In the wall/ what would you have done different?

[oregon_gorge]

Okay, We are getting close to being moved into the new house
in the Seattle area. We are going to build an in the wall tank in the family room. 72"x36"x30" tall.

If you have done or built an in the wall unit, what would you different next time?

Thanks,

Chris and Pam


p.s. Dick, I should have my tools up here by next weekend and I can get your stand and canopy to you. It has taken almost 4 months to close on the house! yuk! I hate moving.

[(B)reef Encounter]

Hi Chris,

I'm in the middle of putting a 210 in the wall of our new house.I'm building a room behind it that takes up half of one of the garage bays(wife loves that )I don't have anything that I'd do differently yet, but if I can help you in any way let me know.The hardest part has been waiting for the tank to be built.Three months and still counting.On Thursday, he dropped it off and we tested it for leaks.It leaked, so he took it back to fix it.It better not be another three months or I'll commit Harry Carry.



Steve

[SLIDER]

Hi Chris sounds good, If you get a chance shoot me a pic or two.
Glad to here your about in, Moving is a pain in the you no what.
Give me a call would like to get your new Ph number.

Dick

[scales]

My husband just completed our in the wall 100 gallon. Its still going through its cycle.

After doing the aquascaping from behind I would probably make it so there is a front panel to reach in and rearrange from the front. ....though it is a toss up.... I didn't want any lines/seams. I wanted a clean front with just the framed look. Its all a matter of preference. I love the fact that none of the equipment is showing. It takes away from the beauty of the tank.

Good luck!

[uryy4me]

I just put up a ~285 72x30x30 built in visable both 72" sides and one 30" side . If I had to do it all over again I would rethink a 30" tall tank where the top of the tank is only about 14" from the celing...it is tough to get to the bottom of the tank (if you run a DSB in the display this is probably not going to be an issue). I would not lower the tank in the stand so I would probably trim this back to 27" tall, those 3" are the difference between being able to reach the bottom and not..

I would have also liked to make the tank wider but in my case I was space constrained and could not

[Mkelly]

Watch your eye levels. Basically tank height in relation to weather your sitting or standing. Mine is actually to high I need to stand on a ladder to work but it’s a big tank. 24" tall on a 36" stand. It's great for viewing but it's tough to work on. Yet on the other hand if it’s to low and you have a lot of traffic and some skittish fish they will get stressed.

Leave lots of room I mean LOTS behind the tank for all the stuff you may need and want later refugiums sumps top off tanks etc. The room behind my tank is 6 feet from the back wall to the back of the tank and 9' long and it fills up fast.

Put a lot of thought into the layout now and save yourself some headaches. Where are you mounting the wave makers, placing the sump, the big one is where are you getting power, how many circuits do you have and what are you putting on them ? 1350 watts make up one 15amp circuit so that’s one heater. In a larger system if you run a back up heater and they both kick on… =) See where I’m going? And no over sizing the breaker is not an option

If possible put in a floor drain and slope the floor to lead to the drain because like the saying goes S%$# happens. This is a biggie for me.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Reefdude5]

I just put a 120 in the wall of our basement and it has an okay workroom behind. I would suggest making the shelve that the tank is on out of concrete with a wooden beam to support it. We did it this way and its nice because there is a lot of room underneath and you don't have to worry about the concrete shelve getting wet like wood!

[Reefdude5]

I would also highly reccomend a sink in the workroom! I don't know what I would do without it. It makes it so easy to siphon water into the sink and clean stuff. Also get the sink facuet threaded so you can attach an RO unit to it! Very helpful. And make sure you decide wheather you want it to be veiwed sitting or standing, no in between! Lol. And what we did was get a light fixture with metal halides and Actinicts from Marinedepot.com and put it on a pully system so when you're working in the tank you can pull the fixture up out of your way and then lower it!

[Casey]

remember a 30 in deep tank is hard to reach and aquascape unless your arms are 4 ft long especially from behind the tank.

[Mkelly]

Originally posted by Casey
remember a 30 in deep tank is hard to reach and aquascape unless your arms are 4 ft long especially from behind the tank.

Or you have a trained pet gorilla

[mojoreef]

Yep get someone else to do it for ya. Its always better when you can just watch it being then done then to have to do it yourself, lol


Mike

[Casey]

Hi Mike

[oregon_gorge]

No kidding Casey,

I got to go see his tank and then never heard from him again. In all the moving, I didnt know he went off on his own.

Glad to hear from him! Need to figure out how to join his group now that we are up here permantly.

Nice to hear from Mike!!!!!


Chris

[(B)reef Encounter]

Chris...Click the link at the bottom of Mikes signature and it'll take you right to their site.

[wanareef]

Chris

How are you? Migrated north finally, moving does suck - lost several corals the biggest a rose bta - lots of sps and a couple of softies.

Any way, we'll be starting on that inwall this winter (wife has a honey do list for around the house so gotta finish that )

For ours, need access from the front, I think it makes it eaiser for rock placement, feeding and all around puttin around in there. Have been thinking on the front panel, making it "invisable" , lift up for access, maybe with door hinges that are hidden from the front. A frame of 1x2's with a thin sheet of drywall 1/4" across the front. Not sure on the weight yet. Have a above the tank fuge gravity feed back, closed loops so no PH's, the usually sump and equipment. We are about the same height so I can't see your tank sitting any higher than 34" from the floor. (bottom of tank)

The tank dimensions - 72" l x 36" d x ?"h. That figure is still up in the air. Maybe 28" . Have fun building it .
later