BUILDING TANK IN WALL?

J

JHFV

Hey guys im building a new house and i would like to build a fishtank in a wall. It will be under the stairs in a closet. I figured if i run a AC vent in there it would help with the heat? I want to do a reef tank. Not a real advandced reef tank some thing like mushrooms and easier stuff like that. Question is i was thinking if i did a DAS tank it would be easier for up keep. What do you guys think? please help with ideas.
 
The A/C vent will not be a good idea. It will only pump in cool air when the a/c is on, and that will be based upon the thermostat that is in another part of the house. With lights and equipment running all day long, the area under the stairs will be rather warm.

A vented fan sucking air out of the room would be a better option.

Plus, if air blows back through the a/c vent, it will send moisture and salt creep back into your home a/c.
 
Agree'd. I would check out the many links on reefcentral on set ups. Check the big tank forums and see what others have done. THink it thru, plan it out and submit your plans for everyone to critique. It always costs more than you think! I've just finished up on my 400 gallon. BTW, if you need live rock PM me.
 
I am about 1/2 way through on construction of a 1,000 gallon system.
Plus the Refugium.
In the living room wall, between garage and living room. Quite extensive and complicated.
I am using stack vents combined with fans to cool my heat issues. This does increase evaporation, but the resulting salt creep is nothing compared to the damage heat will do to my systems overall.

Would like to seem some pics of your system when you get a little further on.

Best of Luck.

-Andrew
 
I did the same thing you did and planned it when building the home. My biggest regret is not having planned for front access. I have to access the tank from the rear and it's a big pain in the butt.
 
I have a 200g fresh in the wall with rear only access. It is a real PAIN to clean...it would be even MORE difficult to clean if it was a reef tank because you do everything backward....since the liverock would be built up the back of the tank (for nice viewing from the front) you have to stretch over the rocks to clean the front of the tank.

Hard to explain, but I'm sure masharp knows what I'm saying!
 
OK, solution to front access problem. If your tank is not too big, what you do is mount the tank stand on industrial casters. I had a 50 gallon set up this way for my in-wall-under stair set up. When I wanted to clean the aquarium. I simply rolled it back a couple of feet so I could access it from the front. It worked great. I was able to keep the clean built in look and have easy access. I got this idea from a DFWMAS member who back in `1993 had a 135 aquarium on casters so he could clean up water spills on his hardwood floor. Sweet!
 
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