402 Gal Deep In-Wall Build

[P.kapp]

We are making some progress!
Our painters have been here, and should wrap up sometime in the next few days.
I also got an email that my stand was ready for pickup! Luckily, the company that built it for me is only about 15 minutes away, so I went and picked it up today. For being aluminum, these pieces are pretty heavy!

 

[P.kapp]

My LFS called a couple weeks ago and let me know that my tank is done! It’s sitting in their warehouse until I’m ready to install it.

Today I pressure washed the rocks that I soaked in bleach, and cleaned all the old debris off of them. I have saved these rocks for years, from different tanks and other hobbyists. There is a good variety of sizes, plate rocks, branch, and odd shaped pieces! I’m excited to try and put together a unique aquascape with caves, arches, and overhangs.

The goal is to have a clear line of sight from the font, nearly to the back of the tank. I really want to capture the depth of the tank with the aquascape. If any of you have pics and ideas, throw them up!! Haha

 

[squidarcher]

Lookin AWESOME!!!

 

[Powderblue85]

Definitely want to follow along for this one!!

 

[P.kapp]

Finished the outlets, got the lights switches wired up so we have light now, and cleaned the floor.
I am putting a bead of silicone down between the floor and trim, expecting there to be some water down sooner or later.
Next, I’m going to start assembling the stand. Stay tuned!

 

[VanDalsenReef]

Finished the outlets, got the lights switches wired up so we have light now, and cleaned the floor.
I am putting a bead of silicone down between the floor and trim, expecting there to be some water down sooner or later.
Next, I’m going to start assembling the stand. Stay tuned!

Coming along well. Keep it up

 

[Saltysecondsreefing]

sweet build so far

 

[P.kapp]

The stand is all together now and ready for the tank! I had some missing parts that held up the process for just a few days while the company mailed them to me, but overall it went pretty smooth.

 

[P.kapp]

To get the lower fastener pieces tightened up, I ended up buying these 6” Alan head tools to get easier access to the bolt head. Made things much easier, and got them snugged up good!

 

[Ironwill723]

Epoxy floor looks great. Which brand did you use to coat?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

To get the lower fastener pieces tightened up, I ended up buying these 6” Alan head tools to get easier access to the bolt head. Made things much easier, and got them snugged up good!

Woah these look cool to have handy

 

[P.kapp]

Epoxy floor looks great. Which brand did you use to coat?

Thank you! I used the ‘Better’ kit from this site. Then I bought a separate bag of chips off of eBay so I could do a heavy coat of chips.

 

[Ironwill723]

Thank you! I used the ‘Better’ kit from this site. Then I bought a separate bag of chips off of eBay so I could do a heavy coat of chips.

Thanks! Following along now. Everything looks great so far!

 

[P.kapp]

I used a spray adhesive to glue the foam to the top of the pvc sheet for the tank to sit on, and then used a little sawzall to trim the edges. I think it turned out pretty good!

 

[P.kapp]

The next project is the lighting system.

I bought a garage kayak/bike hoist to hang the lights from, and have some adjustability to them for maintenance and everything else.
For lights I have two 61” aquatic life T5 hybrid setups, that will mount with 4 Radion XR30’s and 2 Radion XR15’s.
The plan is to have an aluminum frame that holds them all together and level, and then hook up the hoist to that frame to move them all up and down.
The hoist is installed, but still need to get the lights mounted. More to come!

 

[P.kapp]

I was finally able to get the bracket made to hold the lights in place, and get it reinforced in the right places to make sure it holds solid! It took some tweaking, but I was able to get it straight from left to right, and up and down.

 

[P.kapp]

I had to put these little spacers in between the 2 light fixtures to keep them from being squished into each other when pressure was applied when lifting. It actually worked really well! I still need to put the T5 bulbs in, and organize the power cables, but I’m happy with the progress.

And best of all, my tank is being delivered tomorrow!! Very excited!!

 

[Tcook]

I will have an exhaust fan hooked up to a humidistat to help control moisture. I was thinking about maybe doing a dehumidifier as well for redundancy. Thoughts?

I set up my in wall tank with a Losone exhaust fan on a humidistat. In reality I have it running 24/7 because it also reduces the heat in the fish room. It would be nice if you could control the speed of the fan, through your Apex, depending on both the humidity and temperature.

 

[Wen]

My LFS called a couple weeks ago and let me know that my tank is done! It’s sitting in their warehouse until I’m ready to install it.

Today I pressure washed the rocks that I soaked in bleach, and cleaned all the old debris off of them. I have saved these rocks for years, from different tanks and other hobbyists. There is a good variety of sizes, plate rocks, branch, and odd shaped pieces! I’m excited to try and put together a unique aquascape with caves, arches, and overhangs.

The goal is to have a clear line of sight from the font, nearly to the back of the tank. I really want to capture the depth of the tank with the aquascape. If any of you have pics and ideas, throw them up!! Haha

Following your build because I’m moving a peninsula Tankme into a wall and was thinking to position the tank as you have, looking into the end for a deeper effect. Also want to see how you frame/finish out the viewing side.

Spied this photo on Insta, how cool would that be at night!

 

[P.kapp]

I set up my in wall tank with a Losone exhaust fan on a humidistat. In reality I have it running 24/7 because it also reduces the heat in the fish room. It would be nice if you could control the speed of the fan, through your Apex, depending on both the humidity and temperature.

That is a good idea. I kinda figured the fan will probably be running almost constantly. I may end up using a dehumidifier to help as well. Thanks for following!