My 156 g in wall

[tonym10]

I have been thinking about an in wall at my work for a few months. I took my 75 g down at home a year ago. I was not home enough to enjoy it . Now I miss it, so the plans are for a 156 oceanic ultimate rr .
I am currently at the stage of ordering parts for the system. So far I have 48" 60 gallon acrylic tank that I will glue baffles in for the sump.
I have also ordered the return pump , a t4, and for topoff I ordered a new LiterMeter. I sold 2 litermeters last year . Also ordered Digital Aquatics Reefkeeper. Over the next two months I plan to have the rest of the parts ordered and the tank. Remaining parts to get are 1 Vortex, 180 BubbleKing Mini, chiller, and the light that I am on preorder for that is 4-8 weeks out a ATI Sunpower T5 6 bulb 80watt.
The light fixture will be the hold up that will take it 2 months to get this done. I was planning to take it slow anyway. I also need to run RODI lines and 2 new electric lines plus move a wall 2' over.
SO the delay on the light gives me time to get things done and spreads the cost out over a couple months.
I really would like to find some nice LR between now and then. I want a couple of large nice shape pieces . If I can get a good supply of LR between now and then I can have things mostly cycled before the tank is up.
For water make up I plan to have 3 30 gallon rubbermaid tubs.
One above the other two(plumbed to the other 2) that will get filled with the rodi water with a float shutoff valve. Then I will dump this once full to the other tanks. One will be a kalk topoff tank the other will be for saltwater changes.
I plan to keep this reef simple as possible.

 

[seagirl]

Sounds like a nice project. I am planing a 125 gallon in wall right now and trying to get parts together.

 

[maroun.c]

Looks like a good start.
Having things cycle will you setup the tank is a good idea as then you avoid the long wait after everything is in there but you just have to watch it empty for weeks....
Tagging along.

 

[tonym10]

Thanks
I got a little farther in the last couple hours. I purchased the 156 tank. My lfs will keep it there till i am ready for it.
Here is a couple pics of where the tank will go.
I cut up cardboard and waste bags to see which size tank I like the look of 156 or 178 before I ordered.
The wall here will be moved over 2' to make this tank fit. The tank will be on the end like a corner, but rather then having the entire one side open I plan to put a porthole window view into the end.

Here is the sump in the shipping box

Here is some of the junk that needs to be moved behind the wall for the filter room area. These fire safe cabinets weigh a billion pounds

 

[Sebea]

Looks cool. I also have the 156 its an awesome dimension. I'm glad that I went with the 156 rather than the 178 because I would not have liked it if it was taller. JMO. Good luck with this project though, I will be tagging along.

 

[tonym10]

Thanks. The size difference between the 156 and the 178 was the reason I put the carbboard edge trim with the trash bags in them, so i could see what each size would like in the tank location. It came down to I liked the look of the 156 size plus making lighting easier, chiller easier and skimmer size better.

 

[tonym10]

Update. I just ordered 70 lbs of Marco rock . I will post picks of the rock next week. I will mix it with 80 lbs of LR .
I also got my RO setup hooked up and next week the room where all this is going will have the walls worked on. Tank is in at my lfs .

 

[cash cow]

hey tony........good luck with the project! i ordered the ATI sunpower fixture also!!! Can't wait for it to come in...... wouldn't it be easier to just fill the door in with studs and drywall? then make a door in a new place? it would definately be cheaper!! I'm a builder.......let me know if you need any info!

 

[tonym10]

Thanks cash. I thought about that too, but having that door there is very convenient. I have a builder freind who looked at my wall moving project today. he is going to do it Mon-tues, he said it will only cost me a couple hundred dollars. He will move some electric outlets too and trim out the window into the tank. I plan to have the stand behind the wall rather then have the stand as part of the wall , so there will be a 4" frame setback looking into the tank. The ATI light fixture will now be my biggest hold up.

 

[cash cow]

sweet!! good luck tony, can't wait to see it.........my Sunpower is supposed to be in around 2 weeks! i'll let you know how i like it......

 

[tonym10]

Here is a pic of the new tank and some of the 70 lbs of marco rock.
This marco rock is really nice . I will be mixing it with 70 lbs of LR. I just placed some in the tank to see how it looks.

 

[crvz]

Looks like a fun project! I've got the same size tank from oceanic, but got their brick style (thicker glass, no top brace). In any case, I like it a lot, and I imagine you'll enjoy yours as well. I don't think you mentioned, what do you plan on keeping in it?

 

[tonym10]

I have changed my mind numerous times about what I plan to keep here. Originally planned on fish only. Then i switched to a softie tank, now my plan is mostly soft and LPS corals, some monti caps. A few tangs,lawnmower blennie, mandarin after a year. Maybe a reefsafe wrasse.
The wall was moved today and the window framed in.
It will be trimed out tomorrow and electric work done. tank stand will be made by the weekend.

 

[tonym10]

Now the electric is run and I made the stands for water topoff and water changes .
The upper tub has an rodi line to it that will have an autoshutoff valve on it.
The tub below it will be the topoff water tub that will be the rodi water plus kalk. This will be set to auto topoff as well. The other tub will hold new saltwater for water changes. i will be able to dump the upper container of rodi water to the kalk tub or the saltwater tub as needed.
I just setup the stands to see how much room I have and I had the time today. It needs to be moved to finish the room

 

[tonym10]

Got my BubbleKing 180 mini today.

 

[SVTour]

Nice project so far...where did you get the rock from?

 

[tonym10]

from marcorocks.com

 

[alphaferret]

Yes that macro rock is very cool textured

 

[alphaferret]

do the rocks come w/ the nylon rod holders that I see on the site? Makes for very stable islands.

 

[tonym10]

You have to buy the rods. The rocks I got were all pretty big so i will not need to do much piling . I may buy some rods to hold things tight.