Studjunior
Active Member
Hello Everyone,
This is the first time posting a build thread on R2R but after reading some of the amazing threads lately I was feeling inspired. This build sort of started in January and was posted on a local forum but figured I'd give it a shot over here. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting so please bear with me....
January 12, 2017
So after setting up my 150G tank 5 and a half years ago i was forced to shut it down and sell everything off. I was selling my new house at the end of October and moving my wife and 6 kids (5 kids at the time but had our newest addition 5 weeks later) into my parent's house while our new house is being renovated (expected completion date is the end of Feb).
Reef keeping has become such a huge part of my life that the thought of not setting up a new tank in my new house was inconceivable. As we were doing a major reno, including moving walls around, I figured that was as good a time I would ever have to build my final dream tank. The original plan (ever changing work in progress) was to build a similar size 150G (5*2*2) into the wall between my office and the dining room. The tank would be view-able on both sides, with my office side being encased by a bookcase. For the filtration, I'm building a room in the basement under the tank to hold the whole filtration system. As this project was getting above my pay grade I have now retained Colin from Roof Boutique to assist with the design, build and installation of this tank.
The tank itself is being made by Miracles. Given Derek's great reputation I feel very good about this.....
Now on to my major dilemma....
Until Last week I have my head set on a 150G 5*2*2 tank as i had for the last 5 years. Although the fish tank was a priority, having the wall unit to store my many books was also important as I intend to spend a lot of time in my office. The thought of making my tank bigger never occurred to me...... Then, one eventful night, after the stand for the tank and the wall the tank would be going into was already framed and the carpenter and I had made numerous revisions to his drawing for the unit my mother started asking me questions about the progress with the fish tank.
I went on to explain that that the stand was build and the room in the basement was framed... She then asked my how big was the tank going to be. I explained that I was going to keep it the same size I had before... And that's when everything changed. My mother starting giving me ****, that how could it be that you finally have the space and you're building your dream tank that you keep it the same size... And then my wife pops up i the background "I was actually surprised you were keeping the tank the same size but I didn't want to get involved in your project". That was a game changer for me. If my wife was encouraging me to go bigger, how could I refuse her right???
First obstacle I now faced was, how do I tell my contractor, that all the work he did building the stand and framing the opening was for nothing.... So far this has been the easiest part. As soon as I told him I wanted to make it bigger he jumped with joy at the idea. We then started talking size... Which has lead the current dilemma. I was first thinking of taking it to 6 feet but my contractor has now opened my head to the idea of 7 feet or for him preferably 8 feet long. Now my head was in cloud 9.... Can you imagine an 8 foot long tank!!!!!! Just imagine the beautiful tangs I can have!!!!
I quickly sent Colin a message to get his thoughts on this and weather the filtration system he was planning could handle the jump from 150G to 210G or ever 240G. He right away added fuel to the fire encouraging me to go 8 feet and the the system could handle even 300G. He keeps reminding me that once the tank is in and the wall unit is built, there is no changing my mind to go bigger....
Now to my dilemma.... As one side of the tank is the dining room, I know an 8 foot tank will be spectacular (the wall for reference is 140 inches long). my worry is on my office side. The tank would be 8 feet (96 inches) long and in my wall unit I've allowed for 6 inches for access on each side of the tank for the plumbing and cleaving. that take the total to 108 inches leaving only 16 inches for bookshelves on each side.... Will my office look funny with only 16 inches of shelf space on each side???? At 7 feet I would have 22 inches on each side which I think is perfect. This is where my head says go with a 7 foot tank but my heart says go with 8 feet..... Or do I say "screw it, I'm the only one that;s going to be in my office so who cares what it will look like on my side"....
So this takes up to today. Everyone is waiting on my to make a decision of what to do and I'm torn. Meanwhile I'm holding up the renovations which will tick off my wife and contractor so that's a big NO NO....
The 2 PDF's attached are my own VERY rough renditions of what the office wall unit would look like at 7 and 8 feet. The width of the unit is to scale but not the height. As well, in these drawings I was allowing 8 inches of access on each side of the tank but I was told I can reduce that to 6 inches which would allow an extra 2 inches of bookshelves on each side.
January 13, 2017
Ultimately I decided to go with the 8 foot tank at the end!!! Derek at Miracles is giving us a great price and everyone keeps telling, "you're only going to do this once!!". That is VERY TRUE!!!! As well, I'm thinking about the fish. 8 feet of space to swim in is better than 7 feet... I know it doesn't compare to an ocean but it is our obligation to provide them the best home possible if we're going to keep them in our houses.
January 16, 2017
Humidity is a bit of an issue that we have to figure out how to address. In the basement fish room I'm not too concerned as it's a large room that is doubling as a second kitchen. Most likely I'll put a spare De-humidifier in there. The concern right now is the humidity in the upstairs office where the tank is going as the unit is wood and it will be holding my books. Colin is working with my contractor and the carpenter to address the issue. we're playing with the idea of a exhaust vent built into the unit to allow for an exit of the humidity from the unit.
