Getting Back Into the Game With a 90g Surfline In-Wall Setup.

[JDRaschella]

Hello Everyone,

A few months back the wife saw a listing on a facebook group for a "55 gallon fish tank & stand for $40" we headed out to buy it to find out it was actually a 90g Surfline Wavefront tank with a bag full of Marineland canister filters, HOB filter, powerheads, heaters, and a pair of bio wheels. I fit as much as I possibly could into my VW Passat and threw in an extra $10 for the whole setup less the stand (couldn't fit it)

After filling it and testing everything for leaks with success we came to the realization that we had nowhere to put the thing. ( which was significantly larger than the planned 55g ) I eventually decided to build it into the wall in one of the walk-in closets in our bonus room above the garage. nothing like a $40 dollar facebook deal turning into major home renovations.

So far I have rerouted all of the electrical & added 3 outlets and a GFI at the beginning of the circuit and framed out the opening and built a custom stand that is integrated into the studs of the wall. Before I go much further I could really use some help with a few topics to make sure I do this right the first time.

1st. The tank is not drilled, I have never drilled a tank before, and though I'm a pretty experienced carpenter/handyman I'm hesitant to do so myself. I have a LFS that will drill it for me cheap, but it's a pain to move the thing now that it's up here. Most of the threads i've found on here regarding "to drill or not to drill" are 8-10 years old, I wondered if there are any newer reliable methods out there to use a sump without drilling.

2nd. I have seen many a thread on Sump design and whatnot, but I do have a question regarding the equipment that I need to run it. Any of that crap that came with the tank useable here? size of sump? Best budget-friendly Protein skimmer? etc.

Room is not an issue, I have tons of room in the closet, but since the tank is through the wall I don't have a ton of space under the tank. Weight, however, is an issue, and while I am very confident with the distribution of the sand I built into the wall as its perpendicular to the floor joists and has a solid base, but it is about 4' from the exterior wall, over a garage, so I can't go crazy with the sump especially bc it may end up having to sit parallel with the joists ( how long can the hoses be? I could put it on the opposite wall in the closet )

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try and give you as much info as I could rather than making you beat it out of me.

Many of the pictures won't upload or are sideways, I'll try to figure out a way to fix that, but the second picture shows the wall that the tank will be installed under the TV (see fish drawn on the wall) about 29" from the floor. (TV is as high as possible for the meantime to give me as much space to work as possible)


Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

Cheers,

Jim

[CarrieB]

I can see that the tank was a real bargain.:-) ( I got one of those, too. So laughing at myself as well.)

Save the HOB filter, heaters and powerheads. They will be useful for mixing saltwater and/or quarantine tanks even if you don't use them in the display tank. I found that older HW sometimes is slow to get started after drying out and some never make it back to a working state, FYI.


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