ReefWhatYouSow
New member
Hey Everyone,
So, this is my first big build, and I look forward to hearing your feedback and any tips you have along the way. I first want to say that I no way could not have done this by myself, and there are many individuals that deserve credit; from family and friends, to my online community and local reef group (Tampa Bay Reef Club). I have wanted to start a build thread for a while, but with many long hours being spent on the build I haven't put any effort towards the thread. A lot of time and money has been put into the project, and I'm coming to the end of my budget with a little more to go on the build. I guess that is how it is for all of us, and I will be looking to get an extension on my credit line soon! Lol"¦ It has also taken a while to get to the point I am at now. A weekend here and there, as well as some long nights has been my progression. Last week I worked every night till about 2:00am and then got up at 6:00am for work.
A little background on how I came up with some of my concepts and ideas"¦. Being newer to the hobby I have had to research just about everything, which I have enjoyed. There seems to be many options to how something is done and not so much a right or wrong way. I've decided to take ideas from other reefers and make them mine.
First, I have wanted an in-wall tank for years and now that we have a home with a huge closet in the middle of it, what better way to utilize the space than with a mini fish room! The size of the wall determined for us what size tank we would be able to get, but I didn't want that to keep me from getting a large volume tank. I knew that it would most likely need to be a custom tank which financially discouraged me. Not long after joining Reef Central a custom tank popped up for sale in Pompano, FL and jumped on it. It did entail a day journey from Tampa, FL to go pick up the tank, but I am still impressed with my savvy shopping and luck on that one.
The tank is 60" long x 27" deep x 30" tall with euro-bracing up the wazoo. The glass is half of an inch thick and I have a large mid-center overflow. If I remember correctly it was built by Exotic Aquarium.
Now, I've seen a lot of great tanks. Some have the minimalist look and some are throwing up coral. I enjoy a natural look with a twist. At the same time, there are things that I like or find beneficial that I would want in the tank as well. I enjoy going to the aquarium and trying to steal ideas from them. Their budget may be a little bigger than mine, but at least I can get ideas, right?
I chose to go with a DIY rock wall surrounding the walls of my tank, as well as surrounding the overflow. Now, I have seen a lot of different makes of a rock wall, and there has been a little controversy over how long it will last in a tank, but this is probably one of the things I'm most excited about going into the tank. I have seen too many walls that have a fake look, or at least they do until they start getting covered by coralline algae or corals. I wanted to make this one look as much as a rock wall as possible so I didn't scrimp in this area. I used a couple hundred pounds of rocks, sand, and crushed coral in this build. The rock type was a mix between marco, tonga, and I think some various pieces of pukani and something else. I also used black pond foam and epoxy to keep things against the egg crate. You will see in the pictures that I made a mock tank to size out of chip board so that I could play with some ideas without scratching the tank.
You will also notice a few oddities when looking at the egg crate cutouts. One thing that you will notice is that I cut pieces for the back corners that will angle. While this makes the tank look a little smaller, I have created various caves, as well as an area that I can siphon from, etc. I am also using this area to hide a powerhead in the back right corner. You will also notice that I have wrapped pvc pipes around the overflow. I will have a closed loop system pushing water out of the rock wall that surrounds the overflow. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this idea"¦ but I can say that I'm pretty sure that I have exceeded my own expectations with this.
So, this is my first big build, and I look forward to hearing your feedback and any tips you have along the way. I first want to say that I no way could not have done this by myself, and there are many individuals that deserve credit; from family and friends, to my online community and local reef group (Tampa Bay Reef Club). I have wanted to start a build thread for a while, but with many long hours being spent on the build I haven't put any effort towards the thread. A lot of time and money has been put into the project, and I'm coming to the end of my budget with a little more to go on the build. I guess that is how it is for all of us, and I will be looking to get an extension on my credit line soon! Lol"¦ It has also taken a while to get to the point I am at now. A weekend here and there, as well as some long nights has been my progression. Last week I worked every night till about 2:00am and then got up at 6:00am for work.
A little background on how I came up with some of my concepts and ideas"¦. Being newer to the hobby I have had to research just about everything, which I have enjoyed. There seems to be many options to how something is done and not so much a right or wrong way. I've decided to take ideas from other reefers and make them mine.
First, I have wanted an in-wall tank for years and now that we have a home with a huge closet in the middle of it, what better way to utilize the space than with a mini fish room! The size of the wall determined for us what size tank we would be able to get, but I didn't want that to keep me from getting a large volume tank. I knew that it would most likely need to be a custom tank which financially discouraged me. Not long after joining Reef Central a custom tank popped up for sale in Pompano, FL and jumped on it. It did entail a day journey from Tampa, FL to go pick up the tank, but I am still impressed with my savvy shopping and luck on that one.
The tank is 60" long x 27" deep x 30" tall with euro-bracing up the wazoo. The glass is half of an inch thick and I have a large mid-center overflow. If I remember correctly it was built by Exotic Aquarium.
Now, I've seen a lot of great tanks. Some have the minimalist look and some are throwing up coral. I enjoy a natural look with a twist. At the same time, there are things that I like or find beneficial that I would want in the tank as well. I enjoy going to the aquarium and trying to steal ideas from them. Their budget may be a little bigger than mine, but at least I can get ideas, right?
I chose to go with a DIY rock wall surrounding the walls of my tank, as well as surrounding the overflow. Now, I have seen a lot of different makes of a rock wall, and there has been a little controversy over how long it will last in a tank, but this is probably one of the things I'm most excited about going into the tank. I have seen too many walls that have a fake look, or at least they do until they start getting covered by coralline algae or corals. I wanted to make this one look as much as a rock wall as possible so I didn't scrimp in this area. I used a couple hundred pounds of rocks, sand, and crushed coral in this build. The rock type was a mix between marco, tonga, and I think some various pieces of pukani and something else. I also used black pond foam and epoxy to keep things against the egg crate. You will see in the pictures that I made a mock tank to size out of chip board so that I could play with some ideas without scratching the tank.
You will also notice a few oddities when looking at the egg crate cutouts. One thing that you will notice is that I cut pieces for the back corners that will angle. While this makes the tank look a little smaller, I have created various caves, as well as an area that I can siphon from, etc. I am also using this area to hide a powerhead in the back right corner. You will also notice that I have wrapped pvc pipes around the overflow. I will have a closed loop system pushing water out of the rock wall that surrounds the overflow. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this idea"¦ but I can say that I'm pretty sure that I have exceeded my own expectations with this.
