Mrtaffysacks 125g In wall display w/ Fish Room

Mrtaffysack · Jul 10, 2014

Hi all,

New here so I apologize if I put this in the wrong thread, just wanted to share my project here.

I just want to warn everyone that this is going to be a very long and drawn out process. Money is an issue but won't be a hinder on my project. Because I want to plan everything correctly and use the correct equipment, I will be taking my time with this project. I've been planning this tank in my head for year and now that my wife and I have finally bought our first house it can start coming to fruition. First I'll start with my plans.

Here is the floor plan i have created:

and here are a couple of renderings that depict what I envision that project looking like.

opposite of the tank

I don't have much planned for equipment yet. Ive looked at these three lights

Reefbreeders Photon 24" Led System - $329.99 x 2 (659.98) (check Reefbreeders Superlux System)
Ocean Revive Arctic-T247 LED Aquarium Light - $199 x 3 (597)
RapidLED Dimmable Onyx System - $299 x 3 (897)

Any recommendations for skimmers, return pumps or other lights would be fantastic. Also I'd love to answer any questions (if i can) about the plans or such. Buckle up, it's going to be a long slow slow slow ride.... actually.. you may not need seatbelts.. patience? yes. Seatbelts highly unlikely.

cymonous · Jul 10, 2014

One thing that comes to mind. When that tank is lit, the TV is going to reflect the tank and may be hard to see what you are watching atleast during the day. You may want to consider something you can put over the tank while using the TV.

revhtree · Jul 10, 2014

Welcome to R2R! Looking forward to this build!

Mrtaffysack · Jul 24, 2014

Alright it's been awhile. I have to apologize for lack of progress. We've finally moved into the new home which caused a lot of projects to be taken care of first. I know how everyone loves some pictures so i owe you at least something. Here are the projects I finished while postponing my plans :sad2:

Working on this deck!

After securing the base and making it more sturdy we wanted to add Handrails. Interrupted by Rain, i had a chance to snap a pic.

Finished product for now, just gotta add furniture and such.

Ripping up this bad vinyl flooring in our laundry room.

Added Tile, Finished Product

After moving into the house, I realized my current plans weren't going to work as planned. The room where the tank is going will be a little bit too tight if I build a false wall in it so ill be putting it to the side of the room (no longer opposite of the Tv as some people recommended) and will have two display panels instead of one. I haven't decided on making it a stand and canopy look or making it look like it is in a wall yet. Any ideas?

Here is the current layout.

On top of finding out that room would be too tight, I also realized my Fish room will have to be compacted a little bit as well due to two reasons.. 1. The garage door rails comes into play and we have an attic entry in the garage that is right where I wanted to build one of the walls. The room will now be roughly 7' x 9' now instead of 10' x 9' :headwally::sad2:

Mrtaffysack · Jul 24, 2014

Here is the new layout.

I also started thinking about plumbing plans. Here is a rough design for the sump/refugium.

The idea is that the refugium and sump will be stacked on a stand, refugium on top, sump on the bottom. The display will drain into the sump. The return will be T'd off to return water to the display and also to the refugium which will then drain back to the sump. I'm also tossing around the idea of creating a compartment in the sump entirely used for water changes. Measuring it out to hold the amount of gallons I want to use for water changes, pump it out into the dump sink, and refill the section. Walah, easy water change.

Here is the wall the Display tank will be going.
The area in this photo that has nothing hanging on the walls is where the tank will be going. Taking its place is my 14g biocube which will be going in the fishroom once the tank is in place. I'll get some photos of that for you guys tomorrow once the lights are on.

Here is the sofa side, plumbing will be behind the sofa til roughly the corner.

Here is my current favorite area, TV, Xbox, and Computer

Im looking on recommendations still on a skimmer for this size system, a return pump that can take care of this amount of head loss and still give the proper turnover (preferably in sump). As well as size recommendation for the sump. Any other recommendations is also appreciated!