Fish Tank Built Into Wall

dankoos

dankoos

Member
Hello,
I have not yet purchased tank or supplies, am still in the planning stages. We will be finishing our basement (live in Ohio) soon and I plan on building a fish tank (probably 75 gallons) into the drywall. Half of the basement will be finished, half not. Just the front of the tank will be seen in the finished part, leaving all the equipment hidden on the non-finished side, kinda like its own "fish room". Has anyone here done this? If so, any problems encountered? Thanks in advance!
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
Sounds good ... although I've never done it YET, you might want to consider going bigger than 75 for an in wall tank. Depending on the size of the wall, they tend to look out of place.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Yep it's quite common to do that sort of thing......Depending on size of tank and all it might be important to leave yourself access from the front of the tank to do maintenance as well.....I'm in the stages of pulling together my fishroom will post pics later
 
sarwiz100

sarwiz100

Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
Yep it's quite common to do that sort of thing......Depending on size of tank and all it might be important to leave yourself access from the front of the tank to do maintenance as well.....I'm in the stages of pulling together my fishroom will post pics later
Hindsight being better than foresight, i agree. Should have put an access in front. Now ,in order to place things, we use a mirror or verbal guidance. Always trying to learn from mistakes (usually mine).
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I know what your talking about with the mirror......I wasn't going to leave access from the front, but after reading posts on another site, they convinced me it was a must.......
 
ecoman

ecoman

Member
you could easily make an access panel that can be pulled out n up sort of like a cabinet, but inside is FISH!
 
ecoman

ecoman

Member
actually, u could hinge all that drywall n make it open up on each side instead of out n up. You might have to work around a few studs when doin maintenance, but I bet it helps ALOT!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
What about the moisture from the tank on the drywall???? What would you back or line the drywall with to prevent that and depending on the size of the openings wouldn't you get some flex out of the drywall pieces? Good idea, but would like to see some pics of what your talking about if you have some
 
dankoos

dankoos

Member
That was my biggest concern, water getting on the drywall...I was thinking I could probably line it with something that is water resistent...or even paint the backside w/ some sort of water proof paint or whatever.
Also, why else would I need to have access to the the tank from the front for things other than placing decorations/rock/etc? I mean, if you just have it on a stand up against a wall, you never have access from the back side...so what is the difference? Just asking...trying to get all the ideas out there...probably not going to start this for quite a while.
 
bill f

bill f

Member
Instead of regular drywall, they make a special drywall for bathrooms and areas with moisture concerns (I'm not talking about green board either, thats regular paper on the back only the front is water resistance and not that concrete board either). It's a newer product, I don't know the name of it but someone may be able to help you.
 
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dboy999

Guest
bill ,id get more into but kinda have no time right now, but search for my threads i built a 375 in my basement with huge fishroom and etc.. documented it all on here with pics ..check them out..an as for drywall i own a large drywall company,green board is a joke more expensive an really does nothing more than regular board.however if your worried about mold theyt make a sheetrock that had chemicals in it to prevent mold a bit pricey.its blue board..let me know if you have any questions after you read my threads theres everything you need to know..
 
bill f

bill f

Member
The info was for Dankos, but I knew you would know, blueboard thats it. Like I said the greenboard wouldn't help.
dboy, as a side note, that new store on 70 reopened on wednesday, I'm checking it out this weekend or maybe tonight.
 
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dboy999

Guest
i picking up a new tank tommorow off e b a y .im making a display 75 next to my 375..sea hore pipe fish shrimp etc....oddites pretty much...i stopped there on monday they said they were tryin to open by the end of this week...let me know how it is if you go be i do..i probably wont make it there till sun or monday gonna setin up thi new tank..just looping it in with my whole system
 
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dboy999

Guest
the board your talking about is called dense sheild..expensive also..only comes in 4x8 sheets..an my first post in here was ment for the orignal thread starter
 
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