So we started on the first bench for my new shrimp room today. The frame work was 90 x 35 pine, the bench is 19 ml flooring chipboard. It has all been made to accommodate my height and injuries to make it easy for me to reach over tanks and behind tanks. The uprights will allow drawers to be positioned in the middle 2 sections and a shelf will be put into the other bottom sections. Everything has been painted black to keep it all matching- even the tanks have Black silicone:D
The bench will go all the way around three sides of the room with the bench under the window giving me work space for packing and water testing etc. I will have 10 x 24 " tanks = 5 each side (8 are Blue Planet and 2 just basic 24" with black silicone.
At this stage the lighting will be individual lights but a bench will be made over the top of the tanks which will have LED lights but not sure what type just yet. Each tank will be separate with 2 sponge filters and an airstone except the TB tank which will also have an Eheim 2213 as well.
I am using Beni Bachi soil for the Crystals and TB's and also trying out some Elos (think that's the name) which I was given to try -it works similar to Beni Bachi in the buffering and looks very similar. For the Cherries I am using Fluval Stratum which they seem to do well in. My plants are basically moss, java fern and some Sword plants- the swords only because my large plant has sent off so many plant-let runners it seems a shame not to use them. Water is RO and salty shrimp for all tanks (Sulawesi for the cherries until that runs out).
Hopefully tomorrow the other side will be completed and then the window work bench. I need to find something to sit the tanks on and will see if one of the rubber stores has something useful, any suggestions would be great.
The flooring in the room has been reinforced with steel beams sitting on concrete footings as this part of the house has wooden floors sitting on dwarf walls which have started to collapse so Alan replaced them with the steel framework.
I am a tad excited and hope I can put some pictures up of the room finished and empty tanks insitu by the end of the week.If there are any glaring faults with this plan please let me know before we make any big mistakes. The reason I haven't gone for a normal rack is due to back and neck injuries that don't allow me to work with my arms above shoulder height or continous bending and because I'm short the height of the bench makes working easier for me.
The room has ducted air conditioning and ducted heating plus there will be a ceiling fan installed so hopefully I won't need a chiller. It works in my other room but I didn't have TB's or Crystals last summer [url=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/ineke24/media/2013-12-16140719_zps26d1ee3c.jpg.html][url=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/ineke24/media/2013-12-16152022_zpsf9d43ca7.jpg.html][url=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/ineke24/media/2013-12-16155720_zps34f0ef7e.jpg.html]

Edited February 17, 201511 yr by ineke

Exciting!, cant wait to see this finished :-D

Looking good already Ineke. So exciting. Keep up the excellent work :encouragement:

Thanks guys really looking forward to filling those tanks. I will have 7 empty tanks in my other room when the shrimp are moved wonder if he will let me have 2 rooms?????? Don't hold much hope maybe a step too far.

Super cool……don't forget the wall space for the shrimp posters :-) Looking fwd's to the updates.

Exciting!, will be following closely, looking for ideas, particular with your choice of LEDs.

Looks AMAZING Ineke can't wait for another tank visit

Looks awesome Ineke, this must be very exciting for you, the only suggestion I have is to either make sure the chipboard is waterproofed or sealed, or use some 16mm-19mm ply cause if the chipboard gets water in it(which it will over time, spills etc) it will start to delaminate & eventually need replacing & this could be a very difficult process. :encouragement:

The chipboard has been sealed thanks Squiggle plus it will have an edge trim sealed with silicon so hopefully that will stop any problems. My main issue at the moment is what to use as a base for the tanks to sit on. I prefer to get a full length base rather than individual bases. Will look into that this week. Clark rubber sell a rubber base in rolls but not sure if that will work , it may not have enough give?

Looks AMAZING Ineke can't wait for another tank visit

You don't need an invitation the door is open anytime:encouragement:

Yeah you can get low density rubber that should work pretty well. :encouragement:

Great thanks Jay I will look into that tomorrow . That's black and also if I can get it wide enough a water barrier as well:encouragement:

Lookin good Girl and you are going to get done way before me, so I am going to be looking at yours very jealousy.

That rubber works a treat Ineke, to make life easy stick it down with silicone then it will stay put and have extra water resistance for you board

Did you paint the walls with mould proof paint?

Bob

No Bob but the room is well ventilated and I have had no problems in my other room which has been going for 12 months now and it has 8 tanks of various sizes in it. I hadn't given it a thought actually so hopefully it shouldnt be a problem.

wohoooo... excited :) i hope someday can make my own fish and shrimp room. Keep update ineke!

We are 1 length of wood short so will have to go to Bunnings tomorrow , then paint it but hopefully by the afternoon the bench on the other side will be up. I am still trying to get some rubber matting to go under the tanks. Clark rubber didn't have anything suitable so need to check out another place or resort to polystyrene sheeting but not too keen on that.

We are 1 length of wood short so will have to go to Bunnings tomorrow ' date=' then paint it but hopefully by the afternoon the bench on the other side will be up. I am still trying to get some rubber matting to go under the tanks. Clark rubber didn't have anything suitable so need to check out another place or resort to polystyrene sheeting but not too keen on that.[/quote']

Why not paint the polystyrene black ?

Good idea, just gotta make sure the paint is safe for polystyrene cause otherwise it will eat away the foam. :victorious:

Why not paint the polystyrene black ?

Good thinking thank you . Apparently water based paint is ok

Yeah water based paint is the way to go but I would do a test piece first just to be sure. :encouragement:

I had a visit from Eshrimp and his wife today and now have the makings of a semi- automated RO system. I have a bin to hold RO water to which my RO unit will be attached , a stop cock will be in the bin so it fills automatically as I use the water. To the bin is attached a pump which will pump the water to my tanks via a hose which will have a tap to adjust the flow. I siphon the old water from the tank via a long hose then when my tanks have all been siphoned I attach that hose to the hose from the pump and refill the tank . To remineralise the water ( once I know how much has been siphoned) I mix the salty shrimp in a syringe and slowly add it to the slow flowing water. It is so easy and so much better than me filling heaps of 2 litre bottles with RO taking up most of an afternoon. When it is setup I will take pictures and explain it again. I used this system when house sitting and it was so quick and easy. Thank you so much Emanuel you and Fabi are truly awesome:encouragement:

Sounds like a very cool system, I love cool inventions. :victorious:

Cant wait to see the semi- automated RO system, looking forward.

It's all happening!! Can't wait to see more pics!!!

It's getting so close I can't believe its finally happening. With the new water system it will be so good to not have to lug buckets and bottles of water and having nice neat tanks will be nice too after my mish mash of tanks I have now( but they have served me well:))