135 in wall build

[Jizu Puentes]

Current project! Upgrading from a 5' 110 gallon tank in our living room to a 6' long 135 gallon tank in our utility room and having it flush with the living room wall. I'm going slow with this build so I probably won't get the tank until January. For now I have to build the stand, prep the utility room and plan my aquascape. Here's what I have accomplished so far.

My current tank has 2 square over flows in each corner and i really hate how much room they take up so here is the overflow design I have chosen for the 135. Both holes in this overflow will be drains, one to the sump and one to a frag tank. The return water will be pumped through flex lines up the back of the tank and into the top, this way I can move the return around instead of having it semi fixed and having to use locline.

 

[Dr. Phil]

It looks like this will be a great build! If I were you I would look at the other types of overflows that are out there. The acrylic external boxes look like they would be great for noise reduction with a bean animal overflow. My current setup has dual drains and they are louder than I would like for them to be.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

It looks like this will be a great build! If I were you I would look at the other types of overflows that are out there. The acrylic external boxes look like they would be great for noise reduction with a bean animal overflow. My current setup has dual drains and they are louder than I would like for them to be.

I have two durso standpipes on my current tank and they are pretty quiet so I was just going to duplicate them on this one. I like the idea of the coast to coast overflows but i cant afford that haha. Also with an 18 in wide tank I wouldnt like having the coast to coast overhang in the tank. I was thinking of possibly having the last 6 inches on one side be sectioned off an have that as an 6"X18" overflow by i cant decide if I want to lose the 6 inches haha

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I have been thinking of ways to maximize the amount of surface water drained as well as reducing the amount of space taken up by an overflow and I was wondering if this would work-

 

[Dr. Phil]

I have two durso standpipes on my current tank and they are pretty quiet so I was just going to duplicate them on this one. I like the idea of the coast to coast overflows but i cant afford that haha. Also with an 18 in wide tank I wouldnt like having the coast to coast overhang in the tank. I was thinking of possibly having the last 6 inches on one side be sectioned off an have that as an 6"X18" overflow by i cant decide if I want to lose the 6 inches haha

I think I am just ocd about the noise...

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I started working on the stand this weekend and changed my ATO container. I had an unused 40 gallon sitting under my current tank so I made an acrylic cover for it and set it up to be my kalk/top off container. I've got to add one more leg to the stand and sand the top level since my 2x6s vary on the "6" dimension.

 

[JMLewis]

Following along, in our next house I'm going to build an in wall. Look forward to seeing this progress.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I've got the stand nice and level now with the help of composite shims. Sanding worked well but filled my laundry room with dust even though my sander has a bag attached and I held a vacuum hose behind the sander the entire time haha.

Since my floor is so uneven I cut the wall studs to the correct height first then assembled the top. Each leg had to be measured and fit according to where it sit on the floor.

Now I need to cover the exposed area where drywall was cut out and start on my frag tank stand.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I placed the order for the tank yesterday and it should be ready for pick up in late January.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I finished my frag tank stand yesterday, added a short shelf to the top of the display stand, and made a spot for my water change hose to hang on the side of the stand while staying connected to the sump drain.

 

[Chknsamich]

If only my wife would let me make a huge hole in the wall... Looking forward to seeing more updates!

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I just tell her how "easy" it is to close the hole back up haha. Just a piece of drywall, some space and paint lol

 

[Jizu Puentes]

I decided to go ahead and fill the frag tank so I have one less thing to do on "moving day". After asking around I decided to just get a cheap Mars Aqua fixture to hang over it. I plan to have half of the rack used for grow out and the other half for frag plugs. I'll obviously be getting a fixture for the dark half later haha. For now I have a pump sitting in my skimmer section pumping water to the frag tank and then the tank drains back into the skimmer section.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Oh also I've decided what i am going to do with my current 110 once it is empty of fish and corals. I'm going to plumb it to the 135, frag tank and sump as a macroalgae display! It is an old tank and has a few scratches but i just can't part with it and love the idea of a macroalgae/sponge tank. Since the 110 is almost as large as the 135 it'll be interesting to see how my nutrient export changes by using such a large "refugium". The 110 will be setup in the room behind the frag tank which will eventually be a den. For now the room is just a bare concrete floor/non lit/storage room haha, I did connect it to our HVAC system though so that it is climate controlled. The new plumbing setup will be: 135 drains to 110 through two 1" lines as well as the frag tank through a 1 1/4" line. The 110 will then drain to the sump and the frag tank will also drain to the sump.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Only two more days until the new tank is here! I cut the opening in the wall for it today. I put aluminum tape along the fresh cut drywall edges to keep drywall dust from falling in the tank and I'll put the moulding in place once the tank is setup. The only thing I need to do now is mix the new saltwater. I have 4 32 gallon Brute trash cans full of RO water and soon I'll run them through my DI canister (I have to aerate my RO before the DI so it isn't exhausted quickly) then mix the salt Saturday night.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Well apparently the truck that was delivering the tank got snowed in this weekend so I'll have to wait until next weekend to receive the tank. Ill just continue to mix water and plan my aquascape until then.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

The new tank is in place and all inhabitants were moved over yesterday. Here is the process that I took starting on the Saturday before the tank arrived. Saturday night I mixed one of the 32 gallon brute to get my mixture correct and be able to just pour in salt on Sunday morning for all the other cans. I also removed the light fixture from the 110 and hung it in place where the 135 will be.
Now to Sunday.
Here is the tank after I picked it up.

I ordered the tank without holes so the first thing I did when I got home was drill them. One is 48mm and the other two are 45 mm.

After the holes were drill I got the tank in place, poured the new sand in and started filling it. Oh I also leaked tested the tank outside before bringing it in.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

The base of my island on the right is a very large piece of rock and I didn't want the entire footprint in the sand so I used perferated piping that I had to prop it up.

Once the tank was filled I switched the pump from the 110 to the 135 and got it running to clear the sand particles out. While I waited for it to clear up I started to drill certain rocks and insert pvc rods to keep them in place.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

The rocks, corals and fish are now in the new tank and everyone looks happy. The two cleaner shrimp, snails and hermits are still in the 110 but I'll be moving them shortly. I was up until 3 am rescaping so I took today off. Tomorrow I'll move the 110, plumb it into the 135 and get it set up as my fuge. After all that is don't I'll need to start planning my moulding and cover for the wall opening.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Im really happy with how the scape turned out.