Hoffy's 120 In-wall build + "Man room" (1 Viewer)

[hoffy02]

Ok peoples I finally get to start my own build thread. We bought the "beater" house on a nice street for cheap so for the past year its been non stop renovating! The wife said I've done enough for her and I can concentrate on the "man room" and tank... Its a loft over the living room, 13x16, and this is where I decided to put my tank.
As you will see in the pictures (maybe) is that the back of this room had a small closet which I believe was a way the builder used to hide the fact that the roof line was different there. Anyway I decided to extend the closet 2' and use it as a "fish room". But, due to the differing roof lines, it only made the best sense to center the tank at the highest point where the 2 roof lines meet, which made it off center in the room. So to bring balance back to the eye, a bar will be added to the left. In summary, I thought it would be cool to bring you folks along for the whole room reno... so thats what you get! a 120 build and an episode of "Man Caves" in pictures. As stated in my New top hobby thread,
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=44109
all advice, criticism, suggestions and so on are more than welcomed!! And needed!!

It keeps telling me I have exceeded my maximum upload quota even after I have made the pics much smaller so as soon as I figure it out i will get the pic update done..

 

[AnthonyB]

use photobucket

 

[crvz]

I'd also recommend a 3rd party site for hosting pictures, such as photobucket. There's not a large quote for users here, so you'll fill it up quickly.

 

[hoffy02]

Thanks guys.. photobucket it is..

The loft before


hardwood floors down and demo on the closet


framing begins for the wall and tank stand


After i weed through all the pictures my wife took of the tank move I will post them

 

[AnthonyB]

glad you got the pictures working and this looks like its goin to be an interesting thread

 

[jamesw]

Great idea! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Cheers
James

 

[hoffy02]

Well I got the tank stand finished including decking and a pad. Just as a side not, I keep wood from all demo projects in the house so, so far I have had to buy no material!! Anyway, as far as the room goes, it needs to be cleaned out. Once it is I will post pictures of the finished stand and how much room is left for the fish room behind the tank. Until then here are pics of how we got the stand into the loft and some of what else came with the tank. PLEASE GIVE COMMENTS ON THE EQUIPMENT THAT CAME WITH THIS DEAL!!!



I wasnt that optimistic


Almost there!


Got scary here!!


had to tilt to fit it under the ceiling

 

[hoffy02]

This thing is a giant, about 4' tall


Can of live rock and a few pieces of holey rock. will holey rock take the coraline like live rock?


the pump that is on the skimmer


one ballast, no end caps


5 of these


3 of these



Well do I have a pile of junk or what?

Thanks guys

 

[ReefWatcher]

Tank

Wow!!!!!!that's great.I wish I could have a "Man Room".

 

[d2mini]

That's badass. And I never would have thought to get the tank up there that way. lol

 

[crvz]

lose the rio pumps, but otherwise a good start at a collection. Rio hardware (especially older stuff) has had a great reputation of frying while IN the tank, often wiping out everything at the same time.

 

[hoffy02]

Thanks for the info on the rio's.
I took the birdsnest of wires the guy gave me with the lights and hooked it all up just to see if the bulbs were working. I got it together and all bulbs come on and then all go off after only about a second.. whats the problem here? I unplug then plug in again and it does the same thing.
What gives?

 

[crvz]

couple of things. wiring could be incorrect, tripping some internal ballast protection circuit. Or, the ballast may be bad. If you're talking about the icecap, if it's less than three years old (should be stamped on the ballast somewhere), they'll fix it for you. If not, I think it's a $60 standard charge to rebuild it. Pretty good deal all things considered.

 

[Kyle]

I have a fish room myself that I had the builder add on during construction. The best advice I can give you is to add some form of exhaust. I hade a standard bathroom fan installed by the builder. This was not near enough during the summer months. I took it out and put in a larger fan and it has helped so much. On a 240 with 400 watt halides my chiller does not run much at all. I do have an A/C supply ducted into the room though.

 

[hoffy02]

I did want to add a trunk for ac into this room for cooling purposes. But how big do you think is needed. the room will be around 5x10 so i dont know if it being a smaller room would make it hotter or easier to cool? any advice from lessons learned is MORE than welcome.

While we are talking about fans.... My wife said she doesnt mind Cigars in the "Man room" but I have to exhaust it. room is 13x16... Any suggestions? or just talk to the Lowes guy??? LOL!

 

[Kyle]

Something small would be more than enough. If possible I would have a supply and exhuast. Maybe you could tap the exhaust into an existing bathroom exhaust. That way you would use the same penetration through the side of the house or roof. You can always adjust the A/C vent damper on the grille to allow more or less air flow.

 

[hoffy02]

Time for a little update I guess... As far as competeing anything, not much to speak of.

I put baffles in the 18 gallon I will be using as my stand alone fuge... BUT still need to drill it for an overflow back to sump.

I put one raised baffle in the 48g sump... Kind of a tank width, poor mans, bubble chamber...

After much research I decided to pretty much go "baffle-less" in the sump to accomadate "dry hands" water changes.

I also decide on solar tubes, sun pipes, sun tubes, whatever you call them. I read a 27 page thread on RC today in reference to the subject, it was very convincing and pushed me over the edge. the application will be pretty easy in the tanks location and really doesnt make sense to do it any other way... Havent decided on supplemental lighting for the "blues" but leaning heavily to some kind of DIY LED set up. If I get a chance in the morning I will post the link. He was very good at documenting growth and color changes as time with the natural light went on...

Here are a couple pics....
*Disclaimer*
The place is a horrible mess and only half the plumbing is done (drain side) so more to come...


Tank in place and filling for a leak test, I resealed it and was nervous but it held tight



Wired five plugs controlled by switches on the far left side. 2 additional hardwired sockets will go on either side of tank plus 3 more on switches on the right side.





Drain to sump, skimmer return



Skimmer just ACCIDENTALLY fit in this extra space on left side!!



A "from the fuge" angle. this is drain to fuge inlet, main drain and skimmer overflow in back ground



a shot from the room side, sorry for the incredible mess




I have been busy with the holiday stuff so havent gotten to finish many projects. I will give you guys a better update soon...


Happy New Year guys and gals!!!

 

[Tin]

Looking great, can't wait for the finish set-up. Are you planning to mod those maxi? That would take a away a bunch of power heads just modding two I use 2 modded maxi for my 200 gallon.

 

[hoffy02]

Ya I want as little in the tank as possible.. Im a super newb so dont know anything about Mod's as of yet... could use any direction you all can give.. I assume that would be cheaper... help me out!

 

[Tin]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Algae_Fr...ree_Sure_Flow_Sure_Grip-AF1551-FIPHAC-vi.html

You turn a 300 gph pump into a 2000 gph flow monster. No koralia can top this. Save yourself a little money until you are ready for a vortech

What are you trying to go for with this tank? Fish only? Reef?