[jaytech33]

Hello All,

I plan on moving my fishtanks down into my unfinished basement where I am also building a 1000 gal above ground pond. 75% of the basement is below ground and average winter air temps down there are 55 degrees.

I need to keep the tanks/pond at 75-80 degrees. To keep the tank heaters from running non stop I wanted to add a radiator to this 12X 20 room in the basement.

I know an electric baseboard would be easiest, but the electric cost worries me.

I had two ideas:
1. just add a radiator to the system and hope the heating is improved.
2. add a radiator, zone valve and new t-stat in the basement.

This picture shows how my sytem is currently. Gas fired furnace, circulator pump with 1 1" loop around the perimiter of the basement with "t's" going to the first floor radiators.
As a side note, there are some T's on the main line where I want the radiators that are just capped off.

Green lines are the existing radiators, red line is the radiator I would like to "T in"

Thanks!!

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Make sure you add in a lot of venting
And a big dehumidifier to get rid of the humidity
One with an LED display that you can set to the level you want
I have a 75g tank & a 40g sump in the basement connected to my 125g tank upstairs. I have 2 dehumidifiers in the basement that I run when needed

I'm getting rid of the 75g tank & replacing teh 40g sump with a 130g sump. The 130g sump will be sealed against the basement to prevent moisture from getting into the basement

Plan on multiple heaters for your tank
Make sure that there isn't a single one that is big enough to overeheat the tank if (when) it sticks on. And that you have enough so that if one fails the others can keep the tank heated

Best bet is to also add insulation under the tank
And if one side is on the back - non-viewable - insulate that too

Insulate the sill plate with rigid foam
Buy a good humidity meter & check it on a regular basis
One guy set up a large tank in his basement & had to take it apart when the wood in his house began to rot out
A radiator under the tank & insulated against the rest of the basement would be a good setup. If on a seperate thermostat you could set it to the temp you wanted

 

[jaytech33]

The tanks will have foam along the backs and glass covers. The pond is an insulated monster and will be covered to retain heat, reduce evaporation. The pond will be filtered by a sump with the heaters in the sump.

What I need to do is raise the temp of the basement by about 20 degrees to make it comfortable to be hanging out down there.

Here are pics of the pond construction....

 

[beenthere]

Framing doesn't look strong enough for a 1000 gallon tank.

Your boiler is piped up as a monoflo system.
Don't tap into the tee's that aren't used.Unless both tee's are mono's.

On a mono system. In order to get the hot water to flow downward, it requires both tee's be monos.
And usually requires a larger circ.

Best to install a separate heating loop for the basement.

May want to consideer a whole house dehumidifier for the basement.
That will bring in a small amount of fresh air also.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Once you have 1,000g of water at 75-80 you will find the basement will be much warmer. As long as the walls are insulated
That front wall of the tank may bow out once its full of water

How big is the basement?

 

[DangerMouse]

Framing doesn't look strong enough for a 1000 gallon tank.

i absolutely agree, that framing will not hold that much water pressure, no way, no how.... it's going to be one heck of a cleanup job when it bursts.....
"warning will robinson!"

DM

 

[jaytech33]

i absolutely agree, that framing will not hold that much water pressure, no way, no how.... it's going to be one heck of a cleanup job when it bursts.....
"warning will robinson!"

DM

Sorry, didn't catch the typo. for what it's worth the pond is 500gal. This design is proven and has been used by others to build 500, 1000, and 2000 gallon ponds.

 

[DangerMouse]

do you have plans from a website to link to? was it engineered? just curious.
it just does not look strong enough. be sure to post pics when it's done!

DM