A few progress pics of the in wall tank

Angela Short

New member
This is building in progress...

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A freind has the pics on his camera from the back breaking moving in of the actual tank. What was hard was actually setting the tank in the hole which only had about 1/2" clearence on the top and 1" on the sides. Somehow they had to push it in even with the stand while keeping it level and letting go of one side to get it going all the while not dropping it. Needless to say I was a little scared!

I have everything planned to go in the fish room under the stairs to the left of the tank in the middle pic. Laying it all out I am sure I will need some advise and help as to how to go about it.

I have a 100 gallon rubbermaid, 3 50 gallon water barrels (1 for SW mixing, 1 for Top off and one for FW made up at all times), a 55 gallon tank I would like to use 1/2 as a grow out for corals and the other 1/2 as a fuge maybe plumbed into the main tank. Also 2 big UV's a huge 5 gallon size ehime bucket filter I would love to keep running somewhere to pull off and use as bio if I need any for a QT or hospital tank in a pinch, a big ozone machine, somewhere to run carbon in another canister filter, a skimmer which I have not yet gotten but need to plan a spot for, a ACIII I have no clue how to set up and use, 4 tunzees with a controller I also do not know a thing about, putting the chiller somewhere and all the other little things that are needed to run a tank in numerouse boxes in the garage.

First thing is I need to somehow waterproof the wall cavity above the tank. It is exposaed sheetrock and wood which will not fare well with the moisture from the tank.

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I was thinking to caulk all the joints and cracks with foam or silicone and then paint the exposed wood and sheetrock with a heavy duty paint. Also would you all close in the canopy from the floor joist system of the home? It is a 2 story and as it sits now the moist air has free acess to the dead space inbetween the floors which has insulation for sound controll also. It will be a pain but I was thinking it was neccisary to keep any mold from forming.

I also "HAD" a vent pulled from the canopy to the exterior and a fan installed to pull out the humid air and the electritian who has no clue about tanks talked Cory into taking it out! Said the AC would handle all the moisture from the tank in the summer and the winter we needed the extra moisture in the air..... I argueed but lost when the guy said he wouldn't pull out "?" CFM of his heated or cooled air to the outside 24/7. So I need some folks to back me with reasons on why we "NEED" to vent it exterior which can still be done, if you all think I should vent it out???

I also have a hot wire in the canopy that is controlled by a wall switch for any cool fan ideas or whatever else I may need a hot plug for up there. I also have a plug under the tank to a genorator outside if I ever need to fire it up in case of power failures, 2 dedicated circuts for under the tank for the lights, 2 different dedicated circuts in the fish room, water and drain for the RO and water changes are also in the space. The drain is not in the floor but just acess to the drain pipe via a tee and I am second guessing that desision now just because with my luck with water spills I may go back and cut one in!!!

this is what it looks like as off today... veiw from kitchen...

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veiw from front foyer.... I only have acess to the bottom from the kitchen side but acess to the top from both sides...

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OK I have spent Waaayyy to much time on the computer today and wrote waayyy to long of a post!! :lol: Just thought I would share whats been going on in my crazy life latley! Moving is so much work!
 
Well, I'm not sure if you will need the fan, but my hunch would be yes, even if you only ran it on a timer for 5 minutes every half hour or something like that (especially when the lights are on). Even if humidity wasn't a problem, heat could be, and venting that heat out could save you problems there.

If that area is as completely sealed as it looks, it seems like you'll inevitably experience one problem or the other.

In any case, there would seem to be little harm in having the fan installed and then just not using it if you didn't think you needed it once it was all said and done.
 
Wow! Looks great, Angela! I think the date in your camera may be a little off, though. :D

When are you planning on putting water and fish in?

Brandon
 
Oh and I forgot to say it looks amazing. I really like the dark trim on the white.

That said, I really have to question your choice in live stock.

That turtle is going to get way to big... and I'm pretty sure that pelican is not reef safe. :lol:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13484253#post13484253 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DMBillies
Oh and I forgot to say it looks amazing. I really like the dark trim on the white.

That said, I really have to question your choice in live stock.

That turtle is going to get way to big... and I'm pretty sure that pelican is not reef safe. :lol:

Its ok, Brian... he's a friendly.

Its those stinkin' seagulls you gotta watch out for...

"Mine!"

Brandon
 
:lol: Yea, the kids cut up an old calender and taped the pics on the glass one day.

Good point about putting in the fan or at least pulling the exaust pipe and having it ready in case I need one. It will be easier with no fish to dangle over trying to put one in after the fact.

Thanks for the nice comments on the trim color. We reallly was torn over going with a dark trim over the same ol norm like white/ivory colors but it actually turned out pretty nice IMO. I am going back and actually putting a black glaze over some of the green trim like the bookcases which turned out great and maybe the doors also this winter.

I alwqys forget to re-set the time on that darn camera! I am in no hurry at all on getting water in it. I am still having flashbacks at night of the tulip anemonie infestation I had in the last tank waking up in a cold sweat screamminhg ;). Seriousley, I am just going super slow, all my fish and corals are farmed out except for a few in the garage and I want to take my time and not rush through this build. I am planning on getting the wall cavity sealed and painted and the rock work put into place this weekend while Cory is out of town. Almost all my rock I have dried out and killed as to be sure its safe from nasties so I plan on aquascapping totally dry which will be a nice change. I am planning on putting just some fish in the tank as a closed system to get the fish from the QT tank out of the garage before winter comes. The heater is staying on all night and the water is still getting pretty cool so I need to get on that. That way I can take my time in the fish room and lay it out the best way possible. It will be nice to at least have some fish and rock in the tank to look at in the mean time!
 
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I'm no expert, but my tank is built into a wall like yours. Heat in the summer is a big issue. I have no chiller. I use fans and I need to top off a gallon/day in the summer to keep the tank at 80 degrees. The doors have ~1/8" opening which vents some humidity, but my hinges are starting to show rust. I would think about putting in a vent now, if you can. Wish I had.

Please keep us updated! Looks great!!!
 
If it ever gets "done" :) Thanks for the nice comments. I will post some pics of my waterproofing this weekend. I "DID" learn my lesson from the last big tank to not try to use spray paint indoors.... the overspray and fog in the air covers eveything, including your brand new carpet :eek: That was a fun night before the hubby woke up and did you know scrubbing bubbles actually disolves paint? I can not belive I pulled that massive clean up off without getting busted!!! The carpet in about a 30 foot radiuse had a nice black sheen to it and everything like a bucket, toy, the huge drop cloth I thought was enouph had a perfect outline of black film around it after I was done spraying the back of the tank ever so carefully.

"Heres your sign" dumb mistakes like that are why I am going sooo slow and not rushing. I rushed the last tank and forgot to paint the back outside and it was a disaster. I have made so many dumb boo boos in the past I am almost afraid to even put water in this tank to be honest!

Killereef....Where have you and Phu been hiding!! I have tried to get in touch with Phu awhile back, hope your all still hangin in there with the tanks! I never get online much latley either. I waste to much time when I log on because I talk to much on line just like in person and waste the day! Oh, and at about 3-5 words per min....it really adds up to a lot of time wasted when I get to writing responses to threads! :lol:
 
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