Ron's 300G Tank Move and In-Wall Installation

T

TriggaFish99

Premium Member
Well, I'm moving across town.

The house I bought has a perfect spot in my bedroom for an in wall at the foot of the bed.

So, with all this tank build log stuff now, I figured it's about time for me to start documenting some of the stuff I'm going to do.

I'm getting a 150 gallon stock tank this weekend to help with the transition. I'm thinking I'll put most of the live rock and the small fish in there. I also have a 55 gallon tank I can put the larger fish. I'm not exactly who will go where. I'll see how this goes as I'm setting up the holding tanks.

As to not rush this, I'll get the rocks, water etc set up in the holding tanks first. Letting those sit for about a week (hopefully) so I don't lose fish/corals to an ammonia spike or something. Once it settles down, I'll move the livestock over as appropriate.

In parallel with all the above, I'll start building the "stand" for the tank and frame it in. I'm rebuilding the stand because I don't like the "cabinet" stand I have now. I"m going to build it out of wood and seal the crap out of it. Then I'll have to finish the walls.

My main question at this point is about my substrate. It's not sugar sized sand, but it's the very small argonite. I'm a little worried about disturbing this stuff. Obviously moving a 300 gallon tank with several hundreds of pounds of wet "sand" will be impossible.

So, does anyone have any recommendations on the best way to do that? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
Well, I've had a slight change in plans.

Dane from Rift-to-Reef talked me into getting a new tank and making a fish room! My current tank is 8'x2'x30" with a center overflow. It's a room divider tank that I've been using for a regular tank for years. My wife and I always hated the center column. But I always stack rock high around the column and it's very tolerable. So, if anyone is looking for free standing 300 gallon acrylic tank.....

While at Dane's shop looking at his in-wall framed tank, my wife said "why don't we just get a new tank without the center column". :shock: Of course since I love my wife so much, I'll have to go get a new tank now. :wink:

I'm thinking of getting a 6'x3'x27" tank called deep dimensions. It's still 300 gallons, but it will be a totally different look. I'm looking to get the Starfire front glass too.

Instead of doing the previous build, we're going to build a fish room. The living room wall is right against the garage. So, we're going with a fish room that will house all equipment and a tank. The room will be about 8'x10'.

It's similar to Marc's design, but we will only have the front showing into the living room. If you've ever been to DNA, we're going after a similar look with framing the tank to look like a living picture of the ocean.

Well off to planning. I have to change quite a bit now.
 
Sounds great, Ron. Looking forward to hearing more as it progresses.
 
If ONLY your current tank didn't have that center overflow, and was glass... -sigh- Those dimensions are EXACTLY what I'm looking for...

Looking forward to pics!

So, when you say you're moving "across town", you moving across Rockwall, or across the metroplex?
 
Maybe you could work with that tank Brian. Remove the center overflow, cap off the bulkheads or plumb them under the sand bed to an overflow on the back wall... Drill the tank for more overflows (seems that tank would need 3 overflows total for that length).... Just a thought.
 
Marc - I considered it, but I REALLY don't like acrylic tanks... Scratch too easily, and for something I'm planning on having installed for 30+ years, it'd be full of scratches in no time...

I.E. the fact that it's acrylic was more of a show stopper than the configuration of the tank...
 
Ron, you might want to check the guarantee on the tank if you use your own stand. I think that Perfecto really shortens the time if you don't use their stand.
 
Dennis,

Hmm. Didn't know about that warranty thing. I'll definitely check out the specifics of the warranty.

Dane is supposed to be getting back to me soon. I can ask him.

Thanks for the info Dennis.

Serk,

While Acrylic does scratch easier than glass, it is easier to get the scratch out with the proper acrylic polishing kit. Try getting a scratch out of a glass tank!

Unless something crazy happens, small scratches are pretty easy to remove on acrylic. I've removed several scratches over time. The hardest part for me is reaching down to the bottom of the tank with my stub arms. That shouldn't be a problem with a giant like you!

