New house, new tank idea. Need advise.

[serpentine5]

Ok, I just bought a house. I am looking at moving in next weekend. I have about a week from now to get it cleaned up and ready to move in. Last week I was at a customers house, and he had an in- the-wall fresh water tank set-up that inspired me. Another customer of mine a few days later mentioned that he was a carpenter, so we got to talking about my idea, and I will now have him to help me when i get to work on my in-the-wall project. Now, since i have the stand and supports covered, my dilema is the top above the tank. I am still running my 48" 55 gallon tank. It is running without glass tops. It is the tank I am wanting to put in the wall.
My living room connects to my garage, and my garage is about 36 or so inches lower than the floor in the living room. I want the tank in the wall, flush to the living room side, about three and a half to four feet above the living room floor. so we are talking about six to six and a half feet above the floor of the garage. The wall is about 4 to 4 1/2 inches thick, and the tank is the standard 12 1/2 inch wide. Now what I am concerned with is the top over the tank, with salt creep, moisture, and what not. My filtration system and skimmers will be hanging off the back in the garage area, and the lights (power compacts) will be in the garage also (or possibly in the wall [half in the wall half out in the garage], centered above the tank. the living room side of the wall would cover the lights so only the tank would be seen from the front side.) what can i use to keep the creep and moisture from getting all over the wood, and dry wall?
This is the only draw back to this whole project. I LOVE the idea, I dont have to drag all my equipment into the living room to do maintanence, and I am adding space to living room for additional furniture. In my mind, the tank in the wall will look like a living wall picture. So I can have my couch infront of it, and the entertainment center on the oposite wall, and whatever on the other two walls.
Can I maybe use some type of bondo, or hard plastic, or sometheing of the like?
And thanks for any and all suggestions guys and girls. Serp

 

[bigmac]

Steve Weast (sp? sorry Steve) is the guy you want to talk to. I'm doing an in wall tank right now but my tank and equipments going in a closet, that's a lot different. When my oldest daughter moves out then I'll start the planning for the in wallgarage tank.
My first advice is to go REAL SLOW with this. Steve can help you out step by step. If you have a problem contacting him let me know at golfish5@MSN.com
He's a member here so you shouldn't have a problem

 

[serpentine5]

Steve Weis? I dont remember what his nickname here is.

 

[bigmac]

His screen name is Steveweast

 

[serpentine5]

Cant email him throught the site, and we dont have PM availability here either. You talk to him again, direct him to this thread, or to yell at me on MSN, my handle on msn is serpentine5@hotmail.com
Thanks bud

 

[bigmac]

you got mail

 

[steveweast]

serpentine5... your situation sounds alot like mine. I'd be happy to answer any specific question that you may have. Here is the back of my system which has a house-to-garage floor drop of about 4 feet.

 

[steveweast]

And, here is the picture frame side...

 

[serpentine5]

Steve, Awsome pix. I really thank you and Bigmac for helping me out here! I think I have everything covered but what to use above the tank. The part that is in the wall and outside of the wall is bound to cause salt creep and moister problems on the wood and dry wall. What can I use to cover the wood and dry wall, or is there a route that I am not thinking of? BTW, what size tank is that you are running in the pix? Thanks guys! Serp

 

[steveweast]

Serp... a few questions...
1) Are you having the tank truely built into the wall? meaning, is the tank going to be into the wall cavity itself and ending up flush with the drywall and then framed? If so, and with the 12 1/2 inches of tank depth that you're working with... that would leave only 8 inches for access and for the lights to cover... is this correct?
2) Or, are you framing in a larger opening for the lights to cover the entire tank and maybe framed high enough to gain access easier?
3) If #3 is yes, are you just floating down the drywall over this "over-framed" section down to the tank top... and if so, how is the frame going to attach without framing members in this area?
4) In any case, you want to avoid trapping moisture in the wall cavity. In my case, the tank sits into a 6 inch wall cavity... but, the first 8 inches of the tank top is sealed to prevent moisture from accumulating in the wall cavity. This, coupled with lots of ventilation in the garage, keeps my system from becoming a mold factory. There are ways to seal off the woodwork if you really had to... such as rubber adhesive membranes that are used to waterproof windows as they are installed; but, it will always be a possible problem if you have an open tank top into the wall cavity. If the wall that you are going to be cutting into is load bearing, I would also be placing in a larger header to make any possible tank upsizing down the road easier.
5) One more question... constructing an in-wall tank takes alot of construction work. Why go to all that energy for only a 55? It seems to me that such an endeavor would warrant a larger tank with some more depth.... perhaps something the same size as your 55 but with 24 or 30 inches of depth. This way you'll never be fighting the wall cavity and you can seal the wall cavity from the tank... preventing any moisture build up. It would be a shame for you to go to such lengths for a built-in system and be disappointed down the road.
6) To answer your question, my tank is 850gal.

 

[niger12]

Stevewest, this is off the topic but I have thought about building a tank into the wall in my garage. Just moved to OR from Michigan and this idea would not work unless you heated the garage. Since it does not get cold here in the valley how do you heat the tank.

