Finally, my 100gal in wall dream build!

Reef Box · Jan 13, 2018

I have a couple months while my first additions are in Quarantine, it's finally time to post my 100gal cube in wall dream build!

The dream: Go house hunting with the intention of building a tank into the wall. No Plumbing, No Noise, No Limits.

The Catch: Talking my wife into making our decision based on where we plan to build this dream tank (and agree to do anything she wants if she's in)

The win!: A three bedroom, two bath house in beautiful Central California with a set of cabinets dividing the entry way from the dinning room with the garage on the other side of the wall.

The Base: A 100 gallon euro-braced 1/2 inch starfire glass tank with beveled and polished edges made by Leemar drilled for a Herbie style overflow.

jsker · Jan 13, 2018

You must tell, I got vetoed quick

Congratulation on the new how and build.

Reef Box · Jan 14, 2018

jsker said:
You must tell, I got vetoed quick

Congratulation on the new how and build.

The list is long but before I could even talk about the actual build I poured a new patio and installed a hot tub (double win)

jsker · Jan 14, 2018

Dewayne Whitesell said:
The list is long but before I could even talk about the actual build I poured a new patio and installed a hot tub (double win)

Good plan

Reef Box · Jan 14, 2018

Before we started of course we had to ensure that the wall was not load bearing. We also wanted to retain as much of the original wall as we could since we planned to keep the rear set of cabinets. It was pretty close to the width that I needed to match the stand that I had built for the DT so the wall with the light switches was kept, I just had to move them back a tad.

The Demo stage wasn't too bad, my oldest son was actually looking forward to being able to kick through the wall. After he had his fun I started making my rough cuts and pulling off the rest of the drywall to see what I was working with.

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And of course with any build we ran into some issues like the fact that the "front wall" was not only not a supporting wall but that it was in fact tied into only the drywall of the ceiling not actually into any of the roof supports so I ended up having to pull all that out and reinforcing it so it would support the weight of the over hang and the canopy that I planned to put on 30 inch ballbearing sliders. at the same time I narrowed the end results by about 3 inches so the stand would be completely flush with the wall in the end.

Reef Box · Apr 21, 2018

Once I got the ceiling reinforced it was time to start throwing some framing up for the actual walls that the tank would set up against.

I did a quick dry run just to be sure everything was looking the same as it did in my head. (Grand Daughter watching Curious George while Papa is hard at work!)

I hired some cheap labor (my youngest son this time) and started getting everything locked in. Once we were done I felt pretty confident that this thing would hold up to anything I put under it or hung from it! I had to consider that even though the tank and stand was going to be right up against the wall , Istill had to have room for all the wiring and return plumbing to run behind it. I'm also planning to wire some GFI outlets in the back wall since there is currently no outlets in the immediate area for equipment

Next update I do some serious drywall and get ready for the electrical.

Picesduh · Jun 5, 2018

Following along. I’m very close to doing a similar foyer in wall style build.

jsker · Jun 5, 2018

Coming along, the tank and cabinet look great.

Reef Box · Oct 14, 2018

It's been way too long since my last update. I'm going to try to get this build up to speed but there has been a lot going on in the last 6 months.

I never really did drywall work until we bought this house but thanks to youtube and my wife's cousin who is a drywaller not hanging up every time I called I figured I could do it. The one thing I hate most about doing drywall work is corners so of course this project has to be pretty much all corners.

I plan to add a vent at the bottom that will pull fresh air from the garage behind the tank and up through the top to draw out heat and moisture. It will be run on a thermostat set to just at around 80 degrees which is right about where the water from the tank will start evaporating and most likely reached once the lights start turning on.

Another dry run to make sure everything is looking good and the overhang is plum to the tank so I won't have any issues with the fit on the sliding hood

once everything is looking good I'll pull the tank back out and start working on the tile that will be under the tank.

