Not a fish room...more of a fish alcove, but advice needed (warning: long post!)

This one is for those who have multiple tanks and racks.  You know who you are!  My Mbuna tank has been merrily ticking along in the house for a couple of months now, but it appears that I blinked, and suddenly I have multiple smaller tanks scattered throughout my garage!  The sudden onset of MTS is probably not a surprise to anyone who frequents this forum, and I have a feeling that it has not yet peaked, so...I'm making an effort to corral them all into one spot in the garage from which I can maintain, putter, experiment, and generally enjoy a variety of tank styles and fish/critters.    

Here's the basic plan which I'd like you all to consider.  I have a 66" wall that is ridiculously convenient to my utility sink and plumbing.  It is also tucked on a side wall between a man door that leads out back, and my furnace.  The garage is 2 and a half cars, is sheetrocked but not painted, has 10' ceilings, 4 largish opening windows, is well ventilated, and has a mother in law appt above it where my 19 y/o boy is living currently, so it stays warm.  I'm considering a 3 tier rack on this particular side wall, 63" from inside edge to inside edge.  First two levels will be 26 inches deep, top level 16 inches deep, so the front of that shelf will be 10" set back from the edge of the middle shelf.  63 inches wide lets me put 3 10G (20" W), or 2 30" tanks (20L or 29) or one 36 (40B) and one 24 (20H), or in the future, perhaps a single 60" 100+ gallon tank.  Heights of each shelf are very much TBD.  

I'm not certain what I will keep here in terms of livestock, but I think 3 10G's on the top shelf, 2 29's and 2 20L's on the bottom two shelves as a starting point give me lots of flexibility to buy interesting fish and have a place to a) QT them, and b) house them afterwards.  I'm not currently super enamored with the big CA/SA fish that require a large tank, but I could see that changing, or just wanting something that lives in a big tank (Fahaka Puffer, anyone?), so I wanted the stand to be able to hold one large tank (60", 100+ G, probably on the middle shelf) in the future.  I have reasonable carpentry and engineering design skills, and there are lots of good examples online, so once I feel good about the dimensions, I'm comfortable building it.  Intend on mostly 2x4 construction, and I will put plywood or other sheet goods on each level in order to allow the switching between various size tanks without having to worry about the alignment of cross braces and also to give it some stiffness/ racking resistance.   I'm interested in tank aesthetics/tinkering more than I am breeding for profit, so I'll want to work on each tank individually, planted or otherwise, and this 3 tier rack plus 2 or three show tanks in the house should end up being a reasonable balance between this hobby and the rest of my life!
   
So, the question for those with fish rooms or lots of tanks on racks, what do you most like about your system that I should consider when planning, and what things do you wish were different that I should try to avoid.   Also open to those who have a lot of tanks that may not be on racks.  What are your best practices in terms of making efficient use of your maintenance time, what tools are essential (beyond the basics, I guess), etc.  Are your top tanks too high and a PITA to clean or maintain plants in?  Can you get a siphon out of your lowest tanks?  How do you speed water changes?  How much room do you like between tank and the shelf above it?  Should I reconsider a sump/central water system (I am strongly thinking about the HMF systems like swisstropicals uses, at least for the smaller tanks). I'm also considering an inline pump that I can set in my utility sink 5 feet away and then drain one tank after another, so siphon height might not be an issue?  I'd use my current aqueon water changer for filling, conditioning the water before direct entry.  I plan on individually heat and filters (prev owner had a wood shop out here, so there are multiple outlets on the walls and ceiling to tap into).  I have access to the plumbing around the utility sink and the hot water heater next to it, but I'm not certain I want/need/have the skills to install and maintain a drip system or auto water changing system, although I could be convinced otherwise.  Lights will probably be LED's mounted to the underside of each shelf where possible.

Again, apologize for the length, thanks for reading, and your time and thoughts, all are welcome and appreciated!  

Paul

They are hard to find now a days, but there is a 60"x18"x18" 90 gallon size floating around out there ... have seen at least one on CL locally. Way better dimensions than the standard 90. Then the 20 longs, or if you can find it, the 30"x18"x12" 30 gallon ones would be even better.

Sadly, both sizes are extremely hard to find and might have to go custom.

Congratulation on catching MTS. It is the most enjoyable disease ever!!

