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Remodeling my fish room

55K views 113 replies 38 participants last post by  DiabloCanine 
#1 · (Edited)
This will be a journal of the progress setting up my fish room. The room I have been issued is only 11.5 x 7 and also serves as the utility room (wish I had a basement). Currently in the utility room are the hot water heater, HVAC, water softener, brine tank, and my water storage unit (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/37957-ro-water-system.html). I will attempt to shoehorn 14 tanks totaling 255 gallons into this room. I have purchased 2 gorilla racks, (rack 1) a 72” x 30” and (rack 2) a 48” x 17”. The 72” x 30” is installed around my water storage unit and will house five 20 gallon long tanks. The 48” x 17” rack will be installed across from rack 1 and will house four drilled 20 gallon high tanks, a 55 gallon sump, and four 5 gallon hex tanks. I believe this setup will take a few months to complete so I will update this post often. I will start with rack 1, once it is up and running I will be able to transfer tanks/fish and install rack 2.

I needed to move the RO unit for access and to make room for tanks.

From



To



Next step was making cross braces for the rack to help support the tanks. The cross braces will fit within the rails.



Dave (davrkw) came over to help make the 38 cross braces I needed for both racks. The cross braces look like this.



They are notched on each end to fit within the rails of the gorilla rack.





Close up



This is how the cross braces fit in the rails.



Closeup





A piece of 3/4" plywood will sit atop the cross braces.

I will update this thread with posts as I complete steps.
 
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#45 ·
Drill a hole and run a tap in half way. Put a generous amount of loctite on the threads, tighten it down as far as it will go......DC
 
#47 ·
K, sounds good give me a call. Do you want any of those rams? I have 10 I need to find a home for. I got a few from aquaticmagic and a few from a setup I bought second hand. I found the bubble counters tend to leak when running higher pressures so I took them off. I wanna try some RMC ghetto bubble counters. Did you see them?.....DC
 
#49 ·
You can pick the one you want. I forget what he makes them out of, gonna see if I can talk him out of a few though.......DC
 
#50 ·
Put the last tank on the rack today.



Not too much room left.



Put the sliding glass tops on.



I made them the same size front to back so an equal amount of the tank would be accessable.















CO2 is almost done, need to put diffusers in the last two tanks then finish planting and stocking......DC
 
#52 ·
#54 ·
That is why I put sliding glass tops on all my tanks.....DC
 
#60 ·
Says soilmaster select on the bag, I have several tanks with it and have no complaints.....DC
 
#61 ·
Awesome setup ... gives me some ideas .....

A question I haven't seen here. Have you done anything to the house wiring? Right now I got a zillion plugs and power strips into 2 circuits both of them are 15 amps. Seems inherently dangerous to me. Did you upgrade to at least a 20 amp circuit? I would have to pull more wire for that.


Thanx
 
#65 ·
Only thing I did was add an outlet near the rack, I was using an extension cord but it only powered the water barrels.......DC
 
#67 ·
One tank was reused and had the back painted, is a coincidence not by design. None of the other tanks have sides painted or covered......DC
 
#64 ·
I would love to have more than 1 tank again. I had 9 when I lived at home before I got married. Of course, thery were mostly fish only and a few not-so-successful plants...

Tommy
 
#69 · (Edited)
The other rack went up recently. Originally, I wanted to put two 55s on it but decided against it. The dimensions of rack 2 is 48x17. I have placed the following tanks on this rack:
55G
29G
10G
10G
5.5G
5.5G
5G
5G
5G
5G
Here are some pics.



I modified the original 10 gallon rack I had, it held two 10 gallon tanks one on top of the other. It was a PITA to get into the bottom tank.



I added some 3/4" plywood to the bottom of the stand raising it 31" higher. Now the bottom tank is waist high and I have some storage space below.



Here is the top rack, it holds four 5 gallon hex tanks.



Here is the middle rack, it holds a 29 gallon and two 5.5 gallon tanks.



Here is the bottom rack, it holds a 55 gallon tank.



Top rack different angle.



Two 5.5 gallon tanks on the middle rack.



I got these two 2x54 watt T-5 finnex lights from a reefer for a real good price.

The fish room now contains 15 tanks for a total of 235 gallons in a 11.5 x 7 room. I still need to finish up the wiring, replace the top frame on the 55, and stock the tanks with fish/plants......DC
 
#71 ·
Great write up, i have been wanting to do a fish room but to be honest my floors wont hold much. I'm really pressing my luck now, hoping to get to summer to brace the floors and get larger tanks.

