My 180g, 4 sided viewable project thread

[Hookup]

Well folks, the first "real" step has been taken.  The tank has been ordered.  It will be here in 4-6 weeks.  It's a 180gallon tank, 4 sides will be viewable, and 4 sides are starfire.  The starfire was an expensive option given it's all 4 sides, but the overall tank was much cheaper than I assumed so it nett'ed out well for me.

So, why did I want to change out my tank.  I'm just cresting the one year mark with the corner tank that I've setup.  And honestly, it's doing very well.  I've had ups and downs with the tank, and with the equipment over the past year, learned a tonne from many, many people on this forum/club and from others as well as reading obsessive amounts of information.  However, that still doesn't answer the question of "why upgrade?". 

Well the simple reason is I do not like my aquascaping, and the stand/canopy is the wrong color to go with my family room.  Id love to make up loads of technical reasons that make sense to everyone, but there you have it.  The simplest of reasons.  The 90gallon tank I have right now is actually thriving again, and I see the grow-out potential in the tank.  It's heading in good directions.  However, the rock-walls are not my thing, they have to go... but I used an entire tube of sillycone to stick them to the glass... likely not going to come off without a major fight...

Additional factors would be that the aquascaping itself is very open, but no where near "zen bonsai" that I wish to have.  In all my research and reading, the tanks I'm drawn to have vast open spaces with full mature colonies grown out bursting with color.  I just cannot achieve that look in my current system.  Additionally, there are some fish that I would like to have in the tank which are unreasonable in a 90gallon system.  I'm not saying which ones are for sure, as at this time there are no "for sure" fish... but there are many that I really like.

So a little about the new tank.  First, the 4 sided viewable concept might have perked some interest.  It's defiantly going to present several challenges.  The main reason is that this tank will be a room divider.  It will be in the wall, kind of, between my dinning room and my family room.  Imagine looking into my dining room and instead of a hutch on the wall you'll see a fish tank.  All 180 glorious gallons of it... but instead of it being pushed up against the wall, the wall will have a hole in it allowing the room on the other side a view of the fish tank as well.  So from the Family room, there'll be a flush wall-mounted/trimmed 180 gallon tank.

For many reasons I did not want the tank to be "built in"... but rather to look like it's on a stand, and as such, look like it's easily removable from the house. (resale value, cause you never know... not that we're planning on selling ever..). 

Now, to create the zen look and feel, I needed to find a way to handle the flow and plumbing without having any of it visible what so ever.  The end product *must* look like a tank of coral, rock, sand and fish... that's it, that's all.  I've done some research on overflow systems and have found a system to create a durso style drain without an overflow box.  (more on that as that part of the project evolves).  I've also got designs on a closed loop system, in fact the tank will come with 2 input holes and 4 output holes for a closed loop system, likely driven by a hammerhead pump (gold series for quite operation). 

Additionally, the rock itself in the display will be 80% DIY rock.  Of course the return lines and drain lines, as well as the closed loop system will be completely hidden in DIY rock, however even the rock structures themselves will be created from DIY rock.  This gives me the control to ensure that no "extra's" get into the system.  The rock I have now is covered in great hitchhikers...but they are getting in the way of stuff I actually want to grow.  I've complained about the GSP and Zoa's before and this time I will not be bothered by them again.  The existing rock will go into my sump as the fuge is being removed from the system, gaining a 40gallon tank of space that I can pack the rock into.

I'm pretty sure next week I'll open the wall and start the stand build, with photos.  I want to get some sketchup drawings done of the stand, tank, overflows and what-not drawn up, but honestly that program frustrates me so do not hold you're breath.  I'll be posting a bunch of photos as this build goes forward, but for now I figured I'd just formally let the cat out of the bag.

