hul kogan's 180G In-Wall Glass Reef [The Chronicles of Awesome]

[hul kogan]

SUMMARY
The wife and I bought a house at the end of summer and the owner left behind his 75G in-wall FOWLR setup. As a fish hobbyist, I was pretty stoked! It was just a basic setup with the display tank and simple sump. The tank was all sorts of dirty and viewing pane almost completely encrusted with coralline, BUT it was a great base to build from.

Here's how it looked after cleaning the front glass so you could see in.

I spent the next 2 months revitalizing the system and making it mine. I ditched the damsels and gave it a thorough cleaning and water changes. Then swapped in new bulbs, added a fuge area in the sump, added a few powerheads, re-worked the live rock, hooked up a RKL, and so forth. Then I started adding inhabitants.

This is where I'd add a picture of it after all that...but I neglected to take any. So, onward we go...

Then BAM, a few weeks later I came home from work to see a puddle on the floor. A leak had formed in the lower, left corner. I patched it the best I could (Aquamend to the rescue!) and started to figure out my game plan. The logical decision would have been to swap in a new 75G"¦but I never said I was logical, did I?

 

[hul kogan]

THE EPIC DECISION
Naturally, I decided 180G sounded much better. Great decision for me, bad decision for the wall (poor thing), and an even worse decision for my wallet. But hell, I never liked that wall anyway"¦

More pictures and progress are coming right quick. Stay tuned folks.

 

[hul kogan]

75G TEARDOWN & THE DISAPPEARING WALL TRICK
With that last pic serving as a bit of a teaser, I figure I better give some more details. Let's have story time...with pictures!

At this point the tank was 2/3 drained and I had my temporary 75G setup about 15 feet away. I moved all the live rock and inhabitants over there and ditched the crushed coral since it was all sorts of filthy.

Here is the tank fully drained and ready to come down...and my buddy Tony ready to tear up some wall. As you can see, this tank sits quite high. He is a 6ft tall guy for reference. The 180G will sit nearly as high because this tank will also be viewed from a standing position, since it's near the pool table.

Goodbye tank, hello 75G temp holding tank. You can also see the 180G sitting on the floor eagerly awaiting its new home.

Goodbye trim, molding and front access door. Now it's starting to get fun!

It took me awhile to chew down this far. Note: Those are demolition approved flippy floppies and socks (haha, don't ask). Only true men wear those to tear down a wall...

Here are some (about 1/3) of the remnants after the wall was down. We made a mess, but man was it fun.

 

[MMERITT28]

Nice ambition and I too and a firm believer in flip flop safety shoes...LOL. Looking forward to futher progress........

 

[hul kogan]

NO WALL, NO WORRIES

After all the big debris was cleaned up, it was time to tackle a few lag bolts. We were able to get one out of the concrete, but the other just wouldn't budge. So I invited over my friend Mr. Sawzall and we had a little party. Sparks!! (Please disregard my butt hanging out...I was busy working...haha)

Here's the view looking into the fish (laundry) room. Hi 180G (waves).

And then looking out of the fish room into the rest of the basement.

Then I cleaned up the floor and it was time to throw some self leveling floor patch down. There was a low spot and I figured I might as well tackle it while there wasn't a huge stand on top of it.

I'll be posting pictures of the stand building process once I get them all resized and whatnot. Stay tuned.

 

[fanandy8]

Nice to see some pics. I have followed your progress on TRAC building this. Hopefully one day I will be able to do something similar.

 

[hul kogan]

Nice to see some pics. I have followed your progress on TRAC building this. Hopefully one day I will be able to do something similar.

Ahh yes, glad to see another familiar face over here! Once I get some more pics up tomorrow, I'll let everyone know that they can check out progress over here.

This is one of those almost forced, but still hard to pass up opportunities...so I decided to go big! :thumbsup: I'm sure you'll have a chance at some point. No matter if it is handed to you or if you create it yourself.

 

[MarineGirl411]

I am setting up a 180 too. Looking forward to your progress. What are you gonna do for flow?

