Four foot tall tank - Too tall? Or just right?

[knobhill]

I gave you some feedback to your questions in CAPS. I'm not yelling at you = )



But is that too tall? I know one monster tank was just sold here because it was too tall for the owner.

I LIKE MY 4' TALL TANK. IT IS REALLY NICE TO LOOK EYE-TO-EYE WITH YOUR FISH WHILE STANDING UP! I ALSO HAVE A 42" TALL TANK THAT I WILL BE SETTING UP SOON. NEVER HAD A 36" TALL TANK BUT WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW IT LOOKS.


- Maintenance: How do you even get at the bottom of a 4 foot tank?

TOOLS WITH LONG HANDLES (AQUATONGS, ALGAE SCRAPERS, LARGE ALGAE MAGNET, 40" LONG SIPHON TUBE)

ALSO...IF YOU ARE KEEPING EARTHEATERS, WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO CLEAN THE GRAVEL? THEY PROVIDE THAT SERVICE FOR YOU! IF YOUR FILTRATION IS GOOD, IT SHOULD PICK UP THE DETRITUS THAT THEY CONSTANTLY STIR UP THROUGH SIFTING.

- Lighting: How do you evenly light something that deep?

I HAVE AN 80W FIXTURE ON MY 5' X 2.5" X 4' TANK AND DON'T HAVE AN ISSUE WITH COVERAGE. PC OR T5 LIGHTING WILL BE MORE THAN ADEQUATE PROVIDED YOU CAN KEEP YOUR WATER CLEAR AND AREN'T GROWING PLANTS.

DEPEND
- Getting it into the room: I'd have to knock out the wall to make a double door. But I've been looking for an excuse to do that anyway. I like symmetry. And the framing is easy. Only issue is matching the hall tile to fill the 3-4" worth of space inside the door jamb that I'd be exposing.
- Cost: I'd break even on a tank trade. But I'd basically be forcing myself to do discus. And enough Discus for a 4 foot tall tank will bankrupt me.

YOU COULD GO WITH RED SEVRUMS AND EBJDS--NICE BLUE AND RED CONTRAST AND WON'T BANKRUPT YOU. THEY WILL BE FINE WITH YOUR ARO AND WILL VISIT ALL THE LEVELS OF YOUR TANK.

Upsides:

- It would be really awesome.


Looking for feedback here from anyone who has owned a 36" or taller tank. Egon especially... Is it worth it? Should I try to hold up the 84x24x35" owner and paint the BG? Wait longer til a 265 shows up? Live with the 220?

GO WITH THE TALLER TANK, YOU WON'T REGRET IT.


Now that I'm done with those, I have a few questions for you as I have a 175g tank in the same room as my home theater.

1. What are you planning to do to keep you tank quiet? I have found my wet/dry, even with overflow silencers, is quite audible during quiet moments in a movie. Kind of annoying if you have a good ear.

2. Will you be turning off the tank light every time you lower the projector screen? Seems like you will have to or the picture quality will be decreased.

3. How do you plan on keeping your floor speakers by the tank dry? Let's face it, sh*t happens during water changes, adding fish, etc. It would really suck to damage a nice pair of speakers.

4. Also, where is your center channel going to go? If it goes above the tank, you risk water vapor torturing the speaker.

I LOVE both home theater and monster fish tanks so this is a very interesting project. Looking forward to seeing you get this thing going.

 

[DaveB]

Oh, so here's a question... what sort of modifications do I need to make to the standard 2x4 stand skeleton to accommodate what is basically double the load in the same footprint?

And what, if any, plans should I have for anchoring this entire thing to the back wall to avoid tipping forward? Is there even anything strong enough to hold it if it decides it wants to tip (not that it ever would)?

I'm also curious about special plumbing considerations given the height and extra head (and distance for water to fall down the pipes in the overflow). I figure two canisters plumbed as closed loops can handle water movement in the lower and middle levels, but I'm sure I'll need some serious pump power and soundproofing to keep things quiet and moving from underneath to up top...

