New Kitchen - 110 Gallon Tall Build

[dbartkow]

Hi Everyone,
We just finished remodeling our kitchen and much to my surprise my wife suggested we put a tank on one of the open walls we had remaining! So I need to take advantage of this opportunity and I am going to need some help along the way.

I have the tank and I just finished building the structural part of the stand this past weekend. Here is the view from across the kitchen:

The tank is 48" x 18" x 30" (high) and will reside in what we are calling the sitting room. Just a couple of sofa chairs and the tank. Here is a close up of the tank:

My wife gave me the go ahead as long as it has a real finished or furniture-like look to it. So after searching through Reef Central, I was able to find an example of what we would like to do:

This one was built from scratch (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13148369&postcount=366). However, I am going to attempt to duplicate it with help from the kitchen cabinet company we used. That way it will perfectly match the rest of our kitchen.

I have most of the cabinet plans figured out, but I am not sure about the top part of the cabinet. For those that have a canopy, how much room above the tank is typical? Is that enough of height to work in the tank or would you prefer to have more room?

Like I said, I am going to need some help along the way, so I appreciate some input and suggestions as we go along. I am planning on a basement sump, which I have no experience with. So I am hoping to learn from everyone else's experience.

Well, that is probably enough to kick things off. I will have more questions to follow.

Dave

 

[Jacwil]

I can't really help with any of your questions but I wanted to comment how gorgeous the kitchen turned out!

Following along closely to this one as I am slowly beginning our build as well!

Great start Dave!

 

[dbartkow]

Justin,
Thanks! It has taken a long time, a lot of planning and tons of money. But, we are really happy with the results. All we need now is a nice reef to compliment it

Anyone have a suggestion for the hood height above the tank? I need to get our plans into the cabinet maker. As of right now, I am planning on going with two AI Sol Blue units running lengthwise inside the hood.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[dbartkow]

I posted this thread in the DIY section about the canopy height:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2089671

Someone suggested using the Golden Ratio to determine the most ascetically pleasing height. I have never heard of this before... pretty interesting. Going by the ratio, my height should be 14.6 inches.

Dave

 

[Capt_Cully]

Your kitchen looks GREAT! 14 inches would work fine for any lighting out there IMO. I've got my AIs on the way so I'll let you know how they look. Between you and Justin, you're going to cost me a TON of money because now my wife wants a new kitchen too!

 

[dbartkow]

Thanks Cully,
That is how I got into trouble. Our neighbors redid their kitchen and as soon as my wife saw it I was done. Here is what it looked like before:

As you can see it is a vast improvement!

Anyway, on to more important things. I need to start working on the basement sump. The plumbing needs to span across our finished part of the basement into the unfinished side. So it needs to drop down a level and go about 23 feet. Anyone see any concerns with that? That is a lot of distance for the water to be moved. Any clue what type of pump I should buy? Even though it is in the basement, I still want something that is quiet.

Dave

 

[redreef85]

That should be a really nice sitting room when you are all finished! Looking forward to your build.

 

[Tonynlo]

Nice kitchen! I need to keep my better half off reef central. For height, I wouldn't be measuring from the tank up. I would measure from the ceiling down. Now, if it were me, I would go to the ceiling. I remember seeing a thread a while back where a guy did something like that and created a door disguised as a bookshelf. It was a very clever design that also have that furniature look to it.

 

[dbartkow]

Thanks Tonynlo! I will search around and see what I can find.

I just did a head loss calculation on the return pump and came up with the following:

Total losses are 22.91 feet of head pressure, or 9.9 PSI. with a flow rate of 1406 GPH

I used the default Blueline HD 100 pump in the calculation. What flow rate would be ideal at the output of the return? My tank will be mixed, but mostly LPS. I will also have at least one MP40 in the tank for circulation.

Any suggestions for a quiet pump would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

 

[dbartkow]

Just got 75 lbs of dry reef-saver reef rock from Bulk Reef Supply. No aquascaping done here, I just put them in so I could get a look at all of them.

Full Tanks Shot (sorry for a sad iPhone pictures)

Close Up

I am really impressed with the rock. It is super clean, comes in really cool shapes and sizes that will make aquascaping easy. It also has a ton of holes and surface area.

I have a busy next couple of days, but I hope squeeze in some time on the tank. I need to paint the back and part of the sides of the black. I also noticed I need to chisel out a small part of the stand to make room for the bulkhead. Not too excited about that, but what can you do. I also need to start putting some serious thought into how I am going to plumb this to the future basement sump.

Dave

 

[Steve Canyon]

Ygm

 

[sean obergfell]

If its not to late......Go Bigger! With all that you are wanting to put into this project and if you have the green....go bigger.

This looks like it is going to be amazing!
Beautiful kitchen.
God bless your wife for wanting this. Run with it brother!

 

[sean obergfell]

I love the space of 24" width. you can so so much more with just an extra 6". its just a thought...

If this is your last....make it your best!

 

[Jacwil]

Nice lookin' rock Dave! Very porous and should lock together nicely when you go to 'scape.

As far as tank size, for what it's worth I ordered my 150g, 4'x24"x30"H from G at ABC Aquarium, and will be a few weeks...maybe you could add to the order lol...just sayin!

Nah really though can't wait to see how the basement sump area ends up...I REALLY need to get started on mine.

 

[dbartkow]

With my go ahead to get a tank I was given a 48" x 18" footprint limitation. So I originally was thinking a 90 gallon tank. However, I decided to go bigger by going taller and get a 110 gallon. I didn't want to rock the "go ahead and get a tank" boat, so I am going to stick with that size. I know that 30" tall tank is going to be a pain to reach into, but I am willing to deal with that. I like the look of a nice tall tank too.

Dave

 

[sean obergfell]

It will be beautiful. The tall tanks give an awesome viewing picture.

Best of luck on the build....enjoy!

 

[1Sik1500]

Looking good. I just set up my 110 tall this past weekend. Other than the reach, i love it. If the reach is a little too much some people add some sand. i only have 1-1/2 deep SB.

 

[redreef85]

Looks great, keep us posted!

 

[dbartkow]

Yes, I was a little concerned about the reach too. But, I think the larger viewing area is worth it. Time will tell.

I haven't made hardly any progress on my build. Our kitchen project stretched into our family room and will finish painting that this weekend. After that, I will be putting a lot of effort behind the aquarium build. I did order the kitchen cabinets to cover the stand, canopy and bookcases on side. Those won't arrive until early January. So I plan to work on the plumbing and hopefully getting some type of sump hooked up. I also need to get all my "dead" rock in some water and maybe get a cycle going to build up some beneficial bacteria on them.

Dave

 

[Ghosty]

Yeah the height on a 110 kinda scares me for cleaning and re-arranging rock, etc. But it definitely will look spectacular. That would be a tough decision. Not a very popular size, so I'm excited to see how yours turns out after stocking.