180 gallon custom build, initial planning

1993 Views 15 Replies 5 Participants Last post by AmityFish, Sep 26, 2018

AmityFish

Discussion Starter · Mar 8, 2017

Hopefully this is the right area to post, please remove if not. Planning on doing most of this DIY. I used to be an avid planted tank keeper before adulthood and kids, and I'm just getting back into it. After ten years, things have changed...! We are in the planning stages of building a house on some acreage, getting ready to plan my dream tank. This is the first custom/built in tank I've done so I figure the earlier I seek advice, the better!

Our dining/living area starts right after the entry way, the plan is to separate it with a partition wall. We would like to build in cabinetry on both sides for storage, and have a 48" long tank visible from both sides. On each side of the partition/cabinetry, to the left and right of the tank would be some countertop space. On the entryway side, this would serve as landing areas for us (keys, mail, whatnot) and on the dining/living area side, this would be a future mini bar/buffet space. The whole run is about 12.5 feet long.

My initial thoughts are that since non-custom upper cabinets tend to come in either 12" or 15" depth, I need to plan with those dimensions in mind. Including the support structure in between, that would mean somewhere between a 4'L x 2.5'D x 2.25'H (pretty tall because I want to keep altums in there) and a 4'L x 3'D x 2.25'D tank. Either way, there's going to be some counter space in front of the tank, because I want to use regular depth base cabinets. I'll use an internal overflow, beananimal setup. Sump lines would come in and out of the short sides and would be covered up with some extra panels. Tank is likely going to be DIY plywood. We will be having the area plumbed and with its own circuit.

Here are my questions:
1. Underneath the tank, would RTA plywood base cabinets work just fine if they were reinforced inside?
2. What would other folks do here in terms of cabinetry and size of tank? IKEA wall cabinets sound appealing for cost and modular nature (except under the tank of course, I know that's not enough support!). But IKEA wall cabinets are 15" deep and I'm not sure about having a 3 foot deep tank.
3. Haven't gotten this far in the planning but wondering if that extra 6" on the footprint (2.5' vs 3' deep) would make lighting difficult. (In terms of lighting needs, I don't want to do CO2, would plant fairly heavily.) I'm open to DIY LED, as I would like 24/7 capabilities without breaking the bank.

I seriously have been out of the hobby for so long, I am feeling really unsure! All thoughts appreciated.

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Greggz

· #2 · Mar 8, 2017

First of all, welcome to the TPT.

Personally I love watching large tank builds, and when you mentioned Altum's, well that's just icing on the cake.

I don't really have answers to your questions, but having built a custom stand, I would really research reinforcing base cabinets. Not saying it can't work, but with close to a ton of glass, water, and substrate, I would want to be very sure.

There's another guy on this board, @rballi, who is building a 240G Altum tank right now. You might want to check out his thread, or get in contact with him, he may be able to help you and answer some of your questions.

You should also probably start a tank journal here, as speaking for myself, I would really like to follow along and see what you come up with.

Good luck with the project, and looking forward to seeing where it goes.

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jeffkrol

· #3 · Mar 8, 2017

Actually the "best" method would be to custom build the tank section based on the dimensions of say a small end cabinet(w/ counter)
Get a unstained end cabinet and build a 2x6 frame faced w/ matching plywood species..
Most places that carry DIY cabinetry also carry matching doors that you can buy separately..
moddern euro hinges are easy to install (barring the fact you usually need to buy a drill bit set at a premium price)

All of this is "fairly" easy to accomplish.

3/4 plywood can really hold a lot of weight but I personally would rather do dimensional lumber for a large tank.
My 55 came w/ a stand that, in my way of thinking, shouldn't hold up a goldfish bowl..but it does...

bottom line is use whatever cabinets you want but custom the tank section..
Using cabinets w/ finished sides (or DIY) you can build the center section to whatever width you want..
[]---[]

Only construction advice would be to face the lumber frame w/ the plywood facing slighty extending beyond the frame. Allow some trim room to match the pre-builts..

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rballi

· #4 · Mar 8, 2017

I love the idea of a tank being in the kitchen. Wife wouldn't go for that right, maybe one day.

Look forward to seeing this progress!

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AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 8, 2017

jeffkrol said:
Actually the "best" method would be to custom build the tank section based on the dimensions of say a small end cabinet(w/ counter)
Get a unstained end cabinet and build a 2x6 frame faced w/ matching plywood species..
Most places that carry DIY cabinetry also carry matching doors that you can buy separately..
moddern euro hinges are easy to install (barring the fact you usually need to buy a drill bit set at a premium price)

All of this is "fairly" easy to accomplish.