Maybe I can just use the tank as a sump! How cool would a 300 gallon tank with a 300 gallon sump be!
 
@TriggaFish99 wrote:
Maybe I can just use the tank as a sump! How cool would a 300 gallon tank with a 300 gallon sump be! said:
My first reef was a 29 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump... (And 2 x 175 watt metal halides + 2 x 55 watt power compacts... I tend to over do things)

I meant no offense to acrylic tanks or their owners... It's just not where my preferences lay... 8)
Click to expand...
 
I have a question that I'd like to get some opinions from the forum.

We've decided to put an aquarium in the living room. My question is that if we put it fairly close to the aquarium, will it compete with the TV. My concern is that if we put it too close to the TV, there will be excessive light while we are watching TV. Will the lights & tank be distracting or cause unwanted glare on the TV.

I know someone out there has to have a tank that's close to their TV...just looking for some feedback on experiences of similar installations.
 
My tank is in the living room not close but to the left of the tv but I dont get the glare on my screen. I'll try to get a picture of it tonight for you.
 
Any pics of a display next to the television. I'm still a little concerned.

I can't wait to get started on this project. It's going to be a lot of fun.
 
Wow. Yesterday was a good day.

FISH ROOM: Yeaaaa!

I started the fish room. Not by myself of course. But we started anyway.

The room is going to be 8'x10'. I"m also going to install a small a/c unit and a vent. I'll need to work in there too. But since there's really no where to vent, I guess it will just vent into the garage.

First order of the day was to make sure we got the tank in the right spot. So, we measured and eyeballed...then did it again. Final height from the floor was bottom of the viewing area at 42" (or 3 1/2 feet). We went with a little lower for a few reasons. Deana and I are short, so we wanted to be able to look in and see more than the sand bed and bottom of the tank. We also chose 42" because if we put a normal sized couch or chair under it later, it won't block any of the tank.

We also offset the tank from the center of the wall somewhat. We did that because we didn't want too much glare or light around the TV. Still a little nervous about the bright lights by the television...but it is what it is now because...I cut a 6'x2' hole in my freaking wall! :shock: Well it's not actually quite so big. I left a little sheet rock so I could trim it exactly like I want it later.

Cutting the hole in the wall was the most nerve wrecking things I've done in a long while. If we screwed up...we'd never match the funky paint and texture job. Oh yea, Deana wouldn't be happy either.

So, once I got the hole where I wanted it, we started on the stand. This turned out a little trickier than I initially thought. We had to take several measurements into account to get the stand to line up where I wanted the viewing area. Things we had to consider is that the garage is sloped. No consistent measurements on the legs. We also had to take into account the 2x6" supports, 3/4' plywood, and 1/2 pink foam. Of course none of the measurements were true, so we measured and measured some more.

Getting the stand level also seemed to be a little harder than we had anticipated. But eventually, we got it right. So, the stand is now done and leveled.

The only thing we have left to do on the stand is cut the holes for the overflows, paint it, and add the pink foam.

Another great thing was that my tank came in today! I decided on the 6'x3'x27" Deep Dimensions tank. You really need to see a tank like this to appreciate how freaking sweet it is. I'm not sure how I'm going to set up my rocks/aqua scape from my other 300 gallon tank yet...but I have a ton more options with this super wide tank! Oh well. That will have to wait a while.

We're starting on the framing of the room today.

I'll try to get some pics of the project up today or tomorrow. I finally have something worth showing.

Wow. I'm really excited now. Off to work!
 
Nice job Ron. It's a tingly experience cutting into the wall like that.... :shock: I know you guys will do great at this.
 
Cool! I'm finally gonna get to start doing some work on my fish room today...

We have GOT to teach you how to take and post pictures though! :)
 
I've taken a bunch of pics, but still don't know how to post. I'll have to look that up really soon.

I know this thread sucks without pics. I'm surprised I didn't get that crazy banner yet.
 
@TriggaFish99 wrote:
I'm surprised I didn't get that crazy banner yet. said:
Well in that case...

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