Please help me choose to location of my 180g

[Spiderman097]

Hello all,
I'm trying to think of the perfect place for my 180g. I have 3 locations picked out, I would love to have my plumbing in my basement so I can really nerd out without having all my equipment under my tank. However, 2 of the places will exit into the crawlspace and I'll have to run piping to the basement.

-If I choose the Breakfast Room, which is the best place for the tank, I'll have to run at least 20+ Feet of pipe to where I want to have my sump.
-If I place it in the dining room, I'll have to run at least 10+ Feet of pipe.
-And if I put it in the living room, I think the light would drive people crazy eventually who want to watch TV. But I won't have to run any extra pipe through a crawl space.
-Finally, I could place it in the breakfast nook but have the sump under the tank, but maintenance would be a pain.

Included are as many pictures of the areas and the under areas, let me know what you think.

Thank you!!

1. Breakfast Nook
2. Dining Room
3. Living Room
4. Breakfast nook with sump under Tank

White Arrows indicate where the plumbing would go.

Breakfast Nook

Under Breakfast Nook

Dining Room

Under Dining Room

Living Room

Under Living Room

Sump Room

Floor Plan

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I would put it where you and family spend most of your time. I would also not put the sump in the basement until you have it finished. SO I would put the sump under the tank in a nice tank stand. You can buy one or make it yourself to be a nice piece of furniture.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I agree with Dkuhlmann. Put it where you will see it most often.
My 3 tanks are in my main living space ( yeah, I'm addicted ). The lights do not distract from TV watching. In fact, we watch LESS TV with the tanks constantly visible.
I live in a ranch style house on a slab, so no basement sumps for me.
I don't find the sumps under the tanks are that hard to deal with.

 

[Land_shark067]

i would eliminate the place under the rams poster because you want to set the tank perpendicular to the floor joists not parallel to them. aka you want your tank to sit on as many joist as possible or it will fall through the floor. a 180 gallon will weight a LOTT!! 180*8.3=1494 lbs then add 300lbs rock and sand. then two adults standing next to tank looking at it. you will be almost 2200lbs at least so make sure your on the floor joists!! then absolutely put it in the place you spend the most time in. literally that is the best way to choose which room.

 

[Spiderman097]

No matter where I put the tank, the tank will run parallel to the floor joists.

 

[Dmorty217]

This is a personal preference above all. I would take into account that the more pipe you have to run for the tank the larger return you will have to run, but other than that it won't make much difference. Where you can enjoy it the most is what makes most sense

 

[Therinx]

I've always gone with, "Put it where you'll see it the most".

For me, that would be living room or bedroom.

 

[GimpyFin]

I'd put it where you get to enjoy it the most and have the best view. (That was the living room for me.)

 

[farfromsea]

If you/the family is concerned about light from the tank perhaps you can do a literal dry run and turn on the lights in the room (at the appropriate height) and see how badly it affects anyone's TV viewing if at all.

 

[jenjen]

I love having my tank in the TV room because I can enjoy it when I sit down in the evening. It doesn't distract from tv watching at all in our family, though we were careful to make sure the system was quiet.