Brett's 220 in wall, viewable from two sides build

[BrettDS]

Well, I picked up the tank yesterday so I think this project has officially begin.

It's now sitting in my garage filled with fresh water for leak testing (ok, well, maybe it's just because I couldn't stand to see the tank sitting there empty. Tanks are meant to have water in them)

I'm officially leasing this house from the seller right now, but we are all set to close in early to mid March. Everything is approved for the sale and the last step is to set a closing date. Unfortunately I can't start removing drywall before I officially own the house, but this will give me a couple of weeks to plan everything out. (Which is probably good because normally I'm terrible at planning. I'm definitely a start the project first and figure it out as I go along kind of person, but for something this big I think that some pre planning will definitely be a benefit)

Once everything is up and running here I will be transferring the contents of my existing 75G reef, which is currently at my old house into this tank.

So, here is the plan so far. This tank will go in the wall between my dining room and my living room. The dining room wall currently looks like this:

The opening will be narrower than the tank is wide so the corner overflows don't show. Right now I'm just planing to put a small frame around the opening and call it done on the dining room side. A lot of people recommend putting some access panels above the tank on both sides and I'm hoping I don't regret not putting them in on the dining room side, but I figure that if I do then I can always add them later.

The living room wall currently looks like this:

And I have a lot more work in store for the living room. Right now these photos are my inspiration for the living room side:

I love the way those look with the tank coming just 6 inches or so out of the wall. I think it helps keep the tank as the center of attention in the room, but it's much less imposing than if the tank came out 18 or 20 inches.

As far as equipment goes, I bought a used ABT 1050a skimmer yesterday and I have two radion xr30w pro's on the 75 which will come over along with a third xr30w pro that is yet to be purchased (if you know of anyone selling one, let me know). I have two vortech mp10's on the 75, but they will be too small for this tank and I haven't been super happy with them anyway, so I think for flow I'm going to go with a gyre 150 (or maybe 180 if they actually exist by the time I need it). I'll consider adding a second 150 if I don't get enough flow with just one. The return pump on the 75 is a deepwater BLDC 12, which is a pretty big DC pump because the sump is one story below the 75 and it has about 16 feet of head pressure. Since the sump will be on the same floor as this tank I won't have to worry about the head pressure and that pump should work fine for the 220. I have a 55G sump on the 75 and I'd like something a bit bigger for this tank, but I'll see what I can find and how my funds hold out. I can always start with the 55 and upgrade later.

So for the next two weeks or so I need to come up with a final plan for how the living room will look. I need to find and purchase another xr30w pro and a gyre 150 and I also need to come up with a plan for the sump and the area under the tank and possibly purchase and partition a new larger sump. I have a separate refugium and frag tank on the system with the 75 and I'm thinking I might be able to get sump, refugium, and frag tank in one if I can find something big enough.

So, wish me luck as this whole thing becomes a reality.

 

[Devaji108]

Nice! I always dream of such a build. every time i am in friends house office building etc. I am always thinking oh a tank would love nice there..haha

I do like what you have going on for this build. I personally would suggest more than 6" of side viewing tho.. you might want to look down the tank from time to time just to get a different prospective.
but thats just me.

alos love the gorgs. and sponges in the 75! my build is going to focus alot on them.
how long have you had them what are you feeding.

good luck! keep us posted...

 

[mountainraised]

Using this thread as motivation and inspiration to get my wife on board for a tank in the living room... no pressure!

 

[BrettDS]

Brett's 220 in wall, viewable from two sides build

Thanks for the comments guys. As far as the 6 inches of side viewing, I'm doing that on purpose... The plan is to build out the existing wall a bit so that I only can see six inches on the sides. I think it would actually be easier to just not build out the wall and leave all of the sides open (except for the few inches that are inset in the existing wall) or build the wall out further so the tank front is flush with the wall and leave the sides entirely covered (which actually was my original plan until I saw those photos). Hopefully I don't miss the sides too much, but I didn't want to leave them entirely exposed because I think that will make this very large tank seem too imposing. I want the tank to be the center of attention in the living room, but I don't want it to be so imposing that it draws all the attention. I love the look of only leaving a little of the sides exposed... It adds interest as opposed to a tank that would just be flush with the wall and it looks different and better than the normal built in tank that's just flush with the wall.

The new skimmer arrived today and of course I had to go and fire it up in the bathtub. It's a bit of a monster... Bigger than I was expecting, but it should be great for this tank.