# tier syatem can be a real PITA. The bottom tanks are always a hassle to do maintenance on and you don't enjoy any fish in them. The top row are easier to see, but again you will get tired of climbing a step ladder to do anything. The middle row ends up being almost as much hassle due to limiting the room from the top of the tank to the next level. I would recommend doing two levels and using the bottom for storage or a central sump system.

60" tanks are fairly hard to find. Just talked to Dennys about ordering a tank and the didn't even have a 5ft tank on either the Aqueon or Marinland list. !20g 60" tanks will be the most common you will run across 60x22x18. They are a very nice sized tank though.

Here is a pic of my fishroom set-up.
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If you make it around Snohomish give me a holler you can come check my room out. Zach

Sounds like you have a lot of fun planned out for your project.  

First question...is the wall open to the garage or is this a semi closed off area from the main garage.  If its open to garage and you still plan on using it as a garage, you might need to consider winter temps and effects of the cars coming in and out.  I had a garage setup but we nixed the cars in favor of the tanks. The other problem we had was humidity. We had 10 tanks total (a little over 600 gallons out there) and we had to run heaters in the winter and dehumidifier year round. Your planned gallonage will be less so possibly you will not have the humidity problems but you may have to address temperature issues.

Tanks options...another option on your shelf would be to run your tanks short (outside edge showing) rather than long giving you additional tank space. Your rack has to be deep enough to accommodate that setup and you lose some of your viewing pleasure with the tanks. I liked having mine long as I would sit out in the garage and watch the fish in the tanks. But fry tanks or breeding tanks can easily be set up the short way.

Stacking the racks. I had one rack that held 3 20G longs...it went from the floor (or 6" above the floor) up. I hated the lower rack tank. Like zach shared, it was hard to see the fish and siphoning out of the tank was the pits. I also hated the top rack tank. I had to stand on a 3 step stool to reach the top tank. I could see the fish (kinda) but not as well as I would like to. I would definately recommend doing a 2-rack system. It will give you better access to your tanks, greater viewing, and easier maintenance.

One other point on the racks...make sure to allow "plenty" of maintenance space. There is nothing worse than having to try to fit your arm and a net in tight space. I even had to cut one of my nets down to use it on my racks and I had pretty decent space available. I like those big nets and I couldn't find one with a shorter handle (I needed it pretty short).

HMF filters...great filters but they would take up a lot of space in the 10G tanks. In a 20G long or bigger they are not so bad. The full size HMF sponges are pretty thick. I think Swiss tropicals also might make a cube filter and a corner filter or really any sponge filter would work and will cut your maintenance issues as you won't have to deal with the HOB or canister and you can run airline from one large airpump.

Draining your tanks for water changes...there are a number of methods. I have never used an external inline pump. I have used a regular pump that you can drop into the tank with tubing attached and it pumps out through the tubing. I suppose an external pump would work the same. Siphoning out to the yard most of the year is a good way to go too (you just need your siphon pieces and long tubing...our gardens love the fish water). And we now use our siphons in the winter also but to the toilet. Maybe others would have input on whether the siphon method (and I'm not concerned about the tanks that sit up high, only the ones that might be lower or on level with the sink) would be able to make the lift to the utility sink as the utility sinks are kinda high.

Good luck on your project and keep us informed. Sounds like you have a fun rest of the summer planned with these great ideas.

Excellent thoughts, and thanks for the pictures and well considered advice. I was a bit concerned about the upper and lower tank levels as well, and you all definitely validated that for me. I'm thinking now about a 4 shelf unit with the upper and lower shelves being designated storage and the middle two shelves being primary tank holders at appropriate heights.

I know the 60" tanks are rare. I really, really wish that 18" was the standard depth on a 55G. The number of those tanks on CL is ridiculous. The short term plan was to put the smaller tanks up anyhow, I just wanted to be ready in case I decided I needed a big tank. I would actually consider custom or DIY tanks at 30"L by 18"W by 16-18" deep in the future to maximize the available space.

The garage is open to the cars, but here in central puget sound, the temp range seems pretty mild, and we really only use it for one car, not two, so I think they'd be ok, unless there is some concern with CO or something else related to the cars that I'm missing. There is enough room on the side of the garage near the sink that I could add a free standing rack that acted like a divider and created an aisle, in case I run out of room on this first, as yet unbuilt rack. One project at a time, though!

Lots of fun to think about, appreciate the thoughts, hopefully putting the plan into action this summer!