my wall of tanks project

[sploke]

Starting a new project soon. Due to some future construction, I have to build a false wall in my basement. I decided to push it out a little further and put all my tanks behind it, so the faces will all be flush on the front side. All access will be from the back for feeding and maintenance. This is the plan so far:



The top two layers will all overflow into a shared sump with a pump into a manifold to return water back to the tanks. I'm still working on designing the stands, but for now it looks like the horizontal supports will all be doubled 2x6 or 2x8, with al 4x4 vertical braces. The turtle tank is 5' wide and 18" high, but will go 4' back and will hold about 225gal when full. So far, everyone has pretty much decided I'm crazy. Comments, suggestions?

[OrionGirl]

I would put the turtle tank on the bottom--you're going to have a heck of a time getting under it to work on the 75, otherwise. Ditto for the 30 and the 10.

[nursie]

I'm dittoing Onion's post

[joephys]

I have a ten gallon on the floor. Its a pain so I made it as easy as possible. Its a bare tank, no gravel at all so all I have to do is slowly let the water siphon into the bathtub. Its easy to clean the mulm out that way. I suppose if you have a python or something that isn't as big of an issue.

[Dirk]

The low clearance over the tanks is going to make it difficult to move fish around. I'm planning to stack tanks, but I'm going to keep 10-12" open above each tank. It's also a good idea to detail your electrical and plumbing before you start construction.

[TwoTankAmin]

Even 10-12 inches will rpove to be tight in the long run. Access is an issue with week after week of tank cleaning etc.

[wesleydnunder]

Originally Posted by TwoTankAmin

Even 10-12 inches will rpove to be tight in the long run. Access is an issue with week after week of tank cleaning etc.

I agree. Once you install lights under the tanks for the ones below you'll lose even more room. Please keep us updated as it goes along. What an ambitious project!

Mark

[vidiots]

I think your plan looks very cool, I'd like to do this myself sometime when I get around to finishing my basement. I think I would put the heavier tanks on the bottom and the lighter ones up higher as I this would be easier for the initial install and be more structurally sound. The higher you get the weight up off the floor the more strength you will need in your supports to keep it sturdy & stable.

I'd also say that you'll need atleast 12" of clearance between levels to be able to access the bottom tanks, and probably a step ladder to access the top tanks.

Another problem with having the bigger tanks on top is they will sit back further on the back side than the smaller bottom tanks if they are a flush on the front side making the bottom ones even harder to access.

[sploke]

Ok, updates. First off, I talked to my cousin, who is an archtect, who made me up some fancy schmancy drawings. He's convinced the weight isn't going to be a problem, which is comforting. The layout still might change a bit, but the design will remain the same.



Obviously the front-to-back will need to be adjusted accordingly but you get the idea.




Next - sub-project part 1 - moving the door for access from behind. The existing doorway is on the right side of the pic. It needs to be all the way back in the corner. As a side note - that corner was until recently teh residence of my workbench, the contents of which are now scattered in piles all over the basement floor, which is making this project even more exciting.


From the tank side. The edge of the doorway right now is about where thefish wall is going to meet the room wall.




Oh you want to put a door here? Of course there's a wire in the way. I ended up putting in a pass-through box and deleting the outlet, as it sits pretty much right where the walls are going to join. As another adventure, I found I have mice in my walls. Fun fun.



Sheetrock down and door mounted. Wow am I glad I just hung the sheetrock and skipped the tape/mud...that would have made substantially more mess. More to come...

[sploke]

Sub project part 2...cleaning up the old 150, so i can put the fish from the other 150 into it, and move it out of the way. I need to move it before I can move the turtle tank over there anyway.

I've had this tank for about a year. I got it for free with a couple crappy hoods that don't fit. The glass was a mess and there was more broken plastic in the frames than good.

I had thrown together some wood frames, I kept a hatching turtle in it over the winter. It only had about 6" of water in it so I wasn't too concerned. This is what I started with.



First, I scraped out allll the old silicone, cleaned the inside really well and resealed the entire tank.









Next step was to come up with some sort of temporary bracing. Its only going to have water in it like this for a few months. Before it moves to its final home, I'm going to weld up some angle aluminum full frames, top and bottom, with center braces. For now, its cable and turnbuckles to hold pressure on the corners, and a riveted aluminum brace for a center support.






I test filled it on Sunday and its leak free so far. I'm planning on switching the fish over this weekend, moving the other 150 and getting the turtle tank in the corner where it belongs.

Just so you can see where its going, and the mess I'll be cleaning up...I have too many tanks. Blasphemy!! The plywood tank is going on the floor, where the deck and kiddie pool currently are.



Updates as they come, its a slow process.

[DirtyDawg10]

Is the lighting going to be mounted to the bottom of the plywood between the 2"x6" supports?

Looks like you'll only have 2" to 3" above some of those tanks. That would be very tight.

The only thing you may want to add is some lateral reinforcing. "X" bracing, plywood on the back of the stand or fasten to the wall. There shouldn't be an issue with the tanks and the lateral bracing but if someone should lean against the stand (like when you're maintaining the top tanks)

Just some things to think about...although it looks like you've already done a lot of planning.

Very Cool!!!

[sploke]

Its not shown in the plans, but I'm probably going to end up tying the top of the stands into the ceiling as well. The whole front is going to be sheetrocked so its just a wall with tank faces recessed into it, so it will have to be pretty rock-solid. Still not sure about lights, but I just may use teh existing fixtures that sit right on the hood, that way I can still move them if I need to.

[mvigor]

Thanks for the update! I like the blue cloth "redneck lampshade."

[sploke]

Hahaha...before I started pulling everything apart, I actually had a dartboard on that wall and the bare bulb was really distracting as it was right in the line of sight. The little rag worked well enough.

[DirtyDawg10]

Originally Posted by sploke

Its not shown in the plans, but I'm probably going to end up tying the top of the stands into the ceiling as well. The whole front is going to be sheetrocked so its just a wall with tank faces recessed into it, so it will have to be pretty rock-solid. Still not sure about lights, but I just may use teh existing fixtures that sit right on the hood, that way I can still move them if I need to.

Sounds good...It should look awesome when you're done. Good Luck!

[hike13]

Originally Posted by mvigor

Thanks for the update! I like the blue cloth "redneck lampshade."

The "Need Beer" sign was my favorite.

Looks like you're having fun. Keep the pics coming.

[akapaul26]

Nice, thanks for the update! Keep us up to date it looks like a lot of work in the beginning, but should be a lot of enjoyment in the end!

[sploke]

Well, the first major part is done - getting the plywood turtle tank finished and into place. Also moved the 150 out of the way. Next step is going to be wiring up the outlets and painting the walls. Here's how its looking at the moment.





For the full build thread of the plywood tank, look here.

[sploke]

Alright, haven't posted updates in quite a while so I'll just put everything up together. I moved the first tank onto the stand yesterday, the 55. Here's how the construction went.

[sploke]