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#1
09/15/2004, 08:39 PM
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260 inwall design
Ok, here is where I'm at.
   I bought the house about two years ago, and there was a tank already installed here (no pics of the old setup, sorry). It was a 200 gallon tank. (84x18x30 tall). About a year ago, it cracked. I was able to save most of the livestock (fish only) and move them to a 90 gallon tank in the living room. Well, now I'm ready to replace the big tank, since I miss it very much. I decided to go a bit wider, since I have the room, and the old tank was narrow and a pain to get things in and out of. The new tank will be 84x24x30 tall. If everything goes to plan, I'll be ordering it from Tenecor next week. The old tank was built from 1/2" acrylic, and thats probably why it cracked. The new tank will be 3/4". As you can see in the first pic above, the diagram one, its built into the wall, with three sides visable. The "orange" lines are the walls, and the "red" lines are my proposed overflows. I'm not really sure where to put the overflows though. Where they presently are located, they will be "visable" to the viewing sides. I'm not sure if thats something I want. The old tank had just one internal overflow on the far end (opposite the hallway). Visually, this would be better, but I'm not sure if it would be better for water flow reasons. This is where I need help. I want lots of flow (10x turnover at least), so I'll be going with two drains, whether they are in seperate overflows, or just one big overflow. 1" bulkheads, maybe even 1.5" bulkheads. So, what would you do in this situation? Two corner overflows, visable to the world on the back side (office) and hallway end side, or just one overflow on the opposite end of the tank, concealed inside the (to be built) cabinet? I'd like to attempt (haha) to do this right the first time, since replacing a tank this size isn't really an option. I only get one shot, then I have to live with it.  And I'm going with Acrylic for weight issues. There is no way I could get a glass tank into house and then onto the stand. Glass is way too heavy.  Thanks in advance. |
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#4
09/16/2004, 10:07 AM
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LIReefer - Just got a quote back from Envision. Looks like I might end up going that route...
What do you all think about island overflows? I hadn't even considered having one or two of them installed until James from Envision mentioned them. |
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#7
09/16/2004, 11:54 AM
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If you can go 30-36" front to back...you'll be glad you did!
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#8
09/16/2004, 11:57 AM
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You mean make the tank wider? 30" wide vs. the current 24" wide?
That was my original plan, but I was trying to "hold back" a little. Figured I was going a little overboard.  That, and it would require a little more wall demolition that I'm not sure I want to do.
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#9
09/16/2004, 02:21 PM
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Oh man, I thought my post went thru last night - but a bunch of the stuff has already been mentioned.
- I will never buy another acrylic tank from anyone other than Envision. It's the same cost with shipping than I would have paid for Tenecor - down the street from me. Of course I would have had to pay sales tax. But James is great with "customization" without killing you with extra fees. Just do a search, Travis, pch, Steveweast, Griss - all have awesome tanks from him. I doubt he's ever had a dissatisfied customer. - Go a minimum of 30" - you will be very glad you did. Especially for 2 sided viewing - I would really go 36" if you can. You can have some really awesome aquascaping. Just do it! ;-) - I totally agree with lost mind. One big overflow, and you can even put a piece of black acrylic on the outside, so you don't have to look at plumbing. I had this done on a custom acrylic 50 last year. Don't have the other overflow viewable from the nice living area. - 10x overflow to the sump is really high. I would decrease that and achieve flow closed loops and/or Streams. In my 340 I don't plan on having more than 1,500 GPH to my sump. But I'll have 3-4 Streams, a couple SEIO's and possibly a closed loop. Just my 3 Streams and 2 SEIO's will provide an add'l 45x turnover (max) without the water ever leaving my tank. I hate plumbing. - I don't think an island overflow would be good if you only go 24-30" wide. I would never do an external overflow, maybe except the type that moonpod has, that's built into the tank. Good luck man - I'm so jealous. I love 2 sided tanks with one length side and one width side showing. You'll actually have that - AND - viewable from the computer room. It will be awesome!
__________________
When life hands you lemons ... add vodka! Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Closed minds should come with closed mouths. |
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#10
09/16/2004, 03:47 PM
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The fish tank was the reason my wife and I bought the house in the first place.
