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My Odyssey- Building a 100G Tank into my Living Room Wall

56K views 241 replies 29 participants last post by  CITADELGRAD87 
#1 ·
I have been keeping Africans for about 8 years, always in a 50G acrylic with an Emperor 400 and an Eheim classic canister. To my, that was a perfect sized tank. In the office, I ran an Artica chiller because of no AC during summer Sundays and the 95 degree air temp.
Recently, when repiping our house after a plumbing issue, I decided to open a false wall and build in my 50g. For about 5 seconds, then I looked at the wall, and instantly decided to put a 5 foot tank in the wall, visible in the living room. The great thing for me is that the space inside the wall is so large (approximately 4 feet by 5.5 feet) , I will have a fish room, with water supply, a drain, and room for all my stuff to be together, food, chemicals, etc.
Even though I have run several threads on minor parts of this, now that we are getting serious, I thought it might be better for anyone who cares to use this as a reference to have it together in a properly titled thread.

Here's an establishing shot of the living room wall, this spot has been covered by the TV for years, the TV is going up on the opposite side of the fireplace.


So I started haunting Craig's List, I was at a bit of disadvantage, because I have just over 5 feet of wall space, and I did not want a 46 inch tank. I scored this ex saltwater tank, 100G Visio glass with a single overflow box, a stand which I have been using to work out plumbing issues, and will later sell, a small SW sump with a Mag 12, a skimmer that I am not sure if it works, and a ton of salt crust and general saltwater nastiness and stank. I plan to sell the stand, the sump, and the skimmer on CL when I get a chance. It cleaned up WAY better than I thought it would.


I decided early on to use a sump, and in cleaning up this one, even though it was smaller than I wanted at 24 gallons, I hooked it up and gave it a try. The problem I was having is that with the Mag 12, I needed to keep the pump totally submerged to keep it from sucking air, then, when I unplugged it, to check what would happen for a power outage, it came to within about an inch of the tank rim, too close for comfort, especially coming off some non fish tank water damage to our floor. During this phase, my wife came to look at it in the garage an immediately mentioned that the rushing whitewater noise was far too loud, so I built a Durso standpipe with about $5 worth of plumbing parts. It works as advertised, my only contribution to that system is the ability to tell you if you need to offset it, 2 45 degree elbows do not affect operation.

Back to Craigs list, where I found a 60G acrylic that was only $40, so I picked that up. I briefly flirted with a bucket setup, but for a variety of reasons abandoned that in favor of a built in bio ball chamber, my first work with acrylic. I made a single wall to hold the bio balls in, and added ¼ acrylic rod to hold up the egg crate and drip tray, and I made a top plate to attach the hose to the top of the sump, and filled it all with 10G bio balls, which sources tell me is good for 300G or so of water.
[/img]http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k634/citadelgrad871/photobucket-17252-1317528063574.jpg[/img]





With the batting on the top of the drip tray, I get a nice, quite sprinkle of water over the entire bio chamber.
 
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#204 ·
I put a blanket over the tank when I am doing a fishless cycle. The main reason is that the algae require light while the bacteria that we want to nurture does not need light. This way the bacteria does not need to compete with algae. The added benefit is that I don't have to look at an empty tank and get all those questions about why there are no fish in it.
 
#205 ·
Tonight, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, YIPPEEE.

After three weeks of cycling, and dialing back the doses each time, last night I measured approximately 1 ppm 20 minutes after dosing, and tonight, 0.0 ammonia and 0.0 nitrite.

ETA--redose tomorrow, or maybe start small water changes to get the nitrates down in the 20 range so I can add some....fish?!?!?! :dancing: :fish: :thumb: :dancing: :fish: :dancing: :fish:
 
#208 ·
dsouthworth said:
Finally! Here is where the fun begins!

