Alright guys, I am redoing a room in my house and i would like to put an in wall tank in. I am new to this whole in wall tank thing so please bear with me. I have been searching for a couple of hours now learning some things but have a few questions for you more experienced people. The tank will be built into a wall and will be in a closet. It will be 146 gallons, the front will be 36w by 60tall, the bottom 36" of the tank will only be 10" from the front to back, the upper 24" of the tank will be 24" from front to back. I need some help on how to build this. From what i have read i should use at least 1/2" glass(should i go thicker on the front since it is 36" by 60"?), I would like to only use glass on the front and one side of the tank. What do i use on the othersides, I have read some use plywood, what about tiling it. I was a carpenter for 5 years so i can build it out of wood or tile it, whatever you guys think is the best? I really am new at this and any help you might have or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your knowledge, Scott
New to tank building
- Thread starter ponch37300
- Start date
You may be writing this again if you build this tank as planed..60" deep is much more pressure than you want to deal with.On your first DIY no way.Pressure increases with depth not volume.Try somthing no more than 24" deep.It will be easier safer and you can reach the bottom.ponch37300;803282; said:
Thanks for the advice. So now i will have a tank 24"tall by 24" wide by 36" long.What size glass should i build this out of, 1/2"? I just use silicone to hold it all together? Any particular silicone i should get that is better, I believe i read something about ge1200? What about a filter, brand, size? And a heater, brand and size? Anything else i am forgetting about please feel free to share any advice for a newbie. Will i have to drill any holes or need anything special? Thanks for all your advice and this site is awsome.
I think I would find a proffessionaly made tank and build a custom stand/shelf to hold it in your wall.On a tank that size they build a better tank than you can build for the money
waterboy;803513; said:
this is true and those measurements bring you down to a 90 gallon tank. It may be good to measure the space you have all together and find the right size proffessionaly made tank to fit. Build the wall around that.
That way after your research if you decide to do a sump tank (which is an extra tank you generally put underneath the display tank and pump water to and from. in which you run filtration and heating; that keeps all that equipment out of the display and creates a large volume of water for the whole set up. The more gallonage the more stable your system will be.) you can find a pre-drilled tank made exactly for that rather then trying to build the tank as well.
Where is a good place to buy a tank. I was reading on how to make a plywood tank and i think it would be alot cheaper to make my tank than buy one but i could be wrong. I was in construction for 7 years so if i do my homework this shouldn't be that hard to build my own tank, unless i am missing something so far. How does a sump work. Where does the pre-drilled tanks have the hole drilled? Thanks for all your help
if you go 60"tall you will NEED 1.5" thick, glass and 2" thick acrylic, and that is hard to find, VERY HARD TO FIND!!!, i have a place right near me that dose it... but im in canada and your not....
heres the quick and dirty, the hole in the tank needs to be at the level of your waterline, since the water that hits it will go into the sump, the sump first mechanicly filter the water with foam and polyester wool, then it goes through your bio media, which could be alot of things, you could use bio balls foam blocks, lavarocks, plastic pot scrubber, ceramic rings... anything with alot of curface area... then it travels ut bact to your tank via a pump...
heres the quick and dirty, the hole in the tank needs to be at the level of your waterline, since the water that hits it will go into the sump, the sump first mechanicly filter the water with foam and polyester wool, then it goes through your bio media, which could be alot of things, you could use bio balls foam blocks, lavarocks, plastic pot scrubber, ceramic rings... anything with alot of curface area... then it travels ut bact to your tank via a pump...