187 Gallon In-Wall Build Part1...

[kados]

New on R2R but in the hobby for a looong time. Recently moved and left my previous custom build in the house we sold (but I wouldn't let them have the fish!). Take a man's house, tank, man cave...but not the fish! Those went to friends.

Here is the start of the newest build. An in-wall 187 gallon (64"x24"x28"). All framed out and getting ready for sheetrock.

American Aquariums acrylic tank and custom Geosreef sump. Both have 10-12 week lead times so it should line up for the completion of my basement.

Built platform style w/ 2x6's and joist hangers. Its solid. Had the same setup in the previous house but with a glass 150 gallon mixed reef. Filter/sump room will be in a closet to the left. QT under the stand w/ misc storage.

Here are some pictures. I hope to continue sharing the progress over the months ahead as well as seeing all of your awesome tanks.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Can’t wait to see how you progress

 

[kados]

Thank you! Me too! Lol

 

[kados]

Sheet rock installed. Paint barely dry and started sampling with the future rockscape!

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Whatever happened with this build?

 

[kados]

Whatever happened with this build?

 

[Steph72]

Wow! That turned out gorgeous!

 

[kados]

Wow! That turned out gorgeous!

Thank you!

 

[kados]

Long overdue update.
-187 gallon (64"x24"x28").
- RedSea LED50 (3)
- Pentair 25w UV
- NYOS 160 Protein Skimmer (recent)
- Neptune COR20 (2)
- Geo sump (custom) w dual reactors
- Color matched plumbing
- BRS 300W heaters (2)
- MP40

There have been changes along the way. Originally tank and equipment ordered for a reef tank.. But decided to do a fish only system for a change. I also do prefer fish. Over 20 years of fish keeping and every type of tank and setup there is from fresh to salt and varieties of each.. Over plumbed and filtered for this specific setup but I'm sure the fish appreciate the clean water. I can always go back to reef. At least the equipment investment has already been made.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

That came out amazing! An in wall is one of my dream tanks. lol Right now I'm in the pre-planning stages of a FOWLR tank in the 150-200g range. How do you like the dimensions of your tank? Would you go back and change that know now that it would be a FOWLR tank? What equipment would you have used if you knew it was going to be fish only in there?

 

[kados]

That came out amazing! An in wall is one of my dream tanks. lol Right now I'm in the pre-planning stages of a FOWLR tank in the 150-200g range. How do you like the dimensions of your tank? Would you go back and change that know now that it would be a FOWLR tank? What equipment would you have used if you knew it was going to be fish only in there?

Thank you. I appreciate it! One of my dream tanks as well. I think we all have multiple dream tanks lol. I say go for it if you have a good place for it. It blended in perfect with the rooms style of trim work and shaker style doors.

I've been really happy with the dimensions. The height and depth are most important for flexibility in aquascaping and at least 5ft swim length depending the size fish you plan on keeping. I wanted to look directly at the tank and not over or down into it. I had the RedSea Reefer 350 for a shortwhile and didn't like the height of the stand or tank. I could only enjoy it leaning over or sitting in front of it. The height of the stand really makes a difference. The stand is 36" plus the 1" plywood base and 1" foam board. So around 38" plus 28" tank and I'm staring at the middle of the tank which sweet. Step stool for cleaning but no biggie.

Once you figure out rough dimensions the gallons can really add up quickly with an inch here or there. Another couple of inches longer and I would've been around 200g.

I honestly wouldn't change anything. It leaves me the flexibility for either setup. The tank is acrylic which is not for everyone. The acrylic was lighter to handle..two of us carried it down 10 steps no problem. Super clear and hasnt been difficult to keep clean at all.

I also wouldn't change any equipment. Again, the setup leaves me a ton of flexibility and is completely silent. I run the COR20's super low. Cannot hear any humming since I don't need to blast flow. Same with the MP40. I run it variable speed to keep detritus from settling. The skimmer is also more quiet than any skimmer I've had.. I feed them good with the some big eaters in there. The smaller fish (clowns and Longnose Hawk are coming out soon to another tank) as the bigger fish are growing quickly.
The sump is what I'll get crap for on here but it was my 40th bday present to myself. I like the color matched look and the built in reactors and ATO..I can open the closet door too and have tons of room to work in it. I use one media reactor for GFO and the other has bio-cubes. Between the GFO and the UV, I clean my acrylic panels all the way around once per week. Barely any build up of algae on the "glass" at all.

