Under construction.....Almost

reddog170 · 11/01/2008, 07:25 AM

Well I am about to start building a built in tank. It will go where the old fireplace used to be. I am still in the getting going stages of my first tank but I know that this build will take some time. The tank itself will be huge( aprox 385 gallons) I wonder when building your tank from scrach what might I want to avoid doing or what might I want to make certian that I do. I am looking forward to getting started. It will be built out of 1" thick acrylic and the old chimney hole makes a great way to run all the plumbing directly into the basement. I have a freind that will do all of the wiring for me and will have all my sumps and other tanks in the basement. My nephew will help me setup a wireless monitoring system so as long as I can get online I can see what is happening with the tank. Nothing is started yet so I am OPEN to ideas and thoughts.

SaltyNovice · 11/01/2008, 08:42 AM

Sorry, don't have any suggestions - but I've subscribed to follow your build. Sounds like a dream build to me. I'm very hopeful to learn a great deal on this adventure.

plateboy3293 · 11/01/2008, 11:33 AM

How large is the sump?

reddog170 · 11/02/2008, 07:00 AM

I have bought a 120g plastic farm bin to use as a sump and another to use as a refugium.

Bambalam · 11/02/2008, 07:09 AM

My only suggestion is to build it with accessibility in mind. Try to make it fairly easy to reach all areas of the tank. I have a friend that built an 8 foot long tank into the wall of his living room. It looks great, but he doesn't like how hard it is to clean it and do all the normal tank maintenance. JMO, HTH

reddog170 · 11/04/2008, 12:47 AM

Well this project is turning out to be bigger than I thought. Kinda cool. Hopefully I will get some pics up as to what is going on in the basement to get this old house ready for this tank soon. Anyone ever relize how much stuff gets shoved away in your basement for "possible future use"? I have been hauling all sorts of stuff out.
Also am trying to help my sister get a nano setup as well. That will be fun she live about four hours away.
As for building with room for accessability, good catch. When I looked over my plans I found that parts of the tank would have been almost impossible to get to. Some rework in the planning dept. will happen there.

pex · 11/04/2008, 06:23 AM

Just when you think you have everything drawn up and planned out perfectly take 2 to 4 weeks and just think about it before starting the build. Chances are in those weeks you will see something that you missed or could be improved upon. I'm building my system now and did exactly this. If I would have just went off my first thoughts there would have been a lot of things that I would not have been happy with, even though I thought I had everything planned "perfect". Take your time...in the end you will be much happier you did.

reddog170 · 11/05/2008, 12:45 AM

I am glad that I did not go with the fist set of plans. They would have had it visible good from one room but with a few mods it will make the build easier and noe all sides will be vissible, two from the living/sitting room one from the kitchen and one from my nephews bedroom, wich he is happy with. And it will alow easier acces in case I have a plumbing problem or electrical problem down the road. Many more changes coming I am sure before anything permanant is done.

11/01/2008, 07:25 AM	#1
reddog170 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Winfield, IA Posts: 100	Under construction.....Almost Well I am about to start building a built in tank. It will go where the old fireplace used to be. I am still in the getting going stages of my first tank but I know that this build will take some time. The tank itself will be huge( aprox 385 gallons) I wonder when building your tank from scrach what might I want to avoid doing or what might I want to make certian that I do. I am looking forward to getting started. It will be built out of 1" thick acrylic and the old chimney hole makes a great way to run all the plumbing directly into the basement. I have a freind that will do all of the wiring for me and will have all my sumps and other tanks in the basement. My nephew will help me setup a wireless monitoring system so as long as I can get online I can see what is happening with the tank. Nothing is started yet so I am OPEN to ideas and thoughts. __________________ Life is about the journey not the destination. shaun dunn Current Tank Info: 2-55 gallon tanks

11/01/2008, 08:42 AM	#2
SaltyNovice Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Amarillo Posts: 292	Sorry, don't have any suggestions - but I've subscribed to follow your build. Sounds like a dream build to me. I'm very hopeful to learn a great deal on this adventure. __________________ SaltyNovice

11/01/2008, 11:33 AM	#3
plateboy3293 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hillsborough, New Jersey Posts: 1,038	How large is the sump? __________________ Wars come and go but my soldiers stay eternal Current Tank Info: 155 gallon bow

11/02/2008, 07:00 AM	#4
reddog170 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Winfield, IA Posts: 100	I have bought a 120g plastic farm bin to use as a sump and another to use as a refugium. __________________ Life is about the journey not the destination. shaun dunn Current Tank Info: 2-55 gallon tanks

11/04/2008, 12:47 AM	#6
reddog170 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Winfield, IA Posts: 100	Well this project is turning out to be bigger than I thought. Kinda cool. Hopefully I will get some pics up as to what is going on in the basement to get this old house ready for this tank soon. Anyone ever relize how much stuff gets shoved away in your basement for "possible future use"? I have been hauling all sorts of stuff out. Also am trying to help my sister get a nano setup as well. That will be fun she live about four hours away. As for building with room for accessability, good catch. When I looked over my plans I found that parts of the tank would have been almost impossible to get to. Some rework in the planning dept. will happen there. __________________ Life is about the journey not the destination. shaun dunn Current Tank Info: 2-55 gallon tanks

11/02/2008, 07:09 AM	#5
Bambalam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: OH Posts: 688	My only suggestion is to build it with accessibility in mind. Try to make it fairly easy to reach all areas of the tank. I have a friend that built an 8 foot long tank into the wall of his living room. It looks great, but he doesn't like how hard it is to clean it and do all the normal tank maintenance. JMO, HTH

11/04/2008, 06:23 AM	#7
pex Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Fort Lauderdale Posts: 167	Just when you think you have everything drawn up and planned out perfectly take 2 to 4 weeks and just think about it before starting the build. Chances are in those weeks you will see something that you missed or could be improved upon. I'm building my system now and did exactly this. If I would have just went off my first thoughts there would have been a lot of things that I would not have been happy with, even though I thought I had everything planned "perfect". Take your time...in the end you will be much happier you did. __________________ Money can't buy happiness, but it's a damn good down payment! Current Tank Info: 92 display, 54 Fuge , 45 sump, 36 frag, 2 x 400w 14,000K MH, 1 x 150w 10,000k MH, 6 x 18w T5...in the works

11/05/2008, 12:45 AM	#8
reddog170 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Winfield, IA Posts: 100	I am glad that I did not go with the fist set of plans. They would have had it visible good from one room but with a few mods it will make the build easier and noe all sides will be vissible, two from the living/sitting room one from the kitchen and one from my nephews bedroom, wich he is happy with. And it will alow easier acces in case I have a plumbing problem or electrical problem down the road. Many more changes coming I am sure before anything permanant is done. __________________ Life is about the journey not the destination. shaun dunn Current Tank Info: 2-55 gallon tanks