Large peninsula mounted reefs - show me yours

Although not massive this is my setup 4x2x2

One problem i found is that the roof sags a little, meaning your hood drops a bit lower than planned. Still level but just lower.

Other than that it has been great to work on. all panels are removable with access to all sides of the tank.

Getting the cabinet made was quite expensive. I elected to get it made out of water proof material (can submerge and does not warp etc) so that added a additional $500 in materials alone.

After tank was in place



With panels up



hood open


I also installed a vent in the roof venting to outside with a small 150mm PC fan. Never had any rust on inside of cabinet. I did use 314 stainless screws for everything though.

Cheers
 
Has anyone installed a floor drain in case of 'accidents'?

Anyone put a fish room behind the peninsula instead of a sump below?

My wife isn't big on the tank because of the potential for spills and smells, etc...

I was thinking of only having top access for light and coral access, but nothing below.
 
JohnnyBoyPerth said:
Although not massive this is my setup 4x2x2

One problem i found is that the roof sags a little, meaning your hood drops a bit lower than planned. Still level but just lower.

Other than that it has been great to work on. all panels are removable with access to all sides of the tank.

Getting the cabinet made was quite expensive. I elected to get it made out of water proof material (can submerge and does not warp etc) so that added a additional $500 in materials alone.

After tank was in place



With panels up



hood open


I also installed a vent in the roof venting to outside with a small 150mm PC fan. Never had any rust on inside of cabinet. I did use 314 stainless screws for everything though.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Johnny - how is the top connected to the wall and ceiling?
 
karimwassef said:
Johnny - how is the top connected to the wall and ceiling?
Click to expand...

Just 8 large screws into the timber roof beams. (got up in the roof and measured everything before hand so i knew where they were. The canopy is only attached to the roof and not the wall. It's just sitting against the walls with some liquid nails sealing the gap to the wall.

As for the side panels it was just again screwed to the wall. We have brick construction where i live so very easy to fix heavy things to walls.

Here is a photo showing a few of the screws going into the roof as well as the little PC fan venting the hood

 
650 Gallon 9.5 x 3 x 3


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slief said:
Here is mine. 4'x8'x2' tall 480 gallon display. Drywalled in from top to bottom.
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image_zpsjii2xttm.jpeg


image_zpsg3fwz4rp.jpeg
Click to expand...

That is *** kicking! Gorgeous.

How do you access it with end to end drywall?

If the doors on one side open for access, how do you get to the far wall with 4' of span? Are you 7' tall? :)
 
karimwassef said:
That is *** kicking! Gorgeous.

How do you access it with end to end drywall?

If the doors on one side open for access, how do you get to the far wall with 4' of span? Are you 7' tall? :)
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I had this tank custom build over 20 years ago and it was moved into my new home over 18 years and has been up and running since then. Fortunately for me, the tank is completely automated and takes good care of itself. All I need to do is clean the acrylic and swap my socks. I've got so much flow in it that detritus can't even settle in the display the filter socks remove the stuff that goes over the overflow.

All the access doors are 36" wide so I have 72" of access above and below which is plenty. I use a step stool and lean into the space above the tank which measures about 90" x 40" with the drywall and framing. I rarely have to reach into the water for anything and use magnet scrubbers for cleaning acrylic. As such, accessing the front area is a very rare task but I can get right up in there and there is about 48" of space above the tank so even if I need to get above the tank, it isn't horribly cramped. It is however about time to do another coraline scraping and that will require laying on top of the tank to clean the front pane.

I also designed my sump, seperate refugium and plumbing around my access so everything important can be easily accessed from the lower door openings.

Here are some shots of it all opened up.
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The light rack is on an electric winch setup so I push a button to raise and lower the lights.
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Below the tank.
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I just noticed that the one shot looking down the length of the tank from the 4' side was horrible so here is a better shot looking down that end of the tank.
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Nice. I was thinking that reaching a coral that has fallen down on the far side of the tank 48" horizontally and 24" vertically away from the opening would be impossible...

I have that problem with my built in tank and 32" horizontal and 27" vertical reach... Anything that falls behind the largest rocks or further out against the front glass is so inaccessible that I have to consider the likely damage to other coral vs. allowing that frag to perish... And many times, I just have to allow nature to take its course :(

That's why I'm curious how you can access it with a foot and a half more span.

When going peninsula, I was thinking of the dual access as a benefit- but it was driving spousal conflict :)... You may have the answer.
 
karimwassef said:
Nice. I was thinking that reaching a coral that has fallen down on the far side of the tank 48" horizontally and 24" vertically away from the opening would be impossible...

I have that problem with my built in tank and 32" horizontal and 27" vertical reach... Anything that falls behind the largest rocks or further out against the front glass is so inaccessible that I have to consider the likely damage to other coral vs. allowing that frag to perish... And many times, I just have to allow nature to take its course :(

That's why I'm curious how you can access it with a foot and a half more span.

When going peninsula, I was thinking of the dual access as a benefit- but it was driving spousal conflict :)... You may have the answer.
Click to expand...

There is a about a 12" section in the front center/bottom as well as the back side of the tank between the doors along the 8' viewing panes that is a bit precarious to get to if something falls to the bottom or more over, if I want to place corals there. That is because of the openings on the top of the tank though and not because of door access. It usually entials getting my arm wet up the my shoulder. Keep in mind that I'm a short guy at 5'6" so my not only am I vertically challenged but I also have short arms which make accessing the bottom of the tank a bit of a chore in certain areas. The top of the tank has 2 openings in the acylic that are 24"x24" on either side of the overflow so there is enough thick acrylic to easily move around on the top of the tank when I am on top of the tank. It does however create some difficult to access spots at the bottom center of the 8' panels as mentioned above. That is the only thing that creates issues as far as accessing the bottom of the tank. The doors on the one side give me plenty of access coupled with the fact that the top is 1.5" acrylic that could support the weight of a car.
 
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