I may have missed the post, but what happened with the TV project? :?
It's completed, I will take some more pictures when I drop fish, I cannot wait for tomorrow. :fish: :fish: :fish:

The TV is awesome to me, I got it up off the floor and it's semi recessed into the wall. Surround sound is all hooked up, and we started watching movies again. :thumb:
 
#209 ·
OK, today was a GIGANTIC day in this project, today we finally added fish. We have been enjoying them all evening, and I figured it was time to report my progress to everyone who has been following along this long project.

Last night, I did a 20% water change, this a.m. I did a 20% water change, and at least as far as my API kit could tell me, the water parameters in the 50 were identical to the 100 water parameters, Ammonia, nitrite at 0.0, nitrates at 20ppm, temp 78.

First things first, dsouthworth remembered that there was also a TV aspect to this project, so here is the TV totally completed, surround sound hooked up:



Here’s the other half of that wall, after the plants were put in place, they are java ferns and annubias



Here is a close up of the totally cycled and plant prepped tank, all we need is some fish!



Then I broke down the rock piles in the 50 and started netting the new tenants, here’s a shot of the big boys in the waiting room



Baby pool



Yes, that is a blizzard of poo, I told them it would be a lengthy trip, but nobody ever goes before they leave home.

Cover me, I am GOING IN!!!



Here are some photos my wonderful wife took while I was dropping the new tenants in from the back, the start of the parade, first two in:



Official finish was Tangerine Tiger 1, lithobates a close second

Adult swim! Here is 15 seconds of quiet bliss before the kids are released



Here come the kids!!!



And with that, the fish part is done. My sister in law shot video on her iphone of the whole fish drop, if anyone can tell me how to put that on youtube I will gladly do that. It gets dark at about 5, and the room is pretty dark, so I didn't get any photos of the tank with the fish after they got comfortable, so it looks empty.



The night lights were cool before the fish, but now it’s amazing





As of 10pm local, 5 hours after dropping the fish, ammonia is 0.0, nitrites 0.0, nitrates 20 ppm. I didn’t really expect it to climb at all in 5 hours, but I will be monitoring these parameters every 12hours for the forseeable future, we will see about water changes. I withheld feeding yesterday, today and will again tomorrow, then I will lightly feed until I am secure.

My brother in law and sister in law were over for the fish move, they have been following along, we all sat afterwards and just stared at them, getting to know them as they develop personalities, playing in the current from the jets, the tank is very peaceful right now, I did have to net out the yellow peacock, he was a typhoon of agression against every fish he laid eyes on except the catfish, so I threw him back in the 50 and I will look at a different yellow peacock, open to suggestions on that. My wife was very pleased with the final product, she thought the newest fish, the lithobates, Taiwan Reef and Tangerine Tiger were too big, but she has revised her position.

I still need to play with the secret door closing mechanism, and add some shelves, switchplate covers, a bit of drywall, and I am going to use up the rest of the soundboard covering whatever I can reach inside the room. I also need to pain the secret door, or it isn’t much of a secret.

I will post some more on this thread until I call it totally finished, but I think today was my favorite part by far. A thousand thanks to everyone who has helped me on this thread, on my many other separate threads, and in Pms, Tim, Cantrell, BradyK, the guys at Fishtankdesigns 3d who made that wonderful background that the fish are so crazy about, SteveC, everyone, I am not omitting anyone, I just cant remember everyone’s names.
 
#210 ·
That looks excellent man you have some beautiful fish in there 8)

I know it was a ton of work but I bet now it seems all worth it sitting there watching them in their new home.

Job well done for sure :thumb: :thumb:
 
#213 ·
Thanks, I really appreciate it.

I already have a modification to report, the lights seemed to be too far back, and larger fish towards the front were too dark. I moved the mounting points and shifted the entire fixture toward the front of the tank abuot 6 inches, result, WOW, I am glad I bought that light.

Water parameters as of this am, Ammonia 0.0, nitrites 0.0, nitrates between 20 and 30, I will do a partial water change today, probably 20%.
 
#217 ·
Thanks, Quentin, I have started to show it off to friends, we are really really happy with it.

Water is 0.0, 0.0, at or under 20 ppm.

