Greetings to all my fellow reefers out there in the world!!! after a long hiatus from the hobby I have decided to make a comeback now that we have settled in good ole Alabama!!!
I am planning a 300+ gallon in-wall build in our new home and wanted see what you guys had to say about a couple of options I am considering for a tank.
The initial idea was to get a tank 72x36x24 and place it in my dinning room but as I thought more and more about it I would really hate to try and keep everything under the tank as I am big supporter of running large filtration. I also considered that since my dinning room wall was on the opposite side of my garage I could build out a closet type room for all the equipment and place it out there but then I realized that all my electrical and breaker box is also on that side as well so that was out.
The second idea and finally the one that seems to be sticking is that in my breakfast area off of my kitchen is a walk-in type room (say 10' by 10') or so with a barn door style door on it. This wall is long enough but I need to take the door off and close the wall and then move the door to the laundry room which is located on the other side of one of the walls in the walk-in type room. The plan would then be to make the cut-out for a tank 96x36x24 in that wall so the tank is view-able from my breakfast area, kitchen, and living room. I have to do some research on reinforcing the top portion of the wall which is likely load bearing and supports part of a bedroom above on the second floor.
If I stick with the idea of placing the tank in this wall it will give me options to plumb up a QT system, rodi, a mixing station and run a rather large filtration setup as well.
Now.....for the tank questions.
I looked into TankmeUSA which I think makes one heck of nice tank and I really like the idea of there hybrid zero overflow but the cost is a little and he has a waiting list of almost 8 months I believe from when I spoke to him but I still might go that route.
Secondly I looked into Glass Cages as well given that they are only about an hour and 45 minutes from my house I could drive up there and check on the quality of things and make sure it is built to my liking before taking it home however the options for external overflows are little limited unlike the hybrid zero from TankmeUSA. I also considered going with Glass Cages and drilling my own overflows for dual Modular Marine overflows but wondered about weakening the glass or if I could even do it safely on a tank that size. if it is doable that means I could order their standard 96x37.5x25 tank at a significantly less price.
Thirdly, I was also considering going with a TruVu 300 gallon 96x30x24 in Acrylic but I am a little concerned with going acrylic because I like to have a sand bed in my tanks.
Let me hear your thoughts and ideas and let me see some acrylic tanks that have been running for awhile as well as some glass cages and tankmeusa tanks too!!! good to be coming back guys.
I am planning a 300+ gallon in-wall build in our new home and wanted see what you guys had to say about a couple of options I am considering for a tank.
The initial idea was to get a tank 72x36x24 and place it in my dinning room but as I thought more and more about it I would really hate to try and keep everything under the tank as I am big supporter of running large filtration. I also considered that since my dinning room wall was on the opposite side of my garage I could build out a closet type room for all the equipment and place it out there but then I realized that all my electrical and breaker box is also on that side as well so that was out.
The second idea and finally the one that seems to be sticking is that in my breakfast area off of my kitchen is a walk-in type room (say 10' by 10') or so with a barn door style door on it. This wall is long enough but I need to take the door off and close the wall and then move the door to the laundry room which is located on the other side of one of the walls in the walk-in type room. The plan would then be to make the cut-out for a tank 96x36x24 in that wall so the tank is view-able from my breakfast area, kitchen, and living room. I have to do some research on reinforcing the top portion of the wall which is likely load bearing and supports part of a bedroom above on the second floor.
If I stick with the idea of placing the tank in this wall it will give me options to plumb up a QT system, rodi, a mixing station and run a rather large filtration setup as well.
Now.....for the tank questions.
I looked into TankmeUSA which I think makes one heck of nice tank and I really like the idea of there hybrid zero overflow but the cost is a little and he has a waiting list of almost 8 months I believe from when I spoke to him but I still might go that route.
Secondly I looked into Glass Cages as well given that they are only about an hour and 45 minutes from my house I could drive up there and check on the quality of things and make sure it is built to my liking before taking it home however the options for external overflows are little limited unlike the hybrid zero from TankmeUSA. I also considered going with Glass Cages and drilling my own overflows for dual Modular Marine overflows but wondered about weakening the glass or if I could even do it safely on a tank that size. if it is doable that means I could order their standard 96x37.5x25 tank at a significantly less price.
Thirdly, I was also considering going with a TruVu 300 gallon 96x30x24 in Acrylic but I am a little concerned with going acrylic because I like to have a sand bed in my tanks.
Let me hear your thoughts and ideas and let me see some acrylic tanks that have been running for awhile as well as some glass cages and tankmeusa tanks too!!! good to be coming back guys.