Ok what would you have done different
 

Ok this is kinda of a research post for me.. I am looking to build a large take into the wall of my new house but befor I start hacking down walls and such I want to hear from others who have done a "InWall" tank and see what you like and what you regreat about some of the methods and ideas you had.

Steve

I have not done an in wall tank before but I think that one conserne would be access to the back of the tank, you don't think that you need it untill you can't get to it.

just my 2 cents

ohj should have mentioned that. one side will be a family room the other will be a fish room/den.

Steve

Well ....

for starters I would have made the tank bigger ( 3 ft deep ... 3 ft tall & 8 ft long is still OK )

I have 2 x 2" bulkheads with small overflow box on one end ( would do 2 overflow boxes with a 2" bulkhead in each instead ... that way the " surface skimming " would only have to be for 4 ft of surface each as opposed to 8 ft as I have now )

I would have spent a couple extra bucks for starfire glass for front viewing ( did not know it even existed when I built mine )

Would still have built the rest of tank in wood/epoxy as I did this time ... dont have to rely on anyone else/expense for drilling closed loops etc

If I were to build a larger tank then more closed loops would be a must ... even if they were no used immediately at least you can " upgrade " your circulation later on

plan for sump/refugium and any other tanks you want to share the water supply/heaters/calcium reactor/skimmer with ( ie fish only or species only tanks tied into the reef water supply ) ... on the last part some will say that it is a risk but this IMO is ALL a risk so " why not " ?

as mentioned above room " behind the scenes " is important ... the more the better ... I currently squeeze behind my tank in 2 ft x 12 ft area ... not enough room in hindsight

If I think of anything else I will follow up but I hope that helped some

Cheers

I was busy writing when you posted this ... so is it viewable on 2 sides ?

Cheers

Re: Ok what would you have done different
 

In wall aquariums are spectacular and I have secretly wanted one for awhile. However, we're not living in a place that will facilitate us having one, and we plan on living here until they wheel us out :wink:

Anyway, my biggest concern has always been resale potential of a house with an in wall aquarium. Sure, you and your family will get many years of enjoyment out of it, but what's going to happen when you decide to move? 99.99% of prospective buyers are going to see this monstrosity as a definite drawback to buying your house.

We reefkeepers are a breed apart from the ordinary person, who look at our aquaria as beautiful works of art. But non-reefkeepers will NEVER get into reefkeeping just because the tank, equipment and stock may already be there. Potential buyers will back away from considering buying your house faster than that troublesome fish you're trying to remove from your fully stocked reef.

JMHO, though.

Re: Ok what would you have done different
 

That's a decent point beverly but for the average person, filling in the wall space that the tank occupied isn't a big deal. I am building my in wall tank in the basement for that reason. If I ever sell my house then I will either take the tank with me or the buyer may want to keep it and I will just tack on 20k for the tank system :lol: . As well my tank room is the size of a bedroom so just fill in the wall and voila! you got a bedroom with many extra plugs :rolleyes: .

Anyway Steve, after doing much reasearch on in wall tanks most people that don't have front access wish they did. I think that's the biggest thing to add to an in wall tank. As well my tank is 30" tall. I would never have considered putting a 24" tank in the wall. It's just not high enough IMO. When I bough my tank I could have got a diffrent 230 from one of my friends that was 6ft long and 24" high and 30" wide for 1/4 of the price I got my IA tank for but it was the 24" high thing that I didn't want. As well as the starphire too I guess. :lol:

I am looking at a tank that is 8 foot long 3 foot wide and 2 foot tall. I plan on having it extend 1 foot into the family room and on the back side it will be in a fish room.

I also planned on making some sort of removable canopy in the front and another that will swing out of the way in the fish room.


Rasta, Yes it will be viewable on at least 2 sides maby 2 full sides and some of the sides also.


Beverly, I am planning to make the stand at "desk" hight so that if the tank is gone it will leave a nice desk for a den with a opening into the family room. you can play on the computer and watch the kids this way :wink: Of course I will always present the option of filling in the hole and having a two foot desk on the den side and a 1 foot shelf for decorations

Steve

I would then look at closed loops for circulation from below then ( as you can tell I am not a big fan of plumbing being viewable )

Are you building the tank yourself or are you having it built ?

Cheers

I'm the no front access guy. It's a pain in the ass. The tank is 2' tall X 4'-6" wide X 3' front to back. Very difficult to reach bottom front or coral placement because you are working blind. I have to figure out a way to cut out front access with minimal disruption to the fish. I guess the only way is to giver and stick the saw to it. This part was a major oversight due to having to built the tank setup, fence the property and move within one week mid January.
Otherwise, I like the in-wall tank idea. Easy access to all equipment and the mess stays out of sight. Also there is no need for a canopy. As for resale, 3 studs and a piece of drywall with a 5 minute paint job.
Just thought I'd also mention to keep in mind floor framing above and allow for framing movement at the tank.


Kari

After having seen Jon and Rasta's in wall tanks I am now considering one.

The question about resale has also come to mind. It would be like having a swimming pool, you would have to find that 1% of buyers that would want to put up with the hassle of owning one.

I have a bungalow with a sunken family room. Below, in the basement I don't have a crawl space, but a sunken basement/family room. This is where I currently have my home theater (insert laughter here).

