Caravan's 180g In-Wall - Texas

[lafayettereefer]

I ordered a 115gal from concept too and their customer service is truly second to none. Denny is a great guy to deal with. Mine should be here by the end of the month. I also had troubles with customs.

Anyways your setup looks amazing

 

[1000rrstunna]

Wow this is bad ***! Can't wait till I can do my own In wall room setup

 

[frankabagnale]

Sweet!

 

[Caravanshaka]

quick pic update. Tank is mostly full now, has rock and sand done, but is very cloudy so I've got all the water being circulated through a filter sock to clear it up. So no main tank pics yet:

 

[Caravanshaka]

almost full (don't mind the filter sock, trying to clear up the water). Camera phone pics are terrible with white balance, but you get the idea:

 

[Caravanshaka]

Custom Concepts forgot my acrylic panels in the sump (to limit light spilling from fuge and frag sections), so they are sending me the panels and a tube of silicone to install myself. That means I have to wait to get the sump running until after I get that stuff, so I doubt there will be any livestock other than clean up crew for another week or so.

 

[Caravanshaka]

I have decided to make a minor lighting change.

I have gotten GREAT coverage with the Lumia Arrays, so instead of the current 3 pairs running perpendicular to the front of the tank, I am going to switch to 2 pairs running parallel to the tank. This will give me the room to add a pair of 80w T5 Coral + bulbs and have the LED's in between them. I like the idea of trying the LED/T5 hybrid since it seems to be very successful for others and I will be growing a lot of SPS in this tank.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Quick pic update. Not completely setup, but a rock with monti, tri-color, pearlberry, and red planet wouldn't fit in the nuvo, so had to get it setup in the 180:

 

[RJT]

Everything looks great.

What are you plans for the sump? And fish list?

 

[Caravanshaka]

Sump is waiting on some acrylic panels to prevent light spilling between chambers. Once those are installed, it will house the elite 200 int skimmer, a 12x18x14 fuge, a 12x22x8 frag section, dual heaters and dual Jebao dc6000 returns.

Fish list is:
From 24g tank - 2 true percs, 1 purple firefish, 1 six line wrasse
Powder blue tang
Regal tang
Kole tang
Yellow tang
Flame angel
3-5 anthias (lyretail or dispar)
Maybe a copperband

 

[garrettm]

This is a great looking build! I am in process of a similar build with the same size tanks so I will definitely be following your progress.

I know you mentioned using killz and some plastic sheeting to finish the opening in the wall but can you tell me a little more about the process of how you got from the first picture to the second? Is that some type of plywood between the wall? Did you use dry wall mud over that? I've never been sure on how to finish the wall and this looks really clean. Thanks!

 

[Caravanshaka]

to cover the inner wall areas as well as the back side of the drywall on the dining room side, I used closed cell PVC Sheet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C0ZC1RS/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To cover the wall area I used a thin plastic sheet:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QW2PN6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Around the corners I just used silicone to ensure nothing was getting in there.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Apex is up and running 100% now.

All livestock has been transferred and everything is doing great.

Got my t5 kit in tonight, but both bulbs were damaged during shipping so I can't do much with it yet.

Pics to hold you over (it is apparent that I need to get my wife to take real pics soon)

 

[karimwassef]

Looking good

 

[garrettm]

to cover the inner wall areas as well as the back side of the drywall on the dining room side, I used closed cell PVC Sheet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C0ZC1RS/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To cover the wall area I used a thin plastic sheet:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QW2PN6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Around the corners I just used silicone to ensure nothing was getting in there.

Thanks! This is really helpful and a great solution. I was at a loss on how to finish the walls but this gives some great insight and clarity. The tank looks great in the wall!

 

[Caravanshaka]

Glad I could help! The pvc sheet is easy to cut with an exactoblade. Just score it with a razor and snap it.

 

[Caravanshaka]

I figured this build needed an update:

Sump is completed now, with refugium and frag section

And some Tank Shots with all livestock transferred and new fish added (Regal Tang, Kole Tang, Yellow Tang, Flame Angel)

Office Side:

Dining Side:

 

[garrettm]

Looking great! What are you using for substrate in your fuge section? Anything special? Also, what skimmer are you running and how do you like it?

 

[submarine411]

Great thread!

I am sure it has been asked in another thread since I have seen it before, but what software did you use for your mockups/pictures. I am just starting planning and it would help me a lot.

Thanks!

 

[Caravanshaka]

Looking great! What are you using for substrate in your fuge section? Anything special? Also, what skimmer are you running and how do you like it?

Thanks! I am using the same sand down in the fuge since I had more than I needed for the display. Seafloor special.

The skimmer is the Octopus Elite int-200. I love it so far, extremely quiet with the dc pump, a can be disassembled for cleaning, and easy to adjust.

Great thread!

I am sure it has been asked in another thread since I have seen it before, but what software did you use for your mockups/pictures. I am just starting planning and it would help me a lot.

Thanks!

Google sketch-up. It's free, and fairly easy to work with. Great for planning sump dimensions and plumbing since you can work with true part sizes.