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Author Topic: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank  (Read 8408 times)

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Offline eslatts11

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eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« on: February 04, 2019, 23:15:37 »
Started on my fish tank room build this past weekend! Sort of went with the its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission theory, think shes coming around :D Will hopefully support a 180g+ display tank somewhere down the road.

Planning on doing an epoxy floor at the moment. Was thinking about doing a tile floor but the epoxy may be easier and more cost effective. I am also going to install a new 20 amp breaker just for the room to power all of my pumps, lights, heaters, reactors, etc. Had a hell of a time trying to run the 12-2 this past Saturday. In my tri-level home, its almost impossible to get to the far end bedroom in the basement with a run (panel is located on the other side of the house in the garage). Both 14-2 wires I chased up to the attic above my second story ended up only stopping on the second story and not dropping down all the way to the basement. Still never found how or where the dang basement 15 amp breaker is ran down from. I ended up finding a gap in my living room wall that will allow me to drop it into my hot water heater room then I am going to run it between the basement ceiling and 2nd story floor along the central air ducting. I found a nice RJ11 phone wire going to my soon to be fish tank room that I can use as a fish wire. Only thing I'm waiting on now to do the run, is a dang 54" auger drill bit to drill through this pesky horizontal 2" x 4" they put in between the stud. I was able to tie into my basements bathroom faucet drain line and hot/cold tonight.
 










-Slatts

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2019, 19:51:53 »
That size of fish room is going to be a dream.  My one suggestion is to find a place to put a control panel for a future apex or controller.  I have my apex and all modules mounted to a piece of wood I mounted on the wall behind the tank.  Makes it easy to access and looks impressive:)
Jeff

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2019, 00:04:08 »
That size of fish room is going to be a dream.  My one suggestion is to find a place to put a control panel for a future apex or controller.  I have my apex and all modules mounted to a piece of wood I mounted on the wall behind the tank.  Makes it easy to access and looks impressive:)
Jeff

Yep definitely going to do this. I was thinking right on the wall above the sump. Right now I am trying to decide how many gang's of outlets ill need to put there for the module mount board and how many to put on the wall behind the fish tank. I know i'll be plugging in mostly a combination of a few Neptune Apex EB8's and EB4's - so I can't think ill need that many outlets at the wall? Probably will follow suite for an outlet height of 48" on the module mount wall which the exterior basement walls already have them at. I will remove the current 1 gang outlet at 1' foot up, that is just asking for trouble being right next to the sump.

Can anyone recommend how many gang's of outlets and at what height for behind a 180g (72x24x24) on 36" tall stand. Once the tank is in place I will certainly need the ability to access the outlets, so between 36" and 60" is kind of a dead zone.


Got the 12-2 line ran today for the dedicated 20amp breaker, holy crap was that a PITA. I've ran wiring before where there was no drywall in yet in a remodeled home, that was easy but this... this was difficult. Had to buy a specialized 54" auger bit to reach down inside of a wall and drill through a horizontal 2" x 4" going from the first story attic straight to the water heater / sump room in the basement. Also, purchased a WIFI boroscope snake camera that aided in the fishing of wire through the auger holes. Got it done though!!



-Slatts

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2019, 21:54:24 »
20 amp GFCI breaker and all outlets installed along with the center ceiling light! Now onto drywalling and mudding/sanding!



-Slatts

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2019, 21:03:01 »
Drywalled yesterday:


Mudded first layer with tape today:


Used a 6" x 9" access panel to run my piping through the wall. I found that I can actually do a full pipe straight through, so my plan is to just use a 45 degree fitting at both ends and will allow for less flow interference (no need for 90s)!



-Slatts

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2019, 22:11:02 »
Gonna be nice when you are done.
Jeff

Offline lazylivin

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2019, 01:50:43 »
That is coming along great! Did you decide what you are going to do with the floor yet?

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2019, 02:42:31 »
Gonna be nice when you are done.
Jeff

That is coming along great! Did you decide what you are going to do with the floor yet?

Thanks! Believe I am going to go with your1dayfloor.com for sure. They were great to talk to at the Dayton Mall Home Expo and for my little room, seemed like they are the most fair with their minimum pricing compared to others!
-Slatts

Offline lazylivin

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2019, 14:09:01 »
Excellent choice! Looking forward to pics

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2019, 00:45:08 »
Finished up the mudding/sanding and paint is finished. All new 20amp outlets have been installed and old outlets replaced. Norwesco 75gal storage tanks came in for my mixing station and just started the flooring! I ended up going with waterproof vinyl plank flooring instead of finishing with an epoxy floor.





