Fishdude Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Hello fellow fish enthusiasts and journalists! Over the next several months I'll be purchasing a home with a large basement room that will house my entire fishkeeping hobby. A contractor will be adding water access and a drain to the space in May/June and I'll be making a lot of decisions about shelving, number and size of tanks, an air flow system, lighting, and most importantly a big water quality issue (which may require setting up a RO/DI system. I'm hoping to get feedback and ideas along the way, as well as critiques and answering any questions about why in the heck I made the choices I made. I imagine there will be many orders made to Aquarium Co-Op before all is said and done so you'll see familiar products in as I get under way. Starting in the next few days I'll post pictures of the space, a little background about how my dad used it before, and share some of my ideas. Come and join the Fishdude on this exciting (and expensive) journey! 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 That’s really exciting! Good luck with the plan and build! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Good luck on the build out of your fish room! I look forward to following your progress. Do you have certain species in mind that you want to keep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Good luck with your fish room build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Andy's Fish Den said: Good luck on the build out of your fish room! I look forward to following your progress. Do you have certain species in mind that you want to keep? I'm still a novice in terms of what to keep. Pretty simple tastes. I really enjoy keeping and breeding corydoras and I like white cloud minnows. I'll probably have some killifish and other interesting species that are easy to find and breed. One thing I'd really like to have eventually is some discus but I'll need a bigger tank and a lot more planning before that's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 Update: I have ordered a 4-stage RO/DI system and I'll be moving some shelving around this weekend and deciding where to put things. I've decided against drilling tanks for now as I just don't feel confident that I understand or can set up a water change system that requires overflows (plus it's not that many tanks yet!) I also purchased an egg tumbler to use with my corydoras who have been active egg-layers lately. I'll be able to sell/exchange these at my LFS for some additional species to breed in the future. Here's a morning picture of my pride and joy planted 33L tank that will be in the fish room when I get settled! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Sweet looking tank! 33 longs are the bomb! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 minute ago, Daniel said: Sweet looking tank! 33 longs are the bomb! Right? Like if I knew where to get them for a reasonable price I'd totally have more than one. This I got off Facebook marketplace from a guy for $50. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 (edited) @Fishdude excited to follow along! Have you also considered electrical needs for the fish room? Also, depending on where you live and what temperature the basement gets/whether it is finished or unfinished, how about heating? And I'm with you two on the 33 longs, I wish those were something I could get at the $1/gallon sale! Edited March 25, 2021 by ererer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 Here's a few more of what are running all over my current house (and which will be redone when I finally get into the new space). 40B with peppered cories and some Buenos Aires tetras, along with an anubias a friend grew out over 10 years before giving it to me. 10g cherry shrimp paradise, recently trimmed so I could confirm there were shrimp left to see! And a 20L with 24k gold white clouds and the rest of my peppered cories, along with an overgrown moss tree. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 2 minutes ago, ererer said: @Fishdude excited to follow along! Have you also considered electrical needs for the fish room? Also, depending on where you live and what temperature the basement gets/whether it is finished or unfinished, how about heating? And I'm with you two on the 33 longs, I wish those were something I could get at the $1/gallon sale! All good questions my friend. I'm in Pennsylvania and will be moving into a house with a partially-finished basement. The room in question has mostly concrete and brick so it gets to about 58-60 degrees in a cold spell, but it has a baseboard heater and is adjacent to finished and heated spaces. Definitely considering how much heat will be needed as it's a good-sized room (I'll try to get a video or pics of the space today). My dad ran some electrical down there for his plant lights but I may have an electrician friend come and route a dedicated circuit since the breaker box is one room away (and has plenty of extra slots). I'm taking suggestions for cheaper lighting because I will absolutely run out of money if I keep ordering Fluval lights from the Co-op! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 (edited) Something like this for lighting would probably work fine for growing low to medium light plants, if you have enough room over your tanks to get sufficient spread, probably use 2-4 bulbs/tank, depending on dimensions: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FGLZJOO/ There's a local fish keeper that has a sizeable fishroom in his basement that uses all 10w daylight LED flood/spotlights with good results. Edited March 25, 2021 by ererer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 So here's a mid-room shot of the area that will hold my fishroom space. I made a video and it turns out it was too large to be embedded (I'm not a YouTube star!). So for now you can see my unintentional greenwater 40B that's sitting in the corner where I'll have water access once the contractor finishes a second part of the basement in May. All the plants off to the side are remnants of my dad's gardening hobby which he's let go a bit over the last year. The dressers and other junk will be stored in the area behind me and there will be a fridge/freezer as well to store frozen fish foods and feed the Diet Mt Dew habit which I just cannot kick. Interesting note about the sink is that in addition to tapping into the softened water I'll have a connection put in to get city water as well so that I can remineralize naturally. We have some HARD water so cutting with RO/DI seems like the best way to get the balance I want. The drop ceiling will likely come out so that I can mount lighting and run electrical and an air loop at some point. I'm waiting to buy the Medo air pump until after we get paid because I want my wife to continue speaking to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share Posted March 29, 2021 My 4-stage RO/DI filter system arrived and I did not realize how large it is! