Upgrade coming soon!!!

[Ziggy953]

Calling everyone one!!!!!!

Ok here's the deal. My wife has gotten back into the reef bug. We are changing the lay out of our basement and planning a new living area and she brought up a wall dividing tank idea to me. After some talk and deciding we are going to put in a 180g tank that will be viewable from 3 sides. I know! I was as shocked as you guys!

I have a lot of decisions to make and some input from you guys would be great! The tank dimensions will be 72x24x24 RR. I'm planning on building columns to cover the overflows from the back. I've seen it done on a tank that was in the middle of a room and it looked really cool.

Finding a tank is going to be the biggest pain. I've asked BRK to quote me a price on a tank and if you guys have any ideas of places to look that would be great.

This is going to be a built in to some extent. I'm going to build an oak cabinet and oak canopy for the tank. The cabinet will look like a piece of furniture and the canopy will be attached to the celing. I'm planning on having access to the front and rear of the tank from above and access to the plumbing and stuff under the tank from the rear.

I will be moving everything in my 72 over to the new tank, but I plan to keep the 55 setup as a frag tank it will just be a stand alone setup.

This is something that we are going to be doing later in the year we have a lot of other things to do as well, but I have to incorporate this into the other plans as it will be part of the overall build of the room.

With all of that said I would love to hear some suggestions, do's and don'ts. Anyone that has put a large tank in please chime in I would love to hear what has worked for you and what hasn't.

As always thanks for the input!

 

[fijiwigi]

That is really exciting. I wish I had the space and money to do that. I would assume it to be about a 10,000 dollar project. I would have to take out a 2nd mortgage to finance that. I am jealous. The only suggestion I would have having no experience with this at all. Would be ask about 3 local fish stores to quote you a price for the tank and play them against each other. Since they have stuff shipped in several times a week already they wont have to charge you the extra shipping. Take the store with the best price and get the other store to lower thier price.

 

[austinsdad]

I went from a 72 to a 155g tank. Nothing built in, but the planning and measuring and etc. How far are you away from me? Maybe plan a half day to do some planning and measuring. Want some help?

Canopy attached to the ceiling? That'd be great to raise it while you maintain, clean, etc and keep some light on the subject. I've got pulleys on my canopy and just raise it. Keep it that way for days at a time whilst piddling around in there.

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks for the responses!

Austinsdad we aren't that far apart. I'm in VA between Warrenton and Fredericksburg.

I am still in the very early planning stages of this project. At the same time I will be building a new living area and a bathroom so I will have my hands full. Since my wife is wanting this to be a room divider I will have to incorporate the construction at the same time I build the family room. I have a few ideas in my mind for how I want to lay things out but I haven't put them on paper yet. I wish I was better on the computer and could draw something up to post here. Maybe I'll play around with one of those building plan program things we have.

I really like the idea of being able to get the lights up and out of the way while working on the tank. That is my biggest pain right now on the 72. To do anything I have to remove the canopy all together so that only happens about 2 times a month. Usually after a trip to BRK! LOL!!

The only things I know for sure are these:
Tank - 180 RR 72x24x24
Viewable on 3 sides
Cabinet design/look - we have a very good idea...toying with Oak or Cherry wood.
I have enough oak and cherry to go either way. We have decided that the cabinet will look like a piece of furniture though it will be built around the actual support system for the tank.

Unknowns - too many to even begin to list.

Any and all ideas and thought are greatly appreciated!!!

This project is a few months away (summer time) so I have a lot of time to plan and figure out what I want and what I need. That and to save up some $$$$$$$

 

[cmor1701d]

If you get a RR tank then the overflows are built in and the tank is pre-drilled. All you need in the tank is some PH's and the only thing coming out of the tank will be the power cords. If your canopy rests at the top of the tank you can run the power cords up into the canopy. A totaly clean look unless you're doing maintenance.

Add the pulley system to raise and lower the canopy and you're all set. I wonder if you can get spring loaded takeup reels so you can easily raise and lower the canopy.

 

[Ziggy953]

Cmor, you have a good point about the cords to the PHs. I will make sure to have enough plugs wired in the canopy.

i haven't designed the canopy for the tank yet but the "shell" will be fastened to the celing and won't move. I'm going to have doors on both sides for lighting access. I'm going to work out a pulley system inside the canopy that the lights and reflectors will attach to that can be raised and lowered. I just haven't figured it all out yet. That is why I'm on here getting ideas and suggestions from you guys! I have a general idea of what I want to do but I know there are lots of folks out there that have been there and done that so I'm looking for as much input as possible.

 

[melosu58]

Congrats on the upgrade. I personally like tanks without canopies. But that is just me.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well since this is going to be a room divider and viewable from 3 sides I want the canopy to house and hide some of the equipment.

 

[ccCapt]

All I can suggest is plan, measure, then measure, then measure...lol. I was thinking about going with a 180, but the cost of everything was just too much for me. If you have a basement, you're going to have to add some supports too. A tank that big really involves alot. I wish I could do it. It's will be lots of fun for sure.

 

[Ziggy953]

The tank will be in the basement on the slab. I'm still very early in the planning stages so I have lots of time to make sure things are just right.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well we have changed our minds on the upgrade. We were out looking at different LFSs in the area and decided to go with a 210 instead of the 180. Same size tank plus 4" taller. Not that much more money so what the heck. This again was my wife's idea so...I'm grinning from ear to ear!!!

 

[ccCapt]

YEAHBABY! The bigger the better!

 

[Ziggy953]

I know! WE went to 5 different LFSs yesterday and one that we went to has tons of tanks in stock and they had the 180 and 210 side by side and my wife said she would rather just get the 210. $100 more then the 180 so that is what we are going to do.

I have decided to get the Lumenarcs, I'm just gonig to get them one at a time and start buying them now. I'm going to use 250w bulbs and with the Lumenarcs I can get the effect I want without going up to 400s.

 

[cmor1701d]

Wow, just be sure to start a picture thread when you start this project.

As I mentioned in the other thread, take a look at window pulleys for your lights. They should make raising and lowering the lights quite easy.

 

[Ziggy953]

I will probably start the new thread when I order the first part to the new setup. I figure if I document everything every step of the way I will have something to refer back to.

Also, I'm going to be building a kitchen, bathroom and living room all at the same time of doing this tank upgrade so, there will be a LOT of things happening at once.