180 gallon in wall double sided view setup!!

[wakeboarder2342]

Ok its finally time, all materials have arrived and the time has come to start putting the 180 gallon inwall double sided view system together. I will be documenting it from beginning to end with pictures. So far here is what i have.

Tank 6x2x2 with end overflow supporting 2 1.5" bulkheads 1 goes to the basement equipment room while the other drops below the tank to an ampmaster 3000 for a closed loop system.

Lighting is 2 250 watt 14k MH with electronic ballasts and 1 400 watt 14k. I will also be using 1 4' dual shoplight to provide viewing a little longer then what my MH will be on. The lights are mounted onto a 2x10 which is coated in sheet metal. The ballasts are screwed to the top and the lights are below. I am mounting it onto a pully system so it can be raised and lowered when needed. Thats actually my first question, does anyone have any pictures or diagrams of how them mount their pulleys in order to keep it level and raising/lowering correctly?

It will be a few months in the making as my house is barely sheetrocked, however since the tank will be trimmed into the wall all lighting/plumbing ect needs to be done now because it will have limited access to most of the tank once my cabinets go in.

I forgot to bring the camera today but i will get pictures started tomorrow. If anyone has some ideas on the pulley system please let me know, i would like to get the lights mounted tomorrow.

Thanks again

 

[bassman57]

sounds cool. Can't wait to see some pics.

 

[Nathan]

pics please!

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Ok here are the first of the pictures, sorry for the bad quality, it was getting dark and there are no lights in yet plus it was cloudy!! Today i got the lights mounted on pulleys the 2 SCWD's plumbed and the returns ready to go. I also got the internal overflow siliconed in and the sides of the tank painted black.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Briankook]

Sounds similar to what I have done. Here is a pic of mine. I used bicycle pulleys.

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Well it looks like my earlier post didnt work with the links to the pictures so here goes again.

Here you can see the return that comes from the basement, It is a 1" pvc line split into 2 1" that will be plumbed to the lower 1/2 of the tank. The return pump is a iwaki 70 which should give me at close to 1400 GPH coming up from the basement. I may later add another SCWD to the return but for now they will just be on the closed loop system. I also have a check valve installed on the return incase of power failure it will not back siphon.

Here you can see an exhaust fan i have setup above the tank. I have about 3 feet of airspace above the tank inside the wall where this is located. I will wire it to the metal halides so it comes on when they do in the summer, then in the winter i will turn it off for added heating in the house. It exhausts outside when running.

Here you can see where the tank will be viewable from the kitchen side. It is in the wall between my office and the kitchen hall area. I will have custom bookshelves built on the office side and the entire wall sheeted in wood. While on the kitchen side i will have it trimmed like a picture frame.

Here is the view from the office side. I will also have doors built above for access you can see teh holes now.

Here you can see the 2 SCWD's they are fed via an ampmaster 3000 located below the tank. This is the only pump that is not located in the fish room which is in the basment directly below the system. It splits down to 1 inch then into 3/4" flexible tubing. It is then plumbed to 4 locations around the tank. I went with the flexible braided tubing for streangth, quiteness and ease of assembly.

Here you can see the tank sitting on the floor, I painted the sides black to match the overflow and drilled for 1 11/2" bulkheads, 1 to drain to the fishroom in the basement and the other to feed a closed loop locatd under the tank.

Here you can see the light ballasts, my light setup consists of 2 250 watt 14k coralvues with 1 400 watt 14k coralvue. The ballasts are all electronic and are located on top of the light setup which i built with a 5' 2x12 i painted it white, then coated the top and bottom with sheet metal to help with heat transfer and protect agasint any fire. The bottom houses the 3 spider reflectors and on top i have the 3 ballasts. The lighting is prewired with a dedicated 20 amp circut. I may add some additinoal lighting in the form of moon lites or possibly some NO or VHO bulbs for daylight/dusk settings.

I just noticed how dirty the lights look!! they are all brand new ballasts and reflectors!! While i was on the way to my house to install everything it rained on my lighting setup as it was located in the back of the truck!!

Anyway thats the basic setup for now, again i applogize for the crappy pictures. I will try to take some better ones maybe tomorrow when its actually light outside, and ill bring a real camera, i took these with my digital video camera, which is probably 1 megapixel or less!!

Still to come, i need to finish plumbing the closed loop system. Im going to put down 1" of styrofoam then put the tank up in the wall. The rest of the plumbing will be down in the basement where i have a 10x15 fishroom which will house sumps, refugiums, frag grow outs auto top off, calcium reactor ect ect. Its going to be a few weeks on the fish room as i need to get it painted so i can install some light fixtures, there are no windows so its as dark as a cave!!

any tips or suggestions are always appreciated.

 

[Bumzyman]

I bought a device called a Harkin Hoister for doing the same thing with the lights. I plan on building a square frame structure to mount all of the light pendants to and use the hoister to move the whole thing up and out of the way. This hoister is basically a kit that contains all of the pulleys, rope, and mounting hardware. They market it for storing a canoe or something similar in the garage above your car.

One question, have you guys thought about how to stabilize the lights so they donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t swing back and forth? If it's just hanging from the cables there's really nothing stopping the whole unit from moving around.

 

[MFrance]

Looks good Jim! Let me know if you need any help.

 

[Lordhelmet]

looks like you've got the makings of a really nice tank there.

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Ok i finally updated the crappy pictures so you can actually see what has been done up to this point.