 

[spirofucci]

It may not help you much, but take a look at this guys tank: incredible!!!! It might give you some ideas even though its a reef tank. BTW deep tanks are beautiful, hope yours goes like you are planning!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1692183

 

[DaveB]

I gave you some feedback to your questions in CAPS. I'm not yelling at you = )

Cool. Just noticed this, you snuck it in while I was typing my last one. Then the finish guy came over...

I LIKE MY 4' TALL TANK. IT IS REALLY NICE TO LOOK EYE-TO-EYE WITH YOUR FISH WHILE STANDING UP! I ALSO HAVE A 42" TALL TANK THAT I WILL BE SETTING UP SOON. NEVER HAD A 36" TALL TANK BUT WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW IT LOOKS.

Probably pretty good but not as tall

I want to see tons of pics of your tank, btw.

ALSO...IF YOU ARE KEEPING EARTHEATERS, WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO CLEAN THE GRAVEL? THEY PROVIDE THAT SERVICE FOR YOU! IF YOUR FILTRATION IS GOOD, IT SHOULD PICK UP THE DETRITUS THAT THEY CONSTANTLY STIR UP THROUGH SIFTING.

Yeah. There are always dead spots, though. But in this tank I'm thinking of keeping decorations really light so some strategic use of that black flexible return tubing could be good. I figure a low and mid level closed loop will give me all the circulation I need. I hope. Between that and having a drip keeping water super clean I should be OK for quite a while even if tons of crap accumulates if I get lazy about cleaning.

YOU COULD GO WITH RED SEVRUMS AND EBJDS--NICE BLUE AND RED CONTRAST AND WON'T BANKRUPT YOU. THEY WILL BE FINE WITH YOUR ARO AND WILL VISIT ALL THE LEVELS OF YOUR TANK.

True. Or I could keep to the original plan with Uarus... except that I sold all six of my orange ones and the original just died EBJDs are CAs though, aren't they? That won't do. (Says the guy who is currently housing 3 frontosa in this tank. Temporary, of course.)

Now that I'm done with those, I have a few questions for you as I have a 175g tank in the same room as my home theater.

1. What are you planning to do to keep you tank quiet? I have found my wet/dry, even with overflow silencers, is quite audible during quiet moments in a movie. Kind of annoying if you have a good ear.

My initial plan was to just use my three big canisters (2 FX5 and an Eheim 2250). At the time I drew that up, I had never set up a sump, and I was convinced that it couldn't be done silently. And the sump I have upstairs in the family room now does make a small amount of noise, but I also haven't even made an attempt to insulate it yet or even put the pump on pads. I don't hear any water flow noises, but that's because I have the herbie setup and the inlet is submerged. If possible, I'd go even farther with a Bean in the new tank, or just another Herbie, and buy the most silent pump possible. I'm sure it'll never be perfect, but when it comes to movies, I don't hold things to the same standard as music.

As it turns out, the FX5s gurgle a lot more often than I remembered too, so having them instead of a sump isn't really any quieter. I'll probably need them running too for the closed loops, so I guess no matter what I'll be exposed to some noise. I guess that just means keeping the volume higher

But if necessary, I'll get some baffling or soundproofing material and build that into the stand. I'm planning to lay down a bunch of shower liner to help avoid accidents, so jamming some other materials in there won't be too much of a problem, I guess.

2. Will you be turning off the tank light every time you lower the projector screen? Seems like you will have to or the picture quality will be decreased.

Yes. I'll probably set it up so that there are some moonlight LEDs or something that come on. I have the house on a Crestron system so I'll just tie that all on. Hit the button on the iPad, projector fires up, screen descends, tank lights go to 1-3 LEDs, room lights dim to 0.

3. How do you plan on keeping your floor speakers by the tank dry? Let's face it, sh*t happens during water changes, adding fish, etc. It would really suck to damage a nice pair of speakers.