As always, thanks for reading
-Tim

[salvini55]

I like what i read. Banzai style tanks are my fav hands down. Ive even been planning on re-scaping the rock in my tank to mimmic these tanks befor i get to much further. The more sides to look through the better IMO. I originaly wanted three sides viewable but that didnt really pan out space wise. So you dont like the rock walls any more huh... Here i was at the cottage today filling in the cracks of a new wall i put in with great stuff sea foam thinking about thoes walls the entire time. either way this is going to be off the hook.

Oh and whenever i let my cats out of a bag, sh** hits the fan. Fair warning is all.

Photos are mandatory too

[JD]

Looking forward to this build!!!

I wish my house could accomodate a two room viewable through the wall type of setup. Unfortunately for this to happen here I would have to modify the main supporting wall, relocating lots of piping and duct work. That won't happen!

If there is anything I can assist with feel free to ask. Even if it is only a BDG chore!

Congrats on the addition!

[White Lightning]

From your description, this should be quite an exciting build. I am looking forward to following your progress. 


With such a huge undertaking I am sure you'll probably experience all of the above.

[Hookup]

Thanks Guys.  I've been planning this for a while, for sure... I can honestly say I'm not 100% sure the wall isn't load bearing... but that is easily fixed with supports and headers, which if need be, I can carry through the floor to the basement below.  I haven't gotten to that stage yet (gasp) but the walls are being opened soon.  I do not want to live in construction any longer than necessary, so I'm going to put off opening up the wall until the last minute.

Some more details on the tank.  The tank will have black sillycone and eurobracing.  I hope to maintain the minimalistic look.  I will be creating "netting" out of some pond cover materials and acrylic which will fasten to the eurobracing to stop fish from jumping.  I have not yet located the materials but there are many threads about specific materials that work.  As mentioned there will be 9 holes drilled for 1.5" bulkheads in the bottom pane of glass, which will be tempered for safety.  I have not yet determined the placement of the holes, however, I'm fairly sure they will be bascially around the 4 corners.  Two holes for the closed loop input are also a bit of a mystery at this point.  I'm thinking of having them towards the center, but I do also know that I do not want any corals growing dead center, so no rock in the center to hide those inputs...   I'll have to draw up some diagrams of possible rock work layout and post them here as a way to help with placement of the holes.

The lighting for this tank will be driven from a 10bulb T5 fixture from ATI.  The ATI Powermodule has active cooling on each pair of bulbs which creates the right conditions for the bulbs to output their spectrum for the longest period, at least thats what I keep reading.  The fixture will be 5 feet and suspended over the tank, centered.  I didn't feel there was a need to cover the entire 6 feet (72") of the tank with direct lighting and the streamlined look is better maintained with the slightly smaller fixture.  The down side to this fixture is the bulbs.  Not so much the direct cost, but the availability of 60" bulbs.  It's limited.  Very limited.  And from what I am told, shipping will not insure bulbs of that length.  Trips to Toronto are required now, twice a year to get replacement bulbs... oh and whatever else might be awesome...

The tank stand itself is going to mimic the exact stand that I posted a while back covered in slate/tile.  I'll post some photos of the build, but honestly, I'll be following that build almost to the letter save and except I'll have to tie the stand into the wall framing so that the tank itself sits flush in the wall.  The stand will be only used for display.  What I mean is the sump is already in the basement, and I will just tie into that system.  The closed loop will also get driven down into the basement because even though the pump is a gold-series, I want the system to be dead silent.  So I'll mount the closed loop pump on the underside of the floor from some hangers that minimize noise through vibration but keep the pump relatively close to minimize pressure. (Closed loops do not suffer the same type of head pressure as return pumps, but still).

The sump will remain mostly as-is... with the removal of the fuge being the only major change.  I'll be finding a spot to crate a frag-rack in the sump as well, but in all likely hood that will take months before i bother with it... with the new system, i'm hoping to achieve large colonies for the look.

I hope that gives you some more information, and honestly, writing it down helps solidify some of the concepts in my mind as well.

