New Fish House

[§tudz]

Hi all,

I am in the process of purchasing a house, which has a great garage, and will become my fish house (as the GF doesnt want the tanks in the house )

I have now started thinking about how I am going to insulate the garage. The GFs dad works making insulation and he has suggested that polystyrene boards OR the insulation board (big pink things available at B&Q) would be fine, just glue them to the wall.

I thought this would be a good idea and then I could put marine ply over it to create a wall and seal it.

I am concerned about the amount of moisture in the room and how to help that, would I need to add use air vents?.

Is this the way to go, what things do I need to think about?

I cant remember the dimensions of the garage but I will post them tomorrow night when I am home, I do know it has a ceiling where the owner currently holds random boxes etc, in an attic/loft manner.
I would imagine I could use normal insulation in the loft space and get some form of waterproof primer for the plasterboard/drywall used as the ceiling?

All advice, guides etc are welcome, it is something I will be doing within the first weeks of moving in, due to the no fish in the house rule currently in place.

I will also eventually be running water into the garage to sink area, but that can wait for now, along with a grid.

There will be further questions still, about filter system, but that will wait for another thread later.

Many thanks


EDIT:


Just read this and seems to be along the same tracks as I thought: http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Tanks/fishouse.htm

 

[JA5ON]

i have used polystyrene boards it easy to fit and is one of the cheapest i used 50mm gets cold at night but dose not drop the temps of the tanks i mean no colder than a house would get

 

[§tudz]

Thanks for the details.

I think this where I am going to go with it.

I will be putting together the plans for it over the next month, so I will start a new thread and keep you up to date.
I reckon 3months and it will be in use, but without all the tanks, as I need to just get it all insulated and painted ready for my current tanks to sit in there for now.

I think I'm going to go with 50mm polystyreme boards, on the walls covered with marine ply to create the walls, the roof I will insult with normal loft insulation.
I have been given an oil radiator so can use that to heat the room, and with two fans in opposite corners to ensure air flow, I think there is a window on one wall so will have to cover that over I think.

So watch this space for updates

Thanks again

 

[Tolak]

With even the best insulated fishroom condensation & the possibility of mold problems is an issue. You've got the insulation down, the fans to provide circulation will help with any cooler dead spots where condensation may occur. For ventilation use that window to your advantage;

Cheap 70cfm bath fan, on a timer, runs 3 times daily for an hour or so. Replace one glass block with a standard dryer vent & it's done. I've found that by lining the inside of the fan frame & box with duct tape you eliminate any air leaks greatly increases the air flow. The window also provides free light during the day, the smaller the electric bill the better. On the electric note, around here gas heating here is much cheaper than electric, if you could get a small gas fired heater for in there it will more than pay for itself.

Having friends that have converted garages to fishrooms, make sure you have a way of cooling it in the heat of summer. A cross breeze with a door & window is often all that is needed, you already have the fans. A good gloss paint on the ceiling will keep the humidity at bay, as will keeping the tanks covered as much as possible. I'm a freak with covering tanks, using styrene light diffuser panels normally found in suspended ceilings. This makes a huge difference, I've seen the difference between a fishroom run with open tanks & one with secure covers, a lot of open tanks are not a nice situation after a length of time.

 

[§tudz]

Thanks for the info,

Currently there is a tumble dryer at the furtherest end of the garage which will have an exit hole I could just get a fan in there.
I didnt think about the heat of the summer, so I think I will keep that window there.

If I remember correctly the drive may also be on a slop so might have to look as getting it flatten out.

Its so horrible though I still have to wait for the deal to go through, it could even fall through yet and I will cry like a baby lol

 

[OldMan47]

Rather than trying to seal wallboard or marine plywood, why not just use the wallboard made to finish out bathrooms. It is waterproof from the start. It is not the typical white cored gypsum that we are used to in wall board Instead it has an almost oily look to the interior of a panel.