Gone Solar In California

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 12:36 PM

After reading "Gone Solar" and some other threads here I've decided to give it a go myself. The fact that we were putting a new roof on the building during my planning worked out perfect.

There was a bathroom that had been sealed off for over 20 years by the old owners. I had tried to break into it but the doors had been nailed in and finished off to look like a regular wall. As they tore out the old roof we were able to get into the room through the roof and kick the door open from the inside. It turned out to be 2 seperate very small bathrooms. We have no need for more bathrooms and they are very small so we really had no need for the extra floor space. So I decided to use them for a new in-wall tank. I've always liked in-wall tanks so here was my chance to built my own.

The tank measures 78"L x 30"D x 24"H which comes out to about 243 gallons. Its 78" long because it has a false wall for the over flow. I'll post a picture later so you can see what I'm talking about. Tank is drilled on the bottom for a CL.

Equiptment that I have so far.....

snapper for return pump
hammerhead to be used with a 4 way OceansMotions
Ac/Jr with Dc8, temp and PH probe
90 gallon sump
3 14" solatubes

still looking for a skimmer and some actinics.....

This is a view of the wall where the tank will sit

this is a view of the roomfrom the back

this is when we broke the door down

token · 01/27/2009, 12:39 PM

Hidden rooms! Sounds like fun!

Good luck!

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 12:42 PM

this is when we were cutting out the holes for the tubes

cutting out the wall

picture of the tubes on the roof

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 01:08 PM

had to knock another wall down to connect both bathrooms

it was to difficult to integrate a stand with the existing wall so I had to knock the entire bottom wall abd built a stand

stand built

stand is painted with oil based primer

stand is covered with sheet rock, the green one of course

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 01:12 PM

tank arrives......here you can see the false wall for the overflow

BigJay · 01/27/2009, 01:13 PM

Nice build thread so far!

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 01:45 PM

tank on the stand in the wall......

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 01:49 PM

picture of my sump

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 01:51 PM

tubes set in place over tank

redfishsc · 01/27/2009, 02:00 PM

Get out the SPF, this is gonna be a bright one!

Looks great man! Can't wait to see some corals living happy!

fox2589 · 01/27/2009, 02:07 PM

looks pretty sweet!..cant wait to see it finished!!

Alicia75 · 01/27/2009, 02:27 PM

Wow, thats exciting. Will the solar power run the tank and house power?

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Alicia75
Wow, thats exciting. Will the solar power run the tank and house power?

that would be nice.......

it will just light the tank.

7808 · 01/27/2009, 02:47 PM

do those have some kind of reflective tunnel inside or what?

LobsterOfJustice · 01/27/2009, 04:05 PM

Why did you choose to leave the overflow exposed rather than covering it with wall?

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice
Why did you choose to leave the overflow exposed rather than covering it with wall?

it is not exposed it has a wall that runs from the front to the back wall. So the size of my overflow is 6"L x 30" D x 24"H.

edit: Ok I know what you mean, from the front huh....its not going to be exposed, its going to have a thick frame that will cover the overflowfrom the front.

hobogato · 01/27/2009, 04:48 PM

looking great so far - gonna be a fun one to follow!

we are gonna have to talk about your choice of tank building brew tho - a setup this nice deserves a much better beer than that.......

seapug · 01/27/2009, 06:03 PM

Very nice. Those solar tubes are pretty incredible. Keep us updated with the progress.

Fig70g · 01/27/2009, 06:35 PM

WOW! That looks like a great place for a tank! I hope to have the sam in wall build, with the ability to show the length and one end.

Tagging along!

davocean · 01/27/2009, 06:52 PM

Cool, this will be a nice build thread to follow!
Those 2x6 studs look like old school FULL 2x6, or opt ill from pic?
I'm sure you or whoever took in consideration that span, but I sure like having a center support at front.
I'm also curious on how your reach will be for cleaning that front glass.

spleify · 01/27/2009, 07:03 PM

Oh man I can't wait to see this thing come together!!

Keep up the great work, and the updates.

Ilsimen · 01/27/2009, 08:20 PM

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davocean
Cool, this will be a nice build thread to follow!
Those 2x6 studs look like old school FULL 2x6, or opt ill from pic?
I'm sure you or whoever took in consideration that span, but I sure like having a center support at front.
I'm also curious on how your reach will be for cleaning that front glass.

your right about the studs, they are full size not like todays. Are you reffering to the span on the stand? The top stud is a 2x8 and it should be ok for the size of tank. I love the fact that my stand is wide open.

Since the tank is only 24" tall I shouldn't have any problems reaching the front of the glass for cleaning. I would have loved to have gone 30" tall but I feared not being able to reach the bottom.

GUILLO1 · 01/27/2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hobogato
looking great so far - gonna be a fun one to follow!

we are gonna have to talk about your choice of tank building brew tho - a setup this nice deserves a much better beer than that.......

yea your right hobogato but after what I've spent on this build thats all I could afford.

r-balljunkie · 01/28/2009, 04:33 PM

Dude, Sweet.

Sweet, dude!

