Basement wall tank build

[smilinteddy]

I am in the planning stages for a large reef tank built in to our basement wall. The main display side would be visible to the living area in our basement and the back side of the tank would be built into a dividing wall that divides the living area from our laundry room. Some questions I would love some feedback on:

1. Would it be possible/a good idea to "make the tank the wall" i.e. instead of putting a tank and stand up against the wall, I would build the tank stand as the bottom part of the wall and the tank would be the top of the wall. Right now we are taking the wall down to studs so it would be easy to build a stand in to the physical wall and would save us from drywalling that portion of the basement and then ripping it out/drilling through it later. I was thinking of insetting the tank through the wall, where if it was say a 30" wide tank, having maybe 2"- 4" behind the wall area, so the tank is sitting in the wall as opposed to "against" the wall.

2. Since the tank will be backing up to a de facto fish room, what are the pros/cons of locating my sump/refugium setup directly behind the display tank as opposed to below? Or maybe behind the display tank and wall but slightly lower (like a stair step setup) to facilitate easier access into the top of the sump/refugium area. Maybe if the tank is on a 36" tall stand, putting the sump/fuge on a 16" platform so it's easy to access equipment through the top of it without having to bend down.

3. Thoughts on using a Rubbermaid type trough instead of a glass or acrylic sump. It will be purely functional and all hidden away, in the back.

4. Would it be possible to use a taller tank to make a faux drop off tank? I.e. 30" tall tank (so let's say 30"h x 30" w × 96" l, building a 20" "shelf" type structure on either side in the corners creating some walls and then leaving the front and middle open... So the tank almost looks like a side view of a trench. I guess a similar idea would be large rock structures in the back of each corners

The pictures show the wall in question. Tank width will be limited to 8 ft. As the steel support columns are a bit over 96" apart. Just in the planning stages right now, so any and all ideas welcome. Basically a blank canvas and wondering what possibilities can be placed here.

 

[fishguy242]

a whole world of options here,my first suggestion would be.."BUILD THREAD"..lol ,but now is the time

 

[alain Bouchard]

I did a similar setup. 180 gal as divider room in basement with adjacent fish room. be sure to keep enough access to the tank front or back, all the width. use mold resistant drywall all around it. Use special epoxy paint (or PVC sheets) in places where SW risk touching the wall. Having a good access to the sump for maintenance is, for me, the main reason to have a fish room. My sump and refugium are sitting on the floor, and I see no bad side to it, but a drain in the fish room is a must.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

with the sink in there it appears you have drain access, the room looks useable as a fish room. I think it's preferable to locate the sump in a room behind the tank if you can for accessibility. The sump can really be of any design you choose, it just needs to hold water and have space for any equipment you want to locate inside of it. Having your sump on the floor or a platform is really just about your preference.

 

[Snoopy 67]

Sump on a bench is better than on a floor, especially for your knees, back & head pressure.
If you build the tank into the wall remember to build a front access. Hinged door tank width.
I have worked on tanks with only rear access & it is a PAIN.
Sumps generally run @ 1/2 full & I prefer a standard glass tank, used is great as long as it holds water.
The bigger the better. Also plan on @ least a fan to remove humidity from the sump room.

 

[Smokeshow]

I picked up a used 55 gal for 50 and came with a bunch of fresh water accessories.

 

[smilinteddy]

I did a similar setup. 180 gal as divider room in basement with adjacent fish room. be sure to keep enough access to the tank front or back, all the width. use mold resistant drywall all around it. Use special epoxy paint (or PVC sheets) in places where SW risk touching the wall. Having a good access to the sump for maintenance is, for me, the main reason to have a fish room. My sump and refugium are sitting on the floor, and I see no bad side to it, but a drain in the fish room is a must.

Great points about the mold resistant drywall. There is a floor drain right behind the wall on the fish room side, along with the utility sink access. I was basically planning on putting the display on the "show side" of the wall and having the sump setup whatever it ends up being on the fish room side of the wall.

I'd actually love to get away with not having much actual wall... Ideally the tank would take up the majority of the space and then I'd just fill in the remaining space on either side with wall material.

Covering the front part of the stand will probably be cabinet doors or paneling of some sort. I'm planning on putting the sump in the fish room so that space under the tank may just end up being dead space? Or storage?

On the top I would like to build a hood type arrangement with access doors or panels in front but I actually want it mounted to the floor joists overhead so that it's not going to be putting weight on the tank, and it will be open to the fish room in back to hopefully mitigate trapping heat in an actual enclosed canopy.