Through wall plumbing/multi room systems

[mustacheman]

I am starting to plan for a 125 that will be sitting against a wall that is shared with the garage, i am interested in pictures or suggestions from anyone who has run plumbing through walls. I was thinking of a system that would allow me to do water changes from the garage rather than the living room. Perhaps tie a RO/DI in from the garage through the wall into the sump for auto top off. Maybe run some type of controller in the garage from a central control panel. i was also thinking about running all the power cords into the garage as well. I am trying to keep the display as clean looking as possible. Also looking for ideas on reinforcing my floor. I am a licensed contractor so i can do most of this myself, i was just looking for ideas from someone who had done something like this. Pros/Cons etc.... Thanks in advance!
Jake
Bay Area California

 

[scsinet]

For reinforcing the floor, a couple of 2x8s sandwitched and supported by a couple molly posts works wonders, or you could just build a load bearing wall under the tank. If your basement is unfinished, you should be able to work out something. As a contractor you should be familiar with the options at your disposal.
Don't forget to consider earthquake reinforcement for a tank that size.
As far as going through the wall... there really isn't a set "way." I've seen people just hack a hole in the wall, run through what they want, and then just stuff the gaps with fiberglass insulation, others use plumbing access panels, I even heard of one guy that used a dog door.
I recommend against plumbing an RODI directly into an auto-top off. If something goes wrong that prevents that system from shutting down, there is an endless supply of water. If you're not home when it happens, a flood and a catastrophic salinity drop can occur. Rather, you're better off running an ATO from a container holding only enough water for a few days of water top-offs, and filling that container manually from a storage tank on your RODI.
For controllers, there are many solutions already out there for aquariums, just google "Aquarium controller" and you'll find a number of options.
For water changes, what I'd do is locate the sump in the garage. It'll keep the mess and the noise of the pumps out there. If you make the sump large enough that it normally contains the amount of water you wish to change, you can simply change water by shutting down the main pumps, emptying the sump, and refilling it with new seawater right out in the garage.
One other thing to remember is that when locating equipment in the garage, you have to consider the climate of the garage and the effect it has on your tank. If it gets significantly above or below the tank's operating temperature in the garage, you may need to add HVAC to your garage or add additional heaters/chillers as necessary.

 

[mustacheman]

CSI,
Thanks for the response, you raise some good points. I dont have a basement at all, i am on a raised foundation which is typical for this area. As far as the difference in temp in the garage, with water constantly flowing through the sump (its not like the water is stagnant) do you really think it would have that large of an affect on water temp?

 

[scsinet]

So does that mean you have a crawl space?
If so, I guess if it were me, I'd set a couple of cinder blocks on the ground and use some short molly posts and a header to just shore up the joists a bit under the tank... that is, if it's needed at all. Depending on where the tank is and how it sits on the floor joists, it may be unecessary. If the tank is sitting on a wall that is supported underneath, such as an exterior wall, and it sits perpendicular to the floor joists, you'll probably be okay without any reinforcement... though extra never hurts.
When I put in my 180g, mine ran parallel to the floor joists, so what I did is I doubled up the 2x10s (which was a pain because I had to cut a bunch of plumbing lines to do it), then I built a small wall running perpendicular to the tank directly underneath the center.... about a weekend's work... well worth it.
Yes, the flow through the sump will make a big difference. If it were just a tank, perhaps not, but when water is spilling over baffles or a skimmer is in operation - both of which dramatically increase the surface-to-air area of the water, it can make a dramatic difference. It all depends though... if your tank is 80 degrees and the garage is 70, it's probably not going to make a big difference, but if the garage gets down to 40 degrees, or up to 100 degrees, it might make a bigger impact.
The other thing you need to think about when locating a sump or anything else that exposes the water to air, is that in the garage, you potentially have fumes, dust, etc that can get into the water. In another if-it-were-me case, I'd probably build a small enclosure with a hinged lid or something that insulates and isolates the equipment to some degree. I will say that locating the equipment in a larger work area like you are doing has numerous advantages that makes a good case for doing it if you are so inclined to take it all on.