150gal In-Wall Aquarium

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

As a matter of fact, yes. I've got quite a bit done. I'm into most of the detail work now, so you can't really tell much from looking at it in a pic. I'll post some pics tomorrow though.

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

I still need to sand and bit and paint. I've installed all of the trim except for around the tank, which I'll do once I put the tank in. The little trimmed out piece to the left is where I turn on my gas for the fireplace. I also got my 3d background from our new sponsor today, so I need to install that and then I'll be able to put the tank in. Just finished priming the shelves today. I'm getting there!

[Mzungu]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

:emtthumbs:  Greatness! Which background did you get?

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

I got the congo rock. Their product seems to be made from that expansion type insulating foam, which is fine, but mine came in a box that was bent up during shipping, so I've had it laid out on the garage floor with some weights on it to get it flat again. The other thing I didn't expect was that the back is anything but flat, so I'm worried about having enough silicone anchor points to hold it in place. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Mzungu]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

By "the back is anything but flat," do you mean both sides are textured?

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Yes, the back  is in a similar shape as the front, though not painted nor "rock" like.

[Tiapan]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

this project has taken you quite a bit of time. dont think i could get away with it at my house. lol but it looks great cant wait to see what the tank is gonna look like in there. i know when its all done you will feel like you truly accomplished something. other then having a big hole in the wall for a few months.

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

this project has taken you quite a bit of time. dont think i could get away with it at my house. lol but it looks great cant wait to see what the tank is gonna look like in there. i know when its all done you will feel like you truly accomplished something. other then having a big hole in the wall for a few months.

Yeah, life kind of gets in the way of my timing. I finally got the exhaust fans in today. I went yesterday and got a couple of 120vac fans from radio shack. Well, I thought I was being smart and also went and got a light dimmer to plug them into so that I could adjust the speed so they weren't too loud. Wrong answer. Those fans only work with the full voltage applied. So, today I went and got a couple of computer case fans(much cheaper too) and and one of those 120vac to 12vdc adapters. The adapter actually has adjustable voltage of 1.5,3,5,7,9, and 12vdc. I cut off the end and spliced all of the wires together. Now I can adjust the voltage which slows the fans to a very quiet speed. Once I found that it all worked, I cut holes in the back of each shelf box at the back of the box just above the top shelf and installed the fans there. They work great!

[Mzungu]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Good work! I'm sure your fish will be extremely happy when it's all up and running, too!  :wink:

[sproett]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Wow, this is looking good.  I can't wait to see the final picture.  I want to have one like this someday.

[Teeleton]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Yeah, life kind of gets in the way of my timing. I finally got the exhaust fans in today. I went yesterday and got a couple of 120vac fans from radio shack. Well, I thought I was being smart and also went and got a light dimmer to plug them into so that I could adjust the speed so they weren't too loud. Wrong answer. Those fans only work with the full voltage applied. So, today I went and got a couple of computer case fans(much cheaper too) and and one of those 120vac to 12vdc adapters. The adapter actually has adjustable voltage of 1.5,3,5,7,9, and 12vdc. I cut off the end and spliced all of the wires together. Now I can adjust the voltage which slows the fans to a very quiet speed. Once I found that it all worked, I cut holes in the back of each shelf box at the back of the box just above the top shelf and installed the fans there. They work great!

I think AC motors of that type control their RPMs by changing the frequency of the AC, and not the voltage.

Teeleton

[HFBfounder]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Update: I put the tank in temporarily so that I could precisely cut the trim and I tacked it into place and it looks awesome. Unfortunately I needed to pull the trim off so that I can get my 3d background put into it. They wanted to send me a better background so I returned the old one and am waiting on the new one to come in. I can't wait!!  

However, I do have another dilema perhaps someone can give me some thoughts on. When I put the tank on the stand, I noticed that I could slide a piece of paper between the tank and the stand. That tells me that there are some minute high spots. I'm guessing that since it's on 3/4" plywood that it will sink down a bit into that and be fine, but I've seen the results of high spots on stands and it's not pretty. My problem is that I don't know how high their spots were vs. my high spots. Any thoughts? The last thing I want is a cracked tank and a floor full of water.

[Mzungu]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

Thought about putting foam below the tank? I think that's what a lot of people do to correct level problems...

You're almost there!!  

[Ellen]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

That's what I've heard before also, foam or styrofoam. I don't know how much it really helps; fish tanks are so heavy it would seem that they would just crush it down...

Ellen

[ROB281]

Re: 150gal In-Wall Aquarium

I put a layer 3/8" - 1/2") of real soft material, similar to that of some fleece sweaters under mine  :?