My fingers are crossed. I was a little worried during this fishless cycle, as Tim's article mentions a time frame of 7-10 days for a seeded bio filter, and as you saw we were were over double that.

There may have been an initially high dose, as when I played with my redosing, three VERY different amounts all read at right around 1ppm, ranging from 1 1/4 teaspoons to 1/2 teaspoon. I wonder if the main use of our kits is to verify 0.0, and notbody ever really cares about accuracy beyond that benchmark, except when performing a fishless cycle? No way that those 3 doses should have read 1.0.

The advantage I saw in using seed material is clearly the part that most cycles stall, instead of waiting for nitrite bacteria to grow when the ammonia processing guys provide enough food, there was already a decent colony feeding right behind the ammonia processors from day one. I read that the nitrite part tends to be the longest, I did not see that in my cycle.
 
#218 ·
There may have been an initially high dose, as when I played with my redosing, three VERY different amounts all read at right around 1ppm, ranging from 1 1/4 teaspoons to 1/2 teaspoon. I wonder if the main use of our kits is to verify 0.0, and notbody ever really cares about accuracy beyond that benchmark, except when performing a fishless cycle? No way that those 3 doses should have read 1.0.
I have thought this myself when I was dosing a tank with ammonia. What I added never seemed consisent relative to prior doses and measurements either.

I would still prefer cycling with actual fish if it weren't for the damage to the fish.

I think it is a more effective approach to properly cycle a tank because it allows ammonia to be released gradually and not in large, single drops. That is the way it occurs in nature.
 
#219 ·
What would you think about staggering timed doses to gradually bump it up? Say, figure out what will give 1 ppm, divide it by 2 or 4, and space out the dosing? That would be a lot more time consuming, though. One problem for me was figuring out some time, every day, to mess with it. I never have problems finding time for maintenance, but 10 minutes at the same time every day is kind of tough to count on for a couple weeks.

I think a big problem with streamling it is that I won't have to do it again for quite some time, so there's little incentive to do it 4 different ways to try to improve it. So I am glad I documented this so anyone looking back can see what I did and if I went wrong.

I am pretty sure the above 0.0 ammonia readings were way off.

Here are my specific ammonia amounts, all ammonia was Ace store brand without surfectant.

Initially, using the article calcualtions, I dosed with 3 tsp, figuring right about 140-150G total volume, actual volume is probably right at 140 or a shade less, but MORE is always better, right? I was shooting for the article range of 1-4 ppm. The first test sure looked like 4.0 to me. It certainly was not the next color above 4.0.

Second dose was 1 1/4 tsp, figuring that I was shooting for 1-2ppm, and just under half of what gave me 4 would do that, thinking I might have to add that extra 1/4 tsp if it was light, but it tested 1.0.

Then, when I did my third dose, after it was taking 2 days to comvert, I used 1/2 tsp, again, UNDER half the previous dose, and it showed 1.0 again.

Unless my understanding of dilution and volume is off, and it may be, those tests should have shown different amounts.
 
#220 ·
Not to bump my own thread, but I have found that the background and the sides being built into the wall seems to have given my fish new confidence, they are usually all the way across the room from where we sit, so they just laze around and exhibit what seems to be pretty normal behaviour. Not that I am an expert. They can only be approaced from one side, and seem to be comfortable that way.
 
#221 ·
Last night I made some additional progress, I added a nice 5" shelf above the light fixture to hold food, test kit, dry goods, and started on the shelves to hold chemicals.

First up, in the use every bit of material if possible, I found a 4 foot piece of the stand plywood that I was able to put between the light fixture mounting wires:



This shelf was kind of an afterthought, but it's perfect for food and my test kit. Dry, light stuff.

Then, there was some melamine left over from the TV area, so I am making a couple heavier shelves to cover the top of the adjacent fireplace, this is from inside the room:



This two shelf deal will be framed with 2 x 4s and much stronger, so I can put my jugs of chemicals there and not worry about discoloring the surface too much.

