L&L's 225 gal display in wall room dividing 2 side viewable build

[SkyHawk]

The Vision
So when I bought the house I immediately imagined it. The large reef tank setup right in the middle of the house in the wall dividing the kitchen and the living room. I could enjoy my reef every morning with breakfast and every evening at supper or perhaps with more tranquility by walking around to the living room and viewing away from the hustle and bustle that occurs in my kitchen.

Well it's on... The wife and I finally came to an agreement and the 225 gal custom tank has been ordered.

 

[Mark...]

Congrats...bring on the pictures...

Tell more about the tank...

 

[SkyHawk]

The Work Order

The Work Order

Above is what was ordered. Starphire viewing panes. Tempered for all panes with drilled holes. Three holes on the side for the overflow. Eight small holes in the bottom for the closed loop returns. One large hole in the bottom for the closed loop intake.

I went with this configuration for the overflow holes so that I can hide the drain lines in the wall, have 3 less holes in my bottom pane and have more fish swimming space under the overflow since it wont go all the way down to the tank floor.

I am very happy with the last minute decision to go 30" deep. More room to aquascape. Hard enough to do because of the 2 room viewable. I hopefully wont regret too soon not going with 36" deep...

The decision of the closed loop holes was difficult. But hopefully I will be happy with it (cause it's pretty permanent...) The reason I didn't put another small hole in the living room corner is because I thought that one would be extra hard to hide since that will be such a viewable part of the tank.

Where are the returns from the sump? They have to come in over the top of the tank because there is no other way to hide them. The only side that is non viewable is going in the wall too so I can't use it to hide plumbing... Saves me drilling more holes in my tank

The overflow angle is so that when the tank is viewed from the kitchen you don't really see the overflow unless you are really looking at an angle.

 

[SkyHawk]

Before Kitchen Side

Before Kitchen Side

Here is the before pic of the kitchen side of the tank. Guess where I'm sitting at this table? So I'll be able to view our tank from the busiest room in our house eventhough the tank will physically be in the living room. That shelf behind the table is actually pretty close to where the tank will be. This view will be about 5' wide since the overflow is about 12" and is on this side of the tank but will be hidden behind the wall on the left side thereby keeping the tank view kind of centered on this wall.

 

[SkyHawk]

Before living room side

Before living room side

This is where the tank is going. Main floor of the house, in the living room, right behind my kitchen. Kitchen is behind wall on right. Tank is also going in wall on left but not through it so no view on that side but am gaining 4". I didn't want to do this but by moving the tank over 4" into the wall, the kitchen view looks more centered and better in my opinion... So why not while I'm at it... The left side wall is behind my front hall closet. Unfortunately this decision means I won't be able to hide anything in that wall.

Yes that is two ac outlets and a forced air return vent in my way... There is another one in my way in the kitchen too...

 

[SkyHawk]

Good Mail

Good Mail

Not everyday you get something this good in the mail...

 

[SkyHawk]

Home at last

Home at last

I'm sorry I didn't get the pictures of the boys moving the tank into the house. I was too busy at the time There were 6 of us. It was early January. Here in Ottawa, Canada that means my front steps to the house were covered in ice and its freaking cold outside. So good day to have to take the front door of the house off because the tank wont fit in otherwise...

We also had on hand 4 commercial glass suction cups which I though were quite useful. Sorry I'm missing those pics.

This is the other side of my living room (not where the tank is going). This is only its temporary sitting spot while I demolish the other side of the living room

 

[has no life]

nice tank

 

[Hookup]

Need new pics!!!! haha... Great looking start.

 

[SkyHawk]

Need new pics!!!! haha... Great looking start.

Yes you are right. Perhaps if I commit here to adding more content this weekend it will force me to get it done... But I'm busy all day tomorrow. I'm on a road trip to Montreal to get corals

 

[SkyHawk]

Supporting the Tank

Supporting the Tank

They say as a general rule of thumb that a glass reef aquarium with substrate and rocks filled with saltwater will weight around 10 lbs per gallon. At 225 gallons, that is a very loosely estimated 2250 lbs. I'm not sure if the rule of thumb works for large tanks cause having took six guys to bring that tank into the house, I know the tank weights a few hundred pounds on its own and I feel the estimated 2250 lbs is shy a few hundred pounds. Regardless, the general rule of thumb for residential floor loading is around 40 lbs per square feet. The tank foot print is 15 square feet, so quick math, I can safely support 600 lbs. Yikes! "¦

So, having heard the horror stories of large tankers busting seams and flooding their downstairs neighbours with saltwater destroying their house and killing all their livestock; I know I have to reinforce my floor. Once I build the tank, I won't be able to afford a divorce so I better spend a few bucks up front and make sure my floor stays put and the water stays in the tank. The location of the tank is non-negotiable; I want it exactly where I want it. Down to the basement"¦ where I of course find that my floor joists are running in parallel with the direction of the tank. !^#@&*. Remember my tank is 30" deep and floor joists are on center every 16". What are the odds that I would only be on one joist? I'm that lucky"¦ So let us divide the estimated weight of that tank into two representing each side of the stand. That puts 1125 lbs of weight on one 2x10 at about 1' from the steel support beam and another 1125 lbs of weight on the same 2x10 at about 7' from its nearest support. There is no way that one old piece of pine under all that weight is not going to deflect before I'm even done filling the tank with water.