This is the first time posting a build thread on R2R but after reading some of the amazing threads lately I was feeling inspired. This build sort of started in January and was posted on a local forum but figured I'd give it a shot over here. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting so please bear with me....
January 12, 2017
So after setting up my 150G tank 5 and a half years ago i was forced to shut it down and sell everything off. I was selling my new house at the end of October and moving my wife and 6 kids (5 kids at the time but had our newest addition 5 weeks later) into my parent's house while our new house is being renovated (expected completion date is the end of Feb).
Reef keeping has become such a huge part of my life that the thought of not setting up a new tank in my new house was inconceivable. As we were doing a major reno, including moving walls around, I figured that was as good a time I would ever have to build my final dream tank. The original plan (ever changing work in progress) was to build a similar size 150G (5*2*2) into the wall between my office and the dining room. The tank would be view-able on both sides, with my office side being encased by a bookcase. For the filtration, I'm building a room in the basement under the tank to hold the whole filtration system. As this project was getting above my pay grade I have now retained Colin from Roof Boutique to assist with the design, build and installation of this tank.
The tank itself is being made by Miracles. Given Derek's great reputation I feel very good about this.....
Now on to my major dilemma....
Until Last week I have my head set on a 150G 5*2*2 tank as i had for the last 5 years. Although the fish tank was a priority, having the wall unit to store my many books was also important as I intend to spend a lot of time in my office. The thought of making my tank bigger never occurred to me...... Then, one eventful night, after the stand for the tank and the wall the tank would be going into was already framed and the carpenter and I had made numerous revisions to his drawing for the unit my mother started asking me questions about the progress with the fish tank.
I went on to explain that that the stand was build and the room in the basement was framed... She then asked my how big was the tank going to be. I explained that I was going to keep it the same size I had before... And that's when everything changed. My mother starting giving me ****, that how could it be that you finally have the space and you're building your dream tank that you keep it the same size... And then my wife pops up i the background "I was actually surprised you were keeping the tank the same size but I didn't want to get involved in your project". That was a game changer for me. If my wife was encouraging me to go bigger, how could I refuse her right???
First obstacle I now faced was, how do I tell my contractor, that all the work he did building the stand and framing the opening was for nothing.... So far this has been the easiest part. As soon as I told him I wanted to make it bigger he jumped with joy at the idea. We then started talking size... Which has lead the current dilemma. I was first thinking of taking it to 6 feet but my contractor has now opened my head to the idea of 7 feet or for him preferably 8 feet long. Now my head was in cloud 9.... Can you imagine an 8 foot long tank!!!!!! Just imagine the beautiful tangs I can have!!!!
I quickly sent Colin a message to get his thoughts on this and weather the filtration system he was planning could handle the jump from 150G to 210G or ever 240G. He right away added fuel to the fire encouraging me to go 8 feet and the the system could handle even 300G. He keeps reminding me that once the tank is in and the wall unit is built, there is no changing my mind to go bigger....
Now to my dilemma.... As one side of the tank is the dining room, I know an 8 foot tank will be spectacular (the wall for reference is 140 inches long). my worry is on my office side. The tank would be 8 feet (96 inches) long and in my wall unit I've allowed for 6 inches for access on each side of the tank for the plumbing and cleaving. that take the total to 108 inches leaving only 16 inches for bookshelves on each side.... Will my office look funny with only 16 inches of shelf space on each side???? At 7 feet I would have 22 inches on each side which I think is perfect. This is where my head says go with a 7 foot tank but my heart says go with 8 feet..... Or do I say "screw it, I'm the only one that;s going to be in my office so who cares what it will look like on my side"....
So this takes up to today. Everyone is waiting on my to make a decision of what to do and I'm torn. Meanwhile I'm holding up the renovations which will tick off my wife and contractor so that's a big NO NO....
The 2 PDF's attached are my own VERY rough renditions of what the office wall unit would look like at 7 and 8 feet. The width of the unit is to scale but not the height. As well, in these drawings I was allowing 8 inches of access on each side of the tank but I was told I can reduce that to 6 inches which would allow an extra 2 inches of bookshelves on each side.
January 13, 2017
Ultimately I decided to go with the 8 foot tank at the end!!! Derek at Miracles is giving us a great price and everyone keeps telling, "you're only going to do this once!!". That is VERY TRUE!!!! As well, I'm thinking about the fish. 8 feet of space to swim in is better than 7 feet... I know it doesn't compare to an ocean but it is our obligation to provide them the best home possible if we're going to keep them in our houses.
January 16, 2017
Humidity is a bit of an issue that we have to figure out how to address. In the basement fish room I'm not too concerned as it's a large room that is doubling as a second kitchen. Most likely I'll put a spare De-humidifier in there. The concern right now is the humidity in the upstairs office where the tank is going as the unit is wood and it will be holding my books. Colin is working with my contractor and the carpenter to address the issue. we're playing with the idea of a exhaust vent built into the unit to allow for an exit of the humidity from the unit.
