A big upgrade project. Advice appreciated

[ryshark]

I had my parents over this past weekend and my dad came up with what may be a good idea. He knew I want to eventually get a bigger tank within the next year. I decided on a 180gallon 6' long tank. He suggested that I put the new tank where the tv is and put the tv where the tank is now. As you can see the tv is in an indentation in the wall which is 7.5' across and about 3' deep. Then we started thinking I could have "cabinets" built in to fill the void areas and have the top part of the cabinets lift up so I can access the tank and the lights can be mounted on the ceiling of that indentation you see. so essentially it would be/look exactly like an in the wall fish tank. The way my couch is, I could easily put that tv or get a plasma and hang it on the wall where my tank is in the picture. What do you guys think about this idea? Any other suggestions?

 

[AndrewH]

180 Gallons.. I envy you =P

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

That sounds like a great idea, and will look good IMO. If you have cabinets/wood/false cabinets that fill all the voids around the tank to the ceiling it would deff look great and built in(because it would be, lol). You dont have much to lose putting something on the sides as your only losing a small viewing angle from the side and it would look much better IMO

The only thing that would be better IMO is a custom tank made to fill that opening again with the cabinets top/bottom.

 

[ccCapt]

Sounds like a nice plan. Is there any way to get access to the tank from the back of the wall? Just thinking...if it's enclosed in the space there isn't much room to work with. Would be nice to have a back door.

 

[neilanh]

I was gonna ask the same thing as ccc. If you fully cabinet that thing in, access to behind will be difficult for plumbing or whatnot. What's on the other side of that wall?

 

[ryshark]

That is a good point, I didn't even think about that. An access door is out of the question. A guest bedroom is behind that wall but I am not adding any extra doors in the room. Do I really need that much access to the back if I get a reef ready tank?

 

[Dyami]

I have just a 55gal and it's up against a wall, there only about 2 inches between it and the wall.

Everytime I do something with the tank I am mumbling under my breath about how I wish I could get to the other side and have more room. It is much easier when you can get to all of your plumbing and have room to work with.

It's not impossible, but if you close it in there, which I think would look amazing btw, you will have a great deal of trouble anytime you have to get back in there to do any maintainence.

It looks like you might have room to work with for pocket doors on the other side if it is in a guest room. those sliding in wall doors.

just my penny for the day.

 

[neilanh]

You could put a set of double doors in the guest room. It would look like it was just a closet, but give you the access you want.

Just a thought...

 

[cmor1701d]

I have a 125 RR tank that is about 3" from the wall. That's plenty of room to drop a ph power cord, etc down the back side so I can connect it to power under the tank. You should replace the outlets in that wall with GFCI outlets.

In 5 years I have never had a problem where I needed more room to the back of the tank. I occasionaly have needed to grab something that fell behind it from the sides though Thinner arms would have helped

One thing you will need to consider is that the bulbs will need to be changed every so often, so access to the light fixture is important. This is especially true if you get a 6' long light fixture instead of individual pendants.

You wil want to make sure that you plenty of room over the top to get to the rear overflows. They do need occasional maintenance (running a brush through to clean out any gunk). You just need to be able to access them as most of the work will be under the tank, so don't completey fill that area.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

As long as you sit down and take all things into consideration(like this thread) then you should be able to come up with something that looks good and works.

I mentioned "false cabinets" or something to fill in the sides, meaning something that is removable or swings open(hinges) for slightly more access. I think you could do the same for the top that is on a hinge and the door swings up for access to the lights. This way it would look built in with the doors shut as it would cover ALL the empty spaces, then more room with it open. Some nice wood like kitchen cabinet doors.

Another thing would to have the tank not centered in the opening, so you would just have a door/panel on one side, then you would possibly have room to get near the back(but only on 1 side). I guess if you cannot fit back there then that wouldnt matter.

Just food for thought.

 

[ryshark]

My current setup is similar to yours Cmor. My tank now I only have about 4" clearance from the wall, but I can stick my arm back there from the sides. I think I will be ok with this project, but it definitely is a concern in my head now. I like to clean my back and side glass so coralline doesnt grow on it, which is already a pain ..... this setup would make it a real big pain. I wouldnt even be able to use the magnetic scraper anymore for the sides and back.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Thats why I was saying have doors on hinges on the sides, then you would have access to the sides, just not the back.