I wouldn't cut too much on filtration equipment when planning. Reliability and low noise has it's cost but totally worth it. The lights I already had from my RedSea Reefer setup so I just kept those. Overkill for fish only but I already had them and would not get great resell value. So lighting is the place you can cut for sure and a more simple sump with a good skimmer.

Good luck with your planning. I'd really like to follow it along!

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks for the info. My wife likes the in wall tanks as well and we have two locations that it could be done. The only way to do one in our "forever home" is to convert part of out 3 car garage into the fish room. In the optimum tank location we'd have to cut into the 2 car side of the garage, so not optimum for the fish room. The other location the tank would only be visible from within that one room, but I could easily convert the 3rd car bay into the fish room. She is also not keen on the costs involved for all of that. lol

So for now I'm going to have to go with a normal tank in the optimum location, which is our formal dinning room. The wife has agreed to convert it to a sitting room so we can have the tank, but that raise concerns about the sump being under the tank. We would both like to be able to just sit and enjoy the tank and not have to stand to really look into it. As such it would need to be on a pretty low stand. I've got to figure that part out.

 

[kados]

Lol. Go figure. The wife's not happy with cutting a hole in the house for the fish tank. Kidding of course. I can understand that and the costs associated to it. Its a sizable project. Another option if the fish room is not a must and again depends on location.... is instead of cutting a hole in the wall.. put the tank against the existing wall and frame and sheetrock in front of it. Essentially that's what I did and built two closets on each side. This is while finishing my basment so the bigger project was the basement/family room. The tank was the throw in with all things considered project wise.

At least you have compromised on the sitting room and will setup the new tank. Sitting there and enjoying it while relaxing will totally make it worth while. And having it in your optimal location as well. Most stands should accommodate your sump selection. Skimmer height might have to be figured out. Planning is part of the fun.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Make a "false" wall and fish room is a good idea, but it will most likely not work in my house. One end of the dinning room slants at a 45° angle to the arched opening (on both sides of the opening). So it would make that end of the false wall/room really odd. For this build I will just have to make do with a standard tank setup. Once our little guy leaves the house in 8 or so years, maybe then I can commandeer a large portion of the garage for the in wall build. And perhaps after that many years of having a nice sized tank with lots of cool fish in it, the wife will like it enough to go for the bigger upgrade.

As for the skimmer height issue if I go with a shorter stand, would there be any drawbacks to using two smaller skimmers besides them having smaller cups that need cleaning more often? I guess the overall foot print of two smaller ones verse on larger one might be an issue. The other option might be to go with an external skimmer. I'd be building my own stand so I could build it so it had a section that went pretty much to the floor, that might get me several more inches in height.

 

[kados]

Ahh got it. Yeah doesn't sounds feasible then.. but the long term plan still sounds good a few years from now. That's they key. Get the wife sold on the loving this tank first and smoothly transition

Protein skimmer is always good but its not 100% necessary. A small one would be fine with other good tank maintenance. Definitely no need for two. Staying on top of water changes and if you want filter media (could be as simple as some media bags in a sump) can go a long way. Depending on your fish stocking list and feedings, a FOWLR should be manageable on keeping parameters in check.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

I see you have dual reactors and that one is running GFO. What do you have in the other?

 

[kados]

I have GFO like you mentioned in the one, really to keep algae away.. The other i briefly ran carbon that I had. Now I filled it with Brightwell biocubes for biological media.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Does running the biocubes in the reactor give you any additional benefits as opposed to them just being in a bag in the sump?

 

[Oberst Hajj]

And is that a 7" filter sock on the right of your sump? My current take as a 4" filter sock that is a huge pain to change out... so I hate changing it and do not do it as often as I should. I'd like to either have an much easier sock to change or no sock at all. I need to research the roller filter setups and see how well those work.

 

[kados]

I don't think it does. I just had that empty reactor so might as put it to use. Bag in the sump is fine. Yes. 7" filter sock. That picture is actually when I had the filter cup in with a filter pad inside with bicubes at the bottom of it. Since I moved the cubes over I went back to the socks..it is a pain I agree. 3 - 4 days and they need changing. I've never had a roller filter. They look like they work well from reviews out there.