Cool! I'll be looking forward to updates on your project!
Hi Everyone, as I mentioned in my Rio Negro Heckel Project I started building a proper Discus Room.
I didn't want anything too big, just for enough space for having between 800-1000 gallons. We move in our new house last spring and I had a section of the basement that was barrelly 8ft wide... It didn't suit my basement plans but it could work as a Discus Room. Plus it right beside the Laudry-Bathroom, so water and utility sink were not an issue
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The current plan is to have both 140 gallon plywood tanks on each end plus a wall of six 65 gallons tanks and a breeding wall. I'm going to use my current four 30 gallons for the breeding wall, but plan to change them for three 35 gallon cubes.
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The first step was to remove the sheetrock as I need to redo the electricity. I want to have 3 separate 110 volt circuit dedicated to the Room, plus a 220V circuit for heating the Room. As the room is in a corner, 2 walls are already insulated.
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I've built the end wall
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This weekend I'm running the wires, plus putting the the sheetrock on the outside for the end wall. I'also continue to add the insulation on the ceiling.
Cheers,
Fred
Cool! I'll be looking forward to updates on your project!
Fun times ahead, looking forward.!
OK. I'm back at it... Of course change of location in the house, change of layout... Plus change of direction. As we say up here, only the crazy people don't change their minds. I've decided to go back to my first love and breed some Red Discus, not wilds but a man made strain. The Heckel Project will continue in the TV room. I still want to breed them, and will be making a run for it this late spring to see what happens.
The focus is on one strain. The goal is it breed some show quality discus, it will take time and most likely a several generation to get in the direction that I want. The Room is really focus on breeding 3 lines of one strain and having 1 or 2 spawn of each every 8 months and grow the most discus I can hold, with some heavy culling. In the end I'll end up with one or two pairs from 20-25 discus.
It will be divided in 3 centrally filtered sections.
Breeding-juvenile to 8 months
two 40 gallon breeder
two 65 gallon tall
45 gallon sump
Growout 8 to 24 months
four 75 gallons
65 gallon sump
Pairing-Resting
135 gallons
65 gallon sump
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I've finished studding the walls, I'm receiving my sheetrock today. I will then cover the exterior of the walls in order to finish my electricity and doing my insulation and vapor barrier.
This is from the end, the room is about 16 feet long
stud 1.jpg
This is from the other end, it is narrower because of my furnace room, it that room I will house my water barrels for water changes. I'm hoping to my ideas for automated water changes will work. I will still need to siphon the bottom everyday, but I should spend some time looking at my discus everyday anyway
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Here we can see the corner where the breeding section will end up.
stud 3.jpg
This is the door entrance, I need to move out the fridge.
stud 4.jpg
This is the narrow end again. The sump pump will remove the water during water change. As I am on a septic tank I don't want to flood my system with 200-400 gallons of water everyday.
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Cheers,
Fred
Looks very exciting. I finished my fish room two summers ago. My main mistake was to have set the outlets at their usual positions. If I were to do it again, I would put them up 5' off the floor. I would also put them closer one side versus the middle of wall so that they're not blocked by the tanks.
Good luck on your adventure, Willie
At my age, everything is irritating.
Thanks Willie.
Actually all the outlets are being placed near the sumps of the 3 systems. Another thing that I'm adding is a drain pipe that will go around the room for eater change and siphoning the bottoms. I'll also have a freshwater pipe bringing aged water from the furnace room to fill in the sumps for water change abd evaporation.
Cheers
Fred
Have you considered including a portable dehumidifier for the space to keep humidity levels low enough to prevent mold/mildew?
Keep your drywall/sheetrock 3" off the floor, trust me on this. I would not use 2 x 4's for stud's either, rather go with metal.
Ex-President-North American Discus Association-NADA
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Yep. I grew up in Milwaukee. Had the same thing there. We don't have basements here in Oregon.
Lifting dictionaries literally strengthens your muscles.
Yes the sump pump pumps the water on the yard as I don't have a drain due to the sceptic system.
Yes the drywall will be off the floor... spills will happen.