My new small Fish Room

[Kal-El]

Just finished my fish room at the new apt. I'm able to drain 90% of water from both the 75 and 65 gallon under 4 mins. Averaging about 19 gallons per min. This is saving so much time that I can use for my son and wife (Wife loves it). Anyway, I plain to use the top and bottom of the stand to put my 29 gallons for breeding. Those will be manual drain to 5 gallon buckets. The good thing is I'm able to disconnect everything including the stand without issue. I set it up that way so when I move out to a house this all can be taken apart easily. Anyway, once all my junk in the room is clear out/organize. I will take a full room shot of my setup.

Before PVC drainage add-on
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/53F37473-77EF-4F14-AB1B-4CF001219F9A-9428-000004737FCD0099_zps0d1a07a5.jpg

After PVC drainage system installed. Everything is drain into the bathroom tub 25' away.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/D5988F40-B364-46D4-8FD0-BA5B3DEC823D-9428-000004736FD3E9B5_zpscaa45945.jpg


Drainage system is as follow:


1" PVC schedule 40 pipes
25' 1" tubing
1130 GPH inline pump

[John_Nicholson]

Good deal. Remember when setting up your breeding pairs that they would rather be up high instead of low.

Good luck.

-john

[MKD]

simply, nice and clean.

thank you for sharing

[Kal-El]

Good deal. Remember when setting up your breeding pairs that they would rather be up high instead of low.

Good luck.

-john

Thanks John... I will put both on top if that's the prefer way.


simply, nice and clean.

thank you for sharing
Thank you

[discus6628]

nice can't wait to have mine.

[Allwin]

Thanks for sharing.. will plan for similar setup in my apt too..

[Allwin]

And what motor your using to pump the water in and out of aquarium/aged water storage?

[Kal-El]

And what motor your using to pump the water in and out of aquarium/aged water storage?

I use a Gen‑X PCX‑40 External Water Pump rated at 1190GPH I got on Craiglist for $40 (Was a steal purchase) to drain both tanks. To refill my tanks from my aging container I use a Mag 7 pump 700GPH. It fills up each tank in about 7-10mins with 3/4" tubing. Nothing fancy but works great for my small setup. The only thing that is bad is the water pressure in my apartment. Takes forever to refill my 96 gallon aging Tote trash bin.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Kale,

Can you show a closeup of what the pvc looks like in the tank? Do you have a screen over the opening to prevent little guys from getting sucked in or is this just for the adults? It is a similar setup that I am trying to create for my fishroom. I have one wall with 5 tanks (2 - 38 gallon tanks and 3 - 20 gallon tanks) I want to hard plumb for draining and also use the same lines for filling.

With a transfer pump, I figure once drain just switch the hose to my clean line from my holding tanks to fill.

Good job!

[Kal-El]

Kale,

Can you show a closeup of what the pvc looks like in the tank? Do you have a screen over the opening to prevent little guys from getting sucked in or is this just for the adults? It is a similar setup that I am trying to create for my fishroom. I have one wall with 5 tanks (2 - 38 gallon tanks and 3 - 20 gallon tanks) I want to hard plumb for draining and also use the same lines for filling.

With a transfer pump, I figure once drain just switch the hose to my clean line from my holding tanks to fill.

Good job!

I plan on putting slip-on strainer on the end of the PVC pipe. Part order is on it's way. For now I just put a breeding cone or one of my blue clay pots (You can see it in the photo top shelve) in front of the PVC pipe. It prevents any fish from getting suck up by the drain. It is working fine for me the last two days until I get the parts in. I'll put close-up pics up once I have them. This is my solution to not having to drill my tank :D

[Northwoods Discus]

I just put a "T" on the end and if a fish gets caught on one side it is not strong enough to hurt the fish. Won't work for babies but works good as a little safer set up.

[nc0gnet0]

Good deal. Remember when setting up your breeding pairs that they would rather be up high instead of low.

Good luck.

-john

Dam! I missed the memo on that one........

Rick

[troweler]

How do you attach the tubing/pipework to the pump?

