Tank inside a wall - anyone tried it?

[labfan]

I know this is a huge deal......has anyone done it? I have some construction friends that could help, but probably a major ordeal.....not to mention $$$.........

[Glaive]

might make maintaining it difficult, unless it is in one of those partitions ie fake window.

[labfan]

Yes, we were thinking of putting in our game room wall, which leads to the garage. It would be a small room in the garage for ease of maintenance. I'm just getting information about this -- check out this site:

http://www.bizarreaquariums.com/

[Glaive]

is your garage insulated?

[labfan]

We alked about that! Living in Dallas it gets way too hot....and the winters would be a consideration. We're considering bumping out the wall and have a small room jutting out into the garage with a door...so it would have to be insulated. More $$ of course. !

[Glaive]

Why not finish the garage into a game room, buy a billiard table and then it will be insulated. J/k I understand the head ache that comes with thinking of all the details.

[labfan]

That would be pretty cool. I have no idea how much this is all going to cost. We have a big custom store that does tanks for dentist offices, etc., that can give estimates - Dallas North Aquarium. Probably a million dollars, and that's just the labor.....LOL.....

[Boilermaker]

I'll fly down there and do it for a million!!!:lol:

[Rockriverfish]

I'll do it for half that!

Did you notice the dimensions on those tanks? 4 inches wide!

I helped design and maintain a few in-wall tanks years ago when I had a maintenance business, and it isn't that difficult at all. It also shouldn't cost much more than a high end stand & canopy, especially if you have freinds in the construction trade. As long as you have a good knowledge of the aquarium hobby, the key to sucess will be getting good advise/help on the carpentry aspect. I would stay away from custom stores, unless you do alot of research to find a good one. The ones I have had experience with were over priced, will try to sell you on a bunch of equipment you don't need, and rarely take maintenance into consideration when designing (except when the try to sell you on a grossly expensive monthly maintenance package).

The biggest challenge will probably be sizing and framing in a header to support the hole you will need to cut in the wall. I'm guessing that this is a load bearing wall since it attaches to the garage. You definately don't want to take this step lightly. Especially if the opening will be greater than 36 inches wide.

Framing a room behind this wall is a good option since all of the maintenance could take place from there. It is probably the easier route and will give you a cleaner look from the game room. If garage space is a factor, you could just make the wall deep enough to fit the tank. Altough this would require access panels from the front for maintenence.

Either way it is a rather straight forward process, doesn't require any special equipment, and should be a great look.

[labfan]

Good point - it is a load-bearing wall. Was thinking of a bigger tank (currently have a 55 gallon), but need to think about the ramifications.......

[Glaive]

Consider the issue with supporting the area while you deal with the wall.

In the end the added weight will be nothing in comparison to the roof load.