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Michaels Garage Build


mycoolmc

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You should aim to get as much water in there as possible (in tanks) as it acts as a heatsink. If you have the place loaded heavily with fish the air will become contaminated with waste gasses and will need to be refreshed to make it comfortable to work in. I used to leave the door open for a while to get an air change. It takes very little energy to reheat the air and the water holds most of the heat OK. I never used dehumidifiers but I lined the room out with sheet steel,sealed with RTV at the joints and painted with maf approved mould resistant paint. You could double glaze the windows but if you do it yourself put a bit of the moisture removing chemical between the glass sheets.

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For the roof - you could attempt what ive done with my fishroom

I purchased 3 sheets of 1200x 2400 x 50mm medium density poly - i cut it literally into giant jigsaw peices and then glued it with liquid nails and sealed it with an aquarium safe rubber paint. This has provided and excellent "floating" ceiling and the rubber paint added ALOT of strength and density to it without any serious weight.

I also have have a dehumidifier in there that is on a timer - it runs for 3 hours a day - keeps it nice and dry and in conjunction with lighting, warms the room, my bottom racks are 24c and top racks are 28c.

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Have finished the plastering and painting and reattached all the power sockets. Moved all 3 foot and below tanks and purchased another couple 3 footers. Unfortunatley when moving my Lithobates from a small tank to one of the bigger ones I woke up with none still alive so really not happy about that but so far no other casulties on the other 5. Will be getting another two tanks on the weekend and moving in anther 2 * 4 footers. Will put up some photos on the weekend once done

Have decided I will take take some time off soon from work and get the roof insulated, so in the mean time just need to get all the plumbing sorted.

This weekend I will be sorting out some kind of Air piping rather than using the normal air hoses. What does everyone else use? I've been looking at using irrigation piiping around the room then using the standard air hose off of those to go into the tanks. Looks like it will work pretty well.

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Been pretty slack and have been busy getting most of the tanks up and running rather than the air pipes etc. Found that 4foot tanks are really heavy when moving them by youself yesterday:facepalm: You notice also that there is a gap behind all the tanks. I have left about 30cm behind all the tanks so that I can fit in behind and change things around which has proved useful a couple times already.

So plan is to sort out the air next weekend and then order myself 2 * 6 or 2 * 8 footers for the big africans. Haven't decided which size yet but I am thinking bigger is better:)

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When I brought the 3 footers last week I couldn't get 2 the same size so have put them on different shelves and will just have to buy 2 more to make it look right. :lol: Couldn't find a 4 footer the right size either so am on the look out.

2 extra 3 footers needed

IMG_0950_zpsefa2f2a7.jpg

1 more 4 footer needed

IMG_0951_zpscfa284a3.jpg

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LCPN97.jpg

40mm thick wall PVC pipe in a loop around the room. Drill holes and cut threads for the stainless steel taps and then branch off from here to each tank...

Cheers,

JaSa

Do you know where you can get those taps from? I have looked at Bunnings and Mitre 10 but can't seem to find them. Maybe i'm just having a man look. Found the same sort of thing which I will order some time this week, if i can't find somewhere else.

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What an amazing fish room! Those huge african tanks will be the eye catchers of the room :D

Lovin this thread looks awesome mate tidy setup, congrats!

Thanks guys

Looks fantastic - very envious. But... speaking as someone from rock'n'roll Christchurch - erm, I would love to see some bracing / anchoring on those racks. Sure, it might never happen, but then again, we never thought anything would happen here either. Just a thought!

Yeah been thinking about that especially after today. The feet of the racks have holes for bolts to go through so will be looking into sorting that out and maybe putting something along the bottom of the tanks to stop them moving around if it did happen.

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Do you know where you can get those taps from?

Got them sent from Germany together with some small male hose tails for the automatic water change system. Way cheaper - even with GST and freight - then the ones I could find in NZ and AUS. The markup theses guys put on is horrendous. Same for the proper filter foam. Getting it from overseas all inclusive was $120, in NZ I would have paid just under $300.

I don't mind supporting local business and can handel a MU of 50% but a MU of 100 to 300%?

Cheers,

JaSa

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Yes, we do keep getting shaky reminders, hope no-one lost any tanks / fish in Wellington area. The bolts to the floor, and side bars on the racks are really good ideas. I'd also try for some sort of attachment or strapping from the tops of the racks to either the roof beams or walls. You have enough weight at the tops of the racks, that if those puppies start swaying they will just rip anything out of the floor and topple. No sense in taking that sort of risk, when just 1 hour now could save you from one heck of a clean-up later. Your fish will thank you for it!

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Do you know where you can get those taps from? I have looked at Bunnings and Mitre 10 but can't seem to find them. Maybe i'm just having a man look. Found the same sort of thing which I will order some time this week, if i can't find somewhere else.

singlelevervalve.jpg

.

Try this link

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-10Pcs-1-To-1-Way-Air-Flow-Controller-Stainless-Steel-Aquarium-Switch-Regulator-Air/1253560571.html

I buy a bit of stuff off this site.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have brought 2 * 3 footers, 1 * 4 footer and 1 * 6 footer to fit the remaining parts of the racks and the 6footer i will be starting building a stand for that this weekend. Have followed Jasa's advice and have ordered 100 Air valves from the states and will try get some of the PVC this weekend too :happy2:

Sadly I didnt' get one of the 3 footers in the right place so have to drain before I can get them next to each other but still looking like its getting there.

IMG_0952_zpsa84f3d64.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
Wow, nice shed there. sort of a dream build for me there, for when I have money.

Thanks, yeah has taken a long time to convince my wife I can spend the money:)

Last week finished the stand for the 6footer and did the fill test today. Also had my import of Fish stuff from Kens' including air taps so will try make a start this weekend.

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Filled no problems so now gotta get some fish in it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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