Pros/cons in wall build

[Prov3:5-6]

Good day everyone! Long time since I've been on but i have bough a new house and ready to start up again. My question for this thread is to start a debate on the pros and cons to an in wall build. Keep in mind that I would have a fish room for my sump and everything behind the wall!

 

[Siebo]

I like to look from all angles and you lose that with the tank totally in the wall. If it were me I would build it in wall but 3 sides exposed. So the stand and canopy would be part of the wall. The you have access from the back side too.

 

[madjoe]

I like in wall looks clean and fishriom behind it be awsome way better then all the crap under it. Btw congrates in new casa and welcome back

 

[zportell]

I have a 250 Marineland DD in a wall... I love it, my wife loves it and the people who come over to the house, all love it.. There are some pros and cons.. However the pro's in my opinion, out weight the cons.

Pros:
- You can't get to the tank on the outside of the wall.. this means, nothing can go in it, people can't drop things in it.
- It looks clean and sleek, and it also helps cut down on the amount of noise the tank will make.
- My fish room is directly behind the tank so everything is accessible and in it's place without having to cram it all in a stand.
- My in-wall unit also has lots of plumbing that is hidden behind the wall.
- Easier to plumb and you end up having more space to work with.
- Your wife won't complain about the "mess"

Cons:
- You can't feed from the front.
- You won't want to paint the back of the tank as you won't be able to see in when performing maintenance (I use a large piece of painted cardboard that is gradient black up to blue - creates depth)
- Cleaning the front panel of the tank required a 2nd magnet cleaner as the wall doesn't provide easy access for a float magnet.
- Depending on how deep and how tall your tank is, you might have difficulty reaching the bottom of the tank, in the front (My tank is 3-feet deep and 28-inches tall, makes for a long reach when doing maintenance along the front, bottom of the tank.)

Hope this helps!

View attachment 9505

 

[Prov3:5-6]

I have a 250 Marineland DD in a wall... I love it, my wife loves it and the people who come over to the house, all love it.. There are some pros and cons.. However the pro's in my opinion, out weight the cons.

Pros:
- You can't get to the tank on the outside of the wall.. this means, nothing can go in it, people can't drop things in it.
- It looks clean and sleek, and it also helps cut down on the amount of noise the tank will make.
- My fish room is directly behind the tank so everything is accessible and in it's place without having to cram it all in a stand.
- My in-wall unit also has lots of plumbing that is hidden behind the wall.
- Easier to plumb and you end up having more space to work with.
- Your wife won't complain about the "mess"

Cons:
- You can't feed from the front.
- You won't want to paint the back of the tank as you won't be able to see in when performing maintenance (I use a large piece of painted cardboard that is gradient black up to blue - creates depth)
- Cleaning the front panel of the tank required a 2nd magnet cleaner as the wall doesn't provide easy access for a float magnet.
- Depending on how deep and how tall your tank is, you might have difficulty reaching the bottom of the tank, in the front (My tank is 3-feet deep and 28-inches tall, makes for a long reach when doing maintenance along the front, bottom of the tank.)

Hope this helps!

View attachment 9505

Great input. I was thinking of making top panels to access from the front as well. Great idea with the cardboard backing as well!!

 

[rezaktp]

I pondered this a bunch, looks good in the wall, but you give up access. I ended up going with a basement fish room with the tank along a wall, al least I can view from 3 sides and keep the glass clean and arrange from the viewing perspective.

 

[zportell]

I pondered this a bunch, looks good in the wall, but you give up access. I ended up going with a basement fish room with the tank along a wall, al least I can view from 3 sides and keep the glass clean and arrange from the viewing perspective.

I can view all 4 sides of my tank.. Just not from the front (wall side). When I am in my fish room, I have access to the 3 other panels. It's like having 2 tanks in one as I get a full 360 degree view of my tank.. here is a picture when the tank was first filling. This picture was taken, standing inside my fish room, looking through the back panel of the tank.. Notice I can still see back panel and both side panels.

View attachment 9506

 

[Neebles]

I just put my tank in wall and couldn't be happier. The only thing I don't like is I don't have access to the front of the tank. I may remedy that by putting in a couple of removable decorative panels. Only being able to see 1 side of the tank was a bummer, but I set up a webcam in my fish room so now I can watch the side view from my phone/tablet/computer.

