Tank in Wall?

[Daisy82]

So my husband and I are building a house this year, and yesterday he suggested that we look into having a tank built into a wall. Has anyone attempted this before? Any thoughts on pros and cons?

[caferacermike]

I've seen it several times. You need to have space behind it. The more "successful" in walls I've seen had an entire room behind the tank for maintenance and included plumbing and such to make it even easier. I've seen one that only had about 2' behind the tank and then a wall with only a small door to get in. It was more like a closet with a tank in it. The tank looked good, but maintenance was a real PITA. The best set ups I've seen had a room with 8' behind the tank that included a sink and fridge. They could wash out all equipment in the sink, keep their foods in the fridge, and make their RO/DI water in the room as well as use an ATO to keep the evap under control. The rooms generally need their own window A/C to keep it all cool from the lights, fridge, and pumps as well as to regulate the humidity so the paint doesn't peel. If you can have a plain concrete floor that is easy to clean that will be a bonus as well.

Also don't mess around with a 75g tank in wall. If you are going to spend the coin, go big. As big as you can. 200g plus. Any smaller and you'd probably just wish you had put it on a stand when you compare the price of a stand to the price of building it all in.

[Timfish]

I've seen some pretty nice setups. Like Caferacermike pointed out access is real critical for maintenance and go BIG. For ease of cleaning the glass though I got to say haveing cabinet doors letting you access it from the front is the best way to go, trying to get to the front by reaching over the tank is a hassle and then having to go around to the front to check your work can take an annoying amount of time. Having a room behind it gives you lots of options you don't have in a typical stand setup and is definitely a plus. If you've got a good cabinet builder you could do something cool with a bowfront (check AquaVim.com's seemless bowfront) or a tank in an inside corner or outside corner.

[offroadodge]

Ok, in wall is not a big deal i dont think. I have a 120 inwall and love it. It is in my front office/room where there was a nook cut-out in the wall that just happened to be 4' long and 3' deep. I built a stand/frame for the tank to set on, then slid the tank on top. After that i finished the front out to look like it wsa in the wall. I got lucky with where i put the tank cause the wall on the right side is a closet so i cut a 6" hole threw the bottom of the wall, lined it with a 6" piece of PVC and ran my chiller, calcium reactor, auto top-off, and Metal Halide ballasts in there. In the roof of the closet (attic) i installed a bathroom (fart) fan to exhaust the heat to the attic. In the canopy above the tank i did the same thing but used 2 4" Icecap variable speed fans (temp controlled) to exhaust the heat to the attic. If youd like to come see the set-up, you are more than welcome to come take a look. Also check out my blogs there are pics of the build.

[muddybluewater]

I am going to build one in on my next house. I say go with as big a room as you can. Let me know if you want any help or info on the building process. I am a home builder and have a very good architect that I have worked very close with for several years.