I like the look of the 20 longs on end but glass cleaning looks to be a chore, at least for me who does it ermm...twice a month maybe.

jason
 
#72 ·
Looks fantastic so far, I bet you're either inspiring a lot of people or just making them jealous like me!. May I ask, what do you keep in all of those 5gallon hexes?
 
#73 ·
Power distribution for rack 2 was completed today.



4 power strips are used



2 of these are used, 1 for the top rack (four 5 gallon tanks) and 1 for the middle rack (two 5.5 gallon and one 29 gallon). The lighting for the two 10 gallon tanks on the end is connected here also.



One fire shield is being used and all power strips are connected to this for protection.



Power distribution for top and middle racks along with lighting power for the two 10 gallon tanks.



Fire shield for circuit protection. Bottom power strip will control the 55 gallon lighting, filter, and heater.

Here are some pics to show how tight the room is. There are 2 doors to this room. 1 leads to the garage (left hand side) and the other is access to the mechanical room from the house (right hand side).



LH side of rack 2 (access to garage)



LH side of rack 2 (access to garage)



RH side of rack 2 (access to mechanical room from house)



RH side of rack 2 (access to mechanical room from house)

Not enough room to play ping pong, but just enough room for 15 tanks.

Once the top frame on the 55 gallon is replaced it can be set up. Almost done.....DC
 
#75 ·
Update on rack 1.

My 50 gpd RO unit was not keeping up with the demand. I researched piggybacking another 50 gpd membrane to increase output but decided to go with a 100 gpd unit upgrade.





I always wondered what my water pressure at the RO unit was so I ordered a pressure gauge with the RO unit upgrade. My water pressure is over 60 psi which is good to go.





Since I was upgrading to a 100 gpd membrane I needed a new restrictor. I decided to go with a combination restrictor/flush valve. The ball valve handle position operates the flush function; up/down flushes the membrane, side/side makes water.



Here is the old Spectra Pure flush valve with a 50 gpd capillary restrictor installed inside.





I added a filter housing to the unit so I could add another carbon filter. The unit now has a 10 micron sediment, 5 micron carbon, 1 micron carbon, 100 gpd filmtec membrane. Now I am getting 100 gpd to feed my need for 300 gallons of water per week for water changes. TDS is a little higher (25) but still well within what I wanted.

During my work week the GFCI popped which cut power to rack one and no one noticed. My shrimp colony almost perished due to the air pump being shut off. I do not know how long it was off but several hundred shrimp and all the BNs perished. I purchased a battery backup that is now connected to the air pump.





I got this at Best Buy and it will power the pump for a few days. A nice feature I like; when AC power is cut off, a blue light illuminates that is bright enough to light up the room. Now it will be easy to notice a tripped GFCI......DC
 
#76 ·
Did a little work on rack 2:

Moved the stand for the 10 gallon tanks further away from the wall to make room for the Fluval 204 tubing going to the 29 gallon. With the rack against the wall the tubing was getting pinched seriously slowing the flow.



Installed a power strip, timed power strip, and light inside the bottom of the 10 gallon stand I made.



Moved the food supply storage here also.



Installed a couple of racks to store items used daily.



Replaced the cracked top frame on the 55 gallon tank, placed it on top of some insulation and put 5 gallons of onyx sand in the tank. Yoink is bringing me some charcoal SMS to mix with the onyx.



Should be able to add water to the 55 Tuesday. I plan on using the dual powered sponge filter that came out of my 110 sump and a Fluval 204 for filtration. This will be the last tank set up on this rack and will house a herd of Long Fin German Blue Rams. Next on the list is to jump the pressurized CO2 from rack 1 to rack 2 so I can get rid of the yeast CO2 on 8 of the tanks on rack 2. Additionally, I will be installing some fans to help cool the tanks on the top racks. I really need to start painting the stuff I make, bare wood doesn't look too good.......DC
 
#79 ·
#78 ·
DC. Great thread, and it looks like you've been working your tail off.
Curious, what (generally speaking) water parms are you running? Are you mixing tap with your RO to reconstitute the GH/KH? Also, is it air conditioned in there during the summer. It must be.
 
#80 ·
I use 100% RO in all my tanks, around 400 gallons a week, only thing mixed in is some Prime, TMG, and GW ferts. The only thing I check anymore is TDS, temp, and PH. Don't know about the temps in the room for summer yet, it is pretty warm in there now. I am looking for a combo dehumidifier/air conditioner. Know of a good one for a small room?......DC
 
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