Fish Shed Build

[skramer725]

Hey everyone,

I have been keeping fish for a about 8 years but in the last 2 years I took more of an interest in the hobby and went from 3 tanks to 5 tanks and then jumped up to 10 in the last few months. I am in the process of moving and decided that in order to build the fish room that I have always wanted a shed would be the best option. 

As of right now I have the 10x12 concrete pad poured and just about ready to build on. I will post some updated pictures as I make some progress.

Unfortunately, due to the HOA in my neighborhood I am only allowed to go as high as the fence which is right about 6 feet. I would love some suggestions on how to maximize the space or any other tips from others that have built fish rooms.  

[Fish Folk]

This is great! I think MD Fish Tanks keeps his hobby largely out in a shed…

Make sure you’ve got a good plan for Electric and Water in / out.

[Patrick_G]

On 12/3/2021 at 5:33 AM, Fish Folk said:

This is great! I think MD Fish Tanks keeps his hobby largely out in a shed…

He does have some great videos in his shed fish room but he’s now moved into an off site building with two separate studios. 

 

 

On 12/2/2021 at 7:24 PM, skramer725 said:

would love some suggestions on how to maximize the space or any other tips from others that have built fish rooms.  

Here’s a great thread. @Jimmy did a great job documenting his build. 

[lefty o]

i have the ultimate solution, add a few more layers of block to the fence. rules say cant go higher than top of fence, do they say you cant raise the fence??😎

[Fish Folk]

On 12/3/2021 at 10:54 AM, Patrick_G said:

He does have some great videos in his shed fish room but he’s now moved into an off site building with two separate studios. 

I think that for most aquarists, the small, packed, well-organized space like just a shed — or Dean’s fishroom — is most enjoyable. Bigger spaces may be essential for bigger projects, or studio production… but I think the joy of all those aquatic worlds so close at hand is hard to beat!

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Agree with @Fish Folkyour air supply and plumbing of it to supply the room and any auto water change system with this size room will be much easier. I also personally like having a cap on how many tanks and projects I can have as I really don’t have unlimited time and something to remind my brain of this is helpful. 

[Jimmy]

I’m working with only 50 sq feet and love it. 27 aquariums. I’m not sure how you can navigate the height though.

[skramer725]

So it looks like there will be a slight change of plans...

I think I will be using half of my garage for the new fish room. The buildout in terms of power and water will be far more straightforward and the temperature control will be easier as well which will be crucial in the summer here in Arizona. I should also have a little bit more room and more importantly the ceiling height will be about 9 feet as opposed to the 6 feet I was limited to in the shed. 

As far as the concrete pad I had poured I will still be building a low top shed if anyone was wondering. I own a general contracting company and have a few employees that store tools at my house along with my tools. This works better anyway because they will be able to grab things as they need them without having to go in and out of the garage. In the end I think this will work out better in the long run. 

We are framing this week and I will post pictures as we go.

[lefty o]

On 12/6/2021 at 11:22 PM, skramer725 said:

So it looks like there will be a slight change of plans...

I think I will be using half of my garage for the new fish room. The buildout in terms of power and water will be far more straightforward and the temperature control will be easier as well which will be crucial in the summer here in Arizona. I should also have a little bit more room and more importantly the ceiling height will be about 9 feet as opposed to the 6 feet I was limited to in the shed. 

As far as the concrete pad I had poured I will still be building a low top shed if anyone was wondering. I own a general contracting company and have a few employees that store tools at my house along with my tools. This works better anyway because they will be able to grab things as they need them without having to go in and out of the garage. In the end I think this will work out better in the long run. 

We are framing this week and I will post pictures as we go.

this sounds like a better plan.

[StevesFishTanks]

Garage sounds much better. 

[skramer725]

I’ve been busy with work so I haven’t had a chance to post but we have an update… I decided to continue with the shed. The reason for this is the room in the garage will now be an enclosure for my Asian Water Monitor. The tanks are all here now and I will be setting up a few more this weekend. I will take some more pictures then but here are some pictures of the shed build

Edited March 25, 2022 by skramer725

[Minanora]

Nice. Pretty sweet. Header looks good. Why the fire blocks in such a small space? I've only ever spanned studs for windows, doors and actual fire blocks in larger spaces (if not required by permit). Just makes it harder to run wire later if you close up the walls. But I'm just curious. I'm happy to learn.

I'm not a contractor, just a person who builds stuff where I can.

[ChemBob]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:13 AM, skramer725 said:

The reason for this is the room in the garage will now be an enclosure for my Asian Water Monitor.

In addition to your fish shed, I'd love to see pics of your monitor room build!

[skramer725]

The only reason that the blocking is in between is because I had to wait about a week to sheath the outside because of my schedule. So I put some blocking in and then cross braced it to make sure that would nothing would move while it sat there.  A little overkill but because of the height of the walls I had a bunch of 2 foot cut offs anyway so it was also a way to use some material to add a little bit of strength. 

 

I finally got the walls drywalled and then hired a company to move my tanks. The tank moving was a nightmare. The company ended up killing an entire colony of shrimp and a few super red plecos. the tanks were also pretty dirty because I had moved about 2 months ago and they were sitting at my old house. I would stop by every other day and feed the fish but never really had time to stay there and keep up with maintenance. This company assured me that they would disassemble everything and clean and then reassemble. They really did not clean anything. They also didn't take the fish out of the tanks. They just drained them down to about 2 inches and moved them like that. I was less than thrilled but here we are.