room layout/design

[heyfredyourhat]

Hi, i am about to move into a new home soon. I have been building and planning my 120 for about 6 months. This will be my first attempt at a reef tank, so i want things done very well. My question is, what are some concerns with the way it is setup in a room...I mean like do you want the tank far away from a wall for access to "stuff", or do you need good humidifiers if its a smaller room...Or maybe ventilation....

I dont want to just throw it up and then get it cycled and find out something like "too much moisture for this room" or "not enough plug-ins on this wall"....then having to tear it down and move it to another location.

Any tips or things that you guys have came across that were a nuissance, or things you would plan out differently???

Thanks in advance, sorry for the long ramble on

[fish 511]

If i were you, I would plan to put it on a dark room. I think that that helps with the humidity also....HTH

[Lotus99]

A couple of things I can think of:

- Make sure it will be easy for you to set up and mix salt where you will have the tank. Close to a sink is useful for draining, etc. I guess having the RO unit nearby is a plus, too.
- If you think you're going to have to run a chiller, make sure there's room outside the cabinet, next to the tank, for it. It can't go inside the cabinet.
- Check that the floor is level in the area you want the tank.

[chinaman4u]

Think you can put up a floor plan and where you'd like the tank then everyone at rc can help you decide on location?

[heyfredyourhat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9616346#post9616346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chinaman4u
Think you can put up a floor plan and where you'd like the tank then everyone at rc can help you decide on location?

Well i dont have exact floor plans yet, i am still in process of buying(narrowed down to one)the home. A big part of buying the home is whether or not it will house my hobby (reefer) in a nice and tidy manner.

Thanks for ideas. My biggest concern is humidity and salt spray, maybe smell??(are there associated smells?? I'm still new) As far as weight issues, only certain places in the house will accomadate that amount of weight.

[lakshwadeep]

Find a place where there are enough electrical outlets to handle the inevitable power strips that will be put for the millions of equipment you'll collect.

Try not to get direct sunlight on the tank because overheating will outweigh the additional lighting. Also, putting the tank on a wall that doesn't face the outdoors and away from floor vents will help keep temperatures stable. If you decide to use a chiller, these issues will probably not affect the temperature range.

[lakshwadeep]

Place the tank in an area with some "traffic" but not "high-traffic" or near doors. That way the fish won't be startled by the occasional visitors or constantly stressed by doors opening and shutting near them.

If you leave your tank with an open top and use hanging light fixtures (pendants), there will probably be some salt creep that occurs, but nothing that a few wipes with a wet towel can get rid of.

Also, your main problem with water will be evaporation from the heat of the lights or just leaving the top open, so an automatic top-off device for replacing freshwater in the tank might be needed. Or, you can just check daily the water level from a pre-marked line and add pure water when the level has fallen

Once your live rock has cycled and is cured, your tank should smell like fresh saltwater with no bad odors.

[lakshwadeep]

Most of what I've wrote can be found in saltwater aquarium books. Try looking in libraries before you purchase books yourself, since some books just regurgitate the basic steps needed to get a tank started and then have simplified fish recommendations and little information on maintaining and upgrading your tank with new equipment.

[heyfredyourhat]

Do regular lamps and lights affect the fish in any way? Ive always wondered when i flick on the lamp right beside my 30FW that the light bothers the fish??....

[chinaman4u]

Since you are still looking for a place,

I think a water source and power are are primary concerns for fish tank location.

And if you could make use of a nearby closet. The closet can store an ro/di unit, water storage, and other equipment.

Expect to use one 20 amp for equipment and another 20 amp for lights(you will probably need to run this line at a later time if you decide to run 2 250watt halides, so if near a breaker box, would be nice).

Nearby water, a source for your top off ro/di and a drain for dumping water, will save lots of lugging around buckets full of water over your new carpet.

Carpet under the tank is not a good idea, water spillage will not evaporate and could cause rotting, especially under a tank that wont see daylight for many years.

I have my tank 2" away from the wall, perfect for plumbing and electrical. I suck moisture from my tank with ducting to a dryer vent outside. This is required since I am living in a basement, had lots of humidty issues in a large 20x40 space.

[heyfredyourhat]

chinaman4u the closet ideas is great, never even crossed my mind. As far as electrical i am hoping just a bunch of power strips will cut it, and i like the idea of using a dryer vent///but i dont quite understand that part. Do u run a fan on the vent, or just have it hooked upto the dryer to "suck" ....and i dont want noisy fans blowing and sucking air all day long hahah

[lakshwadeep]

Usually fish seem to ignore things that are not close to the tank's walls. But for saltwater tanks, the fish are used to having night waters that are far from pitch black. The reason so many moonlights are now up for sale (or at least in the past few years) is because fish are used to having some light after dusk.

I've noticed that my fish didn't really move to much if I turned the lights on for a short time at night, but after a while my orangespotted goby would move around.

Also, make sure the tank is level to stop unnecessary strain from all that water on the sides of the tank (this mostly is for glass tanks).

[Amador]

I have a GFCI installed behind my 125 .. it is BARELY within arm's reach from one end of the stand. I have to stretch my arm way out to reset the GFCI if it trips. Quite the pain, wish I'd built in an access door in the back of my stand.

[BeesGoneWild]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9616845#post9616845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by heyfredyourhat
Well i dont have exact floor plans yet, i am still in process of buying(narrowed down to one)the home. A big part of buying the home is whether or not it will house my hobby (reefer) in a nice and tidy manner.

Thanks for ideas. My biggest concern is humidity and salt spray, maybe smell??(are there associated smells?? I'm still new) As far as weight issues, only certain places in the house will accomadate that amount of weight.


Hehee i bought my house with this in mind too, granted my big reef tank will be a few years away, But ive got a nice big empty basement to play with. This thread has some good ideas ill be tagging along.
Goodluck with your planning

[chinaman4u]

I use a dedicated vent just for my tank using a large silent 120V computer fan to suck the heat and moisture out of my hood through about 20' of 3" pvc pipe exiting to outside using a standard dryer vent cover.

And, I was curious and counted the number of powerstrips I had in use.

Eight power strips!!!

Mostly due to those bulky timers that cover two to three outlets. LOL And I use a seperate 240V outlet for my lighting.

[heyfredyourhat]

thanks for the input. Gives me a few more ideas to think about.