Ashlar's 280 + fuge + fish room

[Ashlar]

I'm finally getting started on the new tank build, so I figured I'd document this one better than the last one..

In our new (new to us, at least) house, one wall in my office backs up to an unused 13'x12' bedroom. After poking the ceiling with a hat pin and figuring out where the ceiling joists are and which way they run, I've determined that the wall isn't load-bearing (later confirmed with a small hole in the ceiling that will be for an exhaust fan). The plan is to cut out a large opening in the wall, frame it like an open doorway, and park a tank in it, with the bedroom serving as fish room.

I figure the tank will be 84" long, 24" tall, and 32" deep. I'll have a starphire front panel, two corner overflows, PVC bottom, and a metal stand that's 40" tall.

Here's the plan from DSA (the two drains in each overflow are for redundancy / emergency):


Here's a simple sketch of what I'm planning..


There'll be a set of panels on the top that either come off or lift up for front access, and the bottom panels will likely be doors, so that I have access to the sump from both front and back. A couple of days ago, I got out a level and some painter's tape to get a feel for how it should look. I have a couple of outlets to move, but that's relatively trivial.


In the fish room itself, I plan to have two 65g barrels plumbed inline for doing painless water changes, a 100g refugium, and about eight feet of counter space for qt tank / testing / microscopy / etc with cabinets above.


I've already taken out the mirrored closet doors and framing for the closet, to maximize the space in the room. I'll patch up the holes with drywall I carefully removed from around the closet.


Here's the plumbing plan for the water change vessels. By flipping two ball valves, I will instantly do a 65g water change.


I ran two 20a dedicated circuits to the room as well.


This is going to be a slow build. I'm going to pay down the credit card bill from ordering the tank and stand before I start moving on to sump, skimmer, pumps, cabinets, countertops, etc. Not only does this keep my blood pressure down, it also gives us time to do fun things..

I've decided to turn my wife loose on the walls before I clutter them up..

She's been looking at stencils..
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64792896/stencil-large-octopus-wall-stencil?ref=v1_other_1
http://www.etsy.com/listing/60601878/stencil-for-walls-nautilus-large-stencil
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61232339/crustacea-wall-stencils-reusable-lobster?ref=v1_other_2
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61276160/stencil-jellyfish-large-wall-stencil?ref=sr_gallery_31
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79440240/stencil-sea-shells-set-of-three-these?ref=v1_other_2
http://www.stenciledinteriors.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=0001&Category_Code=fish

To the person who invented popcorn ceilings: "May the fleas of one thousand camels infest your privates!"

Spent some time this weekend looking at paint chips, having samples mixed up, and daubing it on the walls..

I think we have a plan. Going for a sand textured paint from the floor up to about 40-42 inches, then a blue color from there up to the ceiling. We'll paint the bottom cabinets the same sandy color (without the sand texture) and the upper cabinets the same blue. We also found some sand-colored countertops.



We've got knock-down textured walls all over the house. As an experiment, I lightly sanded a patch in the closet, then put a skim coat of drywall compound over it with a tape knife, just to level the texture. A light sanding later, and it looks like a regular un-textured wall.

I'm going to paint it and make sure it doesn't crack or peel- if this works, I may do the same to all of the room above the 'sand' line.

[Boonjob]

Looking great dude, Can't wait to see it progress. HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME!!!! lol

[Ashlar]

Well, to be fair, this is a condensation of about the last two weeks, hehe. Every evening when I get off work, I change clothes and go knocking around the room, doing various things.

This week, I'll set up to cut the hole for the tank, mark off where the cabinets will go (so that we don't waste paint behind them), and continue patching the spots where I took out the closet. I also need to sand / paint the ceiling and see about smoothing the walls, if that works out.

[Boonjob]

Are you going to just mock a stand under the tank from the exterior of the room? Or are you actually going to extend the stand through the wall?

[Ashlar]

The metal stand (and tank) will sit 3" in the wall. With a face frame / doors on the front, the bottom should look like a built-in cabinet. The tank won't be completely flush with the wall, but it'll be close.

[Wall_Tank]

Cool Setup...... I've had an in-wall tank, which I loved.   Front Access is definitely key.   When I did my 180, I built it 1/2 in wall.   I set the tank in the walls to cover up the overflows, but I left the side panels for viewing.    Take a look at my build thread.......    It also gave me more room in the fish room

[Ashlar]

Cool Setup...... I've had an in-wall tank, which I loved.   Front Access is definitely key.   When I did my 180, I built it 1/2 in wall.   I set the tank in the walls to cover up the overflows, but I left the side panels for viewing.    Take a look at my build thread.......    It also gave me more room in the fish room

That's an awesome build. My wife would love the border up around the ceiling.

Unfortunately, my tank is already being built, so if I wanted to change it, it'd be big $$ to make the sides starphire, too.

If my plans are correct, I'll have about 5.5' of open space behind the tank.

[Twizted1]

Wow, that's all I got is wow.