The tank is now in the wall, i put 1/2" of styrofoam underneath it to make sure it was 100% level. Upstairs now i just need to hook up the closed loop which i should get done tomorrow and the finish carpenters can now case around the outside of the tank for the picture frame, hiding the black trim of the tank.

The following picture you can see the basement room, it is 10x15 feet, it will house sumps, skimmer, reactors, frag tanks ect ect. Notice the second exhaust fan in the ceiling, if it gets to humid i can exhaust the air outside the house with the flip of a switch. You can also see 2 of the 3 returns coming through the ceiling, The drywall guys im sure were very happy with the nice holes i made because i was too lazy to drill them and just pushed them through the ceiling!! i guess they get to patch that!

 

[xtrstangx]

The only thing that I would be concerned about is room to do maintenaince on the tank. With a tank that big and not having a side to access it from, you may have a problem. I am sure you thought about it, but I wanted to make sure.

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Ya that has been a concern from the beginning, i have however tested it, and having my lighting system on pullys i can pull it out of the way and i have been able to access the entire setup from the 2 access doors located above the tank. Its a bit of a stretch but is very doable.

any other points or suggestions are apprecaited.

thanks

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Man i have been a slacker on the updates!!!

anyway a lot has happened since my last posting, The system has been up and running now for about a month, i added about 150 lbs of Utah base rock, then seeded it with another 100 lbs of premium figi live rock. Curing went very well with only a minor algea attack and minor spike. My biggest headache has been trying to aquascape it, as i have never done a double sided view tank it was kind of a challange. My wife really wanted a lot of through viewing space,which i wasnt really big into but in the end she won!! So as you will see i went with 3 seperate columns with quite a bit of open space between them.

I just realized i left my camera at home, i will be posting the updated pictures here by tonight. The equipment room is finally about finished and the tank has its first frags moved into it from my other SPS tank. I thought it was a little early to be adding SPS so i started with just a few frags that were laying on the ground in my other tank so no harm done if they dont make it! it has been about a week though and everything looks pretty good. The only fish in the system are about 8 green chromis and a lawnmower blenny.

Pics coming soon,

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Sorry for the delay, my digital camera was giving me crap so i had to borrow another one for the updates.


I am not sure i like the aquascaping, its a little more open then i am used to but the wife likes it so i think i better stick with it!!


Here is the tank from the kitchen side
<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/FullTankfromfar.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Here are a few close ups, i have just started moving a few small SPS frags into the tank to see how they do before i start moving my larger peices in.
<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/Closerightside.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/closeleftside.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/CloseCenter.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


Here is the equipment room, you can see on the left side the becket skimmer. on top of the 100 gallon sump is a 30 gallon refuge with live rock rubble and macro algea. On the right you can see teh My reef creations calcium reactor and the return pump which is a Blueline MD70, which by the way is a great pump, just like an iwaki 70!!

<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/FullEquip.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Here are a few more tank shots, i still have to get my cabinet guys to finish the office side of the room, the tank will be encased in wood with bookshelves all around it. I cut a third access door in the top for better access, i can now reach the entire tank from the one side.

<img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/wakeboarder2342/Reef%20Pictures/fullofficeside.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[Chihuahua6]

It looks awesome. I love the aquascaping. I am in the same process as you started right now. My house is sheetrocked and the hole is in the wall. I have the Sun Tunnels installed as well as the exhaust fan and a drain in the floor below the tank. I don't have the tank yet though. What type of corals are you going to stock it with? Any decisions on fish? Do you have a DSB? Keep us posted.

 

[derrikd]

very nice

 

[wakeboarder2342]

Thanks for the response,

I am currently running a 2-3 inch sand bed with 3 yr old southdown sand. I had the sand in buckets of water for the past 9 months from the time i took my 300 gallon system down until i finished my house so it was pretty much dead, so i reseeded it with a few cups of live sand from my 8 yr old 65 gallon system.
I am planning a deep sand bed to be located in the refugium, i just havent got around to doing it yet. I am also planning a 30-40 gallon frag growout tank for the fish room. Its just a battle between my other hobbies for space as my 12x10 fish room also has to house my RC airplanes and helicoptors, computer/xbox hobby and my wakeboarding crap!! You would think with a 5000 sq foot home my wife would give me more then 120 sq feet of it!!!

As far as stocking, most of the corals will come from my 65 gallon system, which will consist of a mixture of SPS adn LPS corals, i also have 2 huge derasa clams that have very much outgrown my current system.

I may throw the occasional softie in, but my rule for stocking is no corals that can grow so fast they move to undesireable places, this means no xenia, mushroom, polyps ect ect. I had a few of those in my 65 gallon tank and they have overrun the system over the past few years, my SPS and LPS can hardly keep their space as the mushrooms and stuff overgrow everything in sight.

As far as fish, i am still undecided, i currently have 6 green chromis and 1 lawnmower blenny. I will probably go with a mixture of tangs, ive always liked the purple tang and the powder blue.

other then that im up for suggestions.

keep the comments coming.

 

[rtcpenguin]

That's crazy. Its got to be hard to mag-clean the front panel because of the stairs.

 

[wakeboarder2342]

naw its easy, i just stand on the side by the railing, there is about a 4 inch ledge, then i lean over the gap and hold myself with 1 hand on the wall while i run the mag float around. I can clean the other side in about 1 min!! Its a little scarey hovering above the stairs and my wife says i better not let any little kids see me doing that!!

 

[mskohl]

That's going to be gorgeous. I can't wait to see the woodwork. I would definitely put some tangs in there. I also like anthias - very active swimmers and colorful.

Keep the pics coming. Where are you located?