I also picked up two Jabeo dc12000 pumps from a guy in the local reef club. The power supply on the deepwater bldc12 I was using on my 75 and planned to bring over to this tank died over the weekend. Luckily deepwater replaced it and it's back up and running, but it made me lose a little faith in the pump and definitely showed the importance of having a backup pump as well. I'm planning to use both pumps, but they are controllable DC pumps, so I can dial them each back to half speed or so because I think running them both at full speed will give me more turnover than I want. But that way even if one fails the tank will keep running. And I can even bump the functional one up to full speed while I wait for a replacement.

Finally, I just finished building the stand this evening based on rocket engineer's DIY stand template. I think it came out pretty well and I love that the center support is not necessary so I'll have plenty of room to access or change out the sump if I need to.

Speaking of sumps, I'm still having trouble coming up with a good plan. I'm pretty sure my existing 55 is just going to be too small, but I don't want to spend a lot on something new either, so I'm checking Craigslist a lot. Someone has a 90 listed for a good price, but at 24 inches high I think there's not really going to be enough height under the tank to work in the sump. There is also a 75 on Craigslist, which is shorter, but still doesn't seem perfect. Something like a 48x24x16 or even 60x24x16 would be great, but those aren't common sizes and might be hard to find. I'm debating even trying to build a sump out of plywood.

So next on my list is to get a sump and get the tank up on the stand so I can get the plumbing done and tested and figure out overflow options.

I'm also still looking for another radion light and a gyre 150 and after that I should be all set on equipment. I'm hoping that I can have everything here and the plumbing done and tested so that the day I close on the house I can start taking out the wall and putting the tank in.

 

[BrettDS]

I purchased a tank to use as a sump. This is a 100G 60x18x22 tank.

My project for tonight is to clean it up, remove the overflow, plug the holes, remove the top bracing and frame, then cut the front panel down to 18" so I actually have room to access it in my stand. After that I'll have to plan out how I want to divide it up giving me space for a refugium and small frag tank. Well, assuming it survives the surgery on the front panel.

 

[don_chuwish]

Ambitious! Interesting idea to cut down just the front. Good luck!

 

[BrettDS]

Brett's 220 in wall, viewable from two sides build

I'm pleased to report that the operation was a complete success. Interestingly enough, the plastic frame on the top was actually four separate pieces and not providing any structural support at all, so I'm definitely feeling good that replacing the top glass brace with my sump partitions and filling the tank with less water won't compromise its structural integrity at all.

I started by trying to remove the plastic frame from the front panel that I was going to cut down. About 10 minutes into that with very little progress it occurred to me that I probably didn't need to remove the frame at all, since the top of that panel was to be cut off. I then spent about 5 minutes attempting to remove the glass center brace before it occurred to me that A) the glass center brace will probably provide additional support during my cut, B) the glass center brace will probably be easier to remove after the cut is made and I can flex it a little to help cut through the silicone, and C) it's probably not worth spending a significant amount of time attempting to remove the glass center brace or do any other work on this tank until I make the cut because if that fails then any other work would have been wasted.

So, with that in mind I laid the tank on it's back, marked a line 18 inches up from the bottom, then clamped a 2x4 to the tank to serve as a cutting guide in the hopes of making a straight cut.

After that I grabbed my tile saw and went to work. I went reasonably slowly and let the diamond blade do it's thing and about 5 minutes later I had a cut through the panel... And more importantly, the panel was still intact.

Interestingly, I got quite a few decent sized chips on the bottom of one side of the cut, but luckily they were all on the scrap side. I have no idea why it only chipped on one side, but I was very glad that it picked the correct side to chip.

Another 5 or 10 minutes later I had the scrap piece and center brace out (and I was right. The brace was much easier to remove after the cut)

At that point I dremeled (is that a word?) the edge of the cut glass, removed the overflow and excess silicon from the overflow and the glass brace, then cleaned the tank with vinegar. Unfortunately I didn't think to get any pictures of those processes, but I'm sure if you try hard you can imagine. I did take a pic once all the clean up was done and I must say that she cleaned up pretty nicely. It's not a show tank by any means, but it will do well as a sump.

The last thing I did was use my new tile cutter to cut a piece out of what used to be the center brace and siliconed it in over the former bulkhead holes.