[Sergey]

kalelhawj, what are the floors in this apt like? If the joists are going perpendicular to the wall with the window, I don't know if I'd put all that weight, 65 + 75 + 96, plus the planned 29s, on just a couple of them, especially in this increasing order. If you haven't considered this question, take a look at http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html.

Regards,
Sergey.

[Kal-El]

kalelhawj, what are the floors in this apt like? If the joists are going perpendicular to the wall with the window, I don't know if I'd put all that weight, 65 + 75 + 96, plus the planned 29s, on just a couple of them, especially in this increasing order. If you haven't considered this question, take a look at http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html.

Regards,
Sergey.
Thank you for the info. I'm on the second floor and I have thought about this prier to setting all this up. This is why I'm really considering not risking it by putting any of my 29 gallons on the same side or room. I may just hold off any breeding pair that may pair up until I move to my house. Just isn't worth risking something bad happening at the apt. So far the 75 gallon with water is 850 lbs+772 lbs (65 gallon) + Stand weight of both 100lbs + 70 gallon of age water stored in the 96 gallon trash bin weighting at 580lbs storage water. With all that it add up to 2,302lb on this side of the wall. I will probably move the aging bin to the other-side of the wall to spread out the weight. I've never seen or heard of tanks falling through floors, but I don't want to be the first... lol Eventually as my juvie get's bigger I'm going to move the adults from the 65 to the 75 and shut down the 65 gallon. Only using it for QT as needed. Base on the apartment building code of 40 pound per sq feet and the room is 10.1' by 11.7' give me about 4727 lbs for this room if my calculation is correct. Either-way, I will be playing it safe and limit the amount of setup in this room. Also, I never heard once a creak when filling my tanks up. Level on all my tank is good and hasn't change. I will continue to monitor my setup and make adjustment as needed.

[Sergey]

>I've never seen or heard of tanks falling through floors, but I don't want to be the first... lol
The typical failure mode is not breaking through the floor, but sagging of the joists, after the tank's been sitting in the same spot for years.

>Base on the apartment building code of 40 pound per sq feet and the room is 10.1' by 11.7' give me about 4727 lbs for this room if my calculation is correct.
The calculation is correct, but the conclusion "2302 < 4727 therefore it's safe" is not. For the conclusion to hold, you'd need to uniformly cover the entire floor with the water from your tanks, distributed over all the joists. You have a more concentrated load.

In any case, all this is theoretical since we don't know how the floor is built. It sounds like you're not going to be in the apt for long and moving of the trash bin should help.

Regards,
Sergey.

[Kal-El]

Kale,

Can you show a closeup of what the pvc looks like in the tank? Do you have a screen over the opening to prevent little guys from getting sucked in or is this just for the adults? It is a similar setup that I am trying to create for my fishroom. I have one wall with 5 tanks (2 - 38 gallon tanks and 3 - 20 gallon tanks) I want to hard plumb for draining and also use the same lines for filling.

With a transfer pump, I figure once drain just switch the hose to my clean line from my holding tanks to fill.

Good job!


Here is a close up you requested.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/E393276A-F472-4395-913E-47D05E6339FA-15777-000007FB8F0F6565_zpse0a57cee.jpg



How do you attach the tubing/pipework to the pump?
Here's how I attach the PVC and tubing to my pump.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/DD5501BD-52C0-4E13-A63B-420744DBE6CC-15777-000007FB96FD2A40_zpsef44fef3.jpg

[Discus-Hans]

You know, and I'm sure many of you will say yeah right, some days I wish I was back in this stage. Design, build, plumbing, etc again, I loved it. Some times I think about selling the whole thing and build up from scratch again........ hmmmmmmmmm anybody interested in a fish house???? lol

Hans

[Discus novice]

Thanks for sharing..It is very nice!

