Lunchbucket's 48"x48"x20" Reef

[jnarowe]

hehehehe...I know it sounds geeky, but just for my tank room situation. I am very sensitive to noise and although I love being in my tank room with the hum of equipment, it would really disturb me if I heard it in the viewing room.

Because I am in the marine business, sound abatement is an issue we see come up from time-to-time, but my only experience with it was procuring materials and not really getting into the finer details of how it all works.

I had originally assumed that I would just foam the entire room but when I had sound specialists come out and look at it, they both told me that foam would actually transmit vibratory noise. So the solution was to fill the walls with various materials that would have a high content of air.

I elected to rip out the sheet rock and install a second wall with the studs offset from the original wall. That way the inside sheet rock would not be mechanically connected to the outside sheet rock. Then I foamed the electrical penetrations and filled the walls with standard fiberglass insulation. A little more work but not much added cost, and the results are very good.

 

[jnarowe]

Here are some links:

http://www.soundproofing101.com/soundproofing_2.htm

http://www.acoustiblok.com/basics.html

http://www.soundproofing101.com/soundproofing_3.htm

 

[Lunchbucket]

jnarowe - Not geeky at all...look at all the stuff that we research for our tanks. Ahh a 2x6 wall w/ offset studs. Dang why didn't I think of that earlier. Wouldn't have taken up too much more room but would have had a LOT of recycled studs left I bought a Black and Decker DIY project book and I noticed that it had the offset stuff in there. I hope I don't get a lot of vibrations in the viewing room

I was buying can lights and home entertainment stuff to wire in my speakers in the downstairs living room today at Lowes and a guy I know from the gym I manage asked what I was doing. I told him but told him the real reason I'm doing it my downstairs...the tank!! Now he's interested in maybe having me do a 120 in his project house. He's a realitor and has always wanted a salt tank. Would be a nice show piece in his house to show clients Might have another one to the darkside but I really don't think he is gonna like the $$ amount I give him for a 120 to start up. What would you guys guess that would cost?

Lunchbucket

 

[jnarowe]

what kind of a question is that? :lol:

 

[JCTewks]

2 layers of drywall with a 1/2"-3/4" gap between them is a GREAT way to stop sound fairly cheaply when there isn't room to put a double wall. Auralex makes a metal spacer that will gap the sheetrock apropriately while maintaining minimal physical contact. Also, a layer of the black tar looking insulation between the 2 sheets or between the studs and first layer is effective. Use 5/8" sheetrock for the outer layer and 1/2" for the inner layer. Having materials with different resonant frequencies is important in reducing all opitches of noise.

 

[JCTewks]

btw, I'm in the process of setting up a 120 and am looking at about $3000 total....and that's DIYing a LOT of the stuff. live rock alone will be about $700

 

[Lunchbucket]

jnarowe - A serious question I'd like to give the guy an idea

JCTewks - Great advice. I might be able to do the double rock idea. I noticed that on one of the sites that jnarowe posted. Something about a layer of silicone in between them would work too.

I hope that I can do some stuff in the tank room today. I really need to get the tank, stand, sumps, everything out of the room to sweep and vacuum the floor so I can put the garage paint down. Also, then I can prime and seal the two layers of ply and cut the foam. Only problem is my wife can't lift the tank Might have to push the stand onto the watching rail of the room and remove the stand and put it on the other side of the wall and slide the tank onto it. Not exactly what I want to do but might be the only way out.

Lunchbucket

 

[jnarowe]

Too many variables to really give a good estimate. Tank costs vary as does equipment, plus incidentals for that particular install. No one would factor in sheet rock right? :lol:

I would say the low end is about $3K and you could get as high as $20 if you use high-end controllers, pumps, lights, etc.

 

[erics3000]

Lunch if your doing the wall and all I would say easy 5 - 10 k ...There are so many variables but it adds up so fast....

If i just did a tank instead of building a room and tank into the design, I would have been so further along the way.

 

[erics3000]

i would rather throw a high number out anyway. This way you know how interested he really is. I do a lot of odds and ends for people this has always been a good way to weed out people. If people understand the quality of your work then they are getting a bargain.

 

[Lunchbucket]

A crazy day. Wife and I moved the whole tank and stand out of the room. It was crazy because the two of us cannot lift it and it had to be lifted over the short wall that I built around it So we pulled the stand apart (it's two pieces remember) and rested the tank on one side while we picked the other side up and over the wall and onto the other side. We then scooted the stand and tank over to the the short wall and rested it on the 1/2 stand on the other side and on that short wall. Lifted the other 1/2 over and out. Then put them back together and safely onto the full stand I needed to vacuum the room and I wanted to paint the floor today

Instead of painting I worked on the light rack after a trip to Lowes inspired me to buy my aluminum angle stock and rivet gun.

Made this from 1/16" x 1" Aluminum angle stock. I thought about using 1/8" as it is stronger and stuff but after trying to flex the 1/16th" I figured it would be good enough. Sure hope so. The plywood underneath is 4x4 same size as the tank. The light rack is 4ft wide by 3ft long. I'm only using 3ft VHO's, 4 of them. Not sure on placement but thinking one on each outside and two in the center

My hoods placed on top.

Just placed on top of the tank for a picture it will be hung higher It didn't flex at all when we picked it up. Guess the two pieces in the middle gave it some good strength.

One question I have is that the light racks measuer 24" wide and the buld sits in the middle (duh ). So that means that my lights will be (from left to right) @ 12" in and at 36" in. I realize that they will spread but will that give my 4ft tank optimal spread?? It just seams to me that the outside of my tank will get more light then it needs and maybe the middle will be too dark? I have a 4" euro brace and don't need a lot of light out that far. Should I try to modify the lights or tip them so they point in more???

Thanks guys
Lunchbucket

 

[Lunchbucket]

Also, has anyone else used those rivet guns from Lowes? Their instructions suck. Not that they are hard to figure out but I didn't 100% understand how to get it to cut the "nail" end off. What I did was squeeze it to set the rivet and then release and slide the end on to the nail again (all the way tight against the rivet) and squeeze again. It broke the nail end off. It worked but not sure if that was right. Their little picture that shows to pull it away didn't seem to work for me??

Lunchbucket

 

[aka_Willy]

Ya that's how the rivet guns work Lunch

 

[Lunchbucket]

aka_Willy - I figured so but thought I better double check

Lunchbucket

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

hey look i found the thread :lol: now just to read and get cought up.

 

[Hop]

Rivet guns are so simple I guess it would seem as though there was a step missing That is why I love working with aluminum and a rivet gun. it goes so quick

 

[FFrankie]

Nice rack dude!

 

[JCTewks]

Lunchbucket: Silicone would do something for soundproofing...but I'm not sure how much. Maybe if you just ran a thick bead every 24" or so, let it dry, and then put up the second layer...just using the silicone as a spacer.

The biggest keys in soundproofing for transmission noise (sound going through walls and such) is to physically decouple things as much as possible, use many products with different densities, and remember, air is your friend Leave airspaces between everything. I would prob even use 3" insulation so you have an extra inch of airspace inside of the walls.

BTW, I built the recording studio that I currently am in...so i did a LOT of research on soundproofing and dampening. And did the whole space without buying the fancy Auralex stuff

 

[Jflip2002]

I'll be following this. I have the same build in the future coming up, just 36" deep, rather than 48". Definitely looking more in depth already than I'll be going lol.

 

[maxxII]

You could pretty easily add some spacers, to the inside rails of the light rack to raise up inside edge of the lights thereby angling the light pattern more in board....

Nick