The ones that are there now aren't special enough that I'd care, and the ones I'll replace them with are nice but not reference level. I've decided that spending my money on other stuff (like all this woodworking and our garage deck... and discus) is ultimately more rewarding than the small sonic upgrade super nice speakers would give me in a 14x12 room with a big fish tank in it. (IE, sound will never be ideal in there anyway).

Anyway, to this point, there hasn't been any issue with the speakers and the 220. The floor gets some splashing, but the speakers are far enough from the tank holes that I haven't had an issue. And with this being on a drip, there's a chance I won't be exposing them to much risk anyway.

4. Also, where is your center channel going to go? If it goes above the tank, you risk water vapor torturing the speaker.

This is the biggest mystery. I have no idea. Either an insulated cabinet behind a removable center door, which cuts way into the space for filtration, or just on a stand in front of it, which would be ugly and also be way too close. I am considering just not having one and splitting the signal to the two fronts. That's what I've done for years and years anyway. And what I may do upstairs as well because my plan for mounting the center up here to the fireplace mantel was thrown off by the design of their brackets and the shape of the crown molding on the mantel. Actually, I need to tell the preamp to kill the center's signal and do a dry run of that up here. See if I notice a huge dropoff.

I LOVE both home theater and monster fish tanks so this is a very interesting project. Looking forward to seeing you get this thing going.

Looking forward to getting it going. I put a deposit on the tank and I should know tomorrow if the acrylic quality is good enough to satisfy me (I refuse to have another adventure trying to buff a tank, especially with these dimensions). That'd put May 1 as the arrival date, and hopefully I'd have it all set up with fish by June.

Where in your HT is your 175? Not dead center, I assume.

 

[DaveB]

It may not help you much, but take a look at this guys tank: incredible!!!! It might give you some ideas even though its a reef tank. BTW deep tanks are beautiful, hope yours goes like you are planning!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1692183

Hooooo lleeeeee crap.

First impression: That looks EXPENSIVE.

 

[MaddMaxx]

Hooooo lleeeeee crap.

First impression: That looks EXPENSIVE.

Reminded me of the apartment JP has in Grandma's Boy...

 

[knobhill]

Cool. Just noticed this, you snuck it in while I was typing my last one. Then the finish guy came over...




Probably pretty good but not as tall

I want to see tons of pics of your tank, btw.


IN GOOD TIME




My initial plan was to just use my three big canisters (2 FX5 and an Eheim 2250). At the time I drew that up, I had never set up a sump, and I was convinced that it couldn't be done silently. And the sump I have upstairs in the family room now does make a small amount of noise, but I also haven't even made an attempt to insulate it yet or even put the pump on pads. I don't hear any water flow noises, but that's because I have the herbie setup and the inlet is submerged. If possible, I'd go even farther with a Bean in the new tank, or just another Herbie, and buy the most silent pump possible. I'm sure it'll never be perfect, but when it comes to movies, I don't hold things to the same standard as music.

As it turns out, the FX5s gurgle a lot more often than I remembered too, so having them instead of a sump isn't really any quieter. I'll probably need them running too for the closed loops, so I guess no matter what I'll be exposed to some noise. I guess that just means keeping the volume higher

But if necessary, I'll get some baffling or soundproofing material and build that into the stand. I'm planning to lay down a bunch of shower liner to help avoid accidents, so jamming some other materials in there won't be too much of a problem, I guess.



Yes. I'll probably set it up so that there are some moonlight LEDs or something that come on. I have the house on a Crestron system so I'll just tie that all on. Hit the button on the iPad, projector fires up, screen descends, tank lights go to 1-3 LEDs, room lights dim to 0.

SWEET!

The ones that are there now aren't special enough that I'd care, and the ones I'll replace them with are nice but not reference level. I've decided that spending my money on other stuff (like all this woodworking and our garage deck... and discus) is ultimately more rewarding than the small sonic upgrade super nice speakers would give me in a 14x12 room with a big fish tank in it. (IE, sound will never be ideal in there anyway).

