My basement peninsula (~240G ish), starting from studs.

[Areseebee]

I'm starting this as a build thread for a tank that may still be months away. At least partially because I want to solicit advice along the way.

The tank is planned to be an acrylic peninsula from Tsunami, 6 x 3 x 2 feet. And... that's all I got so far. Below is a picture of the planned location. The rectangle in the foreground would be the tank.

One challenge is that I want to run the plumbing down the wall to a "fish room" under the stairs. Is there any "ground work" I should lay now before the dry wall goes up? Will the pipes need support? The run is roughly 12 feet. I've never had a remote sump in this way.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Areseebee]

Ok, minor updates. Drain lines are run and I'll finish the returns today. I have 3 1.5" lines running roughly 14 feet. There's about 6 inches of drop over that span. I hung a bunch of J hooks like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-3-in-DWV-J-Hook-Pipe-Hanger-33510/301505441

I used various sizes throughout. The run is a little complex because the columns stick out slightly behind the framing. so you might be able to see much of the pipe is actually attached to the back of the finished wall that abuts this room.

Since I could only find pipe in 10 foot stretches, I had to epoxy two stretches of pipe together using a coupling and I'm a little worried I didn't do a good job on one of them. I'm not sure how to check it before drywall goes up. Either way I THINK I'll be able to swap out pipes if I absolutely need to, but it won't be trivial.

In the mean time I'm slowly trolling boards and facebook for reasonable priced equipment. I'm pretty cheap it turns out... I know, wrong hobby.

 

[biecacka]

I would say the J hangers are fine. That’s what they are designed for. However, if you are worried about the connecting pipes, redo it now. Cut it out and replace it with new pipe that you feel comfortable with. Peace of mind is priceless!

great start !

corey

 

[Areseebee]

Thanks! We now have plaster up. I put a folding table where the tank will go just to feel it out (the table is only 29 inches wide so the tank will be 7" wider"). The walls are up but I never had a chance to leak test so I'll have to figure something out for that.

 

[Areseebee]

I'm thinking about options for lights and sump now.

For sump I had planned a 100 gallon Rubbermaid but my sump room is only 42x61, so I'm a little worried that it will just be too wide. Does anyone have other ideas for simple water-holding tubs that are a little less wide? "Real" sumps are insanely expensive... I thought about just trying to find a local used acrylic frag tank or something.

For lighting I've been trying to figure out a reasonable and cheap solution. I wouldn't mind a MH/T5 solution but it's very random if you'll actually find a fixture. I think I could probably put something together but I'm very not-handy and I'm worried it'll look like crap.

Currently my favored light option is to get a 61" aquaticlife fixture which seems to run about 150-200 bucks. However I'd want it with the 24" width extensions. Then I'll put 3-4 of the x30 blue Chinese knockoffs mounted inside the aquaticlife fixture. I guess this would come to about $1000 bucks give or take.

 

[biecacka]

I have seen a guy use a Rubbermaid trash cans or brutes. I’m not sure which it was, but it was 50 gallons and he drained into it. Had an external skimmer and external return pump. Took up little space.


Corey

 

[Areseebee]

Yeah in particular the 100 gallon is really popular but it's super wide and would end up taking up most of the room... Unfortunately the 50 gallon version is just shorter. I feel like there must be a brand of them that is just less wide.

 

[biecacka]

No. He used a Rubbermaid trash can. So they are vertical. I use the 100 gallon. But also use a 50 gallon for my AWC. So if you can get a vertical trash can it saves space.


Corey

 

[AlyciaMarie]

This is going to be awesome!

 

[Areseebee]

No. He used a Rubbermaid trash can. So they are vertical. I use the 100 gallon. But also use a 50 gallon for my AWC. So if you can get a vertical trash can it saves space.

Oh my bad I read too fast! Yeah I've seen Randy Holmes Farley talk about it. I have trouble envisioning it but I should look more into it. I guess I could do that and just use like an external skimmer or something.