SlowAndStupid
Community Member
I am in the middle of updating my tank and fish room as I convert it from freshwater to saltwater. Please check out my tank thread for further details and pictures. To summarize, the house I purchased has a 1000 gallon in-wall aquarium with a tiny fish room behind it. It really was designed too small for its purpose, but I'm trying to maximize what I can do with the space. I have been going through various projects updating it as documented in my tank thread and am now ready to design out my filtration.
With my odd and limited space I have decided to go with plywood tanks which will allow me to customize and maximize what space I have. I am modeling my design in Sketchup to ensure everything will fit within my space constraints. My idea is to have one long plywood sump on the floor where a large refugium and my returns will be located. Above it will be a small tank where filter floss and media will go. This will empty down and into the lower sump. Here is my mock up of my fish room with my tanks designed followed by a real shot for comparison.
Though space will be tight it seems like the 2 sumps will fit. Next I'm trying to figure out what to do with my water storage. When this was a freshwater tank I had a much smaller sump in the form of a 50-gallon barrel and then used a second 50-gallon barrel for water storage that sat next to it on the floor. The space was tight but there was enough room for it all. Now with that floor space being taken up by the sump I have thought of 3 options:
Option 1: Place a 55 gallon vertical storage tank on top of the platform to the right. It is 18 inches wide which would necessitate building the platform out a little further to support the load. Something like this:
And it should really be two tanks, one for saltwater and the other for fresh water which will take up the majority of my space which I originally had planned for an external skimmer and eventually a calcium reactor and/or kalk stirrer.
I can't remove any of these cabinets to make more room as the one on the right is covering sauna equipment for the sauna located on the other side of the wall. The one to the left is covering and protecting the pvc for the overflows from the tank.
Option 2: Similar to option 1 but go with smaller 35-gallon storage tanks which is 15 inches wide and long. Still takes up the majority of my leftover space but not quite as much.
Finally, option 3: Move my mixing station up to my garage which is one floor up and a little less than 100 feet away. I would have to haul a hose downstairs for water changes though the excess water will drain into the floor drain within the fish room. This frees up more space within this small room but I lose the convenience of having it all nearby as my trade-off. I could also go larger on the tanks to store more water at one time. I do think I would still mount a single storage tank in the room for fresh water for an ATO. If I went this route what size storage tank would be best for fresh water storage within my room?
Hoping for some good input as I brainstorm on what would be best here? Any other ideas are welcome as well.
With my odd and limited space I have decided to go with plywood tanks which will allow me to customize and maximize what space I have. I am modeling my design in Sketchup to ensure everything will fit within my space constraints. My idea is to have one long plywood sump on the floor where a large refugium and my returns will be located. Above it will be a small tank where filter floss and media will go. This will empty down and into the lower sump. Here is my mock up of my fish room with my tanks designed followed by a real shot for comparison.
Though space will be tight it seems like the 2 sumps will fit. Next I'm trying to figure out what to do with my water storage. When this was a freshwater tank I had a much smaller sump in the form of a 50-gallon barrel and then used a second 50-gallon barrel for water storage that sat next to it on the floor. The space was tight but there was enough room for it all. Now with that floor space being taken up by the sump I have thought of 3 options:
Option 1: Place a 55 gallon vertical storage tank on top of the platform to the right. It is 18 inches wide which would necessitate building the platform out a little further to support the load. Something like this:
And it should really be two tanks, one for saltwater and the other for fresh water which will take up the majority of my space which I originally had planned for an external skimmer and eventually a calcium reactor and/or kalk stirrer.
I can't remove any of these cabinets to make more room as the one on the right is covering sauna equipment for the sauna located on the other side of the wall. The one to the left is covering and protecting the pvc for the overflows from the tank.
Option 2: Similar to option 1 but go with smaller 35-gallon storage tanks which is 15 inches wide and long. Still takes up the majority of my leftover space but not quite as much.
Finally, option 3: Move my mixing station up to my garage which is one floor up and a little less than 100 feet away. I would have to haul a hose downstairs for water changes though the excess water will drain into the floor drain within the fish room. This frees up more space within this small room but I lose the convenience of having it all nearby as my trade-off. I could also go larger on the tanks to store more water at one time. I do think I would still mount a single storage tank in the room for fresh water for an ATO. If I went this route what size storage tank would be best for fresh water storage within my room?
Hoping for some good input as I brainstorm on what would be best here? Any other ideas are welcome as well.
