Fishroom expansion

[Jody]

Hiya Everyone,

So exciting news, my wife has decided that she wants to move her crafting area to our spare room, and that leaves me with a bunch of extra room to expand my fishroom. Of course, the day after we talk about it, I come across an amazing deal on some tanks, someone was shutting down their fishroom, and selling it off. 32 new tanks, mostly 20s and 30s.  
All of them are drilled, and most have their internal plumbing and bulkheads.

Still some stuff to move out of the space, then I can start building.
I brought a couple of tanks in the house, then decided to snap a picture of the delivery..

Jody

[Dxpert]

Amazing! Keep us posted on the progress pictures. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

[charlie]

WOW , this man is severally  infected  .
Keep the progress reports coming.

[matttimms49]

that is a crazy amount of tanks! Looking forward to updates!

[Jody]

Okay..after a couple hours of planning, measuring,  drawing, remeasuring, redesigning. . I think I have come up with a workable design for the new fishroom.
Not exactly what I wanted but it give me a fair bit of working room in the tanks and around them.
First step is to clean out the stuff there now..then go wood shopping.
Sadly,  the ceiling of my fishroom is just over 7 ft high,  so really,  I can really only do 2 tanks high if I want working space.
Jody

[Jody]

470 feet of 2 x 4s and 1100 screws purchased..
Next weekend they build begins.

Jody

[matttimms49]

Wow thats gonna be alot of work, good luck!

[Jody]

Okay,  so a bit of an update.
I was finally able to get all the racks in place,  a big job which involved moving 2 75 gallons and a 33.
Two of the 4 racks are fully done, the other two still need reinforcing and leveling.
Ran into a slight snag and have to remove and replace all the bulkhead,  due to leakage. But I should have 11 tanks running on sponge filters by the end of the week.
Picture to come.soon
Jody

[Jody]

A couple of pictures..

[Jody]

Still lots of work to do.

15 tanks ready for final water testing, 6 more to be cleaned and then the big rack is done, beyond putting in the centralized system. Parts are on the way for that.

The back two racks still need leveling and bracing, along with cleaning and plumbing, so a couple of good days of work for them.. but it is coming along.

Jody

[charlie]

Can`t wait to see the finished room in person, thanks for updating.
I need to see the rack construction closer, looks like i can steal some ideas 

[Mike L]

 I'm jealous of you Jody. Curious how are water changes going to be handled, how much and how often?

[Jody]

I use a python for water changes. I try to do about 20% every couple of weeks. Eventually the systems will be a bit more centralized so the water changes are very easy.
The systems I have now, I can change 10 tanks in a very short amount of time.
But I make sure that each tank can be shut off from the main  system, for quarantine purposes.

Jody

[Mike L]

So how long is 10 tanks  to changes. Are you draining with a pump and filling with the Python. I've managed weekly water changes of 50 percen in 2 20 longs, a 33 long, a 75, and a 55 in just over an hour unless it's filter cleaning time. Then add an hour.  You have taken on a big responsibility. Have you considered central plumbing the tanks for filling or I'm I misunderstanding.

[Jody]

So I just did a water change on the big system. 4 56 gals,  4 20 l with a 33 gal sump. I took out about 60 gallons,  using a pump hooked up to my python to drain and then just filled with the python. it took about 35 minutes to drain and fill.
Eventually,  I will have 5 maybe 6 systems running and a handful of individual tanks. Way too much work to have to do them all separately.

[Box Jockey]

I would love a tour of your fish room! If you need any volunteer help I'm available Mon-Thurs evenings.

[Jody]

Once I get everything neat enough and running I will certainly be open to giving tours..lol
Right now it is a bit of an obstacle course getting through.. just going over stuff now..at one point there were some crawl under places..lol

[AngelaM]

Once I get everything neat enough and running I will certainly be open to giving tours..lol
Right now it is a bit of an obstacle course getting through.. just going over stuff now..at one point there were some crawl under places..lol

I don't feel i could invite myself over but I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done!

[Jody]

Okay,  I have 15 tanks up and filled. The filters will be going in shortly.
I have to clean and get the plumbing on 6 more tanks to get the first two racks going.
Need lots of airline tubing too..lol

[AngelaM]

Are you filtering and heating each tank separately or are you building an integrated system?