Anyway, to this point, there hasn't been any issue with the speakers and the 220. The floor gets some splashing, but the speakers are far enough from the tank holes that I haven't had an issue. And with this being on a drip, there's a chance I won't be exposing them to much risk anyway.

NO LARGE WATER CHANGES?

This is the biggest mystery. I have no idea. Either an insulated cabinet behind a removable center door, which cuts way into the space for filtration, or just on a stand in front of it, which would be ugly and also be way too close. I am considering just not having one and splitting the signal to the two fronts. That's what I've done for years and years anyway. And what I may do upstairs as well because my plan for mounting the center up here to the fireplace mantel was thrown off by the design of their brackets and the shape of the crown molding on the mantel. Actually, I need to tell the preamp to kill the center's signal and do a dry run of that up here. See if I notice a huge dropoff.

CAN YOU INSTALL A CENTER CHANNEL IN THE CEILING AT AN ANGLE TOWARDS YOU SEATING? JUST POP IT IN RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SCREEN

Looking forward to getting it going. I put a deposit on the tank and I should know tomorrow if the acrylic quality is good enough to satisfy me (I refuse to have another adventure trying to buff a tank, especially with these dimensions). That'd put May 1 as the arrival date, and hopefully I'd have it all set up with fish by June.

Where in your HT is your 175? Not dead center, I assume.

My 175 is dead center rear. It faces my plasma screen. I have flat panel magnapan speakers in each corner of the room, a center channel above the tv, and subwoofer in on corner. My NAD reciever died so its currently in the shop...the best NAD tech in North America can't even figure out the problem. O well.

 

[DaveB]

NO LARGE WATER CHANGES?

I hope not. I'll have things set up so I can plug in a 1" drain line and pump out massive amounts quickly if necessary though.

The reason this room needs new carpet is that I had two pythons overflowing my 125 for a good 10-15 minutes late last summer when I left them running and forgot. The more automation in this system, the better, lest I ruin something of real value.

CAN YOU INSTALL A CENTER CHANNEL IN THE CEILING AT AN ANGLE TOWARDS YOU SEATING? JUST POP IT IN RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SCREEN

I'd rather build a bracket at the top of the furniture unit than use the ceiling. Everything in this house needs to be reversable. Plus I think having a single speaker way up high and the other two at ear level would be weird.

Believe it or not I've never heard Maggies.

Not a whole lot of NAD techs left, are there? They haven't quite gone the way of Nakamichi, at least. (I've got a closet full of Nak gear that I absolutely love. And not only is it unrepairable at this point, it's also starting to be antiquated now with the newer dolby signals. My processors are pre-DTS. Just plain AC3 at best... but getting comparable sound from a new unit would cost me thousands. Don't want to have to do that.

 

[pacu mom]

- Maintenance: How do you even get at the bottom of a 4 foot tank?
- Lighting: How do you evenly light something that deep?

I found this brush in the car wash section at WalMart that works really well on my 2' high tank. It has rubber all around it, and the bristles are very soft and can get into corners and seam areas of the tank.

I was very happy to find this long handled version which we'll be using on the 4' high tank. (as we stand on the platform behind the tank)

I'm going with unconventional lighting on my big tank. We're going to install the four T5 bulb lights over our tank. The light has reflectors that make it very bright.

We jury rigged one light 14 or 15' up in the equipment room as we work on our build. It is very very bright and illuminates the whole area.

We're going to put five over our tank. Since the lights will be only 2' above the tank, we purchased the lens covers for the lights to keep splashes off. The wiring is in place so we can have two lights on or all five on. Five is probably going to be a little much.

 

[Egon]

Oh, so here's a question... what sort of modifications do I need to make to the standard 2x4 stand skeleton to accommodate what is basically double the load in the same footprint?

I used 2" tubular stock. This stuff is strong! The inserts are diamond plate aluminum panels, no support what-so-ever.