Tank Build! 400 gallon build

Okay I had intended to hold off on posting anything until I was closer to being done with the build.. it can be like power watching a season of Game of Thrones when we get to speed through all the early parts of the build. But I'm getting too excited so I'm going to get things started.

Wife and I moved from North Liberty (between CR and IC) to Adel (west of Des Moines) in April. We had a 180g in wall SPS tank in our old house and decided we might as well step things up a bit while we're relocating. So I've been preparing a wall behind our bar for a 400g display.

Step 1: Find a perfectly good wall where you want the display

Scope out the other side of the wall where the tank will sit:

Rip off dry wall and start figuring out what you're up against

Cut out some studs and lay concrete blocks

Seal steel I-Beams

Get plywood to go on top of the beams

I still need to get back in there and cut the hole in the wall out, relocate the drain line, sink lines, and some electrical outlets... but things are coming along!

Stay tuned!

 

Thanks! Yep I'm doing acrylic again. Last tank was SPS dominated, I'm planning on keeping this one limited to a FOWLR system. Dimensions are 72x36x36, the cinderblock wall and plywood run 4 feet deep to give me something to stand on behind the tank. I'm sure the extremely deep dimensions will make things interesting at times. Hopeful that keeping the lights off of the front pane and not keeping Ca and Alk as elevated as my SPS tank will help cut down on coralline algae on the front.

Same dimensions as this build:
Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef" - Reef Central Online Community
Which is an incredibly sad thread to read through by the way.

The large dimensions will make some other things challenging as well (including the fact that it doesn't fit through doors). The tank is supposed to get here later next week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go smoothly!

 

And the skimmer is a 76" tall LifeReef skimmer. Currently hooked up to a temporary 55 gallon tank I have running.

 

Progress..

Shelves removed from wall

Cut the hole in the wall

Got the wall reframed, moved the electrical, rerouted the drain, rerouted the faucet lines, placed the beams on the masonry walls, got the plywood cut for the overflows, and placed on the stand.

Ready to set a tank in there now...

Tank is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Not looking forward to moving it... even though it's acrylic it still weighs around 400-450 lbs.

 

3/4" on bottom and sides, 1" on the top.

 

Primed and painted drywall around the tank, sealed the concrete, and primed and painted the plywood, back 12" of the plywood is a non-slip dock coating for me to stand on. The stand runs 48" deep while the tank is 36" which gives me some built in scaffolding.

Got the foam pad cut to size today.

Now we're ready for the tank to go in there..

The tank was shipped from Florida and had a transfer in Atlanta.. it turns out they loaded it onto the wrong trailer in Atlanta and it wound up in Los Angeles. It is now in Omaha and should be arriving in the next day or two (schedule allowing). Hopefully the tour de US wasn't too rough on it!

 

She has arrived. Movers are coming tomorrow to get it situated.. fingers crossed.

 

And it's in..

I'm planning on putting wood paneling on that wall and will eventually get around to getting it trimmed in. Guess it's time to get some RO started.. this may take a while.

 

Hopefully the cycle is pretty quick. I've had the new rock cycling with the rock from my old 180g for the last four months.

In terms of stocking I've been planning to keep it to a relatively peaceful community tank. I already have a queen angel, flame angel, and a pair of clowns. I'd like to get a blue tang, yellow tang, couple butterflies, several fairy/flasher wrasses, and maybe one more large angel. I'd also like to get a school of chromis, an anthia harem going. I really wish sohal tangs weren't so dang aggressive.

 

Quite a bit more progress...

Tank took about 3 days to fill with two RO units going.

Added sand and salt while it was filling..

Got the plumbing figured out while it was filling

Got the base rockwork done (leaving out the pictures of me in the tank)

Finally.. rockwork finished, lighting hooked up, and my few remaining fish transferred.

Got most of the gear running..

I need to try to get my equipment area straightened out a bit and get the tank trimmed out on the display side, but things are moving along!

 

So it's been nearly 6 months and I still haven't done anything regarding the trim around the tank. My wife and I keep going back and forth on whether I should just trim around the tank and paint the wall or panel the whole wall (reclaimed wood). What do you guys think?