 

[ryshark]

Yeah, I didnt see your last long post, you were probably typing it the same time as I was typing mine. I always had the hinge to swing open top part, idea in mind. But doing that on the sides or like you mentioned about puttng the tank to one side and making a "door" on the other side could be a good idea. That would give me about 13" and I could squeeze through there. That would also give me incentive to never get fat.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

That would give me about 13" and I could squeeze through there. That would also give me incentive to never get fat.

There ya go, motivation, lol

That would give you some kind of access to the back at least on 1 side, but you would give up the other side. Its a hard call. I'm sure you'll figure out whats best for you.

 

[cmor1701d]

You are putting a 72 inch tank in a 90" hole. That gives you 9" clearance on each side. Plenty of room to reach in with a magnetic scraper. I never scrape the back wall. That's allowed to get covered with coraline. I like that look.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well I thought I would add my $.02 to the discussion. A couple of questions first.

1. Is this a concrete floor?
2. How often is your spare bedroom used?
3. will you be moving in the next 2-5 years?

If this is not a concrete floor and you have a basement below you will need to look at bracing the floor. 180g tank = a lot of weight. If you do have a basement below then you don't have to worry too much about the space around and under the tank you could have everything below the tank. If this is a concrete floor then you are golden with the weight issue.

If you don't plan to move anytime soon and your spare bedroom is like most people's (use about 3 times a year) then I would strongly suggest putting the double doors behind the tank.

I know everyone has said you don't need much room you can squeeze etc.. Look I have a 4' tank and it is 8" off the wall and all that space is taken up with plumbing. Now I know you are looking at a RR tank but believe me when you need to get to the center of a 6' tank with only 9" of squeeze room you will be wishing those doors were there. Having access behind the tank will make your life so much easier.

Like I said just my $.02.

 

[ryshark]

1. Yes it is concrete floor with nothing but earth below the concrete, so I am good there.
2. Rarely every used like you said maybe 3 times a year.
3. Most likely I won't be moving in the next 2-5 years. I bought this house new 3-years ago and the market in CA is not good, like many other places in the country. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to move I wouldn't for at least 2-5 years because I will probably be upside down on the house until then.

I don't know what those doors would do to resale of the house, they would be kind of weird to anybody except us. Maybe I will just keep the TV where it is and when I get the 180, put it along the same wall as the 75 is now.

Tonight I will get exact measurements of the lenth and depth. If it is deep enough, which I don't think it is.... maybe I could crawl underneath the tank right next to the sump and pop up behind the tank. Not likely though.

 

[redswi]

I don't know what those doors would do to resale of the house, they would be kind of weird to anybody except us. Maybe I will just keep the TV where it is and when I get the 180, put it along the same wall as the 75 is now.



You could put in full length doors and turn the niche into a closet when you go to sell...just a thought

 

[Ziggy953]

1. Yes it is concrete floor with nothing but earth below the concrete, so I am good there.
2. Rarely every used like you said maybe 3 times a year.
3. Most likely I won't be moving in the next 2-5 years. I bought this house new 3-years ago and the market in CA is not good, like many other places in the country. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to move I wouldn't for at least 2-5 years because I will probably be upside down on the house until then.

I don't know what those doors would do to resale of the house, they would be kind of weird to anybody except us. Maybe I will just keep the TV where it is and when I get the 180, put it along the same wall as the 75 is now.

Tonight I will get exact measurements of the lenth and depth. If it is deep enough, which I don't think it is.... maybe I could crawl underneath the tank right next to the sump and pop up behind the tank. Not likely though.

Nobody said you had to have the front of the tank flush with the walls. You could always bump it out a little maybe 6" or so giving yourself more room behind the tank. I have seen setups like that and with the cabinets built around the tank and some of the sides exposed it served as a nice effect.

Or you could go with the closet idea in the spare as we suggested above.

 

[Chisel]

I have just a 55gal and it's up against a wall, there only about 2 inches between it and the wall.

Everytime I do something with the tank I am mumbling under my breath about how I wish I could get to the other side and have more room. It is much easier when you can get to all of your plumbing and have room to work with.

I managed to do the exact same thing and am cursing myself. I will know better when I upgrade.

As for my own 2 cents, I would put an access panel of some sorts in the wall. Not sure how handy you are with sheet rock but if you save what you cut out from the sheet rock, it can easily be put back and patched when you move.