120G AGA in wall upgrade

[bohlke]

I have a 65G mixed reef tank on the main floor of my house. We are having the floors replaced so I a planned to move it in the basement. At first I was thinking of a 75G tank just to keep costs under control. I explained some of the plans to my wife and she said.

Thats not much of an upgrade, is it?

So I bought a 120G AGA instead I promised her I would not start on the project until after the holidays as we had plenty going on. The first thing I needed to do was to move the coral prop/QT tank out of the new fish room. Here is a pic of the fish room, we have been in the house for 12 years and have ignored this bathroom until now.



The right side of the room is the other side of this wall (ignore my sons head)



I moved the coral prop tank to that wall for now to get it out of the way.



And then started tearing out the drywall.



And cleaned up all of the rubble.



My plan is to get the 120G installed and cycled and then move all of the LR and corals from the 65 to the 120G. After that the 65 will be the sump and the stand alone QT/Coral prop tank will be connected to the system.

Anyway I plan on posting lots of pics and would appreciate any suggestions on sump configuration, return pump selection, etc.

[jefnalyssa]

Wow I'm the first one here. Looks like your on your way. I'll be tagging along. Good start so far.

[bohlke]

Originally posted by jefnalyssa
Wow I'm the first one here. Looks like your on your way. I'll be tagging along. Good start so far.

You get the prize I will post initial sump, stand, and bio filtration plans later today.

[Cprowler]

I would love to have a in-wall but just don't have the room, next house though.

Looking forward to following along!

[cannarella]

What is above those notched 2Xs on the ceiling?

[KyleO]

Thanks for posting! I am looking very forward to seeing this project develop!

Wanna hear something funny? My Step-Dad died a few months ago (not funny) and my Wife has decided that my Mother needs to move in with us (not funny either). We are currently selling her house and then our house to move into a larger house to accommodate.

The funny part is that one of the criteria of the new house is it has to have a viable setup for me to have a "fish room" behind the display. The real estate agent is starting to roll her eyes at this because my Wife is definitely on board with this (thankfully) and we have turned down 3 houses so far due to the floor plan not being right.........

[db_triggerfish]

Originally posted by KyleO
Thanks for posting! I am looking very forward to seeing this project develop!

Wanna hear something funny? My Step-Dad died a few months ago (not funny) and my Wife has decided that my Mother needs to move in with us (not funny either). We are currently selling her house and then our house to move into a larger house to accommodate.

The funny part is that one of the criteria of the new house is it has to have a viable setup for me to have a "fish room" behind the display. The real estate agent is starting to roll her eyes at this because my Wife is definitely on board with this (thankfully) and we have turned down 3 houses so far due to the floor plan not being right.........

i got to show my wife this, so she knows i am not nuts. i also want an in wall tank so i can setup the equipment room for it. If the new house can't fit it then i don't want it.

bohlke nice start, keep us posted. 120g is great tank because of it's wide enough for any light.

[bohlke]

Thats why I decided to go with it, I am looking at an 8 bulb T5 Tek light. Currently I have a 6 bulb T5 Tek light on the 65 which will go to the coral prop tank. I love the color options on the T5 lights and one of our local reefers has the same setup on his 120 so I need to go check it out for color comparison.

[bohlke]

Originally posted by KyleO
Thanks for posting! I am looking very forward to seeing this project develop!

Wanna hear something funny? My Step-Dad died a few months ago (not funny) and my Wife has decided that my Mother needs to move in with us (not funny either). We are currently selling her house and then our house to move into a larger house to accommodate.

The funny part is that one of the criteria of the new house is it has to have a viable setup for me to have a "fish room" behind the display. The real estate agent is starting to roll her eyes at this because my Wife is definitely on board with this (thankfully) and we have turned down 3 houses so far due to the floor plan not being right.........

There is almost always a silver lining isnt there? My wife is all for the fish room, she gets some space back in the dining room and all my "stuff" is hidden from everyone

[bohlke]

Originally posted by cannarella
What is above those notched 2Xs on the ceiling?

Floor joyces and some ducting for the rest of the house, just a weird angle for the pic

[cannarella]

So those notched pieces do not support any load from above?

[bohlke]

Nope they were just holding up the ceiling above the bathroom.

[cannarella]

OK, then carry on. I didn't want you to miss an oppertunity to fix a potential problem. I will be back to see how things are going.

Andy

[NanoGurl]

Very kewl! I might be doing the exact same thing so I am tagging along for sure!

[weaselslucks]

Tagging along . I love a inwall tank build and will have one someday.

[bohlke]

Here is the sump design right now:



Since I have a sand sifting sea star and I want to keep it I will not have a DSB in the main display. I am pretty sure I will have a DSB in the fuge, but I am open to suggestions on that. I am also not sure if I want any LR in the fuge to help with pod growth. Here is the planned layout of the fish room from above:



The circles represent two 32G trash cans for water changes and ATO. Since the coral prop tank will now be run from the same sump as the display tank I am thining of putting a DSB (5-6" deep) in the coral prop tank and growing macro algae in both the coral prop and fuge sections of the tanks. I also plan to have a 5G RDSB running on the system as well since I will have an 5G hex tank that will have no purpose at the end of the upgrade. I am hoping that these added DSBs will provide the needed bio filtration that a DSB in the main tank would.

