Tank as room divider

[125G's]

Has anyone out there used their tank as a room divider? Have you been happy with it? What are the downsides to it, if any?

I have the option of setting up my 125g in such a fashion. Kind of concerned with the ole' "if I'd have only known this before" syndrome.

Thanks!
Phil

[Spanky]

Phil

I could write a book.

Be sure you have access in the hood from both sides. Arrange your rocks far enough back from the glass on all sides so it's easy to clean. Get a bigger pump and skimmer.

Spanks

[125G's]

Okay, I understand the access issue. My lighting system is in a canopy which is suspended from the ceiling. It'll be easy to get to.

I think I get the bigger pump issue, pushing water all the way down to the other end of the tank needs to have some force behind it. (My returns will be at one end of the tank near the wall)

Why the bigger skimmer?

Phil

[Spanky]

Because you can never have a big enough skimmer. J/K

Phil, what helped us a lot was building a floor to the top of the tank cabinet where the tank meets the wall. The sump is in the stand but the pumps, chiller, skimmer, and ballasts are in that end cabinet. The plumbing from the pumps comes up inside that cabinet and is routed through the hood. Only the returns show in the tank and they are clear PVC.

[Gary Majchrzak]

The major 'downside' to a room dividing aquarium is all the glass you will have to clean as well as hiding all the wiring and plumbing. I solved the plumbing issues by drilling the returns and overflows into the bottom of the tank. All of the pumps, chiller, etc. are located in the basement. You can see more of my aquarium at
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...2/aquarium.htm
or on my website.

[125G's]

Thank you for the insight. It's nice to have some place to go to ask questions and get answers from people who have, "been there done that." It's great to be able to minimize the errors and the oversights.

Spanky--I've read enough of your posts that I should have seen that answer coming!!

What are your recommendations on gph so I can be sure to have sufficient water flow? I can get to 2000 gph without having to buy a new pump, but it'll mean having several powerheads and more cords to reckon with.

Gary--Nice tank and great pics. It's obvious you've spent a great deal of time on your system. Well done!
--You have a well seasoned system. About how often do you have to clean the glass?
--Any recommendations on where I might find a pair of Aqua-tongs?
--Interesting group of janitors on your livestock list. These are not commonly recommended, or so it seems to me. Do they really keep your tank as clean as it appears? Approx. population?
--I discovered I'm going to have a height issue as the stand is too short to meet my needs. Do you think the tip risk factor will increase too much if I install a 5-6" platform under the stand? It'll go from 27" to 32-33" high.

Phil

[Captain]

I've been kicking the same idea around. I've found a 180 gal tank set like your talking about. My hold up is tank is not drilled, he was using overflow box. Everything in cabinet below. One thing to think about not mentioned yet, look under your floor in basement or crawl space and see which way the floor joists run in relation to the way the tank would be sitting. You want joists running perpendicular for strength. How big a tank? Remember 180 gal and up tanks could easily end up over 1 ton of weight. This could cause floors to sag, ceilings and walls to crack. Been in construction biz, seen it. Just a thought wouldn't want to see your dream creation end up in your basement. I still think it's a great idea...

[125G's]

Captain, good point. My tank is a 125g, 72"x18" footprint. I'm fairly certain the tank will be parallel to the joists. No basement, just a crawl space, so won't fall quite as far!

The platform I planned on building could be made to have a larger footprint 24" instead of 19" for instance. That way I'd be more likely to cover at least 2 joists??

Phil

[Captain]

You can also go into crawl and block up and for some extra support.

[Spanky]

Phil,

You could have enough circulation with that, but I really depends on how you manage the plumbing, rock work, and dead spots. I've seen tanks that did just fine with that water flow and tanks that needed more. It will also depend on what critters you have too.

[Reedman]

Be sure of what your long term strategy for the tank is. It is a lot harder to fit that "one-last-piece" of equipment in when you are setup up as a room divider. It's beatiful, but you have to put more thought into the plumbing and aquascape than with the typical setup. I love mine (most of the time )

-Reed

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by 125G's

Gary--Nice tank and great pics. It's obvious you've spent a great deal of time on your system. Well done!
--You have a well seasoned system. About how often do you have to clean the glass?
--Any recommendations on where I might find a pair of Aqua-tongs?
--Interesting group of janitors on your livestock list. These are not commonly recommended, or so it seems to me. Do they really keep your tank as clean as it appears? Approx. population?
--I discovered I'm going to have a height issue as the stand is too short to meet my needs. Do you think the tip risk factor will increase too much if I install a 5-6" platform under the stand? It'll go from 27" to 32-33" high.

Phil

Thanks for the kind words, Phil. To answer your questions: *I go over the glass surfaces with a magnet at least every third day.{I'd consider myself "maintenance challenged"!}
*I traded corals for aqua-tongs after reaching in the aquarium up to my arm-pits for several years. They are one of the best items I ever got for the big tank! I got mine at a LFS, but I've seen them for sale at almost all the online places.
*I am 'down' to 1 or 2 Astrea . The cleanup chore is mainly handled by the fish population and Stomatella snails. I've recently added a Queen Conch {Strombus gigas } and a pair of Strombus maculatus. The latter have a self sustaining population as do the Stomatella. It's great to have critters that clean the aquarium for you AND reproduce to the population density necessary to do so!
Thanks for saying my aquarium looks clean. It is actually fairly 'scuzzy'. The sandbed does stay white , though. These things always look cleaner in pics!
*Your stand height/tip factor will depend on your floor support and how many kids you have jumping around the house! 'Shore up' the joists in your crawl space and there will be very little sway in the 125. Good luck! A room divider reef aquarium is very spectacular!

[CAT]

Ok Gary. I see the powerheads in the pics, where are the cords???

Cherry

[Gary Majchrzak]

I thought I hid those powerheads!
The cords run along the top edge of the aquarium- above the waterline.
Good eyes, CAT!

[DKKA]

I set my 125 up as a room divider about 9 months ago.

If I had to do it over again I'd probably go ahead and do a 180 for the extra width.

Since your 125 is only 18 inches wide you will find some limitations (or challenges, depending how you look at it) as far as aquascaping. Mostly, it may be difficult to build any tall reef structures and you may want to plan on finding a way to secure your rocks up front.
My tank isn't nearly as established as Jerel's or Gary's, but I can already see that in a year from now there are places where coral growth is going to make it difficult to clean the glass.

HTH,
Dan