 

[steveweast]

Niger12.... I have (2) 1000 watt heaters on my tank; but, they rarely go off... only on the coldest winter nights when the outside temperature is way below freezing. The large water volume holds alot of heat and my garage stays warm as a result. I have an exhaust fan that exchanges the garage's air with outside air every twenty minutes to control the humidity during the daytime when my 5800watts of lights are on... but, at night.. the air exchanger is off to maintain heat (except in summer when the air exchanger runs24/7).

 

[serpentine5]

Originally posted by steveweast
1) Are you having the tank truely built into the wall? meaning, is the tank going to be into the wall cavity itself and ending up flush with the drywall and then framed? If so, and with the 12 1/2 inches of tank depth that you're working with... that would leave only 8 inches for access and for the lights to cover... is this correct?
A) Well, the idea was to have it truely built into the wall, so the front is flush with the living room wall. But since you asked this question, and the others below, I am thinking about an open hole ( a window without the window glass, but with a sill and all) and have the tank on the outside of the opening in the wall.
2) Or, are you framing in a larger opening for the lights to cover the entire tank and maybe framed high enough to gain access easier?
A) Yes, I was going to frame it so the nine inch wide lights could sit centered above the tank as they do now.
3) If #2 is yes, are you just floating down the drywall over this "over-framed" section down to the tank top... and if so, how is the frame going to attach without framing members in this area?
A)not exactly sure what you are asking here.
4) In any case, you want to avoid trapping moisture in the wall cavity. In my case, the tank sits into a 6 inch wall cavity... but, the first 8 inches of the tank top is sealed to prevent moisture from accumulating in the wall cavity. This, coupled with lots of ventilation in the garage, keeps my system from becoming a mold factory. There are ways to seal off the woodwork if you really had to... such as rubber adhesive membranes that are used to waterproof windows as they are installed; but, it will always be a possible problem if you have an open tank top into the wall cavity. If the wall that you are going to be cutting into is load bearing, I would also be placing in a larger header to make any possible tank upsizing down the road easier.
A) It is not a load bearing wall. This I have already checked.
5) One more question... constructing an in-wall tank takes alot of construction work. Why go to all that energy for only a 55? It seems to me that such an endeavor would warrant a larger tank with some more depth.... perhaps something the same size as your 55 but with 24 or 30 inches of depth. This way you'll never be fighting the wall cavity and you can seal the wall cavity from the tank... preventing any moisture build up. It would be a shame for you to go to such lengths for a built-in system and be disappointed down the road.

A) As for the larger tank, I would love to put in a larger tank, but costs and my financial situation prevent this. As I said to the first question, After reading your whole post, I am now considering having the whole tank on the garage site, and have it pressed up to a piece of plexiglass that is on the garage side of an open window. This would also accomodate my cate who like to sit infront of the tank and watch the fish.

 

[dburr]

Steve hit it all, I would wait for a bigger tank. IT just seems logical to have the wider tank to reach into and for evap reasons.
Dan

 

[serpentine5]

I can deffinently have the urge to get a larger tank, but that is not going to happen anytime in the near or not so near future. Unless I come into a deal where some one is practacly giving a large tank away. And I do not see that happening.

 

[steveweast]

Serpentine5... there's nothing wrong with your idea of having the tank completely on the garage side and just push it up to the opening that leads into your living room. This orientation would solve all your problems with access,evaporation,etc. I don't think that you would need a piece of plexi between your tank and the wall though. Just push your tank up against the opening that leads into your living room and use some pipe foam insulation around the edges to make it more weather tight (that's what seals my tank as it sits in the cavity). The look will still look like a picture frame... just with it recessed back by 4 1/2 inches (the thickness of your wall).
Since this is a non load bearing wall, a future upgrade shouldn't be too bad either.... so, get your feet wet.
As for the part that you didn't understand, I'll try to explain it better. If your tank were to be in the wall cavity... and with the opening having to be framed in higher than your tank top to accomodate your lights... and, since you don't want to see the lights from the living room, something has to cover that opening above the tank. If the goal were to have a picture frame look (as mine is) that would mean that the drywall would have to extend down to the top of the tank to hide the lights... but, since there is no lumber there, what does it and the frame that goes around the tank attach to? That was my question... kinda a moot point now with your new direction. Good luck.
Steve

 

[serpentine5]

Steve, Thanks alot. I hope to start on this tomorrow so it will be ready for the move this weekend. I do not want to break down the tank, rebuild it, then have to tear it down again later after I get the wall ready for it. I see this as beeing too stressfull not only on me but on the tank as well. I really dont want to move it now, it is doing so well, but I cannot help it this time. I can prevent an un-needed additional move in the future. (Unless I get handed a huge large tank!)
Thanks again, Serp

 

[tony detroit]

I saw that tank in the book at borders
That was you?
Awesome job steve

 

[bigmac]

I told you Steve was the guy to talk to....Thanks for joining in Steve.

 

[jrpage]

I must admit the picture threw me somewhat. I would have never dreamed it to be so large.
I've shown the pic to my hubby. That's definately our next tank!
Rhonda