The main tank will have a 1.5" sand bed which will be a mix of sugar sized sand (bottom .5") and special sea grade (1-2mm) sand on the top 1". In the RDSB and in the coral prop tank the majority of the DSB will be the sugar sized sand with the top layer being the special sea grade. This should reduce the sand storm problems that I have now with high flow in my current display. I love the sugar sized sand the only issue is that it stays suspended in the water column when disturbed.

The last drawing shows the tank height, my wife is 5'2" so I dont want the tank to be too high as it would be a weird viewing angle for her. Also the kids are still small now so it would be nice if they could see the tank as well. 40" to the base of the tank seems to be a good height and should give me plenty of room for the sump and skimmer.



Hopefully I will get some help tomorrow and get some of the tank stand built, I bought some 2x6s today.

[mg426]

Looks like a sound plan, Nice work so far.

[melev]

You know, I never thought about it but I wonder if it would be worth making my entire return section a DSB to add more denitification beneath my grow out section.

Regarding your sump, the only problem I see are the baffles are too tall. You've got to leave enough room for the sump to hold any excess water that drains when the return pump is off for any reason. Other than that, it looks fine. Can your skimmer work in a zone that tall?

My 29g was on a 40" stand and I loved it. I don't like bending over to look in a tank.

[bohlke]

The tunze is so versatile, I can convert it back to a hang on configuration and it will work at almost any depth. I just have to match the "data" (as the germans call it) to the water level. Its basically a water level line on the skimmer. With the first baffle I will be able to set the minimum water height and then just make the skimmer sit there.

Wont I be ok as long as the water level is set to the full level of the tank with the return pump off? Thats how I set the run level on my tiny 10G sump now? It would be nice to have 30G in the return just so I can do 10-20% water changes in the sump alone.

Do you worry about sand getting into your return pump if you have a DSB in the return area?

[cannarella]

40" tall is the ticket. Remember that you can put a stool infront of the tank for the little ones. I didn't want to lean over to view also so my stand it 40" tall. Click the red house to see my build.

[melev]

Originally posted by bohlke
Wont I be ok as long as the water level is set to the full level of the tank with the return pump off? Thats how I set the run level on my tiny 10G sump now? It would be nice to have 30G in the return just so I can do 10-20% water changes in the sump alone.

Do you worry about sand getting into your return pump if you have a DSB in the return area?

That article comes out in a couple more days, and it will cover that point in detail. However, as long as your sump can hold all the water that drains when the power and is out (including your skimmer and water from the display), then it is fine. I prefer to have a little extra cushion when possible, rather than living on the edge.

Yeah, there's that. I was thinking about making some type of acrylic guard to keep it away from the intake strainer, or maybe make a grow out tray that is full of sand that I place within the sump instead.

I should just dump it bunch of sand in my refugium already. I've been talking about it for the past 10 days, but haven't felt like tackling it since it is very hard to reach. The prop section is much easier, plus I could have stuff growing on a substrate.

[bohlke]

Yeah I hate leaning over in my current setup, my initial plan was 48" tall but that is just too high. I am thinking 40" is the ticket as it gives me plenty of room over the tank as well.

[bohlke]

Originally posted by melev
That article comes out in a couple more days, and it will cover that point in detail. However, as long as your sump can hold all the water that drains when the power and is out (including your skimmer and water from the display), then it is fine. I prefer to have a little extra cushion when possible, rather than living on the edge.

Yeah, there's that. I was thinking about making some type of acrylic guard to keep it away from the intake strainer, or maybe make a grow out tray that is full of sand that I place within the sump instead.

I should just dump it bunch of sand in my refugium already. I've been talking about it for the past 10 days, but haven't felt like tackling it since it is very hard to reach. The prop section is much easier, plus I could have stuff growing on a substrate.

Have you tried the RDSB in a bucket setup? I am trying to have DSBs everywhere

[melev]

Originally posted by bohlke
Have you tried the RDSB in a bucket setup? I am trying to have DSBs everywhere

No, but I've been wanting to actually read the official thread. Thanks for the link.

[bohlke]

Many of the people I know who have in wall setups say if they had a chance to do it all again they would provide access to the tank from the front. It would look something like Tom's setup of course quite a bit smaller. Also my wife doesnt like the way the wall was finished back in 1999 (I have just ignored it for 8 years) so I am ripping all of the drywall out on the display wall of the tank. Also the door to the room is going to be moved in the long run. If I remove the door then I have a clear shot from outside the room to the tank stand. This will allow me to slide the sump under the tank without removing any supports. I have already removed the inside wall 2x4's, soon there wont be anything left to remove I will post pics after everything is removed.