In-wall 300 gallon DT and fish room build.

[dmStewy]

About two years ago we decided it was time to build a house. We just finally were able to move in in November. One of the major factors in building a new house was that I would be able to have a in-wall DT and a fish room behind it where I could have all of my other tanks set up. Now that we are moved in, are more or less settled, and the holidays are over it is time to begin the build!

The plan is to have a 300 gallon 96x30x24 dipaly tank in the wall in the basement adjacent to the future rec room. At this point the basement is complexly unfinished.


Here is the basic lay out of the Fish room.


This is the long term plan on how the room will be set up.



the room as it is now looking in form the future rec room.

 

[SPotter]

Looks like you are off to a great start!!!! Reminds me a lot of my last build where we finished off our basement and I turned the mechanical room into my fish room. My only suggestion would be instead of 96x30x24……go a little bigger and do 96x36x24!!!!! You will love the added width and deeper dimension of the tank!

 

[worm5406]

Nice.... Now do not forget about power, network cables, and beefing up the ceiling so you can hang lights across it instead of drywall mounting them.

Are you going to increase your rodi system? Or put in a separate 200 gallon rodi storage?

 

[jjk_reef00]

Definitely need a water mixing station.
I agree with going bigger, I would go at least 8'x30"x30" tall.

 

[dmStewy]

Spotter-
So I got a quote for a 96x36x24 and the price was only a few hundred dollars more than the 96X30X24 that have in mind so I will defiantly be switching to the deeper tank. Great Idea!

Worm5406-
I did not even think about networking the fish room, and the sheet rocking is done"¦ luckily my router and switch are in the mech room so it should not be too hard to get something in there.

Jkk_reef00-
24" is pretty much the max hight I can go the wall that the tank is going in is load bearing so in order to have the cut out for the tank there has to be a header at the top which limits what I can do vertically. And I can't lower the tank any without compromising the amount of room I have in the sump area. I will be putting in a water mixing station of some kind currently I have my RO/DI plumed into a 35 gal drum in the mech room. I may endup doing something better for was in the area where is said there is room for an extra 125.

Thanks every one for the comments and input so far!

I have a few questions:

I plan on making the stand out of wood. Are there any recommendations from those of you who have done large tanks with wood stands? I have read quite a few builds and I have not really came across anyone mentioning whether or not they anchor the stand to the floor.

I am thinking about doing a closed loop. My plan is for 6 3/4 holes in the the back panel at varying heights. I do not really know that much about closed loops though. Am I good with just holes in the back or is it better to put some coming up from the bottom as well.

What are the pros and cons to painting the outside of the back panel opposed to having it made with black acrylic instead?

 

[worm5406]

Worm5406-I did not even think about networking the fish room, and the sheet rocking is done"¦ luckily my router and switch are in the mech room so it should not be too hard to get something in there.

With some many of us wanting computer access everywhere and being able to control everything, it is only practicable to put connectivity near our controller and even on a wall near our tanks.

Wifi, while real easy, is not like a hard wired connection. Wifi is getting better and better, but at this time at least plan for the technology.

Check your electrical circuits. gfi / separate circuits / able to be split out for a generator.

Also make sure that your plugs are easily accessible from where ever you are. Do not set them up where you have to do a hand stand to get to it. In the event you need to plug into a generator you want to make sure you pull the correct one and plug it in.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Now that worm mentions electrical, maybe extra electrical ran into the fish room. You don't want everything on one circuit breaker and overload the circuit. Also consider battery backup for powerheads in case of power failure.

 

[SPotter]

Spotter-
So I got a quote for a 96x36x24 and the price was only a few hundred dollars more than the 96X30X24 that have in mind so I will defiantly be switching to the deeper tank. Great Idea!

Thats great! You and I will be putting together the exact same tank now!

Definitely have dedicated circuits for the fish equipment and or add a sub panel if needed. Also look into a generator transfer switch so you can use a portable generator in the event of a prolonged power failure. It will make it easier to control different breakers in your house should that happen.

 

[sandyland]

I would anchor the stand to the slab.
I cant tell yet exactly how your stand is going to come togeather but i would recommend putting a double sill plate on the bottom of the opening where the tank will sit.
Looks like this will an awesome build.

 

[dmStewy]

I think I may have gone a little over board as far as electrical goes. The room is broken down into five separate 20 amp GFI circuits.

