Peninsula Tanks - 3 sides viewable - Please post pics and suggestions

[johns]

I am thinking about doing a peninsula (3 sides viewable) tank in the basement of a new construction home. Right now I am looking to get some ideas.

Do you have pictures? Pros and cons? Suggestions or things you would change with yours?

I am especially looking for pictures of how you plumbed the tank and where you put all your the equipment.

I am thinking that the best choice for me is to put the end with the overflow against a wall that has an adjacent 'utility' room, where I can keep the sump, skimmer, etc. But I am open to ideas before I start.

[jeffbrig]

#1 suggestion: go wide for better aquascaping. Because it's a peninsula, your LR will be down the middle of the tank. If the tank is narrow, it's hard to leave swimming/cleaning room around the rock without ending up with the "wall of rock" look. My tank is 72x30x27 and I still find it somewhat narrow as a peninsula.

With a large/tall stand and canopy, you can fit a lot of equipment under the tank. I have a 90g sump, huge skimmer, return pump, calcium reactor, 30g RO/DI storage, and a 30g sw mixing tank all shoehorned in my stand. The only things outside the stand are the chiller (on the patio) and the RO/DI unit (under the kitchen sink). It's all about careful planning.

Tank shot:


Plumbing:


If you've got a few months of spare time , you can read my tank thread for all kinds of information:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1

[Jamie2337]

Here's mine. I have dual overflows on the end that is up against the wall. I have mine as a room divider between the living room and dining room. I love it. It is a 125 tall. 5" Long. Here are the pics. Hope it helps.



http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...the125_045.jpg [/IMG]

Here it is next to my old 90G during the transfer:

Jamie

[Jamie2337]

The pros are there is a lot more to look at...more you can put in and more to see.

It is different...I also love the height of mine because you don't have to bend down to look at everything.

The downsides...more glass to clean. Also you don't paint the back, so you lose the dramatic background...doesn't look as great from a distance.

Also, you lose space for HOB items, such as a fuge. I am trying to figure out how to add a fuge to my system...would be so easy to hang it on...

Jamie

[johns]

thanks to both of you for the pics and suggestions.

Couple of questions for both of you right off the bat:

What did you do for flow on the end of the tank opposite the overflow? I'd like to keep it as open and viewable as possible. But I am imagining probably having to have a pump or 2 on that end.

Jamie- Is all you equipment below you stand as well?

jeffbrig:
I'll have to look at that thread later. I see it's very long. My current preliminary dimension to use for the width was also 30 inches. I can see you can probably fit a lot of equipment under a stand that size. I was also concerned about the noise too though. Which is why I was considering plumbing the tank to a room adjacent to the overflow box. Dont know how well that will work though??

[The steven liu]

One thing I can say is to avoid having any liverock too close to any of the sides so you can stick your hands down and scrape out coraline algae.

[jeffbrig]

Originally posted by johns
What did you do for flow on the end of the tank opposite the overflow?

My pump returns drop in at the far end of the tank (borrowed this idea from gregt's 400g setup). Without being too obtrusive, this creates a ton of surface water movement, I have two 1.5" outlets with about 1000gph each from a sequence pump.

Interestingly, with the Tunze 6100s hanging from the overflow, I actually end up with more flow at the far end of the tank than by the overflow. I have the tunzes on an alternating pattern. The flow from either one wraps around the far end of the tank and comes back down the other side.

jeffbrig:
I'll have to look at that thread later. I see it's very long. My current preliminary dimension to use for the width was also 30 inches. I can see you can probably fit a lot of equipment under a stand that size. I was also concerned about the noise too though. Which is why I was considering plumbing the tank to a room adjacent to the overflow box. Dont know how well that will work though?? [/B]

Noise can certainly be managed, but there are a lot of benefits to having a utility room on the other side of the wall, especially if there's a sink available for your use. It allows you to have more accessibility to your equipment instead of reaching into a stand all the time. Probably some cost savings as well, as you could buy several tanks off the shelf for your sump, refugium, RO/DI storage, saltwater mixing, etc. I had everything custom sized to maximize space efficiency inside my stand.

Also, be sure to consider the SAV (Spousal Approval Factor), if appropriate.....

[Jamie2337]

I have a maxijet 1200 mounted inside the canopy on a rotator. Creates watermovement..not too obstructive!

Jamie

[johns]

My pump returns drop in at the far end of the tank (borrowed this idea from gregt's 400g setup). Without being too obtrusive, this creates a ton of surface water movement, I have two 1.5" outlets with about 1000gph each from a sequence pump.


Do those returns come up through your overflow and then around the perimeter of your tank, hidden by the canopy, over to the other side?

[jeffbrig]

exactly

Here's a couple of old pics that were in my gallery:


Up through the overflow and split with a T


They they run down the sides of the tank to the far end:





Then, a couple of elbows to jump off the tank lip and down into the water. (can't find a picture of that)

[johns]

Cool. Pictures would be nice. Not everything is as obvious to me as some others.

[johns]

OK. In your overflow you have the Tee for both returns, what looks like 2 dursos, and then another open pipe. What is that last one for?

[SMS76]

Bump

[HVF21221]

Here is my 250g 3 sides viewable. It has been stocked with frags but I don't have pics yet. My biggest suggestion is have plenty of room to hide your equipment behind the tank.

[HVF21221]

Behind the tank:



Hood construction:

[SMS76]

Wow, your setup is awesome. Thanks for posting pics

[Ceak]

HVF21221

what are the dimensions fo your tank? I am getting a 40x40x30...

are those all 250 watters?

[HVF21221]

48x48x25 and yes I have 4 lumenarcs. Each is an icecap 250w with 10k XM bulb. No actinics.
Thanks for the compliments.
Here is part of mission control on the other side wall:


Winch to raise hood, sulphur denitrator, calcium reactor, carbon, and soon to be phosban reactor, UV's, ozone.

[agoutihead]

i kinda like the idea of the open studs.... but then i dont.

im torn.

[MCary]

All I had at work was an old picture on photobucket.



Like it was stated earlier, you need a wide tank of at least 24" or aquascaping will be a challange. Also you'll have double the expense when buying corals because you'll be filling in 2 sides. One positive is that having two sides provides a refuge against some agressive fish.

Mike

[SMS76]

Bump....Anybody else have this kind of setup? Need more pics...

[sjm817]

Cool thread. I'm seriously thinking about a 120G Peninsula/room divider setup with a basement fish room.

[bad coffee]

[nyvp]

I'm building a 550g 3 side view atm here is my basic layout



The 2 holes on left are my 2 returns
6 on top are if I want to change/add returns later
4 on center bottom are for the closed loop
the overflow is in the fishroom so you dont see it

Tank size is 120Lx36Wx30H
4 250 xm250 down center
8-54w T5's on sides
CL - Dart
Return Sec 4200

Link to my thread

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=847516

[SMS76]

I am also considering 120G with three side viewable.