As I have said previously in another post, we are building a new house, into which we have designed a large fish tank as a feature between the dining room and the lounge. I have been studiously gathering information about how we go about this to try and eliminate teething troubles when we get the tank under way.

Last night we went to our first HBAS meeting, listened to Warren talking about the MAF register thing for fish, what was on the agenda for the next meeting, and watched the fish (and other things which looked suspiciously un fish-like, birdcage for instance) auction run by Bruce.

When we left my husband said that maybe we should buy a small tank and have a 'play around' with it before we get the big one!

We haven't even started building our house yet and are 'squatting' at me Mum's until it's built.

Does anyone see this as the beginnings of something very bad?

by the sounds of that comment, I think the house may need to be redesigned, one fish tank won't be enough, can you add an extra room for fish tanks??

Not at all at all.

Just gives you ample opportunity to alter the plan of your new house to incorporate a purpose built internal fishroom.

Hope you have shares in a glass company.

Alan 104

That's what I'm worried about Alan. I think the house is almost 30% glass at the moment - without the fishtank!

Peanuts - was that 'extra rooms' or 'an extra room'???

That's not trouble - that's luck. Lots of people here would love to have their partners hooked as well. And I agree with Alan - get the fishroom into your plans now :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Jude

will at least two rooms I would image, one for the breeding set up and one for all the display tanks, but I will leave the final design up to you. :lol:

I have a friend who built a house with a fish room next to the lounge with a large tank facing into the lounge and serviced from the fish room. Looked great.

I think peanuts definitely meant rooms. the more the merrier.

don't forget that it is not good feng shui to have fish tanks in the bedrooms.

just keep it seperate and leave room in the living, dining, kitchen, hallway, basement, garage.

that might just be enough room for the fish... oh as peanuts said 2 dedicated rooms would go well too. make sure u have a drainage hole in the middle of the rooms too... you never know when it can come in handy.. a big basin won't go amiss either.

Thanks Wok, we have allowed for drainage and a tap under the tank, and the floor is concrete, ground and polished, so no soggy carpets! This was actually for allergy purposes, ie no cat fur and dust mites living in the carpet.

I originally wanted the fishtank in the kitchen, where it would make up splashback behind the bench and under the cupboards, so you could sit there and stare at them while allegedly cooking tea. But the room behind it will be our plant room, and houses gas bottles and storage tanks for the underfloor heating, amongst other things, so that wouldn't work too well for the poor fishies.

Sounds like your home is going to be...WOW. You will have to post pics when you can.

As far as starting with a smaller tank, I see that as a good chance to get your feet, uh hands wet...ah...tank experience started But do not go too small, I thought that was the right thing to do...NOT!

The planned tank between your dining room and lounge (when you folks refer to "lounge" is that the same as what we refer to as "livingroom"?) sounds awesome :bounce: :bounce: I am assuming you will be able to see right through your fishy tank which ever room you are in?

Lounge = place where sofas (lounge suite), TV, coffee table live. And fish tank, of course.

Yep, you can see through both sides of the tank.

You may be waiting a while for pics!

What do you consider a 'small' tank, Caper?

I think about the size of the biggest one sold at the Auction would do for a "small" tank anything smaller and you'd go into shock when you upgrade. I suggest you talk to Warren about your plans and ask for advice - his tank is simply incredible [and apparently earthquake safe ]

Yes... wasn't quick enough there, they were a good price, too.

Pity they didn't have lids

Yep, livingroom=lounge

Well, I unfortunately I only have 2 tanks...first one, 10 gallon MUCH, MUCH, to small! My second is 29 gallon...much better. If I had realized, that is the size I would have started with because I was super nervous about getting into fishies...but now, of course, I LOVE THE HOBBY :bounce: :bounce:

I think a disclaimer should be attached to the first tank setup purchase warning prospective fish owners of the dangers of ownership. Our 1st tank (3 months ago) grew overnight into a 4foot tank during that time....I'm still bewildered at it's transformation. We are still learning the ropes and I'm really glad I found the forum. We are also in the planning stages of renovating and would like to include a tank as a fixed feature but have not found a suitable place to put it. Everywhere there are windows and I was told that the algae problem that we had was due to the high light area that the tank was in....not direct sunshine by any means but all those windows in summer! Something I'm going to have to think about more seriously. Look forward to seeing how you progress.

Have to start building the house first! The plans are up in Auckland being certified by the engineer (we hope) at the moment.

If you are stuck for ideas as to where you could possibly place a tank, have a look here:

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt29 ... sc&start=0

It's a long thread, but really interesting, this is for a reef tank, but I'm sure a freshwater tank would look just as good in a similar situation. In fact there is one here somewhere for a large tank in a shop, I think, but I can't find it at the moment. Will post the link when I find it.

So will we all be invited to the house warming? lol

You may be waiting for a wee while!

Yes, but that will give you time to work out a list of what sorts of fish you want as house warming presents

Hmmm.. now that's a novel idea!

Here you go Taniwha, I found the other thread:

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt10 ... sc&start=0

You may be waiting for a wee while

Good Zev...maybe I'll have won the lottery by then & get to visit :lol: :lol:

I love the sound of the place alanmin described! we are house hunting at the moment...and seriously looking for a place with another bedroom for the fish .

Hi Caper! How are you! I haven't been here for ages but still got my fishy fishy fishys. :bounce: We are going fishy shopping on Tuesday

anyway as for the plans for the people building the house, I think a fish room is essential...but would still have a community tank for the lounge/living area....and a great big soft chair in the fish room so you can go and sit and just LOOOOOOK when you need to relax....sounds better than a holiday to Tahiti to me and you can get to do it whenever you want without the stress of travel!