It was horrible when it cracked...30" is the max I can go without have to totally destroying the exsisting wall in the hallway. No thanks.  (Wife would probably kill me at that point too.... )The three sided tank was awesome. Can't wait to have it back in place. The old tank had an external overflow (well, built into the tank, just external of the main tank) that worked pretty well. It was on the far right side (in the diagram above). Maybe thats the way I'll go again... |
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#12
09/16/2004, 08:34 PM
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Quote:
I think in your application where your viewing from all sides - the island overflow is an excellent idea. Ed |
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#13
09/16/2004, 08:59 PM
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Just look at the longest thread I have ever seen. I'm sure it's on the first page. Greg t's tank has 3 viewable sides and one big overflow. I'm sure there are plenty of ideas in his thread. My favorite is the clear pvc pipes.
__________________
I drink beer. Oh, and I once scored 4 touchdowns in a single game for Polk High. |
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#14
09/17/2004, 11:43 AM
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I'm going to go with an external overflow on the right side, like the old tank was setup. I'm not sure why I was against this at first, but now it just makes sense, having the inside of the tank "clean" of overflows and such.
I'm going to start stand (re)construction this weekend hopefully. RIght now I'm thinking that using 4x4s is the way to go for the "legs". One 4x4 in each corner, then re-enforce the wall with two more 4x4s evenly spaced, then for the back side where the doors for access will be, use two 4x4s, but pushed into the center just a little, to make the door openings a little bigger. Then use 2x4s to support the deck with cross bracing, then using a peice of plywood to finish the top. I'll worry about "skinning" the stand and making it pretty later. I just want the construction down right now.
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#15
09/17/2004, 12:10 PM
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I wish I could talk you out of the external overflow - unless it's like the ones built into the tank. I think moonpod and a few others have those. I'm sure James can help you with that. But pushing that much water thru a U-tube, higher % of failure - I wouldn't risk it on a tank so large. That tank is so large, especially with 30" width that an overflow will not be too obtrusive, IMO. I think an overflow box that can handle the type of water you're going to put thru there might be really large and potentially unsightly.
__________________
When life hands you lemons ... add vodka! Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Closed minds should come with closed mouths. |
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#16
09/17/2004, 12:12 PM
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Yeah!!! I'll be going with 4x4's as well with 2x4's for the decking. Just some advise.....If you can wait to sheath it you'll get some real nice 3/4 ply from the crate if you go with Envision.
Ed |
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#17
09/17/2004, 12:18 PM
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Fliger -
I guess my "external overflow" thing wasn't very clear. Its built into the tank, not, I repeat, NOT the "hang on back" style. The old tank basically had an acrylic "box" built right onto the side of the tank, and the overflows "slots" were cut right into the tank wall. So it was like having an internal overflow, just to "outside" the main tank. (no inside room wasted for overflow boxes).The far right wall of the tank will be the overflow, with a tank having a built on box to hold the plumbing. Light the tank LiReefer (Ed) had designed. Does that make a little more sense? No way in hell I would be spending thousands of dollars on a custom tank only to use a HOB style overflow. 
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#18
09/17/2004, 12:41 PM
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Awesome. The type you're talking about are my favorite - it just didn't fit into my plans on this tank. My next tank maybe.
I know there is a tank here on the large tank forum, I think the guy is in Australia. Check it out - I'll try to find it. OK here it is ... http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ight=australia DR's design is worth looking at also ... http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ight=australia
__________________
When life hands you lemons ... add vodka! Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Closed minds should come with closed mouths. |
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#20
09/17/2004, 05:13 PM
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I am doing something very similar to what you are doing. My tank is 72"x36"x27". You should definately go as wide as you can. It opens up so many possiblities. I also suggest you go with Envision Acrylics. They built my tank and they did an incredible job.
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#21
09/17/2004, 06:17 PM
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Quote:
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#22
09/18/2004, 11:54 AM
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 Tank design version 2. I liked LIReefer's design so much, I modifed it to work in my setup. (Hope you don't mind.... )I'm not sure about the four drains, might just go with three (and only plan on using two, with a spare for "whatever". (Never know what'll come up next). And I like the eight return hole idea. Lots of room for tweaking and adjusting things there. Now I just need to clean up the drawing, and to the callouts. Ugh, the "not so fun" part... |
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#23
09/18/2004, 12:23 PM
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Do not mind at all.....In fact I'm honored!
Yeah....I'm not sure if I'll be using all four as well, but there is a lot of capable flow with 4 - 2" openings Also, if you haven't already, check out OceansMotions for your closed loop return Ed |
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#25
09/18/2004, 05:22 PM
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Quote:
Ed |
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Linear Mode
