ADA Room--60P flooded on pg 16

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by MARIMOBALL

I respect Tom's advise but, I say build the room and set up the ADA tanks. Later, if it gets too humid or mold or whatever, then take some down. You have to try it first! most people that replied don't live in SoCal. Where we have great weather and can crack a frigin window open. I have 6 tanks in my bedroom for two years with no such mold humidity or smells and they look pretty darn cool too. I do keep an air conditioner and a room ionizer though. Build your dream ADA room so we can all live vicariously through you and be jelous. Jon has good taste and I have seen his set ups. I know he will not set up some of the tanks if it looks cluttered. Good luck and envite me to the grand opening.

I live where is dry and hot like LA(come to Sac in the summer sometime, bet it's a lot hotter and drier than LB!!), I have clients in LA as well. He will have the same problems and the same type of temp differences which will lead to mold.

Rather than waiting till the entire place is a mold disaster, I'm warning ahead of time, this is NOT something you just try and fix later, the resultant issue is a lot more of headache. I've gone through it, as have others dealing with mold, I've got some real life experiences here.
Move to Florida or buy an aquarium shop etc.......then you shall know mold.
There's worse mold locations to be sure, but too many tanks in an unvented room, there's no way around it, it must be dealt with.

The wife will shut down all aquarium activity real fast if she sees mold. Better to save the marriage and the aquarium

Still, property is expensive and keeping it up is also costly, best to do it right. Learn through experience is fine, as long as it is not your own.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by jnaz

I am going to run a siphon out the window for water changes. I have done it that way for years and it has worked just fine. The window faces the side of the house and will drain onto the lawn in front so the water will not be wasted and it will fertilize it. I have a 100 ft line on my RO/DI unit that I will run from outside through the window to fill them back up. I might try storing a couple of 50g drums outside the window and fill them up with RO/DI.

Sounds good then.
Also, the Dehumidifier can be used and they have pumps that can add the water back, which is like RO grade.

Tom, as far as the temps go, I don't keep fish so I don't have to worry about temps. I don't run heaters because my cherry and Amano shrimp don't require them. There is nothing wrong with having ADA in the garage. I have a three car garage and one side of it is already tanks. I have a 100g Lee Mar, empty 120g, and a 50g in there right now and it is where I spend a lot of my time. The tanks are there for my enjoyment so why not have them in a place where I spend a lot of my time. Sure, I spend a lot of times inside the house and would like to be able to stare at them as I sit on my couch or eat dinner, but I would rather have them in a place where I can get away and destress. It seems like everytime I am inside the house the wife wants me to do something off of the honey-do list. Having them in the garage lets me get away and do my own thing. She can't tell what I am doing when I am in there. Maybe I am doing something important, maybe not. She doesn't know and she leaves me alone when I am in there. If all of my tanks are in the ADA Room she will know what I am doing and probably come bother me. I am reading every word that you write so don't think that I am ignoring your input. I value what you have to say and am taking it all into consideration.

Man Cave!!!

I know exactly where you are coming from, make the garage into a palace!
I'd make that one room into a nice 1-2 top of the line ADA tanks.
A nice chair, desk, laptop etc, minimalist. Then the rest out in the garage.
If that room looks nice, she will like it and sit in there etc, you can as well etc.

She will not care much outside the home....as long as the place is not too messy, she can store her stuff etc and get at it. But inside the house, that's hers, you just live there

Making deals, compromises etc vary couple to couple, but sounds like you need a nice work shop and fish room, so the garage it is. Good thing there's no heat issue, this should make most of the issues go away, I'd vent the garage and then run a small very quiet fan in the room inside with 1-2 tanks, blowing the air out. Crack the window also as often as you can in that room.

This seems like the best solution.
A small little fan for the garage is all you need, have it run at night on a photocell night timer. If you see any condensation, run it 24/7. Mostly in the winter.

I think if the inside room is done nice and she can also use it, it's not some eye sore than guest coming over might see, rather, the opposite, this will put you in better, and also allow more time in the Man Cave outside.
You have to get ahead of the game and stay there.

I think that would make you happier.
See what you can come up with for the garage and think long and hard about what you really want out there.

Go first class and be patient, buy slowly the higher grade stuff. Not not clutter. Cultter is the enemy. Man cave can be techy, but you want place where you can oogle the tank with a cold one. Get a really nice comfy swivel chair also for the garage. Tell the wife you spilled paint thinner on it and it might stain her cloths. She will not sit in it and give you directions in the Cave.

I'd also think about racks and good storage in the Garage. This is well worth the time and $$. Storage lockers ain't cheap and clutter and no access to the stuff is no better.

