Stand suggestions

[halmus]

Hey everyone. I am juggling multiple projects right now with a basement finish and planning a tank as a part of that remodel. I will start a dedicated thread once the tank is ordered.

Here are the tentative tank dimensions:

48" x 48" footprint. The depth will be between 30-36" inches. Peninsula tank.

I have been planing and waiting on this tank build for over two years. Since I first started the plan was to build a 12" countertop around the three expose sides of the tank at about 36" height that will cover the bottom of the tank and part of the sand bed. I like the idea of a small ledge like that to set drinks, fish food, and things like that on while we're staring at the tank.

What are your thoughts? I'll post up a sketch of what I'm thinking. Countertop or no countertop? If I do put one on, it will be reinforced with steel as a part of the stand and will be strong enough to stand on during tank maintenance. I'm well aware how challenging a deeper tank can be to service. I'll need to get out the snorkel.

Thanks

 

[halmus]

Here's the general idea of how the tank is going to look in the space. It will be on a large wall. My thought is that it will look a little odd if I don't have the additional width of the counter. I am only reconsidering it because someone in the house has changed her mind and doesn't like the idea anymore (I won't mention any names).

 

[Haddonisreef]

Oh Man U may as well go a foot wider!!

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

I like it, I can see some bar stools around it...maybe people having some drinks. My wife says you should round the corners of the counter top, little kids will be forever cracking their heads on it and adults will constantly bash hips into the corners. I like the look though, especially if it is structurally sound enough to stand on.

 

[Walter White]

yup with all the space it looks like you have to work with id go with the countertop as well. will be a dream build for sure!

 

[MuralReef]

How much space do you have? My tank is 48"x72" and if I had the space I'd do 48"x96".

 

[halmus]

Oh Man U may as well go a foot wider!!

Thanks for the feedback.

I like it, I can see some bar stools around it...maybe people having some drinks. My wife says you should round the corners of the counter top, little kids will be forever cracking their heads on it and adults will constantly bash hips into the corners. I like the look though, especially if it is structurally sound enough to stand on.

Good point on rounding the corners. We don't have kids and rarely have any over at the house. However, my wife and I are both the same height as most 7th graders, so the same reasoning applies.

yup with all the space it looks like you have to work with id go with the countertop as well. will be a dream build for sure!

This is definitely as close to a dream build as I'm going to get. I can dream big, so a "dream build" could get out of control quickly. If I had a money tree in the back yard, I would build a wading pool in an atrium with a viewing pane from one side so that I could snorkel in the aquarium and still view it like a normal aquarium. Some might say this build will be out of control, but it's all relative.

How much space do you have? My tank is 48"x72" and if I had the space I'd do 48"x96".

I have enough space for a pool table sized tank. If I had the wife's permission, it would be at least that big. Just take that pool table out that's sketched in and replace it with a tank. These dimensions are as big as it will get. However, there will be a lot going on in the back room.


Thank you everyone for the input. I think my wife is on board. I have some calls to make with the manufacturer to confirm things before moving forward. I've been working with Cris at Aquatic Art on this. Everyone that has been to the shop know's that he runs a classy operation.

 

[SynDen]

I like the shelf around it. I will be doing something similar with my large tank build too. It just makes sense to me, for viewing and with aiding in making maintenance just a bit easier, and you are going to need all teh help you can get with those tank dimensions. Think even with a snorkel I think the height of that will still make for a few areas in the tank you wont be able to reach. Love the dimensions though, but to bad you can't shift it off the wall a bit for a full 360 cube. Could put center overflows in it and hide them behind rock

 

[MuralReef]

If you make the shelf strong enough so that you can stand on it maintaining it would be easy.

 

[MuralReef]

My stand is steel and I used recessed magnets to hold the panels on. Makes for easy access to the filtration equipment.

 

[halmus]

I like the shelf around it. I will be doing something similar with my large tank build too. It just makes sense to me, for viewing and with aiding in making maintenance just a bit easier, and you are going to need all teh help you can get with those tank dimensions. Think even with a snorkel I think the height of that will still make for a few areas in the tank you wont be able to reach. Love the dimensions though, but to bad you can't shift it off the wall a bit for a full 360 cube. Could put center overflows in it and hide them behind rock

The thought did cross our minds of having it as an island. I guess part of the reason I didn't go that route was because I didn't want to be limited with what amounts to 24" width from glass to overflow all around. My last tank had a 24" x 48" footprint. Still, an island tank would be awesome. I built a quick model of the aquarium to exact dimensions with spare wood to test out how hard it will be to reach the various parts of the tank. There will definitely be some areas hard to reach, but I felt really restricted in height with the last tank at 24". Part of that was the newb mistake of too much rockwork. This will be a SPS tank so I want lots of room to grow up! I should mention that even though I'm 5'5" tall, I have a 6' arm span. So, having monkey arms helps.

If you make the shelf strong enough so that you can stand on it maintaining it would be easy.