[Kal-El]

You know, and I'm sure many of you will say yeah right, some days I wish I was back in this stage. Design, build, plumbing, etc again, I loved it. Some times I think about selling the whole thing and build up from scratch again........ hmmmmmmmmm anybody interested in a fish house???? lol

Hans

If i had the money I would take over your fish house... lol Owning my own fish house is something I hope to have one day... :D

[pastry]

Sorry Kalel,... I forgot what I was going to say... just saw "Discus novice" avatar and squirreled out. I'm a sucker for "red heads"

[SMB2]

If i had the money I would take over your fish house... lol Owning my own fish house is something I hope to have one day...

I would have to correct Hans in calling his place a 'fish house'. A small country could live in his fish house. It is more a fish warehouse. No... it really is a candy store.


Design, build, plumbing, etc again, I loved it.

Hans, aren't all Dutch frustrated plumbers? I mean fingers in dikes, stopping leaks, it's in your blood.

[Kal-El]

Sorry Kalel,... I forgot what I was going to say... just saw "Discus novice" avatar and squirreled out. I'm a sucker for "red heads"

I have to agree that is a killer fish that Discus novice have as avatar... love the red and round shape of it. I wonder what strain that is.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Awesome job Kale for sure. Thanks for sharing the closeup photos. I am starting my project this weekend and hope it goes as smooth as yours.

Great work!

[DiscusLoverJeff]

You know, and I'm sure many of you will say yeah right, some days I wish I was back in this stage. Design, build, plumbing, etc again, I loved it. Some times I think about selling the whole thing and build up from scratch again........ hmmmmmmmmm anybody interested in a fish house???? lol

Hans

Someday it would be nice to have what you have Hans, well except for all the headaches, Lol.

No one does it better than you!

[Kal-El]

Awesome job Kale for sure. Thanks for sharing the closeup photos. I am starting my project this weekend and hope it goes as smooth as yours.

Great work!

Thank you... and good luck with your project. Do share with us how it goes... I would love to see how yours turns out... I'm a sucker for DIY projects... :D

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thank you... and good luck with your project. Do share with us how it goes... I would love to see how yours turns out... I'm a sucker for DIY projects... :D

I will. I love DIY projects as well. We learn from others and from our own mistakes.

[Discus-Hans]

Always cheaper to learn from somebody else's mistakes lol lol

Stan Little Hans is still sitting with his finger in the dike lol lol

[Skip]

Always cheaper to learn from somebody else's mistakes lol lol



i am still learning!!

[John_Nicholson]

You know, and I'm sure many of you will say yeah right, some days I wish I was back in this stage. Design, build, plumbing, etc again, I loved it. Some times I think about selling the whole thing and build up from scratch again........ hmmmmmmmmm anybody interested in a fish house???? lol

Hans

I agree Hans. I often find myself messing with stuff in the fish house. AI guess that is also why I have tried to help so many others build their fish rooms.

-john

[j123]

Wow, that sure beats sucking on the end of garden hose to start a syphon.

[Kal-El]

Wow, that sure beats sucking on the end of garden hose to start a syphon.

Yeah no need to do that anymore... I save myself hours now that I've gone with draining my tanks this new way...

[Discusdude7]

Here is a close up you requested.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/E393276A-F472-4395-913E-47D05E6339FA-15777-000007FB8F0F6565_zpse0a57cee.jpg



Here's how I attach the PVC and tubing to my pump.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/imageher/DD5501BD-52C0-4E13-A63B-420744DBE6CC-15777-000007FB96FD2A40_zpsef44fef3.jpg

Kal-El,
Where did you buy that black strainer that goes on the PVC? I have been looking for one and they didn't have it at lowes.
Thanks.

[MKD]

You can get it from most lfs. Its fit threaded pvc.

««««««««««« please excuse smart phone poster error »»»»»»»»»»

[Kal-El]

Kal-El,
Where did you buy that black strainer that goes on the PVC? I have been looking for one and they didn't have it at lowes.
Thanks.
I order my online http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhead-overflow-strainers.html

[Discus-Hans]

http://www.jehmco.com/html/bulkhead_fittings.html

Hans

[Discusdude7]

I order my online http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhead-overflow-strainers.html

Thank you

[Discusdude7]

http://www.jehmco.com/html/bulkhead_fittings.html

Hans

Thanks Hans