Noddy65 Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 Ok...heres some of the stats Racks Each of the racks is pallet racking...the width of the shelves were reduced to 600 mm to suit the 600 mm tanks I bought it all second hand of ebay The shelves are 20 mm MDF (Bunnings) topped with 19 mm poly (from Clark Rubber) Plus: very easy to set up Cheap to buy second hand Very, very strong Con: looks a bit ugly Tanks All made new for me as the sizes are basically NOT standard Filtration All use a sump system. Each rack has its own sump I converted old tanks into the sumps, each as 5 compartment. Doing it this way was cost effective but the sumps are pretty tall (50 cm high) which made running the water from the bottom tanks a bit challenging Filter material is in order in the tank: filter wool (from Spotlight), sponge (from AOA), bags of coral pieces or Hydrotron. Return pump is a low wattage pump form AOA....I’m trying to keep costs down. Eventually Ill replace them with even lower wattage pumps but they are much more expensive than the ones I have now. Two of the sumps have a UV attached via a smaller powerhead. Plus: seems to be efficient at polishing the water and maintaining good quality Con: I’m nervous about disease control. If something gets into a tank then it will get into ALL the tanks on that systems. I practice strict quarantine so this should NOT be a problem The layout of the racks will make servicing some of the sumps a bit fiddly Room insulation I would have used proper R rated batts for the ceiling if I had my time again. On hot days I can feel the heat coming through the roof. Stock Ill mostly be housing Africans but also have a thing for natives and apistogrammas. Cost: not accurate to the cent but its close Insulation $180 Second hand Pallet racking $1300 Second hand Power $900 Lights $200 Second hand Plumbing $1300 New Tanks $3000 New Extras $1100 sand, nails, screws, rocks, mdf, poly etc etc NOTES 1. If you can get someone to help you then DO IT 2. Don’t skimp on the insulation, I really regret not insulating the roof more (the walls seme to be ok). In hindsight I would have bought proper rated batts for the ceiling and used the cheaper stuff for the walls. 3. If you can do a project like this with no time frame then things would have been nicer...I had to get the room ready for tanks in around three weeks (and was working full time) so teh setup was a bit of a rush. FEEL free to ask questions...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gombe Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 nice post.. enjoyed the read and pics. A full list of fish would be nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 speachless i was absolutely speachless when i was going through those photos well done its a dream to the rest of us if you what to do something about theheat comming through the cyling i would sugest gyprocking it will help alot. you can use Villaboard if you are worried about moisture getting to it, amazin job perfect my first step is the instelation then gyprocking if i can do that in my laundry/garage then i will be extreamlly happy and start looking for pallet racks i sould quit now sound like alot of work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern1 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 For the amount you spent on the whole set up to me it looks like a bargain. From the photos im sure everyone would dream of something like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couchy Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 dropped in today and have to say quality work on everything. Setup is great and water quality is crystal clear, Well done I've recently completed a fish room from cool room panels and have higher temps today than in Mikes room. The insulation does a great job. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 dropped in today and have to say quality work on everything. Setup is great and water quality is crystal clear, Well done I've recently completed a fish room from cool room panels and have higher temps today than in Mikes room. The insulation does a great job. Cheers Mike Good to catch up with you today....I learnt where Blacktown is today (I had heard of it but didnt know where it was) Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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