New in wall, viewable from two sides build

[BrettDS]

So I'm starting this thread as I'm planning out a new in wall build. My wife recently asked for a divorce and the kids will be living with her in the house, while I recently bought a new house. My existing 75G reef tank is mostly running on autopilot right now (Thank goodness for my apex and auto feeder) but I need to get everything moved to the new house at some point. I'm currently leasing the new house, but will be purchasing it and plan to close in mid March or early April. I can't start making holes in the walls until after I close, so I've got a few months to plan things out (Which is probably good because I'm usually pretty bad at planning. I'm usually more of a start the work now and plan as I go, which doesn't always work out well)

In any case, as I had originally considered this project I was thinking that I'd simply move the 75G tank, but now I'm considering upgrading to a larger tank at the same time. I'm thinking that it will be easier to make the move if there is already a tank set up and waiting for the livestock, rather than trying to tear everything down at once, move the tank and set it up again, then put the livestock in it. Of course, I also get the benefit of winding up with a bigger tank in the end and that's always a good thing

So to start with, here are the walls I'm looking at working on. The first picture is the dining room. The tank would be going into the wall on the left, and be flush with this wall.

The living room is on the other side of that wall, and it currently looks like this:

I'd love to put it at the very right side of this wall and make the tank visible from three sides, but the wall is thicker at the end and I believe there is a load bearing column in there, so I'm thinking the tank will need to go farther in.

I'm also thinking that I may build out the wall in the living room along the whole length of that wall to make the tank flush with the living room wall as well. This would also give me room for a (very thin) equipment closet near the tank as well.

Right now I'm liking a 72x18x29 150G tank. I think that's a good width and height, but I'm a little afraid that trying to aquascape something that's only 18 inches wide may be tough, especially since it will be viewable on both sides. However, given that I'm planning to build out that whole wall, I'm concerned that going too much wider might take up too much space in the living room. Lighting is also a concern with a bigger tank. I have two Radion XR36W pro's and I'd rather not spend too much on additional lighting, but I'm thinking I'd probably need at least one more for a 72 inch long 150G tank.

So let me know what you guys think... Particularly on tank size and width. I think picking a tank size would be the first step and I can continue planning from there.

Thanks much,
Brett

 

[Bogue Chitto]

I think you have a good plan. It will be a lot easier to transfer the old tank inhabitants to the new. That will look good in the wall. I wish you well with it.

 

[kmbyrnes]

Sounds like a fun project.
That wall is almost certainly load bearing.
I would rethink the 18" dimension. With that height, you will have enough problems with maintenance. A 180 will give you more room front to back. If you cheat the tank a little bit in both rooms, you won't really miss the extra space.
If budget is truly an issue, a chinese led can fill in the extra space for less than $200
In any case, a tank will look great there.
Have fun!

 

[BrettDS]

Cheating from the sides seems like an interesting idea. And might actually look pretty good. I may not do it from the dining room side because that room is pretty small to begin with and I'm not sure I'd want to lose even another inch or two. Additionally I'd be a bit concerned about someone walking between the wall and the table and hitting the part of the tank that sticks out from the wall with a plate or something and possibly even cracking the glass. But coming out of the wall on the living room side... Even by 5 or 6 inches or more could be an interesting look.

I don't believe the whole wall is load bearing... It runs parallel to the joists, but there is a cathedral ceiling in that part of the house and the top of the thick part of the end of the wall runs up to the peak of the cathedral ceiling, so I could definitely see that part being load bearing. I'll investigate further before I destroy anything and worst case I can build a header above the tank if it is a load bearing wall.

 

[dt204]

From the looks of it, that wall shouldn't be load bearing. The clear span rafters of the cathedral ceiling support themselves, and a wall down the middle isn't necessary. It would probably just be aesthetic to separate the living spaces. The build out at the end of the wall is also doubtful that it is structural. I'd need to see more pictures, but it looks aesthetic as well, just to get those arches to meet each other in the right place. Are you going to plumb it down to the basement? I agree 18" isn't a ton of footprint, but you gotta live with the room size, so it'd be a personal decision. Should be a sweet tank

 

[Indymann99]

I put this together for another reefer with similar build. Might give you some ideas

Viewing wall from front/back



Viewing the wall from the END

 

[alphasig293]

Looks like a good plan