3/4 plywood can really hold a lot of weight but I personally would rather do dimensional lumber for a large tank.
My 55 came w/ a stand that, in my way of thinking, shouldn't hold up a goldfish bowl..but it does...

bottom line is use whatever cabinets you want but custom the tank section..
Using cabinets w/ finished sides (or DIY) you can build the center section to whatever width you want..
[]---[]

Only construction advice would be to face the lumber frame w/ the plywood facing slighty extending beyond the frame. Allow some trim room to match the pre-builts..

Thank you, super helpful! This is definitely what I'd been thinking but was wondering if there was some huge aspect that I'd missed. Like I said, it has been a while!

Greggz

· #6 · Mar 8, 2017

rballi said:
I love the idea of a tank being in the kitchen. Wife wouldn't go for that right, maybe one day.

Look forward to seeing this progress!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love this. It's like sounding a horn, and you showed up!

But since you don't have this link in your signature, here is the link to Rballi's build. Amityfish I think you will like it.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1116002-rballis-280-gallon-altum-angelfish-tank-biotope.html

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Bunsen Honeydew

· #7 · Mar 10, 2017

I have seen quite a bit of DIY-ish stuff using the outdoor 6000K LED spotlights. It might be a way to do decent lighting on a budget.

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AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 12, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

rballi said:
I love the idea of a tank being in the kitchen. Wife wouldn't go for that right, maybe one day.

Look forward to seeing this progress!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rballi, I finally got time to look at your tank, gorgeous! I might be pestering you with questions after I read through the whole thread.

As for tanks in the kitchen, I am the wife, and happen to do all the cooking, so the hubby didn't have much reason to object! It isn't actually going to be in the kitchen to be fair though, since our dining area is a little ways from the kitchen proper.

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I wonder if you all have any thoughts on aquascaping a tank with a 3' by 4' footprint that's also two sided? I'm wondering if I run the risk of a) water clarity issues from looking through three feet of water and b) difficulty making a layout work where the fish are viewable. Trying to think it all through before we get too far into the design...

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Bunsen Honeydew

· #9 · Mar 12, 2017

AmityFish said:
I wonder if you all have any thoughts on aquascaping a tank with a 3' by 4' footprint that's also two sided? I'm wondering if I run the risk of a) water clarity issues from looking through three feet of water and b) difficulty making a layout work where the fish are viewable. Trying to think it all through before we get too far into the design...

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I think that it is doable if you have a large feature in the middle of the tank, and scape it basically like 2 tanks.

rballi

· #10 · Mar 12, 2017

AmityFish said:
Rballi, I finally got time to look at your tank, gorgeous! I might be pestering you with questions after I read through the whole thread.

As for tanks in the kitchen, I am the wife, and happen to do all the cooking, so the hubby didn't have much reason to object! It isn't actually going to be in the kitchen to be fair though, since our dining area is a little ways from the kitchen proper.

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It's a good thing that we aren't both into this hobby or it would be out of control. A good check and balance.

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AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 13, 2017

rballi said:
It's a good thing that we aren't both into this hobby or it would be out of control. A good check and balance.

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Haha could not agree more. I shudder to think of what would become of us if we were both as tank obsessed!

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AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 13, 2017

Bunsen Honeydew said:
I think that it is doable if you have a large feature in the middle of the tank, and scape it basically like 2 tanks.

Why haven't I thought of that. I've been obsessing so much over hiding the overflow, but this would make a lot more sense!

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Bunsen Honeydew

· #13 · Mar 13, 2017

AmityFish said:
Why haven't I thought of that. I've been obsessing so much over hiding the overflow, but this would make a lot more sense!

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Think of it almost like a U shaped tank. Is the overflow going to be on one end?

AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 13, 2017

Bunsen Honeydew said:
Think of it almost like a U shaped tank. Is the overflow going to be on one end?

Yep, on one of the 3 feet sides, it'll all get hidden in the cabinetry. (Hopefully, if I actually pull this all off!)

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Bunsen Honeydew

· #15 · Mar 13, 2017

AmityFish said:
Yep, on one of the 3 feet sides, it'll all get hidden in the cabinetry. (Hopefully, if I actually pull this all off!)

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I can't wait to see it.

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AmityFish

Discussion Starter · #16 · Sep 26, 2018

So, I started this thread last year...! A year of construction later, we are pretty close to moving into our house. Cabinetry and tank stand are pretty much built. Stand is getting a couple tweaks but this is basically how it'll look.

I'm now debating whether to DIY the tank or have it built. On the one hand, I've made up to a 90 gallon tank that never had a problem but this is significantly bigger and I'm not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree. On the other hand, getting one made is so darn expensive.

Anyways. Here is the stand. It is inset to let it clear the plumbing. Not that I plan on moving it much but we wanted the option to pull the whole thing out if needed. There are removable cabinet doors that you don't see, and a couple inches of counter runs across the entire thing. It sits flush with the front on the other side. You can see the full run of cabinets on the second pic.

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