01/27/2009, 12:36 PM	#1
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	Gone Solar In California After reading "Gone Solar" and some other threads here I've decided to give it a go myself. The fact that we were putting a new roof on the building during my planning worked out perfect. There was a bathroom that had been sealed off for over 20 years by the old owners. I had tried to break into it but the doors had been nailed in and finished off to look like a regular wall. As they tore out the old roof we were able to get into the room through the roof and kick the door open from the inside. It turned out to be 2 seperate very small bathrooms. We have no need for more bathrooms and they are very small so we really had no need for the extra floor space. So I decided to use them for a new in-wall tank. I've always liked in-wall tanks so here was my chance to built my own. The tank measures 78"L x 30"D x 24"H which comes out to about 243 gallons. Its 78" long because it has a false wall for the over flow. I'll post a picture later so you can see what I'm talking about. Tank is drilled on the bottom for a CL. Equiptment that I have so far..... snapper for return pump hammerhead to be used with a 4 way OceansMotions Ac/Jr with Dc8, temp and PH probe 90 gallon sump 3 14" solatubes still looking for a skimmer and some actinics..... This is a view of the wall where the tank will sit this is a view of the roomfrom the back this is when we broke the door down

01/27/2009, 12:39 PM	#2
token Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 614	Hidden rooms! Sounds like fun! Good luck! __________________ •Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. --Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 100g and 75g displays, both with 2 x 250w Iwasaki 14k DE, 100g sump, 55g growout, 55g refugium, 20g benthic

01/27/2009, 01:13 PM	#6
BigJay Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Southlake, Texas Posts: 1,872	Nice build thread so far! __________________ PBITAWA

01/27/2009, 02:00 PM	#10
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Get out the SPF, this is gonna be a bright one! Looks great man! Can't wait to see some corals living happy! __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

01/27/2009, 02:07 PM	#11
fox2589 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 557	looks pretty sweet!..cant wait to see it finished!! __________________ Back in the game.and no its not the first time haha. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder,20 gallon sump,bubble magus nac 6,eheim 1250 return,175 halide on lumenarc mini.

01/27/2009, 12:42 PM	#3
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	this is when we were cutting out the holes for the tubes cutting out the wall picture of the tubes on the roof

01/27/2009, 01:08 PM	#4
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	had to knock another wall down to connect both bathrooms it was to difficult to integrate a stand with the existing wall so I had to knock the entire bottom wall abd built a stand stand built stand is painted with oil based primer stand is covered with sheet rock, the green one of course

01/27/2009, 01:12 PM	#5
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	tank arrives......here you can see the false wall for the overflow

01/27/2009, 01:45 PM	#7
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	tank on the stand in the wall......

01/27/2009, 01:49 PM	#8
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	picture of my sump

01/27/2009, 01:51 PM	#9
GUILLO1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California Central Coast Posts: 692	tubes set in place over tank

01/27/2009, 02:27 PM	#12
Alicia75 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 35	Wow, thats exciting. Will the solar power run the tank and house power? __________________ Alicia Current Tank Info: 75g tall, FOWLR

01/27/2009, 02:47 PM	#14
7808 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: a/s/l Posts: 230	do those have some kind of reflective tunnel inside or what?

01/27/2009, 04:05 PM	#15
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Why did you choose to leave the overflow exposed rather than covering it with wall? __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

01/27/2009, 04:48 PM	#17
hobogato Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,517	looking great so far - gonna be a fun one to follow! we are gonna have to talk about your choice of tank building brew tho - a setup this nice deserves a much better beer than that.......

01/27/2009, 06:03 PM	#18
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	Very nice. Those solar tubes are pretty incredible. Keep us updated with the progress. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

01/27/2009, 06:35 PM	#19
Fig70g Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 637	WOW! That looks like a great place for a tank! I hope to have the sam in wall build, with the ability to show the length and one end. Tagging along! __________________ Kevin "The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin', man. L-I-V-I-N" Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 30g sump, Little Giant 3MDQ return, split to 5g fuge. ASM G1x skimmer. T5 lighting

01/27/2009, 06:52 PM	#20
davocean Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 14,655	Cool, this will be a nice build thread to follow! Those 2x6 studs look like old school FULL 2x6, or opt ill from pic? I'm sure you or whoever took in consideration that span, but I sure like having a center support at front. I'm also curious on how your reach will be for cleaning that front glass. __________________ There's a fine line between owning your tank and your tank owning you! Current Tank Info: SCA 120g RR Starfire, Tunze silence 1073.02 return, 40g sump w/ fuge, SWC Extreme 160 cone skimmer,Geismann reflexx 4xT5, 2x Panorama Pro LED strips, Vortech MP40QD

01/27/2009, 07:03 PM	#21
spleify Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 9,579	Oh man I can't wait to see this thing come together!! Keep up the great work, and the updates. __________________ Make it a Great Day!!!! Current Tank Info: 60 gal SPS cube, with 25 gal refugium, 400W MH, DIY Lumenarc III, DIY skimmer, DIY stand and canopy. 40 breeder LPS with 40 gallon sump, DIY stand, 250W MH

01/27/2009, 08:20 PM	#22
Ilsimen Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: McCool Jct, NE Posts: 329	Can't wait to see how it turns out! __________________ Mike Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon RR waiting to be set up!

01/28/2009, 04:33 PM	#25
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	Dude, Sweet. Sweet, dude! __________________ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT .