
Paint everything semi-gloss or glossy.
Install a drain and sink in the space.

Good luck
Click to expand...


Saving this thread for future reference and taking names :D
 
You probably won't need a heater if there are no windows and you insulate everything. Put a good seal on the door. Little heat loss and a room full of equipment makes for heat build-up.

2x4 at 16" is perfect. You can go 24", but should use 5/8" sheet rock then.
Having all the equipment where you can't hear it rules.

You don't need the vapor barrier. Wrong application for it. Green board and your good to go.

If you do the project in summer, I should have extra materials you can use when we start removing our shoring and formwork on my current project.
 
I have honestly thought of something similar Mike and seeing your space I think it is a very good idea for you. One of these days I am going to put in some sort of semin permanent divider in my 2 car tandam garage and insulate and drywall the surrounding walls of the space where much of my equipment, washer adn dryer, and gym equipment rest.

My biggest concern is the summer. Having that cold room really pays dividends during the summer as it stays about 10 degrees or more colder then the house. I decided a couple of weeks ago (with the help of Ian and Brian) to go the route Dave went which was to try to insulate some of the tanks in the garage. I used foam board and surrounded the racks I have the sump and fuge on with a removable panel in the front. I also insulated the frag tank (again with a top and front removable panel). I am sure it isn't fantastically insulated as there are some gaps in the seaps etc but am figure it does help this time of year and it is so fantastically pink colored.

20101209-SouthSanFrancisco-20101209-00127.jpg


20101209-SouthSanFrancisco-20101209-00131.jpg


20101209-SouthSanFrancisco-20101209-00128.jpg


20101209-SouthSanFrancisco-20101209-00129.jpg


20101209-SouthSanFrancisco-20101209-00130.jpg
 
I thought about summer issues, but I really don't think it will be much of an issue. The area will have a window, open the door (closing the proper back door) would very quickly make that the path for air to flow downstairs cooling things off (hopefully :D) plus I'm not bound like you are by having the tank actually upstairs where the temperature can vary quite a bit.

Granted my honey-do list is pretty full during my winter break, so I doubt I'll do much of anything on it but I can still plan.. and maybe start ripping things down so I'm "forced" to fix it :D

So here's the layout (not to scale :D) currently both of my tanks are closer to the garage part of the room. Thought about enclosing the smaller one as well, but there are cabinets in the way and would require a really long pipe run for any exhaust.

The 180g sump isn't under the tank, but behind it and elevated (less head height for pump and I can work in it easier). The pool table hasn't been used since I was in school, and now it doubles as table that crap is just piled on, eventually I'd like to get rid of it. Laundry and sink area are fixed over there because that was my last project (running proper electrical since lights dimmed every time either would go on, and putting a sink/drain over in one space). There are two windows in the back, the second window wouldn't have any direct sunlight ever shine through but enough that there should be sufficient light during the day.

I'd obviously have to set up a temporary tank after all the walls are up, I'm going to use the stand (it's basically 2x4s anyways) as part of the wall as well so there will need to be some careful measuring. The tank itself is acrylic so I can throw it over to where it needs to go if I need to. If I need to I can open that window for ventilation, but I'll also toss in a bathroom fan to pull out moisture, the choice of that place of the room is so I don't have to have a long pipe run for the exhaust.

Also recently installed a second panel on the garage side of the wall and have 4 open breaker spots that are just itching to get some use to have proper electrical (I worry how much the knob and tube has been abused, considering there has never been a breaker that tripped), so there's a run of conduit to the back, I might even keep it visible since that's the kind of room that is, also maybe toss in a pot light or two into the fish room in case I need to work in there in the dark.

I'll figure out where to put the sumps, probably will keep them external, although maybe on the side this time. Put in a couple water storage containers as well. The drain for that room is under the floor (Probably installed improperly 50+ years ago when the house was built but I'm not going to tear that up, water goes down, I'm happy), but it would be right on the other side of tank wall so a very short run for a drain in that room. Overall I'll probably just put tape on the floor to get a feel for how much real space I'll have after everything is in.

Needless to say it'll be more than a weekend job :D But next semester I'm only teaching 3 days a week, Tues-Thurs, and all night classes so I'll have lots of free time.
46911961.png
 
What I learned so far about mine is that the garage is cold in the winter and cold in the summer. I get substantial fog and wind in the hills where I live and it is actually one of the windier spots in the local area due to geography. I take it you're similar.

Now I missed the really hot days this fall (didn't everyone?). The hot days I did experience were easily mitigated by a fan pointed straight down at the tank surface. I also did not have a full front cover on the enclosure, just a partial. If we had like a week straight of hot weather I could see a problem arising. Pulling some air from under my house crawl space would certainly take care of that though.

Regarding Greg's gas exchange issue I certainly see reduced pH when the garage stays closed up all the time. But my reduced pH issue is more a function of the weather conditions I experience. When it blows from the north at my house ventilation in the garage is poor, and the pH drops. When it blows from the south (typical - again geography) then the fresh air flows freely in the garage, and the pH goes up. I get a rough 0.3 unit change based on weather patterns. Last 6 wks more northerly than not, pH down. spring summer fall 20kts morning and evening from the south, pH up.

Putting a climatology degree to good use;)
 
I worry that you are closing it off so much you will not enjoy it, and perhaps lose interest.
It seems to be in the corner of a small room, off another room that may not be used that much.
Or will it be viewable from all sides, so that corner bottom/left fish room wall is really open for viewing?

Hey - looks like you could fit about 2000 gallons where that pool table is. :)
 
rygh said:
I worry that you are closing it off so much you will not enjoy it, and perhaps lose interest.
It seems to be in the corner of a small room, off another room that may not be used that much.
Or will it be viewable from all sides, so that corner bottom/left fish room wall is really open for viewing?

Hey - looks like you could fit about 2000 gallons where that pool table is. :)
Click to expand...

AYFKM lose interest? Our mate's talking about building a fishroom!
 
The fish room is not where to go to enjoy the fish, but just to keep everything bottled up (a really big stand if you will :D), it'll be viewable from two sides as it stands (3 if I scrape the coraline off the other side)
 
Mike, How many gallons is your system and how much are you spending a month on just heating it. I moved my large fish system over to natural gas last year and it cuts the heating bill by about 90%. Problem is you are going to need to spend $1000-$1500 to setup something. My ROI was only a few months as mine was costing me $300+ a month. If you are interested I can dig up the old build threads or you can just come on over and check it. My typical PG&E bill used to be around $1200-1300 in November and it was only $650 this year. Between the fish tank on natural gas and moving all the pumps over to reeflos I really dropped the bill down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top