Phone camera pictures, so they are not great, and it's tough to get a good angle. I also ditched the former magnet catches on the hidden door in favor of a much more secure and sturdy rolling catch that uses a spring loaded roller on the door and a bump on the door frame. Now it's really solid feeling. A sharp press on the right spot, and it opens enough to grab the edge and pull it open.

Lastly, a slight scare, maybe. Last night, about 10, I performed my stardard, every 12 hour tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Nitrite was 0.0, nitrate was about 20 ppm, but the ammonia looked like it had a ghost of green in it. It's an API kit, so it's supposed to be YELLOW, and only yellow, for 0.0, and increasing amounts of green in the yellow to indicate .25, .5, and 1.0, etc. It goes all the way to like a British Racing green, but the first few gradations are tough for me to see. Only yellow seems pretty clear to me.

My wife said it was yellow to her, but I detected a hint of green, not .25 to be sure, but not the bright yellow I expected.

So I showed my wife a water change, it takes about an hour now that I have it dialed, the time is used as follows.

Turning off pump at switched outlet, closing main return line, opening drain line in wall, moving 1" line into the T in the drain, opening 1" line, and turning the switched outlet back on: 20 seconds. Emptying sump, 30 seconds. Dosing with dechlor and refilling sump with fresh cold only water: 2 minutes. Heating water before it is ready to go into main tank: 58 minutes. Literally, it takes forever to get 30 gallons or so of 58 degree water up to 75-77, even though I am using an extra heater during water changes. It's not really a big deal, it's just that by now, it was midnight and I was really wanting to go to bed. Winter water changes are probably 1.5 hour deals, and I always have something else to do around the house while I wait, just not at midnight. Summer will be much faster.

But for winter, I am open to suggestions. I was going to try to add a pitcher of hot tap water, but the sump is so close to the stand shelf that I can't get at it. Maybe a larger heater to use only during water changes, like a 300 or bigger model? I unplug it when I am not changing water, so it can't be too big.

Anyway, this am, I re tested the ammonia and it is clearly 0.0.

Is that the correct course for a suspected "spike" of under .25? Water change and monitor? My wife was flabbergasted that I have been testing the water for 3+ weeks and didn't have a plan if we found ammonia after fish were added ( as my plan was not to find ammonia), so I want to make sure the plan is correct.
 
#222 ·
I like the add ons. I can't help with the ammonia because I haven't started cycling my tank yet so I don't want to act like I know something I don't know about. But if I could make one small suggestion about the first shelf directly over the tank/light...

It might be a good ideas to consider adding some sort of small 'lip" on that shelf, maybe even just a 1" tall trim piece to it. Just to keep anything from getting bumped off the shelf and falling directly onto the light or top of the tank maybe. Just a thought.
 
#224 ·
As of this am, other than the single possible spike to under .25 ammonia, all ammonia and nitrite readings at 12 hour intervals since Saturday have been 0.0.

Nitrates are rising but still under 40.

Starting to see some algae, the background is really looking good, the real rocks blend better but I am going to dial back the lights tonight, the factory settings are way too long.

I am thinking "sunrise" about 5 pm, "noon" about 6:30-8, sunset from 8-10, then moonlight for a couple hours.

That will give us 5 hours of white light, and only 1.5 hours of the daylight bulbs. Anyone have any thoughts as to how this will affect the java and anubias?

















Sorry, phone pictures, the starburst is the shutters letting some light in, some are blurry but you get the picture.
 
#226 ·
cantrell00 said:
Are there some Vic's in there?
You got me there. Four Pundamilia nyererei (Ruti Island) that I got locally as fry. I wasn't sure the sex when I got them, but it turned out to be 2 and 2. The males are so wicked colorful, my wife asked me to put them in with the others. They hang together like a little school. I was going to put them in the 50 when I moved the rest out into the 100, I had plans for a purist haps and peacocks tank, but an emergency from a stuck heater in their grow out tank on Christmas day made me turn my 50 into a melting pot, and despite my concerns, it worked out peacefully. My wife liked them so much, I sort of got over ruled.

There are aloso a couple tangs, including a pair of Black Calvus and a smaller calvus.
 
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