[Wall_Tank]

That's an awesome build. My wife would love the border up around the ceiling.

Unfortunately, my tank is already being built, so if I wanted to change it, it'd be big $$ to make the sides starphire, too.

Thanks.    The boarder came from Lowes, not sure if they still carry it.

[Ashlar]

I did some poking around in outlet boxes and tracing of wires, I *think* I'm going to be able to add some outlets above the counter, and a switched light above the cabinets- maybe put in one of those dimmable / color-changing LED rope lights, have a blue glow in the room for a moonlight

...

And a couple of hours later..

One outlet moved, two added.

[Boonjob]

Faster man, FASTER!

[Ashlar]

Dang that pesky job, getting in the way of building my fish room, hehe!

[micki]

Very Cool!

[Ashlar]

So not only do we have nasty 80's popcorn ceilings, but the whole house is filled with 'knockdown' textured walls. I tried a couple of different techniques for getting rid if it short of ripping out the drywall and starting from scratch. The easiest seems to be two coats of drywall compound, with sanding in between, right over the existing paint.

I got the first skim coat done on 3/4 of the room- got to mark out where the tank goes and I'll skim around that tomorrow..


I made sure to mark out where the cabinets go, no sense in wasting effort where it won't matter..


It looks weird as it dries, but the light spots are the high spots where little compound is sitting. The dark spots were the gaps that the compound filled in.

[Ashlar]

Got the stand in, woot!



And I finished de-texturing the walls, painted the ceiling, and primed the walls. Tomorrow should start the fun painting.

I know, it isn't sexy like the stand, but I'm happy how it turned out.

[Ashlar]

Well, slight change of plans for today.. the wife had some errands to run, so we didn't get started on the painting.

However.. I couldn't just let that pretty stand sit there..

Got the rough opening framed up..



And did a test fit for the stand..

[Twizted1]

I would love to have a set uplike that. That is going to be awsome. One question. Is that stand beefy enough for a 280g tank?

[Ashlar]

Yup, it's 2" high strength steel. It'd actually hold a small car, hehe.

[lazylivin]

That is going to be a nice setup and looks like you are making quick work of it.

[Ashlar]

That is going to be a nice setup and looks like you are making quick work of it.

Well, it's going to slow down real soon.. I don't like keeping a balance on my credit card, so we'll be puttering around in the room for a while. We'll do the painting, and maybe the cabinets / countertop.

Once the card is paid down, then the fun will really start with refugium, sump, skimmer, pumps, additional lighting, water change barrels, etc.

[Twizted1]

Do you have a water change barrel in mind? I am using a trash can at the moment. Next spring I am planning on doing a fish closet (not as fun as a room, but it's all I got).

[Boonjob]

Not to jack your thread ashlar....Joe, You can get used food grade barrels relatively cheap... I used to get some from a company my Father was contracted at, But they changed their disposal methods. So I can no longer get em, But there are several other companies in the area that sell these fairly cheap. Just make sure you check on what they used to contain... Alot of them come from Pepsi Co, and have syrups that are near impossible to get out of them.... Mine used to contain PH buffers(Up/Down) for a Baby food plant. They were triple rinsed and steam cleaned. They work great, Shame I can't get em anymore

My Father said he has permission to get some 100gal Sealed drums(they are square), They appear clean, But the previous contents are unknown.


Another alternative would be to ship a non marked Paint can or other "hazardous" Controlled Liquid..... LOL UPS/Fed Ex love to put them in these great yellow Hazard drums(regardless the size of the paint can) haha.... You even get to keep the drum!!!!!!! lol... j/k dont do that. They get rather upset.

[Ashlar]

Yup, I have two water change barrels in mind.

Well, water change / additional water volume. One barrel on either side of the tank, both plumbed into the system like they were additional tanks plumbed into the same sump.



By flipping two ball valves, I can switch which one is part of the system. So each week, I'll alternate which one is part of the system, and which one is mixing new water for a water change.

I'm thinking either 65g or 75g 'tall' plastic drums. If my total system volume is ~550g, then a 65/75g weekly water change is sufficient.

There's a store here in town that sells these, but I'll probably keep shopping around-

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200328471_200328471

(This being Fort Worth, you can't swing a cow's tail without hitting a tractor supply / feed store.)

In the past I've used those 55g plastic barrels- they worked awesome for water changes on my previous tank. We have a Dr. Pepper bottling plant here, too.

[Twizted1]

You think they would make me a 70 gal Dr. Pepper bottle? 
Thats a great idea with the 2 barrels. I want a smaller 30-40 gallon one for top off & a 70-100 gallon for water changes. I only need about 30 gallon water changes. But, I would like to be able to do a huge change if needed. I want to make it as painless as possible. Like you are doing.

[Ashlar]

Got the blue done and the first coat of the 'sand' color- it'll require one more coat.



Oh, and the fleur-de-lis was a test of how well stenciling works over the sand texture. Not bad if you go slowly.