Riley's 100% DIY in wall tank (i pwn) :D

[frd72]

Looks good!! Just make sure you get insurance for water damage at your condo just in case...

[Dreadful]

haha i have contents insurance but they said there's no insurance i can buy that will cover me if the thing leaks and ruins the unit below!

[Dreadful]

Alright guys!

I've finally corrected all my plumbing, skimmer, and leakage issues!

Very satisfied with the result. She runs like a dream and is very quiet!

All I have to do now is finish up the cabinet, route some more wiring, and buy some lights!









(water looks quite yellow because of the kitchen light I'm sure it wont be an issue once i get some lighting over the tank)

Of course I'll be cycling the water for awhile until i put anything in other than LR ;D

[benzzz]

Looks very nice so far. Clean build. I would get rid of that metal hangers though and go to lowes and buy plastic hangers. It wont take long before they rust up real good. Just speaking from experience.

[asylumdown]

Are you going to close in the top or leave it open like that? My vote... leave it open and have some super slick LED fixtures hanging from super low profile wires. I think that would look SICK. It will also keep a sense of openness between your kitchen and your living space. I know they're hard to swallow cost wise, but the fact that you can program them to mimic a real sunrise to sunset will be another amazing dynamic addition to the room.

Also, I have my skimmer in a chamber that is twice as deep as it should be, so it's on a PVC and egg crate stand and it works fine. My major mistake, I bought PVC legs that float. Find something that doesn't float.

[Dreadful]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Are you going to close in the top or leave it open like that? My vote... leave it open and have some super slick LED fixtures hanging from super low profile wires. I think that would look SICK. It will also keep a sense of openness between your kitchen and your living space. I know they're hard to swallow cost wise, but the fact that you can program them to mimic a real sunrise to sunset will be another amazing dynamic addition to the room.

Also, I have my skimmer in a chamber that is twice as deep as it should be, so it's on a PVC and egg crate stand and it works fine. My major mistake, I bought PVC legs that float. Find something that doesn't float.

Thanks for the advice on that! Everyone seems to be telling me its wrong.. I tried raising it up but everything i seem to do makes it not work properly! now i have it sitting at the base of the tank and even with the "recommended" pump its barely skimming. I'm still pretty new with skimmers but i have a feeling its because the water is all clean and new? the morning after i added all the sand there was a tonne of brown foam in the skimmer cup so.. i think its working? any input on that would be great!

[Dreadful]

Originally Posted by benzzz

Looks very nice so far. Clean build. I would get rid of that metal hangers though and go to lowes and buy plastic hangers. It wont take long before they rust up real good. Just speaking from experience.

thanks man i think i did well for my very first build

i did buy galvanized hangers but apparently even those arent a good idea.. haha just another small mistake made! i'll look into plastic but there arent any lowes near me! besides i work at rona that would be a sin to shop there!

[Dreadful]

And i do plan on leaving the top open.. i do REALLY want LEDs but lets face it i'd need two fixtures.. at least 900 bucks a pop. who has that kind of money these days!

that being said if anyone has some LED fixtures they'd like to get rid of and/or knows where i can get a good deal on a couple im seriously interested

[Dreadful]

So I finally decided on my lighting for the build. I went with the Maxspect razor. For now I just bought one to try it out but I will be getting a second and hanging them both instead of using the arms.









It's a beautiful light! Very bright and nice design. There seems to be a lot of "disco" going on though because I have a pretty strong current. Thoughts on how to get rid of this?