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Basement planning

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Post subject: Basement planning
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:07 pm
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Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:05 pm
 
My wife and I are going to start finishing our basement in a couple of months. She wants an exercise room and an entertainment room and I want- well, an aquarium room, of course. I currently have a 46 gallon tank with African cichlids and a 20 gallon tank with more guppies than you can shake a stick at, and and twice as many snails. My wife has said that I can't get more aquariums until the basement is finished, because she doesn't want an aquarium in every room of the house. Huh. Go figure.

The good news is, basement finishing time is almost here, and I'm trying to plan what I should do with my basement in order to make it a better place to keep fish. I guess what I'm mostly thinking about is plumbing.

My household water comes from a well, and it is not chlorinated. It is rather hard.

I probably want at least one saltwater tank- I want to try my hand at coral- and at least one cichlid tank, because I love the cichlids and they're so much fun. Oh, and one for the guppies. Um, and my wife wants goldfish.

There are a lot of things that I have to learn about keeping a larger aquarium. I see people talking about overflows and drilling, but I really don't know what that stuff is. Does that involve plumbing?

So I'm looking for advice on a couple of levels. The first thing I want to know is: what should I do with my basement? What kind of plumbing should I get put in? What would make it easiest to do water changes and keep the tanks clean? If you were doing renovations and had a chance to make things different, how would you do it? Keeping in mind that I'm going to have a number of tanks with different kinds of water (salt, fresh, hard/soft, alkaline/acidic) and my home's water system, what should I do?

And yes, you can try to sell me stuff (Ned) or services (FishGuy). When the basement's done I'll want to buy things, and I'll be looking for good suggestions.


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Admin
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:52 pm
Site Admin
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Posts: 11354
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:16 pm
Location: Millis MA
Contact: Website
 
first thing
is figure how large the tanks want to be
and how many tanks (sounds like you got that)
and where they are going in the room...
aprox tank sizes are listed at:
viewtopic.php?t=1679
I might have missed 1 or 2 sizes
AGA's website is
http://all-glass.com/
(not always that helpful)

as far as the goldfish tank goes
I suggest 10-20 gallons per goldfish
and a really oversized filter

as far as the african cichlids tank goes
(at least for Malawis) any 4' tank will work well
55, 75, 90, 110, or 120 gallon
(a 6' tank is even better...125, 150, 180, or 210)
...also i strongly recommend 1 or 2 small tanks, 5 or 10 gallons

as far as the reef goes
usually when we sell a 4' reef with a fancy stand
the total price winds up around $4000 (roughly $3200 with the regular stand)
the total cost will vary with the exact equipment you choose

as for equipment
that you want your plumber to put in
a sink with a drain and a mixing valve is a must have
(it is sometimes desireable to use Reverse Osmosis water for your reef...if you are going to have a large reef tank, I suggest you install the RO system right at the sink. We also sell RO water at the store, but dragging large ammounts of water all over Millis
gets old)

If it helps Josh or I can come out to the site,
look at the space and give you some ideas.

_________________

Ned
unclenedsfishfactory@gmail.com
508 533 5969
>>={{{{{{{{{{{{{{(°/)


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:38 pm
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Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:05 pm
 
Quote:
as far as the goldfish tank goes
suggest 10-20 gallons per goldfish
and a really oversized filter
I'm going to convert my current 46 gallon tank to a goldfish tank and move the cichlids into something bigger.
Quote:
as far as the african cichlids tank goes
(at least for Malawis) any 4' tank will work well
55, 75, 90, 110, or 120 gallon
(a 6' tank is even better...125, 150, 180, or 210)
I'm of a mind to go with a bigger one. I have the space in the basement, and the cichlids are my favorites. I won't be able to buy all this stuff at once, but the first one I get will be the big one for cichlids- and it will most likely be 210.

Can you tell me anything I need to know about a 210 which makes it different from having a 46? Besides that it's bigger, of course.

Also, some of the cichlids are Jewel Cichlids, which are river fish and like a neutral pH. The other kind are yellow labs. But they're pretty accustomed to the pH 7.4 water they've been living in and are even breeding pretty well in there. I think I'd like to do more neutral-pH fish, because the high-pH/high hardness water is hard to grow plants in, and I really like plants.
Quote:
...also i strongly recommend 1 or 2 small tanks, 5 or 10 gallons
Sounds like a good idea to me. I'll be sure to do that.
Quote:
as far as the reef goes
usually when we sell a 4' reef with a fancy stand
the total price winds up around $4000 (roughly $3200 with the regular stand)
the total cost will vary with the exact equipment you choose
Expensive, but I expected that. This is something I definitely want, but it will probably have to wait until next year.
Quote:
a sink with a drain and a mixing valve is a must have
What's a mixing valve?
Quote:
(it is sometimes desireable to use Reverse Osmosis water for your reef...if you are going to have a large reef tank, I suggest you install the RO system right at the sink. We also sell RO water at the store, but dragging large ammounts of water all over Millis
gets old)
What's the advantage of RO water? I know that it's used for water purification. What kinds of things will be in my well water which will be bad for the reef?

If this system will be helpful, I'd rather have my own than have to buy it and drag it home. That's a lot of work.
Quote:
If it helps Josh or I can come out to the site,
look at the space and give you some ideas.
I may take you up on that. I'm going to see how much I can learn online about everything I need before I ask you to do that, though, so I can know enough about what you're saying to get the points.


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Admin
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:51 pm
Site Admin
Offline
 
Posts: 11354
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:16 pm
Location: Millis MA
Contact: Website
 
a mixing valve
is just a regular faucet so there is plenty of warm water available for the aquariums...

a 210 gallon tank is
6 feet long
2 and a half feet tall
and 2 feet wide
...it's wicked heavy
we need 4 strong men to move it (I'll hold the door)
and or
a real good 2 wheeler cart...
we also need a doorway big enough to get the tank through
and
to get the men carrying it through

don't worry about the pH for the jewel cichlids
any pH is fine for jewels

in the 46 bow I suggest 3 or 4 goldfish

RO water is just water purified thru a membrane
(looks kike a fiberglass pipe)

_________________

Ned
unclenedsfishfactory@gmail.com
508 533 5969
>>={{{{{{{{{{{{{{(°/)


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