I need help deciding

[reef1906]

:bum:Hey guys, just wanted you guys expert opinions on what i should do. I would to upgrade to either a 180 gal, 220 gal or maybe 150 gallon. The problem im having is deciding whether or not to put it in the wall or not. My living room wall is next to the third car garage which would be perfect but im not sure if i will get in over my head in terms of demolition cost etc. Putting it in the wall would be awesome !!!! I know putting an aquarium in the garage has its challenges and concerns (heat, cooling, etc ), but it would be a cool fish room. Also the wall i want to put it in is 12 feet so would a 6 foot tank be good or would an 8ft be good, i dont know. If anyone has any experience with in wall installations let me know what your experience was and if it was worth it financially. i know it will cost a lot i think but if i put it in the wall i wont have to buy a nice looking stand or canopy as it will be in the garage and i can build the stand myself. let me know guys

[C Dog]

I would say go the biggest you can afford/allowed whether or not you put it in the wall. If you put a smaller tank in the wall and want to upgrade you have to refit everything in the wall. More work & $$.

That being said I don't care for tanks built in the wall EXCEPT if it is view able from both sides(room divider). Thats just my taste. You could always put the tank against the wall or a peninsula style and still have the fish room right behind it.

[reef1906]

Yeah that's a good idea it would be less drywall demolition too. I'm gonna get some quotes later this week so I can see what prices I'm looking at. Another idea would be to put a tank in that can be viewed from both sides that would divide my front living room and doing room???? My only thing is that I would then least amount of drain/overflow seen as possible and I would have to run electrical under the carpet. Thanks for the opinion it helped. Any other ideas or thoughts would be great !!!!

[cbatkinson]

Id also recommend to go as large as you can in the initial build. Good luck..

[SkyHawk]

I'm in the middle of an in wall viewable from both sides build myself. I went with a 72x30x24. It's in the wall between my living room and kitchen (most of the tank is in living room). What I did with the overflow is put it on the back of the tank (kitchen side) and then shortened the viewing pane on that side. The tank doesn't have water in it yet and I've already thought to myself why didn't I go 84"??? Why didn't I go 36" deep??? Good luck with your decision. If you do decide to do viewable from both side, definitely go atleast 24" deep to have more aquascaping options.

As for the demolition and rebuilding. I'm doing it all myself. To hire someone to do all the work would put it way out of my price range. But maybe you are rich in which case I think it looks awesome.

cheers

[C Dog]

Yea I would go 24" minimum wide and 36" would be awesome! I would also go bigger than 72" long if possible. Hope this helps