Fish Room/house

[huntlyfish]

I would like some advice regarding setting up a fish room or fish house.
If I was to use a spare room in my house, what problems would I have regarding condensation from the fish tanks? I'm sure that I once read that this can be a problem. What would be the most efficient method of heating the room or tanks? Would I need to reinforce the wooden flooring in the room ?
If I was to build a separate fish house in my garden, what would be the best type of shed to use for the project, wooden or galvanised steel type construction?
Does anyone know of any book or written notes that would be available on the subject of fish room/house construction?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BigC]

Hi,

Over the past 25 years I have built numerous fish houses/sheds ranging in size from 6'x4' up to 12'x8'
(forget the room idea, I have seen people with serious condensation problems.
Plan out exactly what you want to incorporate (you should have a rough idea in your head as to what you want to keep etc). Are you going to be breeding fish?
Better to opt for a good solid brick or wooden shed with 1" thich T&G boards.
sloping roofs are best as you can use corrugated plastic sheeting and collect rainwater, channelled into butts.
Insulation is the key here, the more the better. I used 4" in the walls and around 3" in the ceiling and 1" under the floor. I then lined the walls and ceiling with cheap polystyrene tiles to give a nice finished look. I space heated with a 3KW fan heater coupled to a thermostat. I had around 100 tanks in my last setup on 3 levels. the top teir of tanks would always be a few degrees warmer than the lower teir depending on how you set your thermostat. The windows were triple glazed. I constructed a ringmain for the air lines for the filters (PM me if you want to know more on how to construct one of these).
I used low watt energy saving light bulbs for night time viewing and maintenance.
Depending on your pocket the skys the limit as they say. But I like to innovate and make things.
I hope this was of some help to you.
Regards
BigC

 

[rfisher]

Hi BigC,

Have you got any pics I would love to see them.

Rich

 

[madmom]

I agree with BigC wood or brick. A metal shed can get really hot and cold. An insulated wood or brick is better. I would put in a cement floor. Also think about what your electrical needs will be when you decide how many tanks etc you will have. Heating and cooling may be another concern.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

I would like some advice regarding setting up a fish room or fish house.
If I was to use a spare room in my house, what problems would I have regarding condensation from the fish tanks? I'm sure that I once read that this can be a problem. What would be the most efficient method of heating the room or tanks? Would I need to reinforce the wooden flooring in the room ?
If I was to build a separate fish house in my garden, what would be the best type of shed to use for the project, wooden or galvanised steel type construction?
Does anyone know of any book or written notes that would be available on the subject of fish room/house construction?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I was about to ask where you live, but I guess your name tells me that!!
I have a shed that is 7 foot by 5 foot, with 2" polystyrene insulation that I am selling tanks from atm, PM me if you are interested. It can be quite expensive to run if you don't prepare properly so ask lots of questions before you start anything.
Alan

 

[huntlyfish]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess that the spare room idea is no good and I would go for a well insulated shed. The weather here can get pretty cold during the winter so heating costs could get high. I am just at the early planning stage and havent made my mind up yet whether I will proceed with a fish house but it is something that I have always wanted to do. I want to get as much information on the subject first.

 

[madmom]

Well with proper ventilation maybe you could get a small hopper? These are small wood burning stoves.

 

[Tolak]

You could use a spare room I have one set up in the basement. Humidity, condensation, and mold are a concern, you need ventilation, and tight fitting tops on the tanks. I've done a little experiment with evaporation, a tank with no top in my fishroom will loose 10% to 15% of it's volume in a week. One with a tight fitting top looses around 2%. I have a bathroom ventilating fan on a timer that turns on a few times daily, it vents out the wall. I flip it on when I'm in there as well, it probably runs 5 or 6 hours daily.

When I built the room it roughed out to 8'x16', it's slightly smaller finished. It's well insulated and sealed except for one door frame that I left unsealed that leads to a storage area with a small window. The window stays slightly open most of the year, the fan pulls in fresh air from there. The room maintains temperature well, I ran a duct from the main trunk of my forced air heating system. The heaters hardly run at all in the winter, the room stays around 80F. In the summer I block the duct with a board, that room doesn't need air conditioning.

Many folks around here build fishrooms in the basement, the biggest concern is venting the room.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess that the spare room idea is no good and I would go for a well insulated shed. The weather here can get pretty cold during the winter so heating costs could get high. I am just at the early planning stage and havent made my mind up yet whether I will proceed with a fish house but it is something that I have always wanted to do. I want to get as much information on the subject first.

Huntly isn't that much worse than Aberdeen, and mine costs approx. £10-£15 a month to run.
The shed is the best way to go, wooden stands, tubular electric heaters wired through a thermostat, a big air pump and box filters. Thats how mine is set up, and its probably the cheapest way you can do it, otherwise I'd never have got it past my wife
Pm me if you want any advice or any equipment.
Alan

 

[smithrc]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess that the spare room idea is no good and I would go for a well insulated shed. The weather here can get pretty cold during the winter so heating costs could get high. I am just at the early planning stage and havent made my mind up yet whether I will proceed with a fish house but it is something that I have always wanted to do. I want to get as much information on the subject first.

Huntly isn't that much worse than Aberdeen, and mine costs approx. £10-£15 a month to run.
The shed is the best way to go, wooden stands, tubular electric heaters wired through a thermostat, a big air pump and box filters. Thats how mine is set up, and its probably the cheapest way you can do it, otherwise I'd never have got it past my wife
Pm me if you want any advice or any equipment.
Alan

hmm...

We have a fish shed and the electricity bills are a lot more than that to run it.

When I had 15 tanks in there the electricity bill went up from £75 a qtr to £220.. a rise of £140 - about £45 a month.

Its not just the heating you have to worry about... we had the tanks setup seperatly each running their own pump/filter (or 2). It all ads upp quite quickly.

 

[andywg]

we had the tanks setup seperatly each running their own pump/filter (or 2). It all ads upp quite quickly.

Therein lies the problem. If you want to do a fish house you are better off either doing centralised filtration (such as a huge wet/dry) or running a number of sponge/box filters off of a large air pump/air compressor.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

we had the tanks setup seperatly each running their own pump/filter (or 2). It all ads upp quite quickly.

Therein lies the problem. If you want to do a fish house you are better off either doing centralised filtration (such as a huge wet/dry) or running a number of sponge/box filters off of a large air pump/air compressor.

Exactly my point Andy, any money you can save has got to be good, and you have more money to spend on fishes too

hmm...

We have a fish shed and the electricity bills are a lot more than that to run it.

When I had 15 tanks in there the electricity bill went up from £75 a qtr to £220.. a rise of £140 - about £45 a month.

Its not just the heating you have to worry about... we had the tanks setup seperatly each running their own pump/filter (or 2). It all ads upp quite quickly.

I have also told you this before and you didn't believe me then either!!

 

[smithrc]

hmm...

We have a fish shed and the electricity bills are a lot more than that to run it.

When I had 15 tanks in there the electricity bill went up from £75 a qtr to £220.. a rise of £140 - about £45 a month.

Its not just the heating you have to worry about... we had the tanks setup seperatly each running their own pump/filter (or 2). It all ads upp quite quickly.

I have also told you this before and you didn't believe me then either!!

didn't believe you??
I just didnt want to look at the facts its not that I didn't believe you
Its obvious when I look at it now. You live and learn.

 

[CoolWater]

This is a fantastic topic. It is answering all my questions.
Please keep the input coming

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

If seting up in a spare room would a dehumidifier help solve the condensation problem?

Also you would have to consider the weight problem (100 tanks in an upstairs bedroom could end up as a heap of broken glass in a puddle in the basement ).