BlindZide
07/21/2013, 07:06 PM
I am looking to turn half of my basement into a fish room. I am currently in the remodel phase IE removal of old junk, painting, and flooring. The basement was built as a entertainment room and has its own circuit breaker panel separate from the rest of the house. I have TONS of outlets down there already. The section of the basement I want to turn into my fish wall is in an "L" shape. One side of the "L" is up against the bathroom. I was thinking of tapping into the plumbing here for a RO/DI and water change automation system.
What I am wanting to do is fit 4-5 tanks along that wall all around the same size. I was planning on building a continuous stand all the way around the wall with room underneath for sumps. I am planning on running LED fixtures hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling is a drop ceiling. I was going to poke holes in the tiles for wires and hanging links for the lights covered with feed through bushings.
The center of the room will have a table with chairs to play card games or sit and hang out. The other side of the basement will have a bar and TVs set up for viewing sports and what not.
OK, now that is a lot of info laid out. That is my vision. I was wondering if anyone has done this before and has any advice or photos to share. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my 75g in my dining room but I think putting the other tanks down there would be a lot easier with less ambient light and no traffic walking past them.
1. Is this idea far fetched or should I just get with 1 gigantic tank and 1 smaller tank?
2. Do I need separate sumps or can I use one and plumb them all to the same one.
3. Doing manual water changes would become cumbersome. How do you suggest I go about making it totally automated with multiple sumps if I need multiple sumps? If only 1 sump is needed, again, what steps to automating it should I take?
I'm sure I will pop more questions as I get replies. Thanks!
What I am wanting to do is fit 4-5 tanks along that wall all around the same size. I was planning on building a continuous stand all the way around the wall with room underneath for sumps. I am planning on running LED fixtures hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling is a drop ceiling. I was going to poke holes in the tiles for wires and hanging links for the lights covered with feed through bushings.
The center of the room will have a table with chairs to play card games or sit and hang out. The other side of the basement will have a bar and TVs set up for viewing sports and what not.
OK, now that is a lot of info laid out. That is my vision. I was wondering if anyone has done this before and has any advice or photos to share. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my 75g in my dining room but I think putting the other tanks down there would be a lot easier with less ambient light and no traffic walking past them.
1. Is this idea far fetched or should I just get with 1 gigantic tank and 1 smaller tank?
2. Do I need separate sumps or can I use one and plumb them all to the same one.
3. Doing manual water changes would become cumbersome. How do you suggest I go about making it totally automated with multiple sumps if I need multiple sumps? If only 1 sump is needed, again, what steps to automating it should I take?
I'm sure I will pop more questions as I get replies. Thanks!