Behind one wall is a work room and storage area which also houses the main plumbing core. This area is abot 30" above the floor in the TV room.

I could build my in wall system there. The tank could sit on the conrete ledge so thoughtfully provided by the builder.

I would also have room for a sump and refugium.

My big problem is getting enough power to that part of the basement.


With this arrangement it would be easy to fill in the hole in the wall to return thing to the way they were.

As a lot of comments have revolved around what to do if you sell the house ... the way I see it is this ...

Lights / sump / plumbing / skimmer / calcium reactor / refugium / corals / fish etc all come with me if I " ever " move :smile:

as far as the tank goes it would be too large to get out of my basement anyway so I would dissasemble and rebuild a even bigger one in the new house :biggrin: :cool: :biggrin:

Cheers

Re: Ok what would you have done different
 

Hi Steve.
Not much to add unfortunately. What I like was the look. There were no regets. My tank is above the fireplace as you know. What I would have liked is to add a mantel or small bar table above the fireplace so I can sit and drink in front of a warm fish tank on a cold cold evening.

I was thinking of using the ends for all my plumbing but I have to decide if I should put the returns on one end and creat a large currant accross the tank or if I chould have returns on both ends ect..

as for the tank I am going to see how much IA will charge for what I want and I will also concider building it myself. I need to figure out how large of glass I have to go to so I can go "Braceless" also.

Steve

Regarding the glass thing with IA steve. You have to remember that Starphire only comes as thick as 1/2" If you have funky dimensions on your tank or want to go braceless then the price goes up huge. the reason for this is not the price of the starphire but it's the fact that they have to laminate two 1/2" pieces together to make the right size glass. I have been to their shop and the laminating is goergous but it's just the cost to have it done.. they don't do it themselves. Now I know you have yet to mention starphire but I though I would bring up this little tidbit of knowledge.

I found this out because I wanted a 30" high tank and 30 to 36" wide but it's not possible without going up with your glass size and therefore increasing the cost huge of the the tank.

ciao

Jonathan

Old news but, the deeper you go with the tank the more juice you need for lighting and the longer of a snorkle you will need to get air for yourself :biggrin:

Kari

I was thinking of doing the same thing....but then I ran into the problem of a load bearing wall. You can't really hack away at those load bearing supports.
I am not sure if you have thought about that or not...I know when I was thinking of doing it I was focused on the aquarium aspects of it...not the architectural things.
-
-Hopefully you are not planning this for a load bearing wall.
-
-good luck, and I hope it works for you.

Michael

No big deal fixin the wall. Done that before. Hauling the tank out is another story. :confused:

I have had both front flip door and the present no door. The present looks much better with the full frame, but all the work has to be from the back. Working in the tank is fine. Scraping the front glass is a PITA. And mine is only 24 wide.

The 30in. depth is much nicer looking for a picture, than my previous 25in.

Pu a Eurobrace/splash lip on any wall. I have a 3in. across the front.

i would put a bigger holes in the bulks i have 1" i like to have 1.5 bulks .i have a bulk head of 1.5 oh well
i love the wqy mine is Doug cqan preview on that one .......

i like the 30" deep but PITA for getting at the front of thet tank. for cleaning the glass.. :lol:
i hate having the height of the tank... :redface:

Do you have pics of how you made this? and also would it be hard to make both sides viewable on a tank like this?

I had been thinking of trying one of these for a long time but I had a few questions I couldent get answered.
1, could it be made "braceless" with out having it look to bulky?
2, could you use fiberglass resin to seal it up or is the epoxy better?
3, how big of a wood lip did you have to leave around your glass? could you get away with say a 2" overlap to maximize viewing area?
4, anyother tips/hints on wood tanks would be great.

Steve

[quote="StirCrazy
Do you have pics of how you made this? and also would it be hard to make both sides viewable on a tank like this?

I had been thinking of trying one of these for a long time but I had a few questions I couldent get answered.
1, could it be made "braceless" with out having it look to bulky?
2, could you use fiberglass resin to seal it up or is the epoxy better?
3, how big of a wood lip did you have to leave around your glass? could you get away with say a 2" overlap to maximize viewing area?
4, anyother tips/hints on wood tanks would be great.

Steve[/quote]

Sorry ... no pics on the construction

1 ... it can be made braceless with a 5" lip around the top ... I put one glass brace in the middle of mine for " peace of mind " :smile:
2 ... " West Systems " is a 2 part epoxy .. you put the epoxy over fiberglass to add strength and the epoxy waterproofs it ( this epoxy is not cheap but it is potable water safe ... wont leach toxins )
3 ... I have a 5" lip and if I remember a 2 1/2" " frame " around the front glass
4 ... epoxy/fiberglass your wood before assembly ... some have assembled the tank and then epoxy and then the front glass ... my suggestion is to do the wood first

The key to a wood tank is planning and waterproofing ... I used 1" MDF and if MDF gets anywhere near water it's game over right ? ... as I did have a rock disaster once that forced me to redo the interior ... I since then made a arogocrete wall on all wood areas ... so essentially the outside walls are one big live rock :cool:
Plan for plumbing ... you mentioned earlier on that you would like just one overflow well this is what I have and in hindsight would go with one on each end ... 8 ft is too far to skim the surface unassisted so the return from the sump is a few inches below the surface on opposite end " pushing " the surface water in that direction


HTH

Cheers