building a new fishroom

[sicklidrus]

hi there guys,

I am in the process of designinga new fishroom and need suggestion on what to do about having:

1. tanks on a mini reef or side drops

2. Insulation and what type of walls anybody know of hebels blocks as walls.

3. what about solar heating or possible having an opposite of an exhaust to blow hot air from the roof cavity via solar panels during the day and normal heating via a/c during the cold nights.

4. there are many questions about fish rooms i would love to see anybody design and take some ideas to help me.

5.What is is a good size of fish room and why?

I am open to ideas and advice.

thanks

gus

[timmy2422]

Hey mate. Just built a fish room a few weeks ago. I used cool room panels and they seem to hold the heat in fairly well. Make it as big as you can afford or fit, you will probably expand how many tanks you want in the next 12 months. I made sure i had room for the tanks i wanted in the next 6 months.

Good luck, keep us updated

[YeW]

My preference would be to have all the tanks filtered via a centralised mini-reef. Doing it this way cuts down on maintenance and reduces the hassles of water changes (as one water change - on a large sump, does all the tanks). You probably should invest in a high quality UV steriliser though as disease can spread in these centralised systems.

Some people will no doubt say "keep all the tanks separate", I'd recommend 2 tanks be run independantly as a 1. quarentine tank and 2. as a hospital tank. I think the people who are pro "separate tanks" have "water changing" and not fish keeping as their hobby

[rosco]

My preference would be to have all the tanks filtered via a centralised mini-reef. Doing it this way cuts down on maintenance and reduces the hassles of water changes (as one water change - on a large sump, does all the tanks). You probably should invest in a high quality UV steriliser though as disease can spread in these centralised systems.

In my fish room I have 1 centralised system with 5 tanks on and 12 separate tanks. I am moving to split the system I have and add 3 more onto a system to have 2 systems to reduce maintenance as I have struggling for time these days with young-uns.

Eventaully I should have 2 systems of three 2x18x18's and one 6x2x18's with 6 2x18x18's individually filtered and some smaller fry tanks all driven by a central air pump. So I will be able to do half the fish room one week and the other the next and it should roughly take the same amount of time. But I need to invest in some uv good sterisliers first and some somaller water pumps.

cheers

[Josh]

I have all mine filtered separately. It makes it easier to mix up your water conditions if needed. It could also be argued that running cost are lower if you run air driven filters over using a sump and UV steralizer.

As dave has said if you use a centralized filter then go for a UV sterilizer.

There is a link in my Signature to my page where I have the construction shots from my room.

[Colfish]

hi Gus

if you can't go as big as you want straight away, allow for extensions at a latter date

i started out with 3mx4m, thinking that would be enough i'm in the the finishing stages of adding a 2m extension and [on paper], that is still cramped

use whatever materials you are comfortable with. i went with a conventional timber frame, clad with blueboard and coolroom panels for the ceiling [reduced wieght] done the roof in colourbond. i used a combination of polystyrene and foil in the walls with polyester batts and foil in the roof. i'm afraid HEBEL blocks were

beyond my budget!, albeit a good material, i dont think it would match the R rating of what i have.

with a well insulated room, heating is of little consequence. even now, i'm only heating 3 big tanks, and that is working as a heat bank atm, with the room at 24c

i do have a 2hp AC ready to install. in the past i have used a thermo controlled workshop heater, but it was costly to run. at least with an AC it can be used in summer if needed. i think you might find the initial cost of solar prohibative

i have a mixture of tank sizes, [18in to 6ft] along with an equally mixed array of filters, that can cater to different water conditions and filter requirments for fry to adults, for tangs to malawi. i don't mind some mexican water changes, it's a great way to observe some of the fish.

you can try and set it all out on paper, using graphs and scales and slide rules etc

it works for some ppl, but not me! use your head, with a minds eye to what you want to acheive, and go for it

cheers; Colin

[dyclops]

I'm not sure about UV sterilisers. Ok. They wipe out the bad ones, but hows a fish going to develop a immune memory?

What happens when you sell the fry and they first encounter a nasty? They fall over more often then not.

I'm not having a go at anyone. I just feel the UV is a bit overkill and is a problem if you want to sell fry.

Depending on size. 2-3 seperate systems with a few tanks out of the loop would be the go.

Just my opinion.

Mitch

[YeW]

The water in the tanks isnt sterile Mitch. Microbial communities are free to develop in each tank (on the gravel etc) but not free to travel between tanks.

[dyclops]

I get where you're comming from. But isn't it the nasties that travel. It can't be sterile otherwise the would be no nitrobacter or nitrosomas able to develop. I thought they were selective. I dunno must of missed something.

Cheers Mate.

Mitch

[Matthew]

G'day Gus

I had a huge reply all typed in and then it vanished . To save me a lot of typing. Can you tell me:

What sort of fish you intend to keep?

Is it a display or a breeding room?

Will the tanks be in racks, how many high?

What size(s) of tanks are you thinking of using?

What sort of floor area will you be using?

cya

[YeW]

There is no selectivity. UV kills most things uniformly (this isnt quite true, but it will do). Nasties are the things you want to stop travelling. You'd find (if you sampled the sides or gravel in the tank) many, many, many, many (you get the picture) microorganisms - mainly bacteria - but also fungi and protists. The water will also contain these - though they'll be killed if exposed to the UV light when travelling between tanks.

Connecting the tanks has the advantage of a lower workload for the aquarist. There is no doubt about this. However, if you need to separate fish (based on water conditions etc) then it's something you cannot do.

I cannot stress enough that you need a good quality, working UV to do this. Otherwise you accept the risk that diseases will move between tanks.

The alternatives are all more work - without exception BUT they come with the advantages of separation.

[Caesar]

Exactly as Yew has said. The tanks will contain microorganisms but the UV will stop any bad microorganisms from travelling between tanks. It is just like topping your existing tanks up with freesh clean water all the time.

One thing you must remember when using UV sterilisers is to have it on your output line (from the sump). This allows you to build a good culture in your filter , helping to break down wastes and send clean water back to the system.

HTH

Jason