Home remodel, built in tank questions for the pros

[Patman]

Hello,

Well, we are on the verge of some major home remodeling...and I would like some input from those 'in the know'...

A quick overview..

Our 75g reef tank is in the eating area off of the kitchen right now. Been up for 2.5 yrs and doing well.


We are going to remodel the Kitchen, so the tank needs to go. We are also going to finish a walk out basement, and the plan is to have the tank built in to one of the walls of the basement.

I would like to have the tank built into the wall that will divide the living area of the basement with the storage area. This would mean I could hide all of the maintainance stuff behind the wall in the storage area...easy access, etc.


My questions:

Has anyone done the built in tank? Any advice? Stands? Framing around the tank (I was going to do drywall with a 'cut out' and then have wood framing around it to have it look like a picture..

I was thinking a 120g (I have 75 now)

The problem is, the k,itchen will prob be done before the basement, so I'm looking at having to move the tank for a few months to an intermediate location..any ideas?

Thanks a ton, you guys have always been great....sorry about the stream of questions, just thinking out loud.

Pat

[Doug1]

^^^

[galleon]

Pat,
I've been doing in wall tanks for a few years now (lab has a public aquarium that has been going through quite a few changes recently), we use drywall or plywood/laminate and frame with laminated wood. However, this is permanent. No future moving of tanks. When we have to remove a tank, it involves a bit of demolition. For stands we use FRP I-beams, but at retail cost, its not feasible (in the hundreds of $ per meter). A standard frame which the wall was built in front of may be the most feasible idea.
Chris

[Patman]

My thoughts were that if we moved, we could patch the opening in the drywall, retape, sand and paint ...... I'm not sure. Maybe it would be best tp just get a nice stand , put it in front of the wall and then maybe cut an access panel in the wall at the base behind the stand. Plumbing could go through that.

It would just be nice to have everything hidden.....the options for the future would be limitless......easy refugium, tidal surge, etc...all hidden from view.....also, no noise..


Pat

[SAT]

Pat,

Something I discovered with my built-in... the tank "settled" a bit a few months after initial construction. The rear went down about 1/4", just enough to make me crazy. Make sure you have enough access to the stand so you can jack it back up and insert shims when you need to.

If you're building it into the wall you may be able to hide a section of the tank from view. Put all your tubes & stuff back there and the tank will look a lot more natural. You can also frame it so the front of the sand bed and above the water line are not visible. Consider how they do it in public aquaria... a relatively small window into a large tank.

Consider allowing access to the top of the tank from the front. I painted the back of my tank, so the view from the aquarium closet is nil. I end up doing most of the wet work from the front.

Good luck!