Reef Box · Oct 14, 2018

I got the drywall 90% finished so while I was waiting for the final coats to dry I started cutting the tiles that I planned to lay under the tank. We are planning to tile the whole house eventually but didn't have the time (or money) to buy all the tiles yet but because the tiles are thicker than the vinyl planks we have now, I wanted to get something under the tank that would get it to the right height so we wouldn't have to try to move the tank later.

at this point I have also run the electrical down the wall and cut out the lower hole where the vent and duct work will go as well at installed the filter box leading to the garage.

Drywall finished and painting complete. I went with an Acrylic because I think I read somewhere that it'd be best for high moisture areas like bathrooms. The grey was mis-tint from my local big box stores discount section and IMO will allow for easy cleanup and best reflection of light.

I got all the supports for the shelves that are going back in behind the tank. The lowest section will be used for all the plumbing to get the water out of the tank and into the garage where the sump and refugium will be as well as the return plumbing and ducts for the fresh air.

First time setting tile too... not too bad for a rookie

Quick replacement of damaged vinyl planks that the previous home owners were nice enough to leave in the rafters for us.

jsker · Oct 14, 2018

Reef Box said:
I got the drywall 90% finished so while I was waiting for the final coats to dry I started cutting the tiles that I planned to lay under the tank. We are planning to tile the whole house eventually but didn't have the time (or money) to buy all the tiles yet but because the tiles are thinker than the vinyl planks we have now, I wanted to get something under the tank that would get it to the right height so we wouldn't have to try to move the tank later.

at this point I have also run the electrical down the wall and cut out the lower hole where the vent and duct work will go as well at installed the filter box leading to the garage.

Drywall finished and painting complete. I went with an Acrylic because I think I read somewhere that it'd be best for high moisture areas like bathrooms. The grey was mis-tint from my local big box stores discount section and IMO will allow for easy cleanup and best reflection of light.

I got all the supports for the shelves that are going back in behind the tank. The lowest section will be used for all the plumbing to get the water out of the tank and into the garage where the sump and refugium will be as well as the return plumbing and ducts for the fresh air.

First time setting tile too... not too bad for a rookie

Quick replacement of damaged vinyl planks that the previous home owners were nice enough to leave in the rafters for us.

Really nice work

Reef Box · Oct 14, 2018

Almost forgot the final tank placement before I move into the equipment section of the garage

Reef Box · Oct 18, 2018

I have a perfect spot on the other side of the cabinets in the garage to put all my equipment so that when I am enjoying the tank I don't hear the tank. There is no sense in having a silent overflow if you can still hear return pumps, skimmers etc. So I got to cleaning up and drilling more holes in the wall. This section of the garage was not originally finished with drywall except for the actual wall leading into the house. While I was building the laundry room (opposite of this picture) I went ahead and drywalled and painted this section. I also ran a separate circuit with dual 20amp breakers for the outlets here and the one I added inside so that if anything else in the house went out these would run separately and keep the tank going.

I built a platform for everything to keep it off of the ground in the case of anything leaking. I had some leftover floor epoxy from the laundry room that I needed to use up so I painted it with that for easy cleanup.

I must have gotten pretty involved after that because I don't have many photos of the equipment build. Here is the original setup with the 40gal Refugium. Later on I am going to be removing the hood for different lights and changing out the sump for one with a better setup and dual submersible pumps for redundancy.

Under the DT stand will stay clean and empty so I have a place to keep supplies and the Battery backup for a couple Tunze Powerheads

I was pretty excited about the adding a drain from the sump that leads outside so I can just open a valve and dump as much water as I want for water change purposes

A quick test run with water to check for leaks and I'm moving onto finishing up the box for all the electrical and working on the sliding canopy. (PLEASE EXCUSE THE MESS IN MY GARAGE!)

I'm running a Digital Aquatics Reefkeeper despite a lot of other users issues with them and all the new technology that is out. I've always appreciated the ease of programming and the experiences I've had with it personally in the past. I may convert later on down the road but for now Reefkeeper it is.

Reef Box · Dec 3, 2020

Looks like I need to do a major update on my build tread while I'm on vacation next week. A lot has changed in the last couple years including this little Coral QT tank I built so I can keep any unwanted pests / hitch-hikers out of my main display.