Bloke's 180g - It was bound to happen...

[Bloke]

Well, who am I kidding? It was bound to happen so why resist?

Over the last few months the wife and I have talked about what would be my summer project this year since she knows that I HAVE to have something to occupy my time otherwise insanity sets in. I told her that my plan was to teach a few online courses, travel to Washington DC in June, and spend money on fish (both keeping and catching).
She asked if I had given any thought to finishing the basement. Since we have a quad-level home, the majority of the house is finished with the exception of two rooms. I told her that when I do that I wanted to put in a larger system downstairs and she, quite suprisingly, responded that I did NOT need another fish tank and in fact, the tank next to the TV is quite imposing.

So I told her, that my actual plan was to pull the other tanks down and combine them into a larger singular system. All of the sudden, she was all for it! She starting talking about where we'd put furniture and perhaps a built in bar, etc. I was excited and her excitement - like most men usually are.

So, it didn't long after that conversation, that a few days later I was at Star Lumber making an order for some wood to be delivered. Of couse, she wanted to see what I had planned, so it was down to the computer I sat for a few days digging my way through Google's SketchUp once again (I LOVE that program).

This is what I showed her:


There is only one window downstairs so that naturally will be a bedroom as seen on the left. In order to put this system in the wall, I am going to frame a wall 5' from the foundation. Therefore, with a 72x24x24 tank I will still have ~3' of room behind the system for walking/working, etc. Access to this 5'x15' space will be via an extra door within this new guest room shown here:

[Bloke]

My other plans for the system are to run a 100g Rubbermaid tub and place it on the far wall perpendicular to the tank. I will combine both drain lines into a single larger line and within the tub hold a 15g long tank (24x12x12) for a fuge (My current refugium section of my sump ironically has these same dimensions).

Additionally, I plan to drill the back of this 180g RR tank to run a closed loop and avoid ANY internal components within the tank. For lighting, I plan to use the 3x250 MH I already have coupled with 4x54w T5 HO for actinic supplementation. I would like to build a light rack so that the lights can be slid to the side when needing access to the system and I also will run Lumenarc (Lumenbright) mini reflectors as well.

I plan to run a DIY Becket skimmer, but may look into a needle-wheel; I am certainly going to run external pumps and I plan to build (or enlist the help of good friends) a second chamber to the reactor just completed for the upstairs tank.
So, I think I have a good plan and a whole lot of gumption. Further, I will have quite a bit of equipment for sale (sumps, tanks, stands, powerheads, etc.) I'll take pics and keep this thread updated. Thanks for following!

[Bloke]

Well, I took some final measurements and got to work. I wanted to start with the more complicated wall first. The interior wall seperating the bedroom from this new den was where I chose because it joins with a wall at a 45 degree angle, it will contain two doors, has multiple required nailers beyond the mere 16" studs, etc.

The outer walls for this room will go very fast, but this wall took a little bit more time for all the reasons stated above as well as due to headers, door placement, proper measurement, running parallel to the floor joists, etc. Tomorrow I will get more accomplished, but for today, not a bad start at all when you're working solo.

[Bloke]

Well, I did manage to get the bedroom completely framed in without issue. I do need to add a few nailers in the corners.


But finally... the wall I'd been waiting for; the tank wall. It ended up being about 13 feet long and I will attempt to get the tank as close to center as possible.


After getting the basic wall laid out, I decided to run 2x6 for the horizontals as well as put the adjoining 2x4 on their face as well to limit the space taken up by the wood once the tank is in place. If the studs run parallel to the front of the tank I only lose about 1.5" versus 3.5" and hopefully this will help in cleaning etc. I figured a height of about 41" for the tank. This will keep it high enough that walking to it, I almost look directly in. Let's avoid backaches if possible.

You can see the temporary nails in the 2x4 above the 2x6 showing 24" distance. This would be the top of the tank.

[Bloke]

Here's a shot showing the stand 90% complete. There's a few more things I need to do including lag bolts and a few 2x6 runners along the bottom to stabalize it. Believe it or not it's darn near perfectly level. I checked it at the front, the back, the right side, middle, and left, and I am not so sure professionals could've done a better job. (The pride of a weekend warrior)


Finally, a great view of the space I'll have behind the tank. It's right at 34.5" because I added an extra 2x6 to the front framing of the stand which took up the other 1.5". No problem. I am walking around behind it without absolutely NO trouble or restriction.


The project is moving along fairly nicely. I hope to have all the framing done by this weekend (including any additional nailers) so that I can start the electrical wiring and call in the drywall people. (I don't do drywall.)

[chrischris]

sweet good luck with this system
but a sad note is your other tank looked so good but youll be getting another one

[Bloke]

Thanks Chris - for the compliments on the other systems and for following the thread.

[motorslave]

Right on! Thanks for the pics. Nice to see the progress.

[Loverotties]

Looking good! I like the hight of it.

[Bloke]

Okey dokey... I have finally finished framing!



However, I do still have to frame the header for the tank. I picked up the tank and it's currently sitting in the family room awaiting a cleaning and final placement. I did not want to put to frame the header without getting an accurate measurement.

I will pick up the stuff for the electrical tomorrow and begin that monster. On a side note, I have had four different estimates on drywall and each time it gets a little lower, but they're still talking crazy. These gas prices are a b&^tch!

[aquawolf]

Looks like you are making great progress.

I totally agree about the gas prices and it making everything cost more, especially when you live about 20 miles from the nearest grocery store. Gas here went up 20 cents per gallon in a 2 week period.

I will be following your build and wish you the best of luck with it.

[Bender 2]

Looks like you are making good progress. Please keep the updates and pictures coming.

[VWD]

Looks good bloke. Funny how the bug gets you and you keep wanting more bigger and better tanks, LOl

[Bloke]

YEAH! Ain't it the truth? How are things way down in dixie?

[jfurg75]

looks like you will be done before summer at the rate you are going!!