Gobie74
New member
I've finally started to make some progress with a tank I've been planning for about a year now. It all started when I began playing with some moving boxes.
So the idea was to make a peninsula tank between my kitchen and living room. I had grown tired of the limitations of the 18" width of my current AGA 150 and wanted something wider. I had seen the Marineland wide tanks and knew I wanted something similar.
What I was going for was a wide shallow design with an open top so I could look in like it was a tide pool. I'd be reusing my AI LED lights and Vortech MP40Ws, but most everything else would be new since for a while I'd have both this tank and the 150 going. Once this is set up, I'll move the inhabitants of the 150 over to the new tank and take down the old tank and sell what I can of the remaining parts.
So the basic tank layout will look something like this...
The tank will be 72" long, 36" wide, and 22" tall. After taking out space for thickness of the tank, water level, and the overflow, I figure its about 200 gallons give or take. The tank will be made of acrylic to keep my costs down, and since I don't have kids or other pets, I don't have to worry about it getting scratched accidentally. ( I decided to go with acrylic after visiting InsaneClownFish and checking out his sweet tank ) In the picture above, the area to the left is a 6" overflow with two voids on each side of it. The voids will contain the dry side of my Vortech pumps. The overflow is being constructed of black acrylic and a two pieces of acrylic are being put on the side of the voids to prevent seeing in to increase the aesthetics.
So one of the first things I did was replace the existing carpeted floor with a laminate floor. The area the tank will be located is on a concrete slab so I didn't have to worry about the weight. I then did some electrical work on the wall the tank would be placed against. I didn't want to see cords, so I ran a line up to the top of the wall and put in a GFI plug. I knew i would need more than 2 plugs for the tank, so I added an additional outlet down low. Next to both of those I put in a blank, eventually I plan on running the AI control cord up through there since I don't want to see that either. The small shelf is for the power supply bricks. The hanging kit for the AI lights was also installed.
This past Saturday the stand was finished and delivered. I was constructed by a friend of a friend and he did an amazing job. I'll hope to provide more detail about it in the near future.
After the stand was delivered, I decided to use the old Lowe's boxes I had originally used to make the mockup to create a prototype of the sump. I'm still working on the idea, but 24" wide, 30" long with two 15"x15" areas for the skimmer and fuge, the rest as a resevoir and return area. I'm not sure if I want to go with a submersible pump or have the sump drilled for an external pump.
To wrap up the pictures for today, here's a gratuitous gear shot of the controller I bought for the tank.
The tank itself is under construction now and I expect to hear from the builder soon that its complete. At that point I plan on filling it partially and getting a cycle going in it while I build out the sump and get the rest of the equipment I'm going to need.
As much as I'm excited about finally getting this tank going, I dread the day when I finally have to move everything from my existing tank into this one
So the idea was to make a peninsula tank between my kitchen and living room. I had grown tired of the limitations of the 18" width of my current AGA 150 and wanted something wider. I had seen the Marineland wide tanks and knew I wanted something similar.
What I was going for was a wide shallow design with an open top so I could look in like it was a tide pool. I'd be reusing my AI LED lights and Vortech MP40Ws, but most everything else would be new since for a while I'd have both this tank and the 150 going. Once this is set up, I'll move the inhabitants of the 150 over to the new tank and take down the old tank and sell what I can of the remaining parts.
So the basic tank layout will look something like this...
The tank will be 72" long, 36" wide, and 22" tall. After taking out space for thickness of the tank, water level, and the overflow, I figure its about 200 gallons give or take. The tank will be made of acrylic to keep my costs down, and since I don't have kids or other pets, I don't have to worry about it getting scratched accidentally. ( I decided to go with acrylic after visiting InsaneClownFish and checking out his sweet tank ) In the picture above, the area to the left is a 6" overflow with two voids on each side of it. The voids will contain the dry side of my Vortech pumps. The overflow is being constructed of black acrylic and a two pieces of acrylic are being put on the side of the voids to prevent seeing in to increase the aesthetics.
So one of the first things I did was replace the existing carpeted floor with a laminate floor. The area the tank will be located is on a concrete slab so I didn't have to worry about the weight. I then did some electrical work on the wall the tank would be placed against. I didn't want to see cords, so I ran a line up to the top of the wall and put in a GFI plug. I knew i would need more than 2 plugs for the tank, so I added an additional outlet down low. Next to both of those I put in a blank, eventually I plan on running the AI control cord up through there since I don't want to see that either. The small shelf is for the power supply bricks. The hanging kit for the AI lights was also installed.
This past Saturday the stand was finished and delivered. I was constructed by a friend of a friend and he did an amazing job. I'll hope to provide more detail about it in the near future.
After the stand was delivered, I decided to use the old Lowe's boxes I had originally used to make the mockup to create a prototype of the sump. I'm still working on the idea, but 24" wide, 30" long with two 15"x15" areas for the skimmer and fuge, the rest as a resevoir and return area. I'm not sure if I want to go with a submersible pump or have the sump drilled for an external pump.
To wrap up the pictures for today, here's a gratuitous gear shot of the controller I bought for the tank.
The tank itself is under construction now and I expect to hear from the builder soon that its complete. At that point I plan on filling it partially and getting a cycle going in it while I build out the sump and get the rest of the equipment I'm going to need.
As much as I'm excited about finally getting this tank going, I dread the day when I finally have to move everything from my existing tank into this one
