Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 So I thought I would post the build of the new clownfish room that I have moved all the tanks out to. Over the last year my progression of breeding clownfish has completely grown beyond my wildest imagination. My first batch of clownfish were hatched on May 9th, 2007 just under a year ago. This was the first tank with the flower pot in it. Within a couple of months I was taking over the family room (with a little resistance form my wife (whistle) Then things really began to grow. By October I had expanded to 11 tanks & this is how it looked at the meeting at my house in October. So this is where the story begins..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 February 2, 2008 Day 1 We have a "saloon" in our back yard that is 16x20 that was nothing more than a glorified shed. So we came up with the crazy idea that I could move the clownfish out to it(nutty). My wonderful wife was growing a little tired of the noise & smell of the clownfish system so I came up with the plan to move the tanks out & the "clownhouse" was born. Now you have to understand that this building was 15-20 yrs old and not in the best shape. Home made front door & windows were the first things that had to go. The basic transformation from saloon to clownhouse happened in 4 weekends. I will show the progess through the next 4 posts. Here is an exterior shot of the saloon on day 1. Here are a couple of inside shots before we started. I was lucky that I had saved the cabinets from a previous remodel to the bathroom (another story) so that I have some nice oak cabinets. First off the existing crappy windows were replaced with vinyl doulble pane & the front door was made larger & a new exterior insulated door was installed. The existing roof was sloped so we decided to install some new ceiling joists for a flat roof. This would enable me to install the electrical & more insulation than just drywalling the existing structure. Next we framed in a wall to seperate what would be left of the small shed section on the other side. The new room is 12'x 13'6". The existing floor was just 2x6's installed over the stringers so we laid down a vapor barrier & new plywood for some more strentgh. Well enough work for one weekend. So on to the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 February 9, 2008 week 2 Well after a busy week at work it was time to start making something happen. After a little room layout the rough electrical & drywall were installed. I got lucky that the existing perimeter walls were already insulated so the original sheeting remained on the walls. So after a little work here is the completion of the second weekend. I decided that my workbench & pantry cabinet would go on the temporary wall (yes there is already a plan to blow this wall out & take the rest of the saloon but that may wait a little while (wife) ) I decided to install a 2500 watt inwall heater to warm the room up if necessary. My thought was to try to keep the room close to 80 degrees so that little to no tank heaters would be necessary. There is also a fan speed controller roughed in next to the heater t-stat since I was planning on installing a small ceiling fan for circulation. Also next to the fan controller is a lighting timer that will controll all lighting in room over all the tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 February 16, 2008 week 3 Well with the drywall done now it is time to start making it look finished. I was able to get the texture & paint on the wall during the week. For the floor I wanted to do something different so I decided to install a commercial VCT tile like you would see in grocery store. The first quadrant of tiles are down!!!(clap) These tiles go down fast but the border tiles SUCK... Here is the floor half way done. Wall is all trimmed out & the first cabinet is set. Here is a shot with the workbench installed. Well three weeks have gone by and the clownhouse is just about ready for some new occupants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 February 23, 2008 week 4 Well it is time to move some fish.(clap) Three weeks ago the clownhouse was a mere dream. I had planned on moving the entire clowfish system from the family room to the saloon but my wife informed me that the cabinets were staying in the family room.DOH! So after a trip to Home Depot for some lumber I made a quick table to house the exsiting countertop with all the plumbing. Now time to move some tanks. Now I know this is a little bit of a mess but you have to hurry when you move 11 tanks with over 1000 fish. If I were a beer drinker it would be time for a beer...(drooler) but they are running again & the wife is much happier:D Time to take a few days off....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 That is truly amazing!! Awesome work Dave!!!! (clap) (rock2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 March 1, 2008 week 5 Now it is time for some expansion. With the help of a good friend Brian (evansbr) we have designed a table that will house 16 growout tanks. The design is similar to my 11 tank broodstock system except that tanks can be accessed from both sides of the tank. Here are a couple of basic shots of the table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Way cool. I wish my spouse would approve a project like that for me. But mine would probably be anemone farming. We could go into business together, you grow the clowns, and I'll grow the anemones. Sell them as a pair. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 Sounds like a plan. Maybe with the expansion project later this year Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Very nice Dave! I always knew you were a good electrician, but DANG! You got skills! The VCT came out nicely! Did you seal it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Nice Dave, that is an awesome clownhouse! How is the heat holding up? What are the plans for this summer when it gets hot out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 I did seal the tiles with like 5 coats of sealer before we moved anything in. I have also added a 8,000 btu window a/c unit to the room. With the temp rising lately the room was getting warmer than I wanted so I bought an a/c unit off craigslist & it works perfectly. This room has been a lot of work. I have done every piece of work to the room ( with some help of course) but nothing was sub contracted out to other people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 MArch 11, 2008 week 6&7 Things are starting to slow down on progress now. Just starting to fine tune some of the things in the room. We layed out the plumbing for the drain system for the new table. There will be 16 tanks with 2 seperate drains into a common sump. I was able to score a 100g tru-vu tank from Isaic @ seahorse for the sump. Not exactly what I wanted but it will work for a while until I have something made plus I am a little over budget at this point & still not done yet....(whistle) Here is the sump setting under the table. YEA the skimmer arrived. I purchased a PCI PS-3000 skimmer. It was a great price & is rated to 475g. I was not sure about it at first but after it has run for a while I am liking it more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 May 5, 2008 nearing completion Time elapsed a little but I thought I would take a few pics of how the clownhouse looks now. I have added an a/c unit for cooling. Another necessity was the addition of a dehumidifier!! The room wants to naturally run close to 80 degrees since that is where all the tanks are at. I keep the a/c set for 79 degrees to keep the room slightly cooler. The evaporation is much less when the room is kept cooler and the room seems to be equaling out. I am going to put a recording meter on the room for a few days to see what the increase is but so far out electric bill has only gone up about $25 from a year ago so if it doesn't get much higher I will be happy.(scary) Here is a finished shot of the front. Still some stuff that needs to get cleaned off the porch but getting closer. Here is a shot looking in the front door. Here is a little different view showing the lights a little better. The lights are 8' strips with a 90% downlight reflector. They also allow 10% uplight so I don't have the need to light the rest of the room with additional lighting. All lights are controlled with a digital timer so all lighting is automatic. Here is a shot of the workbench area & rotifer cultures. Behind the door to the left (which you can't see) is a 55g drum for mixing saltwater. I am missing a few more photo's I wanted to post so I will have to find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Very cool. Are you still mostly raising other people's clutches or is more in-house breeding going on? -Sol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 Every thing for the moment is in house. My ocellaris & Cinnamon's are spawning now. I have a total of 8 broodstock pairs now. They are Ocellaris, Cinnamon's (melanopis), Clarki, True Percs, Onyx Percs, Black & white Ocellaris, & Tomato's (frenatus), & Picasso's. I am getting a pair of Tricintus as soon as I get back from Chicago. Most of the pairs are either still young or just acquired so it may be a while before some of them start back up. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 WOW! Very clean, and well thought out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Looks great Dave! Very nice work. I'm sure you could add some cabinet doors to those tank stands, and they would look just as nice, if not better than your old cabinets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhut Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 All I have to say is WOW! You and Brian have been busy. Looks really good. Can't wait to see it in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 WOW indeed! That's a really sweet setup, I'm jealous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evansbr Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Ya, after all this and then to realize,,, not enough tanks.. DOH! so looks like another table to be constructed in the next few months. It takes 8 tanks to capture every clutch of eggs from 1 Occ pair to a saleable size... thats alot of fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Indeed. With that many to sell, new markets need to be opened. (Yes, I know that image has been around the block a few times, it's just that today is Friday and I'm kind'a bored...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 You always know how to stir it up Brian.(naughty) I will be a little while before the commander will let me expand.(wife) Besides the last 3 months have been almost solid work in one form or another so I think I will just hang low for a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 Andy, that pic is awesome!! I have never seen that one. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Way Cool Dave!!!!!!!! Really great craftsmanship!! All really clean and nicely done. BRAVO!!!!!!!! To you and your helper!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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