The goal is to support the tank with a structure that is perfectly level in both dimensions and will not move during filling, or when I'm out for dinner with my wife, or in 6 months or in 3 years, or ever"¦

So, after considering all the problems associated with different possible solutions (existing finished room in basement, existing plumbing, existing wiring, existing ductwork, erecting post in my basement) I decided to go with the following:

1- Add six 2x10s as additional parallel joist to the existing floor structure. 3 for the back of the tank and 3 for the front of the tank. These will be fastened together with 3" deck screws and glued with construction adhesive to form 2 solid beams. Plus I get the 2x10 in the middle that is already there.

2- Add two steel jack posts exactly under the corners of one side on the tank that would otherwise be in middle of the floor joist span.


So now I have 2 corners exactly on 2 steel jack posts that sit on a poured concrete foundation and the other side of my tank sits on seven 2x10s that are about 1' from the steel beam which is itself supported by another existing jack post within maybe a foot. I figure seven 2x10s under half the tank weight wont deflect much for the 1' span to the main support. But I keep telling the wife it would have been safer to get the seven foot tank. I'll know for next time...

Problems: To get the 2x10s in, I have to 1-move the wiring, 2-move copper piping (main cold water), 3-temporarily remove main stack cold air return ductwork, 4-temporarily remove large hot air stack ductwork (in January)"¦

Pics for you guys...

Okay so this in my basement, right underneath the tank. The tank runs perpendicular to that wall. Those 2 ropes green and white dangling from the ceiling on the right side of the picture are right underneath two corners of the tank and where I will be putting two jack posts. The picture is of the back wall of my shop which will be somewhat converted to a fish room. The shelves are staying but will hold fish equipment rather than food and diapers...

Okay this one just shows job #1. Get that ductwork down cause it's in my way...

Ductwork down. Now that strapping and those crosses have to come out.

Getting there... Wire still in the way.

Tight quarters in here. Watch your head. That wire obviously had to come out. Most of those staples. The big problem though was those 2 joists you see in the back on the left. They are exactly where my new ones need to go sitting on the steel beam and moving them is not an option...

First two up.

One more for the back of the tank.

Need more space to work, let's take another big section of cold air return down... This picture also shows the copper pipe I ran last week. It was in the way of this job so I moved it. Would be much easier to do now with the ductwork down...

4 Up, 2 to go...

Final product (with hot air ductwork back up): 6 additional 2x10s fastened and glued together, bolted to 2 jack posted which are bolted into the concrete. Those posts are going to be annoying but I feel much better about my floor now...

 

[dave.m]

Before you get too much farther, did you measure how thick your concrete pad is? If it's only 4" you might still have a problem. You would have been better to pour a raised 3" thick, 10" x 10" concrete pad under each jack post that would help distribute the weight out more.

Dave.M

 

[SkyHawk]

Before you get too much farther, did you measure how thick your concrete pad is? If it's only 4" you might still have a problem. You would have been better to pour a raised 3" thick, 10" x 10" concrete pad under each jack post that would help distribute the weight out more.

Dave.M

Hi Dave. Thanks for reading my thread. And thanks for pointing out suggestions for my benefit and for the benefit of others reading. I agree that spreading the weight out more is better. But I also believe that I always "might still have a problem"... I'm hoping I've done enough here based on the following. My slab is 4" thick and was probably pourred with 2500-3500 lbs/sq.in concrete. Those metal brackets you see on the base of my jack post are approximately 25 sq.in each. I'm only asking this 25 sq.in section of the concrete to hold about 25% or 600 lbs of my tank (The tank weight pushes down on four legs, roughtly). That I'm not worried about. So eventhough I'd be better to spread that 600 lbs over a 10"x10" or 100 sq.in area, I'll never know if that entire area under my slab has become a pocket of air over the years with zero load bearing capacity. So I'll keep hoping it doesn't crack but if it ever does I honestly think it would be from a neighbour's monster tree rooting under my house or an earthquake. Thankfully I cut down the monster tree already and I live in a relatively safe earthquake zone...

 

[dave.m]

I've had bad luck with foundations so I tend to be cautious. For a few bucks extra worth of concrete it never hurts to be sure.

Dave.M

 

[SkyHawk]

Open Concept

Open Concept

Next came the fun part. I waited for the wife to leave the house and made my next commitment to the project.

View from kitchen into living room.

Another shot.

The view from the living room into the kitchen. Notice I chewed up some of the wall on the left. That's because the tank is going in that wall too.

 

[SkyHawk]

Stand Construction

Stand Construction

There is no store that I know of that sells stands that can safely hold the sort of weight we are talking about here. That includes any aquarium shop and their garbage made in china aquarium stands that they try and sell you. Be wary of any vendor that says you must use their stand to keep your tank under their warranty, especially if they don't have it in writing that they will come to your house and mop saltwater of your hardwood floors after the tank dumps onto the floor"¦ Regardless, upon inspection my existing floor was found to be all crooked and no prefab stand would give me a level surface for my tank anyway..

