[Eclipse_man]

I'd like to introduce myself to the forum. I just signed up today and have played a bit of hooky from my daily job routine to really enjoy the great amount of information contained here ( As well as some of the Phenomenal tanks *Graham!*). I'm newly re-located to the Charlotte North Carolina area from Maryland and in the process of building a new house.

Here in turn is my questions:
I have owned many fresh tanks in my life, and I have owned 1 salt fish tank. I would like to do 1 of a few options based on some of the feedback I get here. I have 2 master suites in the new house, the upstairs of which will be turned into our billiard/Pub. Behind where my bar will go is an 11 foot wall that backs to a very large walk in closet. Since this room is not being used as a bedroom, I thought this would be a great place to buil in a 150 or so with all the filtration/power to be held in the closet.

What I don't understand fully is the complications are in regards to evaporation or anything else that someone could offer that would be a negative to doing a system this way.

My other option would be a 90 or so maybe bow or half circle free standing with everything in the stand.

I really look forward to picking everyones brains on this, and please any opinions or thoughts are very welcome. I am roughly a year out from this major project, though i may start a mini reef for my wife since she wants see horses and they will not survive in my planned display tank.

many thanks,
Paul

 

[Wiskey]

Welcome to TRT! We are here to help, when you get some questions feel free to ask.

I would LOVE to have a room (or closet) for my sump and equipment, it would make my life so much easer! If I were you I would go that way for sure.

Welcome,
Whiskey

 

[Tim224DT]

Welcome to TRT!!

I say go for the 150 with a remote sump!! Having a remote sump wont cause any different evaporation as having the sump under your stand. Let me see if i can find a thread that will help you understand a remote sump idea.



Tim

 

[deathmatch782]

Wish I had a fish room... definetly the way to go.

 

[Tim224DT]

Ahhh i cant find the thread i am looking for. The evaporation would be no different if you had a sump under your stand. As the water evaporate it will show in the sump. The main display tank will always be at the same water level. So many people add an auto top off to their sumps to maintain a constant water level.

But here is a good site to expalin how a sump works.

http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html



Tim

 

[Eclipse_man]

Great Info Tim. Thanks for the welcomes as well. The concern I have (once again tied to ignorance on my part) what, if any affect will the evaporation have on the room the sump is in? I'm not saying I expect soo much evaportaion that it would be a sauna, but is the humidity even noticeable?

Kind of a shame it saltwater, I could convert that closet into my walk in humidor for my cigars if it were freshwater..LOL

going with the 150 in wall system, how much reinforcing to the wall has to happen, or is the weight really supported by the custom stand?


How hard is it to make a stand to support 150 gallons, and is 150 going to cause any issues being on the second floor of the house? I didn't think so, but I know it will be quite heavy, so, i just wanted to make sure.

Thanks again for the great feedback!

 

[Tim224DT]

No you shouldnt notice anyhthing like that as far as being a sauna

 

[whatevva]

Welcome to TRT!

I would definitely consider venting the closet somehow. Even a good sized bathroom fan would do. You can hook the fan circuit up to a humidistat instead of a switch to automate it. Then buy the biggest tank that will fit in the wall!! Add a sump in the closet/fish room, with all added goodies, and you're good to go!

Again. ...WELCOME!!!:wavey:

 

[zxcv123]

you can use a dehumidifier - I have one i my fish room and run it in the summer time. On hot days, like today, I can get up to 1 gallon of water from the air. Nor all of it, however, is from the aquarium because its only 30 gallons, but you gat what i mean.

 

[Eclipse_man]

Whatevva, I like the way you think!!! I have seriously thought about it, but for how much this 150 would cost me to get off the ground, I think I will stick to it, since I could probably almost get a 500 in the wall with room to spare, but it would cost so much in LR, LS, Cleaners and show rock that I'd be broke in no time!

i understand as well that these are slow moving process's but let's face it, you need to have a solid foundation to build from, and I don't want to cut corners for size. I would much rather have a very respectable 150 Gal tank with the best equipment( read best equipment not most expensive in all cases) the a 500 gallon and have to skimp anywhere.

I'm really excited about this tank, but it's more then 8 months away from coming to fruition, so i really think my mini reef will come shortly after settling into the house. Get my feet wet with a 20 or so mini reef for sea horses and go from there.

Ideally( in a perfect disposable cash world) I'd like a 500 gallon room diveding built in between my office and formal dining room for a nurse shark and then another smaller but still sizeable eel tank, but we all know how those dreams go!!!

Fortunatley we do not have any kids right now, and my wife shares the interest in the hobby, so, she's very supportive. ( I just need to keep her in shoes and pedicure/manicures is all :thumbup: )

So what about the stand for an in wall, any pictures and experiences?

 

[Eclipse_man]

ZXC That's a great idea as well. My concern is to keep the walkin closet as close to original as possible for the eventual time that we move out having the ability if necessary to simply sheet rock over the hole in the wall remove everything and give the new owners a walkin closet again.

Great ideas, thank you folks:blob:

 

[zxcv123]

ZXC That's a great idea as well. My concern is to keep the walkin closet as close to original as possible for the eventual time that we move out having the ability if necessary to simply sheet rock over the hole in the wall remove everything and give the new owners a walkin closet again.

Great ideas, thank you folks:blob:

Ya a dehumidifier is a good investment ....
Call me john

 

[zxcv123]

:freak: eclipse man- sorry but i would say no less than 650 gallons for a nurse shark. A 150 would be fine for most eels. My local Shoptite has a 700 gallon hex built into the vegetable section...... That houses a nurse shark...and 2 eels. Bigger is better IMO but im broke and now a hippocrit

 

[Brent Cone]

Welcome to T.R.T. Paul :wavey:
Brent.

 

[fchidsey]

Welcome!!!

Just my opinion I do not like the idea of any sharks being kept in captivity unless it is for science. Those creatures are way to big and need way too much room to swim freely to be held in captivity.

 

[Little Luey]

WELCOME TO THE REEF TANK!

I would sugest you see a profesional, do a search on aquarium manufactures and you will find a lot of them, hopefully one close to you. I know I have seen on some web sites that they come out to your house and measure and plan everything for you. You want this to be done right, it can be expensive but consider that you will only have it done once and be right.

 

[Eclipse_man]

Understand and agree with allot of the suggestions! I do have a local fish store that would help with this whole thing, but I don't know enough about them right now, so I will have to spend some more time in the store. Anyone in the Charlotte metro area that I could ask opinions on one of the major stores?

Once again, thank you for the welcoming, looking forward to learning much more here.

Paul

 

[skeety]

Welcome aboard. I think you'll find this VERY helpful:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/faq.php?faq=reef_articles#faq_sywart

Also, after you've read that, go through these:

http://www.thereeftank.com/articles/sump_1/index.php

 

[Eclipse_man]

Thanks Skeety! I have been reading much on the sump/refugium. I think we will be putting the tank in the wall for sure, just a matter of time, research, and money.

 

[Doug1]

Another thought, look into using the Tilebacker sheetrock for the closet, or the plastic panel stuff you can get to do custom sized shower surrounds, Hopefully Motorslave knows what i mean.
salt water vapor and closed spaces are a real drag, Moisture resistant walls and plenty of ventilation will save you hours of grief and money in the long run