I have 55ft of two tier racks 36" tall each in my home and ladder racks etc.
Bins, storage boxes etc etc. About once every 3 months, I go through and clean out and reorganize a section, maybe 1/4.

I toss excess stuff I likely will not use. Declutter, sell it off, give it away etc.
They make those small exhaust fan systems for laundry rooms, that would be ideal.

I'm lucky the place I have is tile and dual pane windows, and I can place a tank in each room for the most part. I resist the urge to get more tanks, but this is easy, since I do not have the time/motivation for more than I have.
Something we must all ponder, some cannot stop, some end up with 100's of tanks, stuff everywhere. To each their own, but that's not even close to what I wanna end up with.

Better to have a fewer but nicer tanks, make the wife happy, throw her a bone or two to get ahead, avoid mold(good excuse to tell her that you are thinking of her also and this will allow you a quid pro quo to do more for the ADA Man Cave)..... I think?

This should hedge the relationship tally in your favor, and get what you want still.

"Good plan, have you" says Yoda.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Digsy]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

Sounds good then.
Also, the Dehumidifier can be used and they have pumps that can add the water back, which is like RO grade.

Do you have any specific info to share about using these pumps on aquariums, specifically, does it need any modification to make it safe? I'm starting to get mold/condensation from my open top 105 gallon throughout my house so, I need to act fast but already have a problem with evaporation so, this would be a great option.

I have 800 sq ft of space (my entire upper floor) that's being affected by 105 gallons of water so, I can only imagine what all those tanks would do to that one room but I can't wait to see what you do end up doing. It's definitely a dream to have a fish room. Please keep us posted, Jnaz!

[-MJ-]

http://tinyurl.com/26wbjpp

xD

[brianS]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

. Learn through experience is fine, as long as it is not your own.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Well said! I'll chime in again about my friends disastrous "aquarium room". We had to tear out the walls, wiring, wood floor, subflooring, ceiling tiles and partial frame...not only in that room, but the room adjacent. Of course he lives in the swamps along the Suwannee river in Fla. where the humidity can be cut with a knife, but he did think he was well prepared with good ventilation, dehumidifiers, plumbing and so forth...but not prepared enough. Now he has built a seperate building just to contain the tanks. There's still mold accumulation, but he can manage/clean it up easily.

Building a seperate building/garage just to house the tanks isn't prudent, I'm sure. My friend works for dept. of forestry, where it benefits his career and paycheck, but perhaps starting off slowly with MUCH preperation would be prudent.

[!shadow!]

Tom is right about the dehumidifier adding water back through pumps.The last one l installed had like a gas shut-off valve (like what you would have on your gas furnace) that twisted all the way around clockwise not just 180 degrees and just worked like a regular water faucet you would see outside of your house. l've been an air conditioning installer for a while now so l install these things.I also deal a lot with peoples homes and the whole mold issue. l wish you luck with the room and can't wait to see it all finished.

[jnaz]

Floor is in except for the quarter round. That should come in sometime this week.

[jnaz]

Floor is done.

60P, mini L, mini M, and 90H are up and running.

90P and 60F are scaped and are going through an emmersed start with HC.

The 120H stand is done and sitting in the room. The 8 bulb Tek light is hanging above it. I still need to run down to Target to get some floor mats to use as garden mats.

I still need about 8 bags of Aquasoil, a stand for the 120P, which will be done on the next few weeks, and 8 4ft t5 bulbs and I should have everything I need to complete the room.

[VadimShevchuk]

hopefully your electric bill wont kill you. You should post pics

[CL]

Pics or it didn't happen

[jnaz]

Originally Posted by VadimShevchuk

hopefully your electric bill wont kill you. You should post pics

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago. The 90P, the cloudy one, has been emptied and is going through an moist start with HC. The 60P was being used as a temporary hold for some bolbitis until the 120H is ready for it. Lots of things have changed in each tank since these pictures were taken.

90P






The 90H grow out tank


The rack that contains the 60F and mini M.


The 60P and rack. The 60P looks a lot different now.


The mini M.


The room was a mess when I took there pictures. I had not cleaned up the mess after I drilled into the ceiling to hang the Tek lights.

[CL]

*drools* I love the scape in that 90P. Very cool and unique.

[jnaz]

Originally Posted by CL

*drools* I love the scape in that 90P. Very cool and unique.

Thanks! I am pretty sure the slope will hold once the HC fills in.

[VadimShevchuk]

great start so far. Are you planning on ordering more ada tanks to add to the room?

[jnaz]

Originally Posted by VadimShevchuk

great start so far. Are you planning on ordering more ada tanks to add to the room?

No more room except for on the rack. 30C? I think that the 60F was is a great size to scape. I had so much fun that I want another one. I don't like having the mini L in the closet area but I am out of room.