So, I need a custom stand, and I need it built in place. I do not own the tools needed to build the stand out of metal so it will have to be SPF lumber. Wood construction will make it easy for me to build perfectly level in place and integrate the stand construction with the two walls that it's built into.

So the stand was built with a 2x8 top frame, supported at the four corners with eight 2x4s. Everything was fastened together with 3" deck screws, construction adhesive and bracing 2x4s. A ¾" sheet of plywood was nailed to the top and a ¾" sheet of white foam was purchased to insulate/help evenly distribute the weight to the stand.

Here are a few pictures from Stand Day...

Notice 3 different levels and a square in this picture...

From the living room.

Starting to rebuild the kitchen wall here.

Another shot. Notice the tulips on the table (related to the project, obviously).

Using 25 lbs weights when measuring the top for level. I am embarrassed to say how much time I spent assuring this stand is level but I am quite proud to say that it's perfectly level with both my 6 ft level and on the short side with my 24" level.

 

[Hookup]

Nice work! Very clean and planned, it is going to be a stunning tank for sure! Thanks for the update.

IMO your reenforcement of the floor is excellent. I would sleep soundly.

 

[SkyHawk]

Nice work! Very clean and planned, it is going to be a stunning tank for sure! Thanks for the update.

IMO your reenforcement of the floor is excellent. I would sleep soundly.

Thanks. I did plan every move carefully but the wall demolition was certainly not the clean part... Stay tuned, I'll try and get the wall reconstruction posted up soon. As for the "going to be a stunning tank for sure", I'm not there yet. I just threw out my first dead coral last night. An LPS torch. Boy did it stink. I'm thinking I should of pulled it earlier and that I should execute a large water change tonight. Cause of death I'm thinking was way too much flow. It was in my tank for all of one day. Expensive learning in this hobby and quite saddening with the failures. I also turned my LEDs down another 10% but maybe I should have turned them up 10%??? I really don't know???

 

[SkyHawk]

Kitchen Wall

Kitchen Wall

Okay let's put the wall back up before the wife gets home...

That top wall section was measured to be able to add the 3/4"plywood sheet to the stand top, 3/4" white foam, an aquarium, 1/2" sheetrock and a little wiggle room left over to get tank in but I don't want too much space left over to have to hide after.

Sheetrock up. Okay a few things to notice in this picture. Does that left sheet of sheetrock cover some of the tank? Yes. That is where the overflow will be going, so need to cover that. Just have to remember never to nail up a family portrait on that section of the wall... How did I get screws in that bottom sheet? I added some 2x4s into the stand that I forgot to show you. Why do my tools look a little sunken on the stand? Because the bottom sheet actually passes the stand top to account for the coming sheet of foam and I also want to hide the black plastic aquarium trim.
Lastly, why didn't I put up that last piece? Because I just realized that there is no way I will be able to make that seam. Old wall not straight. So off to home depot to get more drywall. I'll take the rest of the old drywall down and put up one big piece. I'll re-align the doorbell and thermostat with the switches while I'm at it.

Plaster, sand, 2 coats of primer and voila! Good enough to keep the spousal pressure off me for awhile while I get back to work in the living room.

 

[SkyHawk]

Living Room Wall

Living Room Wall

Next Update is the living room side. Here goes.

First pic shows that 3/4" sheet of plywood I promised you. Notice how it sticks out 6" along the front of the tank and 6" along the right side. That's because in the near future there will be an aquarium on this stand but I'll still need somewhere to place my beverage down... Second, you can see those additional 2x4s underneath the back of the stand. These can actually be considered structural but really I only put them up to hold up the drywall in the kitchen. Next you can see how the drywall in the kitchen will cover the overflow that will be in the back right of the tank. You can see some more bracing I added to the stand on the right side to join it to the existing wall 2x4 (top and bottom). Took the wall apart a bit more on the left side and adjusted it to fit the coming tank. That wire on the left is from a wall receptacle that will have to be moved over.

Another shot. Overflow placement is more obvious in this one.

Okay so I ran this conduit now because I was worried I might want a USB or ethernet, or who knows what kind of cable in the future. For now it just has a wire intended for my lighting. Next you'll notice the two walls don't line up in the corner. That's because I'm cheating here to save place to run some plumbing on the left side later. You'll see in the next pic how the walls line up but you won't see how I save some place for this future plumbing. This pic also shows quite well how I cut my drywall to not have to redo my crown molding. That was a good save...

Added a 2 gang electrical box, put up the drywall, plaster, sand, 2 coats of primer. Voila!

Another shot. Here you can see how I brought my conduit to underneath my stand. I'd never prepped the backside of a drywall sheet before, but it turned out just fine.

Back to green. My old AC plug wire wasn't long enough to reach having to move it over to the left so I had to add a junction box. The other thing you can notice in this picture, especially with stand cleared up of my stuff is how the drywall sticks up past the stand in the back. That's so that when viewing from the kitchen, the drywall covers the white foam and the black plastic aquarium trim.