New house, fish room build 145 gallon setup!
- Thread starter jrlandsman
- Start date
life~reefer
Member
AWESOME!
jrlandsman
Member
yea basements are a plus for people here in MD and around this part of the states. Im just getting started thanks for all the comments. Ill mostly likely be puting my clean up crew in this week sometime maybe friday Im going with 40 blue leg hermits, 20 turbo snails and 20 nassirus snails. That what I want to start with at least. O yeah and a cucumber to clean the sand.
jrlandsman
Member
thought Id put a picture up of the house as well, First time homeowner so its very exciting to me.
oceansidefish
Active Member
I am a first time homeowner as well and can enjoy in your excitement. Although living in southern california I don't get very much for my money. But their is always equity! I also don't have a fishroom. I was excited to be able to run a dedicated circuit and to be able to add outlets to the wall and in wall digital timers.
dustyboy316
Member
That's a really nice house.
And I would love to dedicate a room to fish.
My actual plan is to get a room with an in-wall tank like that and have a giant crested gecko/chameleon cage. I also want to put in a pool table just so we have something to do while staring at these guys haha.
And I would love to dedicate a room to fish.
My actual plan is to get a room with an in-wall tank like that and have a giant crested gecko/chameleon cage. I also want to put in a pool table just so we have something to do while staring at these guys haha.
erock412
Member
congratulations on your new home, jrlandsman! beautiful house, by the way. your tank is looking wonderful, i definately like that you decided to install it on a corner. a lot of people dont have this luxury because of the load-bearing joists, but since you built the room yourself, i see you were able to avoid this. i'm super enthusiastic about this build.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Beautiful house and very nice tank-build!!
aquaknight
Active Member
Great looking project! Seems to be coming along nicely
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
http:///forum/post/2908380
looks like the making of something awesome. people with basements (and in wall tanks and fish rooms) make me jealous. we live too close to see level so no houses have them here.
x2. What the heck is a basement? You mean you can dig more then 4 ft without hitting water?
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
http:///forum/post/2908380
looks like the making of something awesome. people with basements (and in wall tanks and fish rooms) make me jealous. we live too close to see level so no houses have them here.
x2. What the heck is a basement? You mean you can dig more then 4 ft without hitting water?
jrlandsman
Member
Thanks for all the enthusiam guys! I most likely will want to go bigger later but being as I just started my career and havent had all my bills come through yet I decided that it would be smart to start with a 90 that way the electric bill wouldnt be too high. I figured if I eventually want to upgrade ill do a 120 in the same area, just expand the hole in the wall. This should hold me over for a few years tho. Houses are not very cheap here in the Baltimore area but we definatley get more bang for our buc than CA. Well im away on business all week but when I get home this weekend my girlfriend and I are going to put a cleanign crew in I think, I may order it from SWF any suggestions for a 90? I was thinking 50 blue leg hermits and 20 turbo snails and 10 nasirus snails. And maybe a cucumber to clean the sand. Thanks again for the complements. Back to work!
jrlandsman
Member
Here are some updates. I put 5 damsels in along with the original clown. I got my auto top off today its awesome no more putting water in manualy. I have it hooked up to an aqualifter that pumps RODI water out of my 35 gallon fresh water trash can haha. I also hooked up the utility sink today so that I could fill the trash can with RODI. Thats pretty much it, its nice to not use the hose for water anymore. I still have to drywall the rest of the room Im going to do that when one of my buddies want to help, drywall alone is no fun.
jrlandsman
Member
So three years have gone by and I finally got around to finishing my basement, Big 4 public accounting and the CPA exam were a little more time intensive than expected. Anyway basement is all finished I ended up doing a home theater on one side and my fish tank on the other where my bar will be. I also did a full bathroom and extra bedroom (700+ Sq feet in all). Did everything my self. Here are some pictures and details.
Theater : 12 feet wide 19 feet long 8 foot ceilings
Speakers: Klipsch HD 1000 Speakers and Sub (for now), had to make speaker boxes in the back of the theater gigantic to hide my breaker box.
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR608 7.2-Channel 3-D Ready Home Theater Receiver
Screen: 105" MaxxMud V.2 LL Mix Rolled on, thanks a ton for this paint mixture!
Projector: Optoma HD33
Seats: 7 Lane Matinee seats manual recline
Component storage: In wall shelves built by me with a giant granite counter to separate the bar area from the theater area
Reef tank: 90 Gallon reef ready, 55 gallon sump, 250W Metal Halides, dedicated fish room (8'x6' with utility sink), auto top off etc.
One question I have for everyone, I have had this setup and running for the past 3 years, I have not done a water change in 3 years and everything is dead in the tank, aside from like 2 snails I cant belive they lived. What is the best way to get this up and running again? I was thinking a water change each week (10 gallons) and get the lights going as well. Also going to put a few damsels in there to get the biological stuff in the tank going. Any other thoughts? Thanks.
Theater : 12 feet wide 19 feet long 8 foot ceilings
Speakers: Klipsch HD 1000 Speakers and Sub (for now), had to make speaker boxes in the back of the theater gigantic to hide my breaker box.
