JonnyD91's 90G in wall (come along for the ride) Log
 

Well it’s been a long time coming to finally get the chance to do a system worthy of a log thread.

I am upgrading from a 50G non reef ready tank to a 90G In wall System. Just getting married and buying a new house I lucked out because my wife really didn’t want the tank on the main floor. So in the basement it was sectioned off into two rooms which gave me the perfect opportunity to do an in the wall setup.

Equipment:

90G Reef ready tank
2 Vortech MP40W’s
MSX 200 Skimmer
ATI Sunpower 6 Bulb 48” Fixture
Eheim 1260 Return pump
Custom Sump

Current Livestock:

80 lbs live rock (adding another 40 lbs of marco Rock to the new system)
Clown
Bangai Cardinal
Yellow Tang
Mandiran
2 Green Chromis
Lawnmower Blenny
Diamond Spotted Goby
A few Leathers
Pipe Organ Coral
Sold most of them off to make room for mostly SPS

I plan on building a stand behind the wall. All of the weight will be on the stand and not on the wall. So the tank will actually be recessed into the wall a bit.

Here is a few pics of the startup to get going more Info and questions to come.

Thanks for coming along



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Sunpower nice and bright
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Took care of the wall before the honeymoon and the wedding
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All Framed out
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So my first question is about the stand.

Im going to use the design in this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1567110

Now once the stand is built should i be anchoring it to the wall?

Or should i just let it sit behind it. None of the weight will be on the wall, just on the stand.

As far as leveling the stand what is the best way to level the top to ensure that the tank is not gong to crack. How much room for error do i have with gaps and what not. I have a standard tank with black rim. I asume no foam should be used on the bottom correct?

Hopefully tonight i will get a chance to wash the floor and get it ready to be painted tomorrow. Hope to get the wood for the stand this weekend.

hmm do i have to make this more interesting? :(

post pics of nude fish?? :D

Anyone have some input about the post above about the stand?

I painted the floor tonight with a cement floor epoxy. It makes it alot easier to clean up liquid off the floor.

I also started getting some ideas for some aquascaping. Hope to start the stand On sunday.

Got the tank at my parents house, I will prob. bring it over this weekend. Question about leak testing. If I want to eak test it in the garage can i just place the tank on the floor since i dont have a stand built yet? Dont want to put too much stress on the tank being tht the floor prob. isnt that level.

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Another 90 gallon tank. Our ranks are growing.

I would've mad the fish room a little smaller but. But that's me. Square footage in the living area always better. But if the wall was there and you just had to open a window in it, cool.

I would build the stand seperate but strap it to the wall. Plywood makes up for errors on leveling but no foam needed for framed tanks.

Epoxy on the floor good idea.

Thanks, yea the wall was already ther. The only modification i made was that there was paneling on it. So i tore it off and put up sheetrock. I painted the rest of the paneling and to my surprise it actually came out looking really good. I wish i had before and after pics of that. But with 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint it looks real sharp.

might have to tag along for this one

looking good

Jon. Another thing I would do is insulate that wall to keep noise to a minimum.

i was thinking about that but really pretty much all of my equipment is quiet. Also my tank now is (was) in my bedroom when i lived at home with my parents so the noise didnt really bother me. I am going to give it a coat of kilz to make it water resistant.

Just a thought while the wall was still open. Can go on Craigslist and probably find it for free.

I was actually going to leave that side un-sheetrocked. Not sur if i just dont feel like doing it or just because thats the way it was when i got there.

Is your rock from BRS? Looks liek what I ordered.. I like it.

Looking back at your pictures. I see a mask. Is there a snorkel too? Going to swim in your setup when it's done?

I seem to be getting a diatom outbreak for some reason. Might be lighting. 6x54 is a lot of light for 5 hours. Thinking of when the four come on, have the two on one ballast shut down.

There should be an "In Wall Club" !!!

I've gotten great ideas from others build threads. There's a stand plan that I'll try to look for ...

What bulbs did you go with in the PM?

Check this thread here out. It's a SOLID in wall tank stand tied very well to the wall. I did use this thread myself for inspiration:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1599945

Marco Rocks

http://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?...PROD&ProdID=62

I actually just got back from hawaii. I get bored just sitting on the beach, but my wife likes to. So i picked up a snorkel and mask while i was there and went snorkeling when she sat on the beach. well worth the 25 bucks.

This fixture is actually the sunpower fixture.

BACK

Blue +
Actinic White
Blue +
6500k
Blue +
Aquablue Special

FRONT

We were just thinking of going to Hawaii. We go about every other year. Have a time share there in Kuai. Starting to become end of season with everyone going back to school. Makes for quieter beaches, and time share points go further. As well as tours get cheaper. Many reasons to go in off season even though Hawaii is never out of season.

Hard to stay out of the water there. Have to go in at every beach stop. Bring lots of bathing suits to change into so you don't get crotch rot because you never dry out.

Kind of a short weekend. I had a wedding to go to on Sat. Today I brought the tank oveer from My Parents house.

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Went to lowes and got some nice 2X4's these were pretty darn straight

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Got a real nice piece of 3/4 in plywood for the top.

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Stand being built

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Mostly finished

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I had a little gap here but i dont think it will cause me any problems.

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I ran out of screws, so i will have to get some more tomorrow.

Im goint to set the stand up in the garage and do a quick leveling so i can put the tank on top and check for any gaps. Then i will do a leak test. If all is well I will bring the tank and the stand into the basement.

Got some stuff coming in the mail, Megaflow, and some heaters and powerheads. I will use this to scrub some of the rock from my old tankand have it sit in some rubbermaid containers to get the little bit of algae off.

I finished up the stand. I just have to fill in the screw holes with some putty and paint it.

I set it up and leveled it in the garage so i can leak test the tank. THe garage floor really slopes.

Are the shims ok to leak test the tank until i bring it in the basement?

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No gaps :)
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I also set up my water changing station.

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One mistake I made on mine is that I made the wall actually part of the stand. Bad idea. Even if I just have one Hydor 4 pumps going I can feel the vibration in the wall (and hear it in the room).

I am in the middle of a project now to move the sump far away from the tank to cut down on the noise somewhat. In an normal setup my equipment would be silent. The absolute loudest thing I own is the MSX160.

Oh, I forgot to mention the cool thing about doing the stand/wall combined is that my tank sits flush with the wall.

my current tank is so loud i have become used to the noise LOL