Help Design My New Fishroom

[dogofwar]

Long story short: We've moved to a new house, so I have a new fishroom. For those who had the pleasure of visiting the previous sweaty man-cave, this one is much wider...

Currently all of the tanks (empty), concrete blocks, etc. are sitting on the floor...ready to be assembled. Before I jump in and start setting things up, I wanted to get some ideas - other than the typical "tanks along the wall" - for setting things up. Be creative

I have a bunch of 2'x2'x1' breeder flats and a bunch of 2'x1'x1' 15Gs...as well as a 6' 125g, 4'x2'x32" 150G, a few 4' 55gs and 75gs, some 20Ls, 30s and a few oddballs, 5.5Gs, etc. My construction method for stands is 6" wide concrete blocks and two by wood. There is enough height in most places to go 3 tanks high.

I'm planning a drain system with auto water changing (drip system) and central heat (vs. heating each tank).

I'm struggling to post the .pdf of the layout...so if someone could assist I'll post it..

Thanks much,
Matt

 

[Tony]

For those who had the pleasure of visiting the previous sweaty man-cave, this one is much wider...

Um.... Check please.

I'm struggling to post the .pdf of the layout...so if someone could assist I'll post it..

Sheesh.. some IT guy you are....

Give it to the dumb concrete guy to figure it out for you.

 

[dogofwar]

Three dudes in my old fishroom was...uh...two too many I hope that this one will be a little more comfortable.

Thanks much - I'm humbled!

Matt

 

[minifoot77]

can we see this one or will it be super secret still?

 

[hollyfish2000]

I'd paint the walls a soft peach, add an area rug to define the space better and hang a mirror on the wall for good fung shui . . .

 

[mscichlid]

I'll help you out for one of those 2'x2'x1' tanks!

My best idea I can give you is to make it as comfortable as possible. The room is longer than wide and lends itself to having tanks along the walls. If I were you I would get a welder make your racks in sections to accomadate your tanks AND to ensure you can get them down the stairs.

Also, i would think about getting the tanks up off the floor by 8" to allow for storage bins of extra stuff.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I would dump some of the smaller tanks and replace them with more 75s and 125s. Then I would add poret foam as both filters and adjustable dividers.

 

[Avatar]

Well....

1) You have to go against the walls as the room is really too narrow for anything else (unless you tear out the short center wall - leaving any load bearing members of course - and expand the room to subsume what I assume to be a deck/porch area out the door past the sink);

2) 86 the washer/dryer to the garage, back yard, closet, etc. or abjectly surrender any future reference to 'man-cave' or such and admit defeat before you've even begun;

3) tear out the stairs and put in a fireman's pole/circular staircase (the room has a back door, yes?) and perhaps a dumbwaiter;

4) sink seems like a waste of space - water and a drain yes, but a sink?

5) know that whatever you do it should be a riot. If you come up with a master plan and want some recruits for a building day count me in - I can hammer, saw, tap, screw, bolt, lash, plumb, seal, hang and drink with the best (and worst) of them.

As for welding, there's a certain permanence and relative immutability to designs that rely on such - tends to have a rather stultifying effect on future modification/evolution/basic change. Prefer beams and bolts myself, can't really find too much fault with your cinder block approach given its 'versatility'. JMO.

Welcome back Comrade.

 

[davidhusker]

I'd probably focus on double racks on the 16' wall, and use the 4' cubby corner and also have tanks on the 6.5' wall. I would not use the 8' wall unless really needed. It's a little separated, plus its at the bottom of your stairs

 

[davidhusker]

Also what I did with my 7 ft tank you could do with your 6 foot tank. Put it as a "divider" for the room. So basically place the tank horizontal in front of the washer/dryer to sort of keep the fish stuff separate.

 

[mscichlid]

I like the idea about using a tank for a divider, but keep in mind the amount of space your wife may need to get past the tank. If her arms are loaded and she bumps into the tank, you'll have hell to pay. However if you are doing the laundry make it as narrow as you want.