Next step is to figure out where I want to put the partitions, the get them ordered and siliconed in place and water test it.

 

[Devaji108]

WOW! good job I would have never thought about using a tile saw to cut the tank like that.
felt like I was reading a high action film there...I was so nervous for ya..ha
glad it worked for ya. and yeah she clean up nicely.

 

[don_chuwish]

Well done, great tool for the job. And I agree you don't need to worry about the brace once the baffles are in - as long as they are glass and bonded with a good adhesive silicone.

 

[ksigaekdb]

Very creative with your sump design! My one foray into glass cutting left me with a huge chunk of worthless glass so kudos to you on your success with the tile saw.

Looks like you got some hitchhikers with your new tank as well!

 

[BrettDS]

Brett's 220 in wall, viewable from two sides build

I've finished planning out my sump and given the order for the partitions to the glass company They are hoping to finish the cuts today so I can get them installed and let the silicone cure over the weekend and then water and flow test it. I did a mockup with cardboard partitions to make sure the skimmer and return pumps would fit.

The long section in the back of the middle will be a refugium and the one in the front will be for frags. I'm planning to light both sections with a single radon xr15w pro that I currently have over my existing 20G frag tank.

I ordered the partitions that will be on either end of the frag/refugium section in smoked glass to hopefully prevent too much light from spilling over into the skimmer and refugium sections. I have no idea if it will really help much, but it wasn't much more for the smoked glass.

I also ordered the extra xr30w pro for the tank (to be used in conjunction with the two that are already on the 75G tank and also a gyre 150 and the apex interface module for it. Those should be here tuesday or wednesday.

I'm hoping I can find some help to lift the tank onto the stand early next week so I can start doing some flow testing with the sump and gyre and everything in place. I also want to play around with the overflows a bit and see what I want to do there. Right now I'm thinking dual herbies, but I did see a post that discussed adding a weir between the dual overflows to allow for a bean animal overflow.

I'm also planning to put my RO/DI filter in the garage and water storage there as well. I need to figure out of I can get away with my existing 14G fresh water and 20G saltwater reservoirs. Might make sense to get a bigger saltwater reservoir and then use the 20G one for freshwater.

 

[mgoulding]

This will be awesome! Good luck!

 

[BrettDS]

So I've got some good news, some bad news, and some good news. The good news is that the glass company called and they finished making my cuts. I picked up the glass and brought it home and did a quick test fit and thought... Wow, this is really tight. So the bad news is that all of a sudden I realized that when I measured the tank this morning I forgot to deduct 1/4 of an inch and gave the glass company the exact inside dimension of the tank. But the good news that the guy who was cutting the glass erred a bit on the small side and for the most part the glass pieces were about 1/8 of an inch shorter than the tank.

The recommendation I saw was to allow 1/4 of an inch just to be safe in case the cute were a little big, but 1/8 is all that's really necessary, so I went ahead and installed the partitions. There was one, however, that was just a hair too long and I could force it into place with a very little bit of effort and I thought long and hard about just leaving it that way, but in the end I was too concerned that it might cause problems down the road, so I just installed it slightly crooked. It won't hurt the functionality of the sump and I'll sleep better at night knowing that it's not pressing on the glass.

Here are a couple of pictures of the newly partitioned sump. It looks much better than the cardboard version, if I do say so myself.

Tomorrow I'll be painting the stand to protect it from water. I have some furniture being delivered on Tuesday and I think I'll ask the guys delivering it if they'll put the tank on the stand for me if I throw them a few extra bucks.

 

[BrettDS]

We've got water in the sump I took some 1 inch tubing and I'm pumping water from one end of the sump to the other and so far it looks like everything is working pretty well. If I turn both pumps up to full speed I'm getting some bubbles forming after the "˜over' partitions, but given that they are at pretty close to 0 head pressure right now there will be a bit less flow through the sump when the tank is running.

I'm going to need to make a small stand for the skimmer since it's only supposed to be in 8 inches of water, but that shouldn't be too hard. I can't wait to get the tank on the stand so I can run the water through the whole system.

 

[don_chuwish]

Great size sump!

 

[BrettDS]

We are officially at T minus 5 days. The closing has *finally* been set for friday the 11th, so with any luck, by the end of next weekend this tank will be in the wall with saltwater in it.

