I'm remodeling and am going to build a 75 gal. tank into one of the walls. I'd access the tank from behind the wall in the utility room. The front of the tank would face out into the billiard room. Anyone have favorite sites with pictures or plans I can check out for ideas on how to best achieve this goal?
75 Gal. (Built-In Wall) Tank Plans
- Thread starter TBA
- Start date
Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question. Just wanted to note that I'd want to be *very* careful about placement of an aquarium in a billiards room, especially if you've got some billiards players who shoot on the hard side. I'd hate to think about a cue ball striking a filled aquarium.
A friend of mine has a 150built into a wall in a billiard room ,he put a piece of plexi glass in front of tank.Looks good
Hey TBA, I had the same idea for a closet. Didn't find any plans for it unfortunately. If you're building a wall (2X4's) just get a few extra and build a "short wall" as the back of the stand. Use 2X4's to join the two walls and "skin" them with plywood for bracing. If the original wall is existing, you have to put in a header, jack studs, etc., which if you don't know how to do, you can find this info out.
Unfortunately for me, after sizing up the actual amount of space the tank would occupy, I (my wife ) decided against putting the tank in the wall.
Good luck!
Unfortunately for me, after sizing up the actual amount of space the tank would occupy, I (my wife
) decided against putting the tank in the wall. Good luck!
I just finished building a 75G out of 3/8 acrylic. I also built the stand, sump, and canopy. If you build a 2x4 frame that covers the length and width of the tank... youll have no worries, mine is like a rock (I assembled it using 2 1/2" decking screws) Building the drilled tank itself wasnt difficult either. I got the local acrylic guy to cut the pieces to size, and I glued them together. Then I drilled it, glued in an internal overflow, built a Durso standpipe, and viola! The only thing Ive thought to do different would be to put the internal overflow in the center of the tank instead of in the corner.
How much did it cost for you to build your tank. I was thinking of trying to build my own tank instead of buying a bigger one. Any suggestions?
You can see my thread 'Building an Acrylic Tank' in the DIY forum but basically, what I did was I had my local Acrylic supplier cut a 4x8 sheet to my specifications, then I glued it together. BUT MAKE SURE if you do this that you MEASURE the pieces at the place before bringing them home (my guy cut them the wrong sizes).
Costwise it was 155.00 for the sheet cut to "size".
I also bought some scrap for the internal overflow at 2.00 per pound... total... 2.00
Then I drilled the tank for 1" drain, and a 1/2" return bulkhead fittings (The bulkhead fittings were 6.00 each).
Then I built a Durso style standpipe, and return (couple of bucks worth of PVC)
Another thing I realized (other than a better spot for the internal overflow) from doing this was that I liked having the return on the opposite side, or somewhere far away from the overflow because the blast from the return was disrupting the flow of debris into the overflow. So I ended up running the return to the opposite end of the tank (my overflow is in the back/left corner so the return is now on the right rear). If I would have known this in advance, I would have only drilled a bulkhead for the drain, and just ran the return from the sump to the otherside.
There are other alternatives to drilling the bottom as well. If I was going to build another tank and I knew that it would not be viewed from the back, I might consider just drilling the back of the tank instead of the bottom. This way you wont have ANY space taken up in the tank by an overflow box. Just drill the back, place a bulkhead fitting in there, and run plumbing to the sump (you do need a small box around the back of the tank drain to keep fish from getting sucked in there but it would be MUCH less space consuming than the overflow for a bottom drilled tank). However with a back drilled tank you would need to have the tank further from the wall....
But then again your planning on an inwall tank so you wouldnt have to worry about from-the-wall distance.
So for you? I would go with a BACK drilled drain and return on opposite ends of the tank. The drain would go to a sump and biotower, then get pumped back into the tank from the return. This would give MAX in-the-tank realestate, and a neat/clean appearance since all gadgets/etc. would be in the sump.
Building the tank itself isnt that hard...
You MUST get a really clean edge on the acrylic. The edge thats on it after being cut isnt good enough... you need to scrape the blade marks off...
Cementing it is not difficult either, but you have to be careful.... When I did mine, something must have caught my attention, and I missed about 1" with the glue... When I filled it up... LEAK... Then I drained it, cemented that part and so far so good.
You will need at least a centerbrace to keep the tank from bowing out. I put a 12" centerbrace on mine and it still bows a little... NOT in the middle but on each side of the brace about 1/16 of an inch.
Costwise it was 155.00 for the sheet cut to "size".
I also bought some scrap for the internal overflow at 2.00 per pound... total... 2.00
Then I drilled the tank for 1" drain, and a 1/2" return bulkhead fittings (The bulkhead fittings were 6.00 each).
Then I built a Durso style standpipe, and return (couple of bucks worth of PVC)
Another thing I realized (other than a better spot for the internal overflow) from doing this was that I liked having the return on the opposite side, or somewhere far away from the overflow because the blast from the return was disrupting the flow of debris into the overflow. So I ended up running the return to the opposite end of the tank (my overflow is in the back/left corner so the return is now on the right rear). If I would have known this in advance, I would have only drilled a bulkhead for the drain, and just ran the return from the sump to the otherside.
There are other alternatives to drilling the bottom as well. If I was going to build another tank and I knew that it would not be viewed from the back, I might consider just drilling the back of the tank instead of the bottom. This way you wont have ANY space taken up in the tank by an overflow box. Just drill the back, place a bulkhead fitting in there, and run plumbing to the sump (you do need a small box around the back of the tank drain to keep fish from getting sucked in there but it would be MUCH less space consuming than the overflow for a bottom drilled tank). However with a back drilled tank you would need to have the tank further from the wall....
But then again your planning on an inwall tank so you wouldnt have to worry about from-the-wall distance.
So for you? I would go with a BACK drilled drain and return on opposite ends of the tank. The drain would go to a sump and biotower, then get pumped back into the tank from the return. This would give MAX in-the-tank realestate, and a neat/clean appearance since all gadgets/etc. would be in the sump.
Building the tank itself isnt that hard...
You MUST get a really clean edge on the acrylic. The edge thats on it after being cut isnt good enough... you need to scrape the blade marks off...
Cementing it is not difficult either, but you have to be careful.... When I did mine, something must have caught my attention, and I missed about 1" with the glue... When I filled it up... LEAK... Then I drained it, cemented that part and so far so good.
You will need at least a centerbrace to keep the tank from bowing out. I put a 12" centerbrace on mine and it still bows a little... NOT in the middle but on each side of the brace about 1/16 of an inch.
Lucca,
What about circling the top of your tank with a narrow (3"?) piece of acrylic. This should stiffen the top considerably and eliminate the bow in between braces....I think. Of course it would make the top opening smaller and more difficult to access.
Anyway, it sounds you did an excellent job!
What about circling the top of your tank with a narrow (3"?) piece of acrylic. This should stiffen the top considerably and eliminate the bow in between braces....I think. Of course it would make the top opening smaller and more difficult to access.
Anyway, it sounds you did an excellent job!
