afr3178 Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) Okay, this is the best attempt or closest thing to a fish room I will ever get while I am still living with my parents. Anyway, so the other day when I was looking in the garage I thought... Hmm. That back corner is basically just storage for crap we never use! So my genius plan: get rid of it all, build a special custom stand (dad can build it.. I'll help) for the space and move all but one or two of my tanks there! So I actually think I may have been able to convince them! Anybody got some bright spark ideas on making it a definite okay? Also, the garage is double brick. I don't want the whole thing to be warm.. Just the corner I'm gonna use. Should I try and insulate each tank? Or build it into a room? (cost more and would probably be an eye sore)... Any ideas? Or just use my heaters as normal? It does get pretty cold in there... It's like outside temperatures but always a few degrees warmer. What would you all do, or have you done in this situation? I can't take over the whole garage as a little car still needs to be parked in there... Thanks for any help! :) Edited September 10, 2012 by afr3178 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 I would build insulated walls around that section which can then be insulated. It would be too hard to maintain temperature otherwise. How much space are we talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) As you can see, the topic title has changed. This fish room is tiny! It's gonna be 2m by 2.5m. So I'm planning on having two large shelves set up around two sides- my plan all along has been to only move my smaller tanks in there and hopefully get more little ones (2 foot maybe 3 if I have space)! So probably two or three tanks won't be in there. If I have room two wont be in there, but if I still have room only one won't be in there. Perfect timing for me to think of the idea and my mums work holidays to be starting next week! She wants to sort out the space there and this has given her a reason to start also my dad can clean up his work tools. We've decided that it will be easier to build a wall there. There is already a light directly above the spot and a sink close by. Need to buy a hose and a new fitting for the tap. Also need a visit from our electrician to get some powerpoints down there. It's gonna be small, but I'm happy to get one for majority of my fish. My parents are glad to get the tanks off the bar and I'm sure I'll be able to buy more because there will probably be extra shelving space. Probably get more wilds and maybe killies- I've taken a liking to them of late :) Edited September 10, 2012 by afr3178 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 This is fantastic news, very happy for you Adam! A sink nearby is so useful, and a tap fitting for a hose will be helpful. Since my tanks have moved from my room I've been using a hose too - it's so much quicker, mess free and just all round easier. Please take lots of photos and updates. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thanks Sarah! I'm so excited I never thought this would happen haha. I'm planning at the moment but once everything starts, I'll update with lots of photos. It's just piles of junk at the moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) Build more power points. Even if you think you are not going to use them. I have a sparky brother and he installed three new power points into my bedroom and it still wasn't enough (I have four all up). I hate having extension and power cords snaking everywhere. If I ever did a proper fish room, I would have it like an aquarium where all the equipment is hidden away and all you see are the tanks. A sink nearby is definitely handy. I sometimes have to trudge down a flight of stairs and go through a baby gate into the kitchen if I want to do water changes, and it gets really old after a while. You also want to make sure your room isn't going to get too humid. My bedroom is like five degrees hotter than the rest of the house because of the amount of tanks I have in there, and if I leave my door shut on cold nights, I find I get a lot of condensation on my windows which is not good for my poor wood frames. Make sure too that everything in your fish room (from the top shelf of your rack to any storage spaces) are accessible. Nothing worse than having to strain to reach the top shelf or have to move everything out of the way to get into a cupboard. Also make sure you have enough space in between the shelves to easily reach in and do maintenance. Nothing worse than trying to squeeze in to reach something at the back and getting the front of your shirt all wet This is just my experience with the 15 odd tanks I have running up in my bedroom. I would definitely never have anything but a purpose built room if I was going to have this many tanks again. Edited September 10, 2012 by Wild Nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Haha thanks Ashlea! I'm gonna take note of everything you said while I'm setting up my fish room. I especially agree about hiding all the cords, I've always had heaps hanging out everywhere! Thank you so much for your input and advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 The sink doesn't have to be inside the room if you don't have space but maybe just outside would be great. And if you store equipment just outside as well that will mean more space inside for tanks. If you can, try to organise plumbing for water to get to each tank and to go out of each tank you will have a top notch fish room. For my fish room I'm planning on drilling every tank with an overflow hole somewhere near the top which will then be connected to a drain system. And also under every rack I'll set up some plumbing to allow me to siphon a tank directly into a drain without using buckets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted September 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 @Razzi- I never thought about stuff like that! The sink is outside the room, I think the stuff will be inside though. I really like the idea of drains, I don't think I will drill holes in the tank but a gutter system I can put the siphon in sounds great! I think the hose from the sink will be fine, I think it will be too hard to set up plumbing to each tank especially cause I'll probably move them a lot. Thanks! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ftaquaman Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (dad can build it.. I'll help) Does your dad know what he is in for yet? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted September 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Does your dad know what he is in for yet? Hehe- nah, I think I'm just gonna buy some heavy duty shelves that can go on either side of the room. The newest design so far is there is going to be my little rectangle room, door in the middle on one wall then as you walk in a row of shelves all down the left and a row of shelves all down the right. Now, there is a window in there which I am going to buy a fly screen and blind for, but the space under the window will be lower shelves and that's where I'm gonna store everything I can picture it! Can't wait for it all to start!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Unfortunately this has been postponed until the Christmas holidays. My dad and I had a huge talk about it today and we were talking about how it is all going to work out. But he's really busy with his work and he just doesn't have time to do it now, so Christmas holidays and we'll be in business! But for the time being I need to find more space to squeeze tanks in! I know the room will be large enough to hold all the tanks I have times at least 3... Cause 2 large rows of shelves with we think 3 levels of shelving on both rows. So any I manage to squeeze around the house will easily fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ftaquaman Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 Cool, good luck with that. Dont forget to post pics of "operation fish room" once it gets moving. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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