# Fish room in garage? Pipe dream?



## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

It's strange, my house seems to be getting smaller as my daughter grows bigger  It is looking like I will have to give up my hobby in the near future because my office/fish room is likely going to be turned into a play room. 

I was think of building an insulated room in my free standing garage but had concerns about the amount of electricity I'd be burning through in the winter. 

Anyone done this? I'd only need a small room. Maybe 10'x10' tops. The garage has power on a separate fuse box. I would need to run water out there but that should be too hard. 

I would eventually need a total of about 8 - 10 tanks. Some 75's but mostly smaller 20 gals.

Without knowing all the details, any idea if this is a viable option without costing a ton to build or run?


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

It is possible, is this a fish room for growout or for display? A cheaper option would be to run gas out to the garage in the long run. You'd be following the same methodology as those using green house in the northern US.


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

It's just for grow out. I have a feeling running gas is going to be too large an expense.


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## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

actually you got an awesome idea. if yoru willing to spend a lil extra $$$ at the beginning you should be pretty safe with heating a 10x10 room with a very small space heater. if you doulbe the 2x4 studs up you could get an R 28 and then put on ridged foam your looking at an R38 thats pretty intence. alot of fish rooms ive seen are heated just by the ac.  good luck and i hope you do this up


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## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

...... dehumidifier... an ac wouldnt be good for heating.


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

sawman88 said:


> ...... dehumidifier... an ac wouldnt be good for heating.


yeah... I was like "ac..yeah..wait..what?!"

I think the garage install is a great idea if you have the space in there! I would agree that running a gas line to heat the entire garage may be easier than just heating that room with a space heater... you can run up some "estimated" costs on your own, but I imagine it would be about the same... sure there is the small annoyance of getting a gas line put out there, but IMO i'd feel safer with that than an electrical space heater


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## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

GFI man you should be useing some of those even right at the pannel if you have to. running a gas line would be $$$ but as i think about it really you might have to run more power to your fish room to run lights space heater air /water pumps excetra. although weather you decided to go with gas or electric i do still reccoment you dont spare any expence with insulation. becuse weather you use gas or electricity it will save you energy cost by alot. if i were you i would build it and then try it.. alot of fish rooms are heated by a dehumidifier and that you will prolly need for sure.. unless you like mould. and for insulation you MUST use roxul. or urathahne spray foam because the pink or cellulose does not tolerate any moisture buildup


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## Canadiancray (Apr 27, 2006)

LOL. running a gas line into the garage. Might want to check local building code on that one.


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## desjardo (Aug 30, 2008)

It wont matter what insul you use as long as you get the R rating you want. All insulation requires a vapor barrier. You can tuck tape the joints but using a sealent is much better. And as this is a fish room your vapor barrier is going to be a very important factor. I also think that a gas line is way too costly. You will be looking at more than you spent on the room! I agree with using heat from the Dehu and other motors that will be running. GFIès are also a must. You could have a pony panel ran off of your existing service and have GFI breakers in there. They are pricey but a requirement. This is a very neat idea and I would love to see how this plays out and be willing to help out on this build! My tolls and belt have been retired for a year now and I need to build!
But things to consider are

Building Codes
Electrical Requirements
Plumbing(insulated)
Ventilation
Appearance
I think you could do this quite cost effective depending on location and visibility of your shed.
Any drawings at this point...É damn keyboard!


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

Still in the very early stages of exploration. I just had the idea on the weekend. Nothing would be starting until spring at the earliest. 

My garage is about 30'x40' so doing the whole thing is out of the question. I thought making a small room inside might be cost effective. The panel in there is old. It runs off my main panel in the house. I would assume it will likely need to be replaced. 

This project is well beyond my skill level so I need to get some buddies in that have a better idea of what is going to be needed. 

If this thing gets off the ground, I will be letting you know!


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## desjardo (Aug 30, 2008)

Well thats great news. If you already have your service ran it sounds like you can get way with some simple upgrades, and some heavy duty insulating of the portion you care to use. I will look into the GFI issue for you as well. There are different ways of adding the Ground fault and some are cheaper than others.


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## aeri (Sep 9, 2007)

MacFish said:


> My garage is about 30'x40' so doing the whole thing is out of the question.


30'x40' garage is huge...any pics? That'd be great for a fish room.


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

aeri said:


> 30'x40' garage is huge...any pics? That'd be great for a fish room.


That is a huge garage MacFish!! If you don't mind sharing, is this an attached garage or a shed? Either way where abouts in Etobicoke are you that there is so much space??


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

30x40 fish room!!!!!!


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

My lot is 42'x125' and the detached garage takes up 2/3 the width. I'll have to look at the survey tonight and get the exact dimensions as I've never actually measured it. I can get 3 cars in there with plenty of room to spare 

Handy considering my house doesn't have a basement!

I'm in the Alderwood area.


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## aeri (Sep 9, 2007)

build a 15'x5' pond out of plywood and you can keep any fish you would ever want from the stores for...ever. insulate it. put a lid. 3x500w heaters. and...omg.


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