-Slatts

Offline lazylivin

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2019, 09:43:01 »
Looks like it is coming along nicely.  :)

Offline Agame43

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2019, 22:33:19 »


Looks really nice so far - Your finished Salt room should look great!

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2019, 23:51:07 »
Looks like it is coming along nicely.  :)

Looks really nice so far - Your finished Salt room should look great!

Thanks guys!

Finished up the flooring yesterday and baseboard tonight! Just need to fill some corners and nail holes with some white wood filler then should be all set.

Next on the agenda:
  • Install slop sink
  • Mount RODI
  • Mixing station stand + plumbing
  • Create workbench



-Slatts

Offline Steve

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2019, 00:14:08 »
Very nice. Would love to have a dedicated salt room like that.

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #14 on: April 07, 2019, 23:22:46 »
Got the workbench and slop sink installed last week and just finished up the shelving and mixing station today/tonight!







-Slatts

Offline Agame43

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #15 on: April 08, 2019, 20:50:11 »

  Your fish room looks really nice, great work. This will be one to see in person once you are finished and have it up and running!

 Thanks for sharing

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #16 on: April 08, 2019, 21:43:53 »
very nice work,  good thing you are a handy man.  You would be out a ton with all the work you have done.
Jeff

Offline guynamedfleck

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #17 on: April 09, 2019, 20:02:05 »
very nice! I love your attention to detail. It really is the little things like the waste line install on your sink that show how much you have thought this through. keep up the great work!

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #18 on: April 09, 2019, 21:43:29 »
Thanks guys! Little by little im getting there.

Just received my quarter inch glass baffles from Kettering Glass Inc today. The pieces look real nice, polished well and right to spec. I have a 75 gallon Aqueon tank from Petco that I got for $71 dollars during the dollar per gallon sale 2 years ago that I still have been waiting to use. They let me combine my $10 dollar off coupon with the dollar per gallon sale.. what a steal, I don't even think they include the 75g's in the sale anymore. Picked up some GE 100% silicon #1 from home depot that I will be installing the baffles with.

For sump design here is what I came up with on Fusion 360 (flow left to right) - first two baffles on the left will house an egg crate shelf for filter floss (not pictured), the second and third baffles are just bubble traps. Anyone know the pros/cons to the two different styles of bubble traps? Outer baffles low and center baffle high vs. the two outer baffles being high and the center low.





-Slatts

Offline dbjonesjr

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #19 on: April 10, 2019, 06:18:52 »
I must ask... do they offer the glass black like that (like a smoked or colored option)? Everything is looking great so far.

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #20 on: April 11, 2019, 11:19:34 »

I must ask... do they offer the glass black like that (like a smoked or colored option)? Everything is looking great so far.

Thanks dbjonesjr. I actually never thought of getting different colored baffles so I just ordered the regular plate glass that has a slight greenish tint to it. I called back to Kettering Glass Inc to see what they could do in those terms and they said they have a few options: Light gray (mostly see through), dark gray (barely see through), and a frosted glass which is kind of like where they just rough it up so you cannot see through kind of like how they do for business front glass panes.
-Slatts

Offline dbjonesjr

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #21 on: April 11, 2019, 11:22:28 »
Thanks dbjonesjr. I actually never thought of getting different colored baffles so I just ordered the regular plate glass that has a slight greenish tint to it. I called back to Kettering Glass Inc to see what they could do in those terms and they said they have a few options: Light gray (mostly see through), dark gray (barely see through), and a frosted glass which is kind of like where they just rough it up so you cannot see through kind of like how they do for business front glass panes.
Neat. Would be neat to build a tank with say a smoked glass back (for no painting of the glass). Anyways, looks like it will be a nice sump.


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Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2019, 22:45:01 »
Sorry for the delayed updates! Finished the 75g sump baffles up a couple weeks ago! Custom ordered a eurobraced low-iron 225g with Synergy Reef 16" shadow overflow, 72"x30"x24" (LxWxH), from Crystal Dynamics Aquariums and should be expecting it sometime in July!! I am planing to go with an extruded aluminum stand from Framing Tech as well.

Here's some pics of the sump build:






-Slatts

Offline eslatts11

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #23 on: August 01, 2019, 22:40:35 »
The beast arrived this week. 225g from Crystal Dynamics:
-Slatts

Offline lazylivin

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Re: eslatts' Fish Tank Room Build + Display Tank
« Reply #24 on: August 01, 2019, 22:55:25 »
That looks great!

 

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