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58K views 356 replies 88 participants last post by  DLBerlin 
#1 ·
Well I'm going to try to get this started.
Been insanely busy but my husband Mike keeps reminding me to snap a pic here and there so I do have those.

Several months ago we started discussing re-doing the dated living room. Somehow we got from a simple paint job all the way to tearing out an 11' picture window and getting a new tank.
I was working on getting quotes for tanks, when jim48442 dropped the price on his brand new 450g tank to about 1/2 of what I was getting for quotes, so our plan was moved up a few months. This was going to wait for the weather to get better because we had to remove the window to get the tank in the house. All other doors into the house required turns we couldn't make with a tank this size.

We spent a day in the crawlspace below the area of the new tank adding 2 beams. I hate the crawlspace! But that was done as soon as I was sure about getting Jim's tank. Then we tore of the stone fascia on the living room wall-leftovers from an old fireplace that was ripped out years ago. Then we tore out the plaster wall behind that. My whole house was/is covered in mortar and plaster dust. Gonna take some time to get that all cleaned up, probably just in time for the drywall dust to start.

The stone wall-

What a mess!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
All this required me moving my office to a different room, and moving our bedroom into the room the office had been in, complicating matters more!
Rooms are mostly moved, but I still have many "displaced" items around the house so it's a bit of a mess. We don't have a big house and it's full so no place to hide stuff!

Last weekend we drove up and with the help of my wonderful volunteers Kenbow, Posiedon, gbsteve, Ardoski,and Ron S., we got the tank loaded up and brought it home.

We ended up removing the middle section of the picture window to bring the tank in and then replacing the window for now.

 
#3 · (Edited)
Mike has been working on the wall and stand, and we have been busy moving rooms around and demolishing the wall behind the tank to open it up to the room behind it. The tank will be built in with the front and right side open. To do this we had to bump out the living room wall about 5 feet, and open up the wall behind the tank for access to the back. The room behind it will be the "fish room" and will be for storage (we have none left around here) and the laundry. Moving the sump and tank stuff and the laundry upstairs will open up more space for the business downstairs.


Rear view


The stand is framed, and the walls as much as possible until the window is gone. We will be tearing that out next, closing the opening up some for a 6' slider, and then the wall at the front of the tank will be closed off the rest of the way.


Some "plans" floating around in our heads currently are:

stay with the 150g sump/fuge-I like it and it's working out well. Add a 45g tank-just purchased from Hopkins, plumbed in to the system, for my Haddoni Carpet and Clown to live in. Yeah! I get to have fish!

Lighting will be 3x250w Bluewave Ballasts with 2 Lumen Max pendents and Phoenix bulbs, and some T5HO supplements

Tank is drilled with 2 intakes and 8 outlets for a closed loop I will use my Hammerhead pump on, and probably use a Snapper for the return pump. Mike is doing all plumbing this time because he says mine is too messy. I will probably still use my 2 Tunze pumps for added circulation.

Daisy thinks we have lost our minds!
 
#14 ·
Tank is 96x36x30 tall 450g and yes it's acrylic.
Mike wouldnt go for a glass tank when he heard how bad the warranty was on them. Now that I'm using a dobie pad cover on the magnet cleaner I think I can deal with it better.
Cap'n- korndiddy20 has first dibs on the old tank. He pm'd me as soon as I posted about needing help loading the new one:p

Mike has been called back to work so things will be slowing down now a bit. I figure it's gonna be at least a month before it see's any water.
 
#22 ·
Very very awesome. I cant wait to see how beautiful you make this tank. You current tank looks so small now hehe.

If you had room could always put a rubbermaid sump in the basement to help mitigate the heat.

Now all you'll need is a plasma above the tank because you wont want to look away! :D
 
#26 ·
Can't you go any BIGGER than 450? Seems so tiny...:D

I love the way this is laying out - and I'm HOPING (you aren't saying so, but...) this will be a SHOWCASE for all the cool high-end goodies you are selling through DIYReef.com - so folks can see the stuff in action, you can get "live pictures" of the products... and a tax write-off?;)

Also - BIG kudos for being so concientious with the Carpet... PLUS - with that Clarkii gone, you can actually add NEW FISH - and it won't kill them all for you (between the clark & the anemone, has to be hard getting new swimming livestock!)
 
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