 

[Reefer Brian]

Looks like its going to be a fun build...

need one of these?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1765989

 

[tonyf]

... Please disregard my butt hanging out...I was busy working...haha

You're a plumber? :lmao:

hul, keep the build photos commin' ... looking forward to your progress especially since your first tank looks pretty good

Tone :thumbsup:

 

[hul kogan]

I am setting up a 180 too. Looking forward to your progress. What are you gonna do for flow?

I have (2) Koralia 3s that I'll throw in there from the 75G at first, but I would really love to come across a great deal on a pair of Vortech MP40w's. We'll see what I can come up with. I might look at other options, too. What are you doing for flow?

Looks like its going to be a fun build...

need one of these?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1765989

Thanks! I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet as far as a pump(s). I have decided against running a closed loop, though.

You're a plumber? :lmao:

hul, keep the build photos commin' ... looking forward to your progress especially since your first tank looks pretty good

Tone :thumbsup:

Thank you! Stay tuned for more pictures with the stand build coming soon. And no on the plumber part...but I'll be a 'reef plumber' by the time this project is through, lol.

 

[MarineGirl411]

I am going to run a closed loop on my 180. We drilled it a while back. 3 sea swirls and then 3 drilled holes will provide flow. I am going to be using a reeflo super dart. Then if I need anymore flow, I might get a used vortech. Just trying to figure out what we are going to do about the floor. =/

 

[hul kogan]

I am going to run a closed loop on my 180. We drilled it a while back. 3 sea swirls and then 3 drilled holes will provide flow. I am going to be using a reeflo super dart. Then if I need anymore flow, I might get a used vortech. Just trying to figure out what we are going to do about the floor. =/

Nice, sounds like a good setup! What do you have to figure out for the floor?

 

[Gatesoray]

Nice upgrade to the space. 180 is a good size too. Keep us posted.:thumbsup:

 

[MarineGirl411]

We have to figure out how we are going to support the load of the tank. The crawl space does not go under part of the house. He tried to dig, but ran into solid concrete. We are not sure if we are on a solid concrete slab. We currently are trying to decide how to approach it. He thought of using a very long drill bit to drill a hole through the floor and see when he hits concrete. If he doesn't, I guess it's time to pull up the carpet and reinforce the floor that way. =(

 

[hul kogan]

Nice upgrade to the space. 180 is a good size too. Keep us posted.:thumbsup:

Indeed, I quite like the dimensions. More updates soon!

We have to figure out how we are going to support the load of the tank. The crawl space does not go under part of the house. He tried to dig, but ran into solid concrete. We are not sure if we are on a solid concrete slab. We currently are trying to decide how to approach it. He thought of using a very long drill bit to drill a hole through the floor and see when he hits concrete. If he doesn't, I guess it's time to pull up the carpet and reinforce the floor that way. =(

Wow, that doesn't sound like any fun at all. Best of luck with getting that sorted.

 

[MMERITT28]

Looking forward to more pictures and following along......

 

[jose7878]

When walls come down it's always interesting . Will follow this one...

 

[hul kogan]

Thanks for following along everyone.

When walls come down it's always interesting .

Truth.

 

[hul kogan]

BUILDING THE STAND - DAY ONE

Well, after much debate I decided to build the stand using all 2x4s. I was originally going to incorporate in 2x6s or possibly 4x4s on the corners, but in the long run I think this route will be just as sturdy.

I found a stand blueprint online and sort of based my design off that. The main challenge with this stand was it had to be taller than a 'standard' stand. The top of the stand sits at 4 feet tall. The wall where this tank will be added is near the pool table and the tank is always viewed from a standing position. Thus I wanted to have the tank up higher so an average height person can walk right up to the tank and see right in. You can get an idea about what I'm talking about by looking at the pictures of the 75G earlier in this thread. So the tank (2' tall) will sit at a height of 4' - 6' in the wall when complete.

Here is the stand after the first day.

And the test fit of one 45 degree brace before calling it quits.

This was a fun toy...