So this week I need to do the following (in no particular order)

Finalize my water storage plans and obtain any reservoirs that I'll need. Right now I'm thinking that I'll keep my existing 20G reservoir that I have been using for NSW and switch it to RODI and then get maybe a 44G brute trash can for NSW. I'll also have to build a shelf near the garage ceiling for the RODI reservoir as I prefer to use a gravity feed for it.

Figure out where I'll put my RODI filter and get any fittings that I'll need to connect it. Right now I'm thinking I'll put it next to the water heater. I'll have easy access to the cold water line there and I can run the drain through the garage wall to the outside and into a garden or something.

Get more DI resin. When I checked last week it looked like it was pretty much used up. And I'm going to need to make a good 250G to fill this thing.

Run the 1/4 inch tubing from the RODI location to the water storage tank location and from the water storage tank location to the tank, and from the tank to a drain somewhere (or possibly outside. I still need to figure out where to run the drain for my AWC). At the same time I'll run an apex cable (for an EB8 by the water station) and a cat 5 cable for the float switches in the reservoirs.

While I'm running things through the attic I'll probably run some romex as well. I'm thinking it probably makes sense to run a dedicated circuit (or maybe even two) for the tank.

Once I get the tank on the stand (hopefully Tuesday) I'll work on finalizing the plumbing and overflow design.

I'll also need to finalize my plans to move everything from the 75 to the new 220 once it's up and running.

Hmm, guess I've got my work cut out for me this week.

 

[hawaiifavo]

Really looking forward to seeing the progress on this. Sub'd.

What are the dimensions of the 220?

 

[BrettDS]

What are the dimensions of the 220?

Thanks, I'm pretty excited about it as well. The 220 is 72x24x30

 

[BrettDS]

Well, I had a pretty productive evening. I topped off my reservoirs at the other house and brought over my RODI filter because I realized that if I want to have 220G of salt water on Friday then I need to start making it now. I spent a lot of time in the attic running some cables and tubes.

After quite a bit of thought I decided to feed my RODI filter from the laundry room. It's right next to the garage, where the filter is, and it was easy to get it connected. Originally I had planned to connect it to the cold water feed for the water heater, but I had a terrible time finding fittings that would work to T in a 1/4 inch tube. I actually already had the T for the laundry connection left over from something else, so it was a quick and easy connection. I also ran a tube into the laundry drain for the drain connection for my auto top off system.

The drain for the RODI filter I actually ran into my AC condensate drain to get it outside without going through my septic system. The AC drain ends right above my shallow irrigation well, so the RO waste water will filter down through the ground and be used for irrigation. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself

You might also be able to see the green Ethernet cable I ran to the tank for my apex.

Over in my water making area I ran a number of tubes and wires. There are three tubes going to the tank. One for RODI water for the auto top off system, one for NSW and one for OSW for the Neptune DOS that I use for auto water change. I plan to install the DOS in the garage near the water reservoirs because it's not super loud, but it's not really quiet either. The other end of the tube that's in the laundry room drain is in this corner as well, it will be connected to the DOS to drain the tank for the AWC. I've also got the RODI feed from the laundry room as well as the tube that goes to the AC condensate drain for the RODI waste water. Finally I have a cat 5 cable to connect the float switches that will be in the reservoirs to the apex as well as an apex aqualink cable to connect the DOS and EB8 that will be installed out here.

Finally, next to the tank I ran two new 20 amp circuits, which is probably overkill, but running two was just about as easy as running one and upgrading to 20 amp wasn't much extra either. I have the Ethernet cable for the apex, the three tubes, the apex aqualink cable, and the cat 5 cable that all go to the water reservoir area in the garage. I also ran a 3/8 inch tube up to the roof vent in the attic so I can draw in outside air for my skimmer.

All in all I spent way too much time in the attic and I'm very glad it wasn't a hot day today. Most of what I needed to get to was reasonably easily accessible, but the top of the wall by the tank was in another section of the attic. And the only access was through a 16x16 cutout for a large air duct. I climbed through that cutout 6 times. I think I strained several muscles I didn't even know I had. I'm not sure the pictures really do it justice, but here is both sides of the cutout.

As for tomorrow, the furniture delivery guys are supposed to here between 10 and 2 tomorrow and hopefully I can get them to put the tank on the stand for me. If so, then I can start working on plumbing and overflows tomorrow.

 

[don_chuwish]

The AC condensate drain is gravity only right? No pump?
I wanted to do the same but mine's set up with a pump.