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR608 7.2-Channel 3-D Ready Home Theater Receiver
Screen: 105" MaxxMud V.2 LL Mix Rolled on, thanks a ton for this paint mixture!
Projector: Optoma HD33
Seats: 7 Lane Matinee seats manual recline
Component storage: In wall shelves built by me with a giant granite counter to separate the bar area from the theater area
Reef tank: 90 Gallon reef ready, 55 gallon sump, 250W Metal Halides, dedicated fish room (8'x6' with utility sink), auto top off etc.
One question I have for everyone, I have had this setup and running for the past 3 years, I have not done a water change in 3 years and everything is dead in the tank, aside from like 2 snails I cant belive they lived. What is the best way to get this up and running again? I was thinking a water change each week (10 gallons) and get the lights going as well. Also going to put a few damsels in there to get the biological stuff in the tank going. Any other thoughts? Thanks.
sweatervest13
Active Member
Wow.
Nice basement!! Gotta love living up north where you can actually have one. LOL.
So I take it the tank went on the back burner for 3 years. Life happens sometimes. Glad you are getting back to it.
Did the tank run for three years with just top off's?
Do you have a test kit. What are the readings for the water parameters? I would think that they are not perfect. I would do a 100% WC. Then I would cycle the tank using the raw shrimp method. Then take it from there.
Nice basement!! Gotta love living up north where you can actually have one. LOL.
So I take it the tank went on the back burner for 3 years. Life happens sometimes. Glad you are getting back to it.
Did the tank run for three years with just top off's?
Do you have a test kit. What are the readings for the water parameters? I would think that they are not perfect. I would do a 100% WC. Then I would cycle the tank using the raw shrimp method. Then take it from there.
jrlandsman
Member
Thanks! Yeah all I was doing was adding fresh water as needed to keep the pumps running. I may do a few very large water changes once a week over the next few weeks maybe 20 gallons each for 3 weeks then go from there. I really didnt want to empty the tank and start over that would not be fun, thoughts?
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Looks great!!
sweatervest13
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrlandsman http:///t/344978/new-house-fish-room-build-145-gallon-setup/20#post_3493850
Thanks! Yeah all I was doing was adding fresh water as needed to keep the pumps running. I may do a few very large water changes once a week over the next few weeks maybe 20 gallons each for 3 weeks then go from there. I really didnt want to empty the tank and start over that would not be fun, thoughts?
Why is this starting over???
You would simply be doing a large water change.
Lets say that you have high nitrates in the tank, like 180ppm. lets say you have exactly 100g of water when you take account of the rock and the sand.
If you do a 20g (or 20%) WC. Your nitrates go from 180ppm to 144ppm (180 x 80% {this is the old water left in the system} = 144) . The next 20g WC would go from 144ppm to 115ppm. Then 115 to 92 so on and so forth.
Now if you did a large WC of 75g your nitrates would go from 180ppm to 45ppm (180 x 25% {same thing... This is the water left in the system after the WC} = 45) right off the bat.
You just need enough fresh RO water and a few Rubbermaid totes and a bunch of salt.
If you have not been ghost feeding the tank there should be no beneficial bacterial in the tank. It needs something in the tank to feed it. If you have just topped off water for the last three years then it should have all died off. Which is why I suggested to recycle the tank.
While typing this I realized that you should not have bad water as far as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates go because you have not been feeding the tank. I would test the parameters and then go from there. You may not need to do a big WC but I would think that you would need to have the tank cycle to start growing your biological filter.
I am sure some others will chime with their thoughts on this.
Originally Posted by jrlandsman http:///t/344978/new-house-fish-room-build-145-gallon-setup/20#post_3493850
Thanks! Yeah all I was doing was adding fresh water as needed to keep the pumps running. I may do a few very large water changes once a week over the next few weeks maybe 20 gallons each for 3 weeks then go from there. I really didnt want to empty the tank and start over that would not be fun, thoughts?
Why is this starting over???
You would simply be doing a large water change.
Lets say that you have high nitrates in the tank, like 180ppm. lets say you have exactly 100g of water when you take account of the rock and the sand.
If you do a 20g (or 20%) WC. Your nitrates go from 180ppm to 144ppm (180 x 80% {this is the old water left in the system} = 144) . The next 20g WC would go from 144ppm to 115ppm. Then 115 to 92 so on and so forth.
Now if you did a large WC of 75g your nitrates would go from 180ppm to 45ppm (180 x 25% {same thing... This is the water left in the system after the WC} = 45) right off the bat.
You just need enough fresh RO water and a few Rubbermaid totes and a bunch of salt.
If you have not been ghost feeding the tank there should be no beneficial bacterial in the tank. It needs something in the tank to feed it. If you have just topped off water for the last three years then it should have all died off. Which is why I suggested to recycle the tank.
While typing this I realized that you should not have bad water as far as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates go because you have not been feeding the tank. I would test the parameters and then go from there. You may not need to do a big WC but I would think that you would need to have the tank cycle to start growing your biological filter.
I am sure some others will chime with their thoughts on this.