Thanks for reading
-Tim

[Snider82]

Hey Hookup. Congrats on ordering your tank!  i will follow this build closly.  i tend to learn lots off you build threads.  (and others also  )

[Vincenzo.]

nice hookup. cant wait too see the progression

[groupie02]

As mentioned there will be 9 holes drilled for 1.5" bulkheads in the bottom pane of glass, which will be tempered for safety.  I have not yet determined the placement of the holes, however, I'm fairly sure they will be bascially around the 4 corners.  Two holes for the closed loop input are also a bit of a mystery at this point.  I'm thinking of having them towards the center, but I do also know that I do not want any corals growing dead center, so no rock in the center to hide those inputs...   I'll have to draw up some diagrams of possible rock work layout and post them here as a way to help with placement of the holes.

Am I reading this right?  You said that the tank had been ordered. Also, in the above quote you indicate that the bottom will be tempered and that you haven't yet figured out where the holes will be. You must know that you cannot drill tempered glass...  Am I missing something?

BTW, sounds like a cool project.

Cheers

[Hookup]

The tank has been ordered, i.e. the deposit cash has been given...   I have to work out the exact locations for the holes this weekend so I can get the plan to the builder Monday.

[sdivell]

Nice... looking forward to this one!

If you need a hand with any of it give me a PM, more than willing to volunteer a hand.

[Vincenzo.]

The tank has been ordered, i.e. the deposit cash has been given...   I have to work out the exact locations for the holes this weekend so I can get the plan to the builder Monday.

four corners and yes if u need anything i can get, let me know. i come across all sorts of stuff through my job

[Hookup]

Thanks so much everyone for the interest.  There will be a call for help when the tank arrives... we'll need some help moving it into the house and into position.  at 24"x24" it will go thru all doorways very easily, but i still imagine it will be quite heavy.   

[Tyler.L]

i dont know how to read but i know this will be a good build cause theres so much writting. i'm also gonna jump on the band wagon on the help tim build thread but thats way to much typing tim....waaaay to much

[Rybren]

Tim

Count me in as another set of hands.

Jerry

[Vincenzo.]

ya plenty of room through the doorways. but it's funny how it's possible to jump on glass without breaking it then you touch/bump it on a door frame, table, or w/e ...and it explodes. especially with tempered glass. that's a big clean up.

[salvini55]

Hey Tim, assuming the tank makes it in the house in one piece  ... Have you thought about the bulbs you are going to run in your T5 set up? Im sure you read it already, the grimm reefer article on reef central about T5 lighting? I want to play around with some diff bulb configurations so im looking for ideas. Tell me what you got cooking in that head of yours.

[Hookup]

I have not narrowed things down to specific bulbs at this point.  I do know that 6 of 10 will be 420-460nm bulbs, if not 7 of 10.  I'm looking through a three part article on what makes color so that should help narrow down the spectrum to what I want to fill in the rest of the bulbs with, as a staring point.  Though in general the thought is;
7 @ 450nm  (blue/violets)
2 @ 500nm - 550nm (greens)
1 @ 650nm - 700nm (red/oranges)

Right now I really need to figure out the holes/layout problem.  Its one of those "you only get to do this once" kind of things so it's stressing me out... I just know that no matter what I do, there will be something that I want to do differently.

[salvini55]

That sounds like you will get allot of pop making your corals fluoresce. I was thinking about what you said about the pipes being in the open in the middle. Perhaps you could have some sort of optical illusion by gluing sand to them or even taking acrylic sheets cutting squares to over/around the pipes then cover them in sand. It would be hard to get just right but its an idea.

[RoxyDog]

I won't be able to offer any useful advice as to how to build this, but it's gonna be great to watch!  If you have the boys over to build things, I'll offer to come over and drink with your wife to deflect the "how much is this costing us?!" questions. 

[Hookup]

I won't be able to offer any useful advice as to how to build this, but it's gonna be great to watch!  If you have the boys over to build things, I'll offer to come over and drink with your wife to deflect the "how much is this costing us?!" questions. 

Done and done!