My stand is steel and I used recessed magnets to hold the panels on. Makes for easy access to the filtration equipment.

The supports for the counter top will be integrated into the steel stand for the aquarium. So, I shouldn't need to worry about the load it can carry. I'm not going to be putting any filtration equipment under the tank. It might be used for storage, but probably will sit entirely empty and untouched. The tank will actually shoot through the wall behind it with a large overflow and dry boxes for Vortechs on both sides (rear of tank). The actual dimensions being spec'd are about 62" long x 48" wide x 36" deep. The viewable area will be 48" x 48" x 36". All sumps and equipment will be open and completely accessible in the filtration room behind. I don't want to do any more gymnastics climbing under tanks.

 

[powdermonkey]

I have a custom rimless 72"L-40w-24d with a c2c overflow that I'm thinking about selling. A little bigger than you originally said but might fit your likings.

 

[halmus]

I have a custom rimless 72"L-40w-24d with a c2c overflow that I'm thinking about selling. A little bigger than you originally said but might fit your likings.

Thanks. I'm sure it's a beautiful tank but I'm ordering this custom. I have some very specific design features planned for it. It also needs to fit through the opening in the wall that has already been planned for in the building permits.

 

[xsocali]

I would make the counter top wide enough to fit a dinner plate and check some bar stools for height so you can build it and have plenty of leg room.

 

[halmus]

I would make the counter top wide enough to fit a dinner plate and check some bar stools for height so you can build it and have plenty of leg room.

Thanks for the suggestion. I may end up having to shorten a bar stool if the measurements don't line up. I'm shooting for 36" to top of counter that will line up with the dry bar I'll be building on an opposing wall. That height will also work well with the woodwork I'll be putting on the wall.



On a totally unrelated issue, I am wondering if I should take the "Tanked" approach and make a really tacky insert to put inside the tank. I'm thinking a skill saw or other woodworking tool. Along that line of thinking, I'm sure I'll be able to put in dry rock, a couple grand in coral, and 30 new fish on the same day I fill it up. Right?!? Maybe there's some TV magic going on there that they aren't sharing.

 

[SynDen]

Well, nothing beats or replaces real live rock imo. Both in athstic and functionality. For my big build I am going to be making custom live rock sculptures. I'm using a pvc frame, with dry rock formed around the frame. The mortar that will bind it is made of white Portland, crush oyster/clam shells, crushed coral and rock salt. Once cured it will be effectively be live rock and You can use that mixture to make your own rocks, walls ect... If you use a sand with rock salt mold to shape it.
I think doing it that way you will get a much more effective piece and it will be formed just the way you want it, although I don't know if you could form a skill saw that way, but maybe a hammer, hand saw kind I'd shape could be possible.

The one hard part for this approach though is curing the sculpture. The longer the better. I'm starting mine soon, even though it will likely be a few years before my tank is built so that I can get them curing as soon as possible

 

[halmus]

Well, nothing beats or replaces real live rock imo. Both in athstic and functionality. For my big build I am going to be making custom live rock sculptures. I'm using a pvc frame, with dry rock formed around the frame. The mortar that will bind it is made of white Portland, crush oyster/clam shells, crushed coral and rock salt. Once cured it will be effectively be live rock and You can use that mixture to make your own rocks, walls ect... If you use a sand with rock salt mold to shape it.
I think doing it that way you will get a much more effective piece and it will be formed just the way you want it, although I don't know if you could form a skill saw that way, but maybe a hammer, hand saw kind I'd shape could be possible.

The one hard part for this approach though is curing the sculpture. The longer the better. I'm starting mine soon, even though it will likely be a few years before my tank is built so that I can get them curing as soon as possible

I have a bit of a dry sense of humor that doesn't necessarily translate to a forum. I was just joking about the fake insert. I do like watching the TV show "Tanked" although every time I watch it, I want to pull my hair out as people spend 10's of thousands of dollars on a fish tank just to stick in something like a model car coated in resin on the sand bed (see the recent episode with David Hasselhoff).

I've played around with DIY live rock as you described. I will have a refugium on the tank that will use a little DIY rockwork. That will be a fun part of the project. I was never able to get the process perfected to where I would put the "rock" in my display but it does work well for making your own frag plugs that can be bigger and more natural looking than the ceramic plugs. So, no resin coated skill saws in my tank, I promise.

 

[SynDen]

Haha good to know. Ya those Tanked inserts always make me cringe too, but you never know some people love them. Although I doubt very many in this club do.

On another note: Are you going to put your camera/video system you designed in this tank?

 

[halmus]

I am planning on putting some sort of controllable camera system on the tank.

My wife is very concerned about having a shorter hood on the tank than the last so I will only have about 12" of clearance. That means I need to streamline the design, which I admitted was an issue with the first prototype we built. My first task will be to find a camera that streams better images than what I used on that project. That was the major shortcoming. There are plenty of cameras with a good image but streaming quality video over the web is a little out of my league. So, I'll need to do some research and learning. After that, controlling it will just take time. That's the easy part.