 

[dogofwar]

Already thinking about the wall of tanks to divide the laundry room from the fishroom, complete with an entry way. Had a similar set-up in my fishroom in Cali, which was a "room" of fishtanks inside a 2 car garage..

Matt

Also what I did with my 7 ft tank you could do with your 6 foot tank. Put it as a "divider" for the room. So basically place the tank horizontal in front of the washer/dryer to sort of keep the fish stuff separate.

 

[dogofwar]

That's up to my wife

can we see this one or will it be super secret still?

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

That's up to my wife

So it will still be super secret then.:lol: I miss the comfort of the original sweaty man-cave.

 

[Tony]

If you're doing it simply, use the 16 foot wall as a rack for all of your tanks that are 2' deep.... all the cubes and your 150. The space up at the top (the 4' wall) will mostly be taken up by this long rack, so using the 4.5' wall is out of the question - you'll need it for access. The 125 could be either a divider next to the washer/dryer or along the 6.5' wall. 55s go double stacked along the 8' wall (sadly, you'll need 2 more 55s now).

You could do an island if you'd like or perhaps rows coming running perpendicular to the west/long wall. It may be nice to have that center open though. I'm seeing an old couch or a couple of chairs with a mini-fridge full of Schlitz.

 

[dogofwar]

The old fishroom was a man cave...actually more like a sweat lodge... The new one will be a "Nature Room" for both Siena and me.

I think that 10.5 feet wide will be wide enough for some creativity. I'm gonna give it a try There's no back door (or pole, fire or otherwise).

I'm going to stick with the concrete block and two by construction approach: it's way more simple, flexible and returnable to Home Depot than any other approach. It will be my third fishroom designed that way.

I had a drain but no sink in my last fishroom. It makes cleaning sponges, dumping buckets, etc. really tough. Plus I've sold the wife on it for laundry purposes

Would love to have your help when construction begins. The good news is that there are already ~200 concrete blocks and God knows how many tanks (down the basement stairs) and in the fishroom. It's just a matter of organizing them into piles

Thanks everyone,
Matt

1) You have to go against the walls as the room is really too narrow for anything else (unless you tear out the short center wall - leaving any load bearing members of course - and expand the room to subsume what I assume to be a deck/porch area out the door past the sink);

2) 86 the washer/dryer to the garage, back yard, closet, etc. or abjectly surrender any future reference to 'man-cave' or such and admit defeat before you've even begun;

3) tear out the stairs and put in a fireman's pole/circular staircase (the room has a back door, yes?) and perhaps a dumbwaiter;

4) sink seems like a waste of space - water and a drain yes, but a sink?

5) know that whatever you do it should be a riot. If you come up with a master plan and want some recruits for a building day count me in - I can hammer, saw, tap, screw, bolt, lash, plumb, seal, hang and drink with the best (and worst) of them.

As for welding, there's a certain permanence and relative immutability to designs that rely on such - tends to have a rather stultifying effect on future modification/evolution/basic change. Prefer beams and bolts myself, can't really find too much fault with your cinder block approach given its 'versatility'. JMO.

Welcome back Comrade.

 

[dogofwar]

I miss our time together in there as well, Mike.

If the Chanchitos could talk :lol:

So it will still be super secret then.:lol: I miss the comfort of the original sweaty man-cave.

 

[islander710]

I install hvac willing to give you a hand with any duct if needed.

 

[dogofwar]

Awesome - thanks. The HVAC runs through the room...and there are vents to the (finished) rooms in the basement...but not to this room. It would be great to have someone show where to install a new vent such that it doesn't throw things out of balance...

Matt

I install hvac willing to give you a hand with any duct if needed.

 

[Rasta Fish]

16' wall depending on how high the ceiling is, stack 2 rows 3 tanks high of 6' tanks which will leave enough room to stack another row of 3' tanks (40 or 50 Breeder tanks) 3 high total of 9 large tanks
the 4' and 4'.5" walls can yield another 2 rows 3' tanks total of 6 tanks or various smaller tanks
then you could do a central drainage system for water change tie into the sink drain
this will give you plenty of viewing room and space for other no fish stuff, so the wife don’t get too upset ...lol