 

[trackfast]

OMG ! Rob ! You're still around. lol

I do like the cleaner look of a in wall tank and it does cut down on the noise. It's up to you if you think going around back to feed in too inconvenient. If I were to ever redo my tank I'd do something like this:

 

[zportell]

Wow, I would be weary of having that in my house. However, victor I think that would be awesome in yours!

 

[Siebo]

OMG ! Rob ! You're still around. lol

I do like the cleaner look of a in wall tank and it does cut down on the noise. It's up to you if you think going around back to feed in too inconvenient. If I were to ever redo my tank I'd do something like this:

Damn! I would love to see the back side of that tank!

 

[Prov3:5-6]

OMG ! Rob ! You're still around. lol

I do like the cleaner look of a in wall tank and it does cut down on the noise. It's up to you if you think going around back to feed in too inconvenient. If I were to ever redo my tank I'd do something like this:

Lol I'm still alive! I had to shut down during our move. Now that I am remodeling my basement I'd love to build a fish room for my sump/mixing station!!

 

[anarchy]

Almost all of the cons that zportell mentioned about the cleaning of the front glass, reaching the front bottom of the tank, feeding from front can be fixed. [MENTION=2509]rockhead[/MENTION] would have to explain that though. He had the wall above the front of his tank on hinges or something another but you could never tell by looking at it so hopefully he will chime in will better details

ANARCHY

 

[rockhead]

[MENTION=2612]anarchy[/MENTION] is right I had a in wall 75 gal and was very happy with the clean look of it being in the wall and being able to hide everything behind the wall was also great , but my biggest con was getting into the front of the tank , especially when I was trying to trim coral place coral and so on, so I had to finally cut out the wall above the tank trim it out and made myself a polished piece of stainless steel that covered the opening and could easily be removed for maintenance. My ultimate goal was having the stainless cut out with a water jet with the image of the Chicago skyline and it lite from behind with the tank lights but never got around to doing it before I took the tank down. I was trying to find a pic but not having any luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[madjoe]

Yea ive seen in wall tanks that actually had wood trim going around it and was either hinged or removeable for maintaining the tank id definity wouldnt just cut hole in the wall and plop a tank in there . If u do it right will have the clean look and ease of access . Like i said i tgink people sometimes dont plan out right and just try to make it look good instead of makeing it look and function good . U can have both it can be done if planned right

 

[ColaAddict]

If I am able to, I would do an In-wall tank. just gotta have access from the front built into the wall. It's nice to have all that access from behind the wall and not cram everything inside a stand.

 

[zportell]

Let me clarify my cons:

- Cleaning the front of the glass was solved by using a 2nd mag float. That float stays on the outside of the wall (Front of the tank) - problem solved.

- Feeding from the front: I specifically didn't want any of my fish equipment or food to be out of my fish room. I am sure you can cut into a wall and add access ports anyway you would like. I opted to have everything behind my tank, in the fish room...

- As for reaching the front of the tank to do maintenance. This differs based on the size of your tank. Again, mine is Marineland 250DD. the dimensions of this tanks are 5-feet wide x 3-feet deep x 28-inches tall. This seems to be a difficult task no matter where the tank is located because of it's depth (Front to back). Not to mention, I am a tall guy. I didn't want to have to bend over to see my tank. My tank sits approximately 3 3/4 ~ 4-feet off the floor. This is much higher than the typical stand. Which, when raising a tank, makes it a little more difficult to do maintenance as I now stand on a stool, to reach in the tank.

To finish my list of cons, this is my advice for anyone putting an in-wall system in your home. You can plan this out according to any specifications you'd like, but the only "Right" way is whatever is most comfortable for you. Everyone's tanks are different. Everyone's tank height preference is different. What might work for you, might not work for me, etc.. However, just keep in mind basic carpentry... when you start adding holes in your walls for access ports, you also created a potential way for light to escape. If this happens, rogue light will dramatically interfere with the overall aesthetics you're trying to achieve with a clean, in-wall system. All it takes is for your home to settle a little bit, walls swell or contract due to temp changes, and your easy-access ports become light emitters.

 

[Prov3:5-6]

That's a good point, I want to avoid light spillage into the rest of the room. That would make it look more sloppy

 

[reefer60614]

What about resell value? I guess you could always take out the tank, replace some drywall, and convert the fish room back into a closet.