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 Alright so we've had a few changes of plans this week. Rather than waiting on the builders to start their project of adding water to the room I'd planned to use, I'm instead getting an existing utility sink in our laundry room fitted with a faucet that can accommodate my RO filter. This is going to save a whole lot of money! But it will also move the fish room and have all of the tanks along the a wall that's currently storage. More work for me. I've toyed with the idea for connecting a drain directly to the sewer (having a plumber do it) but I'm going to "budget" this part because we're also on a renovation budget. I have my drill bits and bulkheads to add overflows to all tanks and I'll run a drain line into a 110g tub beside the sink. Then I'll use a pump to empty the overflow water into the sink. Not elegant, but effective and it'll allow me to put money elsewhere. More pictures of the space coming as soon as I get it cleared! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 So the first step of getting things cleared out has finally begun. The corner of the laundry room here had an old teal countertop in it that we believe was part of the original kitchen. That's now awaiting a truck to haul it away. Off to the right is our utility sink that will be updated to connect to a hose sometime in the next few weeks. My dad plans to waterproof the corner of the brick there as water once came through the walls before they repaired the sewer lines and changed the flow of rainwater several years ago. The drain pipe will run along this back wall and into the adjacent room (actually it'll become one room because we're removing the wall between them). Overflows should arrive today and then I get to piece together PVC parts and drill some glass! I'll provide another update later this week with that step. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Jealous. Florida has no basements, so definitely room for fewer tanks for a couple with children, and no dedicated fishroom. Good luck with the remodel. The ceiling painted charcoal coming down the wall a foot would look greatand hide the janky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Littlefish said: Jealous. Florida has no basements, so definitely room for fewer tanks for a couple with children, and no dedicated fishroom. Good luck with the remodel. The ceiling painted charcoal coming down the wall a foot would look greatand hide the janky. Thaaaat is a good idea actually. My wife had the idea of a dark blue paint on this back wall but I'll definitely consider a darker paint color before putting any shelving into place. We'll be working more today, hopefully able to play around with shelving this week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 100 feet of plastic tubing for my drain lines. I'll do an update with all of the parts I've bought and how I'll assemble the overflow drains (hint: it's basically a version of what @Cory has done in his videos) in case y'all feel like being crafty and spending a lot on parts. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted April 14, 2021 Administrators Share Posted April 14, 2021 Looking forward to watching the build. I love this part of fish keeping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 On 3/29/2021 at 6:39 PM, Fishdude said: My 4-stage RO/DI filter system arrived and I did not realize how large it is! Awesome build! Just because no one else mentioned this, keep the RO filter out of the light. Those cylinders can grow algae so fast! Particularly the first sediment filter stage before stuff is really being removed. I made the mistake of just hanging it up near grow lights in a carnivorous plant room and it was a mess to maintain. Now, I always try to warn others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 25 minutes ago, OnlyGenusCaps said: Awesome build! Just because no one else mentioned this, keep the RO filter out of the light. Those cylinders can grow algae so fast! Particularly the first sediment filter stage before stuff is really being removed. I made the mistake of just hanging it up near grow lights in a carnivorous plant room and it was a mess to maintain. Now, I always try to warn others. Thanks for that tip, I hadn't even thought of that. I'll likely hang it a ways from any of the main lighting and there's no sunshine so hopefully I'm in good shape. Plumber comes tomorrow and then I get to try the filter out! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 So today we have a dumpster out in front of the house and we have filled that dumpster. Here's the current look of the basement region that will house a fishroom. Where my father (we'll call him FishGramps) is standing, there used to be a wall and a door. We'll continue to clear this space and prep it for racks along the back wall. You can see there's existing drainage high on the wall, that was for a pair of dehumidifiers. I'm leaving that mounted because why would you ever remove drainage? I'll be adding the 2 inch drain pipe along the back wall in the next week and painting the wall royal blue (on my wife's suggestion, we'll call her FishWife). I'm only starting out with about 10-12 tanks, but I'm preparing the space so that when I have the time and money to add more it will be an easy process. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 Today I also got my order of a sicce Ultrazero pump and a 10 ft python line. This will allow me to easily move prepared water from bins to tanks, and overflow water from the basin into the sink drain. I may buy a second in a few months to have a set for each purpose, but for now I'll try this one. I like this pump because it pulls from an intake on the bottom, has a very long electrical cord, and does not use an oil-based motor so there is no risk of contamination. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishdude Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 The remaining purchases I'll need for this fish room are: 1. the water basins, both for mixing my street and RO water, and for overflow drainage. 2. Drainage pipe and mounts to attach it to the wall. May need a drill bit as well. 3. The airline system. I'll be picking up 1" PVC this week to run along the ceiling for my air system and then probably in May I'll be ponying up for a piston pump. I got the outlets in my last ACO order and I have plenty of airline for the tanks I'll be setting up. 4. Lights! Holy crap I almost forgot about lighting. I may use the lights currently on my tanks at my house but at some point I'd like to get some Finnex to hang in the shelving. 5. Anything else I've probably forgotten that will require a trip to the hardware store. Ours is not an inexpensive hobby friends, but I'm glad I have this community to share it with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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