Remodeling, need your opinion

[ghbrewer]

Ok, so we are getting ready to start remodeling again, except this time we are also having to repair some rain damaged drywall in the living room as well. Regardless, I am going to start in the basement and work my way up to the living room.



I plan on having a tank in the basement, probably a 180g or 210g tank (6'x2' footprint). My home is a split level, so half the house is 4' higher than the other. Therefore the basement is 4 ft higher than than the garage. I have two locations that I am considering putting the tank in the basement. I really need to figure out which one will be best for viewing pleasure, as well as for maintenance so that I can account for it during the remodel.



The first option is to put the tank into a nook near the stairwell going up to the living room. The fish room would be behind the tank down on the garage level. I am thinking that I would cut a port hole in the wall on the right side of the tank in the stairwell in order to have more than just the front pane viewable (similar to what Seth the Wine Guy has on his tank).



The second option would be to put it in a room that I am building in the unfinished portion of our basement where our HVAC and water heater are located. The fish room would be located in the portion that we will leave unfinished as we will likely also use it as a storage area. The new room would need to serve as a guest room part time, as well as a viewing room for the tank. We will likely put a sofa bed in there so it can serve these two purposes (if I put the tank there).

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[dball711]

I like Alt 2, lots of room in the utility room. Frag tanks, supplies...but I do like option 1 as well. Nice large viewing room and the port hole sounds cool.

 

[grouper therapy]

Not a fan of saltwater in the same room with my hvac. it will eventually rust it. Ask me how I know that. So if alt 2 I would definitely separate the fish room from the mechanical room. I'm with Dave, Alt I . Is that room finished?

 

[ghbrewer]

The large room in the basement (where Alt 1 is located) is partially finished, but the block foundation sticks out past the drywall. I am going to build the walls out so that they cover the block foundation and make it look a little nicer in there.

 

[ghbrewer]

Here is a pic of the nook in alt 1 location:

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This is the area behind the Alt 1 tank location:

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[ghbrewer]

Another pic of the area where Alt 1 fish room would be located:

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[ghbrewer]

Since taking this pic, there has been a doorway added to the wall in the middle of the pic.


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[civics14]

grouper therapy;1055969 wrote: Not a fan of saltwater in the same room with my hvac. it will eventually rust it. Ask me how I know that. So if alt 2 I would definitely separate the fish room from the mechanical room. I'm with Dave, Alt I . Is that room finished?

Sorry, don't mean to jack your thread, but off topic and question regarding this. Is it because there isn't enough ventilation in the room with the hvac? Just wondering what would cause it.

 

[grouper therapy]

civics14;1055975 wrote: Sorry, don't mean to jack your thread, but off topic and question regarding this. Is it because there isn't enough ventilation in the room with the hvac? Just wondering what would cause it.

salt in the air caused it, even if ventilated it would still pass by the hvac if in the same room. Separation from the area containing the salt water would eliminate most of it.

 

[dball711]

civics14;1055975 wrote: Sorry, don't mean to jack your thread, but off topic and question regarding this. Is it because there isn't enough ventilation in the room with the hvac? Just wondering what would cause it.

Mine is set up this way, have not had an y issues at all but the room is large and has vents so air circulation is pretty good.

Grant, looking at the pictures and the diagram, do you have 2 stairways to the basement?

After further review I do like the option 1 with the tank in the nook, seems like a perfect place for the tank.

 

[ghbrewer]

dball711;1055987 wrote: Grant, looking at the pictures and the diagram, do you have 2 stairways to the basement?

After further review I do like the option 1 with the tank in the nook, seems like a perfect place for the tank.

One stairway goes from garage to basement, the other from basement up to living room. In the pic of the nook, that door to the right of the nook is the stairwell going up to the living room. The fish room entrance would be beneath those stairs (stairs shown as dashed lines in the diagram).

 

[grouper therapy]

dball711;1055987 wrote: Mine is set up this way, have not had an y issues at all but the room is large and has vents so air circulation is pretty good.

Grant, looking at the pictures and the diagram, do you have 2 stairways to the basement?

After further review I do like the option 1 with the tank in the nook, seems like a perfect place for the tank.

Not sure how long yours has been set up but for the first couple or three years mine was fine but after 5 years it became an issue. That said I used a tremendous amount of fans for evaporative cooling. With the newer air handlers on our systems there are usually circuit boards used for controlling the unit and they are not very well protected on some systems.

 

[dball711]

Got it, makes sense...I was scratching my head and didn't even consider one was a garage entrance. Just a thought, just a thought if you go with option 1, you could add a small counter top and some stools.

 

[dball711]

grouper therapy;1055992 wrote: Not sure how long yours has been set up but for the first couple or three years mine was fine but after 5 years it became an issue. That said I used a tremendous amount of fans for evaporative cooling. With the newer air handlers on our systems there are usually circuit boards used for controlling the unit and they are not very well protected on some systems.

Going on year 3, but I do not use any fans for evaporation cooling so maybe my situation doesn't put much salinity in the air. I will be keeping an eye open though so thanks for the insight!

 

[ghbrewer]

dball711;1055993 wrote: Just a thought, just a thought if you go with option 1, you could add a small counter top and some stools.

That is what I am planning on. The nook is actually 30" deep, and the tank is only 24". If I put the tank up against the wall, that will give me a nice ~6" ledge (or even a little bit more if I wanted). Since the sump and equipment will be located in the fish room, I could even put a mini fridge and freezer under the tank for beers and fish food...