The mech room side of the wall is not sheetrocked by where the furnace is. I think I will put a network jack in the wall there as it is my only real option at this point.

Generator back up sounds like a good idea, even if it is for nothing other than the heaters. I live in ND, this past week end it got down to -50f with the wind chill.

Here is a breakdown of the electrical.



sandyland

I would anchor the stand to the slab.
I cant tell yet exactly how your stand is going to come togeather but i would recommend putting a double sill plate on the bottom of the opening where the tank will sit.
Looks like this will an awesome build.

Sandyand-
The top of the sand that the tank sits directly on will be two sheets of ¾ plywood. Would you still do a double sill plate under that?


Thanks everyone for the help and comments!

 

[Keitho109]

Looks great off to a great start Nd holey cow that's going to be a lot of water close to 1000 gallons I counted roughly.

 

[sandyland]

You may not need it structurly with two sheets of ply.
I would still suggest it for nailing the trim into or the drywall nailing; not sure how you are finshing the tank to the wall.
Thats how you would frame a window opening.
Keep the updates coming.

 

[sandyland]

I

Generator back up sounds like a good idea, even if it is for nothing other than the heaters. I live in ND, this past week end it got down to -50f with the wind chill.

For get the generator,sounds like you should put a fireplace in there.
That's cold!:eek2:

 

[benihana]

Great looking build. Where in ND are you at? I am a relocated North Dakotan, in mpls now.

Go Bison !! (Hope your not a Sioux fan )

 

[dmStewy]

Great looking build. Where in ND are you at? I am a relocated North Dakotan, in mpls now.

Go Bison !! (Hope your not a Sioux fan )

I am in Bismarck, where are you moving to?



Not much of an update, I have most of the sheetrock up and some of the tape and mud done. Should have the rest done by this weekend. After the sheetrock is done I will be finishing the room in shower wall panels and sealing the seams with silicon.

 

[worm5406]

But progress is progress. Keep moving and documenting it.

 

[benihana]

I am in Bismarck, where are you moving to

I have been in Minneapolis since 2001, but spent a good chunk of my childhood in Fargo and came back to NDSU for college. I get back to the area a couple times a year to see friends and family

Nice progress on the build...keep the updates coming

 

[dmStewy]

Nothing to exciting to report, I have been working a lot the last few weeks so I have not got any work done on the fish room. I have narrowed the quotes for the new DT down to 4 different venders, should have that finalized by the end of the week. All of them are about 6 weeks out so I will have lots of time to get the room ready after I order the tank.

And just because everyone like to look at pictures here are a few pics of my current set up and some of my live stock. Sorry the pics are crappy the only camera I have is my iphone.

My current set up is a 125g, two 90g and a 75g all plumed into a 75g sump. This is basically just a temporary holding system.




And here are some of my fish, most of these will be going into the new tank. the clowns will be moving into the breeding tanks in the back corner of the fish room.

vlamingi tang(a little over ten inches)




eibli



orange shoulder




Maroons


Black and whites, lemon peel, and bicolor. There is aslo a coral beauty in this tank but he is a little camera shy. The lemonpeel, bicolor, and coral beauty have been together for almost 4 years now.

 

[dmStewy]

Tank ordered"¦and done.

The tank was ordered on the 25th of February from Midwest Custom Aquariums. When it was ordered they said 6-8 weeks, possibly sooner. Well possibly sooner, was actually a lot sooner I got a call from Chris on the 19th letting me know the tank is done and ready for pick up. "¦time to kick things into high gear.

Progress on the room.

I have the wall torn out. I have most of the hardboard wall panel up on the walls and have my father-in-law coming over on Sunday to help me with the ceiling.






Reef Breeders Lights.

I got two 48" Photon ReefBreeder LEDs. These Fixtures are awesome! I could not be happier with them. I have one hanging over the 90g and on over the 55g for now just because I could not wait to use them. I went with the 90 degree optics, I think this will work out well. If it ends up being too much of a spotlight effect I may have to add an LED strip of some kind closer to the front of tank.




My plan is to get the walls and ceiling finished this weekend along with the stand and pick the new tank up next Saturday.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Great progress. Looks like they packaged the lights very well. I have heard great reviews on them and can't wait for your opinion on them also.