Kenfuzed's 180 in-wall build

[Kenfuzed]

I started posting about this build eslewhere but thought I'd share it with my RD friends (and those here in exile).

A few years back I had a large tank and multiple frag systems, until my wife and I decided to buy a house. I sold everything and was briefly tankless until my wife bought me a 55g bowfront to help scratch the reefing itch. However I never shook that desire to have another large tank.

My current tank sits in the living room which actually helped with this new project, since the noise of gurgling water and fans drives my wife crazy. This turned out to be the ideal ice breaker... "hey honey, you know how you hate the tank noise? Well how bout I eliminate the tank in the living room and have a tank in the office that we can still enjoy?" Answer: YES!
I also promised new carpet in the living room but it was a win-win!

Anyway, the build began in August and has slowly progressed. Below are some of the first pictures of the stand and after ripping the hole in the wall.

Here is the stand inside my home office (and fishroom to be). It is built into the wall studs and will probably still be standing even after the big one. The stand is 43" tall so that you can view the tank while standing in the living room and not have to bend to look down into the tank. Later I will be building a bench along the frame to stand on while working inside the tank (I don't get along well with stools or ladders).

The sump I made out of a 100g acrylic tank and has a 40g refugium section.

After cutting the hole through into the living room I don't think my wife was quite prepared for such a large hole or mess, but since I've been juggling other house remodeling tasks she was tolerant and didn't put on the brakes (whew).

Equipment list:

180g Lemar Eurobraced tank - 72x24x24
- Center overflow
- Drilled back (x4) for closed loop

100g acrylic sump
- 40g refugium section and remote DSB

Vertex IN250 skimmer
WM media reactor
Korallin calcium reactor
Eheim 1262 return pump
Dart closed loop (new Baldor motor version)
MP40W and several Tunze streams

Lighting wil be handled by an ATI Sunpower 60" 6x80w

Live Rock has been in a bin circulating and skimmed for months, then picked up a container of fiji pink (thanks Mike!).

Here's the tank on the cart, LET'S ROLL

I would show pictures of us lifting the tank into the opening but there wasn't much to it other than lift and slide... plus taking a picture would have required someone not doing their job

Here is the tank in place. Again, not much to look at. Yup that would be the same hole with a glass box now in it.

I spent that afternoon starring at the back contemplating the closed loop plumbing. I love Dart pumps but feeding a 2" inlet from a CL is a PITA (not the fur haters either).

Continued...

 

[Kenfuzed]

Below is the Dart closed loop I put together. Nothing pretty to look at but thats the beauty of a fish room. It's difficult to see but the top left Tee's into the back of the tank so the loop has 2 inlets and 2 outlets.

Here is a closer look of the Dart. Yeah thats right, I put baby in the corner. You'll notice that the pump looks much different than the old Darts, that is because Reeflo changed to a Baldor motor. Much cooler and lower wattage, but also much larger. Unfortunately I got one with a bad bearing that started getting louder after running for a week. Reeflo is taking care of it so no worries. For now I've replaced it with an old dart that once ran my holding tank.

The flow from the Dart CL alone moves both a ton of water and all my sand. I'll have to play with the outlets to reduce the sandstorm.

The other work I've finished is the 3-part overflow drain (siphon, backup, emergency) that BeAn Animal wrote about. Also built my own wave box by installing a sheet of acrylic across one end of the tank at an angle. The panel is wedged from the front corner to about 3 inches out from the back corner. Okay, I probably didn't describe that very well but trust me it looks like the side wall has a 2" hole with the outlet of my Tunze 6105 sticking out. A false wall with no visible pump!

Last weekend water started going in along with the LS and LR.

 

[EyeReef]

Any update? Is it filled with water yet?

 

[elvis142]

hello, i just saw this and want to see more! ditto on updates.

thanks

 

[Kenfuzed]

Ah yes sorry, just been so busy I forgot to update. The tank is full an operational. The only thing not finished is the tough ups and patching to the wall. I don't have any good shots of the tank right now but have the following to add that were taken a while back.

Here's a picture just after the rock went in:

FTS from the side:

My clowns and BTA happy in the new tank:

The side panel I made to hide the Tunze Stream on the right side of the tank:

The right side of the tank. It is hard to see but the panel is installed so you can't see the Tunze. It also acts as a surge box when the pump is pulsed on/off.

I picked up lots of nice stuff from RAP and moved over the old coral from the other tank, so it looks much different now. I just need to snap more shots. Sooner or later I will buy a good camera.

 

[detailsrock]

looks great! can we have pics of the fish room !

 

[Kenfuzed]

looks great! can we have pics of the fish room !

The room is very narrow so getting a room shot is next to impossible unless I can get a camera with a wide angle lens. Here is the best I could do, and when I took this the room was a mess.

In the upper left of the shot you can see the exhaust fan I installed... no more damp walls!

Its hard to make out but you can see above the tank hangs the ATI Sunpower lighting. Below in the 100g sump/fuge skimming is taken care of by a Vertex IN-250. The skimmer is huge but dwarfed by the size of the tank and stand.

 

[EyeReef]

I like that side panel idea!
What bulb arrangement do you have running in that ATI?

 

[Kenfuzed]

I like that side panel idea!
What bulb arrangement do you have running in that ATI?

Thanks, the side panel is arranged at an angle so it is not visible from the front where it wedges into the corner.

The bulbs I have are:
ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue
GE 6500
ATI Blue+
KZ Purple
ATI Blue+

I would have liked to add in a UVL bulb but they don't make a 80 watt version.

 

[elvis142]

looks great.

 

[DETANE]

looks good. But I hope you used the right drywall, or you could be looking at major mold issues in a couple of months or even weeks.

 

[Kenfuzed]

looks good. But I hope you used the right drywall, or you could be looking at major mold issues in a couple of months or even weeks.

Actually no drywall was used, the room is heavy plaster over two layers of drywall and wire in between. You gotta love how they used to build houses in the 50's! Under the stand the remaining wall was painted with exterior paint and then a sheet of plastic underlayment (sp?). This is the stuff they use for under shower/tub pans for moisture protection. It was adhered to the wall to protect against spray and condensation. Between the stand and wood flooring is a layer of wafer board topped with a layer of Hardi-Back board used for tile.

Also with the exhaust fan and ventilation I built the relative humidity in this room has been dropped to less than 45% when it was warmer outside. The exhaust is controlled by a humidistat. It is probably running lower right now since the outdoor RH this week has been very low.

 

[DETANE]

NICE! god job on the build