Wall penetration for remote sump - Advice wanted

[lexzbuddy]

Does anyone know where to find an off the shelf wall penetration to permit me to run hoses and cables through an interior wall?

It's a non load bearing partition wall between my living room and dining room. So, plasterboard - air gap - plasterboard.

I want to use bulkhead connections so I want a solid plate inside the penetration. I will then use 316 stainless bulkhead connections to make up the hose runs. I'm thinking 2-off 3/4" ID and 1-off 1" ID bulkheads. I will then make up cable glands to run all my control wires through the same bulkhead plate.

OK, the reason for this is pretty simple. I want to turn the dining room into my fish room. I will be building a large sump with a controller alongside plus reactors etc. The tank will be in the livingroom but everything else will be out of the way.

As it's for my living room I want something that looks slick. I don't want to have to bodge something up that ends up looking rather agricultural if you get my meaning. I don't think the wife would be all too pleased. Getting the okay to take over the dining room is pretty cool of her, I don't want the 1st thing I do to look duff and end up in her bad books.

Lastly, I am an engineer. Yes, I could design something slick, have it made and powder coated... but it would cost hundreds of pounds.

So, if anyone has any great ideas on how to unobtrusively run pipes and wires through a wall, please let me know. Thanks

[billdogg]

I used a 6" PVC slip/slip connector for mine. I would avoid the stainless bulkheads. They will corrode anyway.

[fishgate]

If you have the dining room to work with, can you cut a hole in the wall and do and in-wall tank? that would look way better and take up much less room in the living room.

If you are just going to go through the wall, I would not go through the elaborate mess of making it like you are talking about. K.I.S.S. I'd just drill a hole, trim it out (maybe) on both sides and be happy. If it is behind the tank or hidden I wouldn't even hide it. Just punch it through.

[woodnaquanut]

Dinning room = fish room and you are worried about the wall pass thru looking agricultural? Sorry, I'm having a hard time getting past that. :)

Simple pass thru can be a hole trimmed out like a window. Frame on both sides and blocking in the void. I'd make it bigger than I thought I needed so as plans change the hole will still work.

If the hole is behind the tank or stand, you'll be the only one to ever see it.

[Lavoisier]

Dinning room = fish room and you are worried about the wall pass thru looking agricultural? Sorry, I'm having a hard time getting past that. :)

Simple pass thru can be a hole trimmed out like a window. Frame on both sides and blocking in the void. I'd make it bigger than I thought I needed so as plans change the hole will still work.

If the hole is behind the tank or stand, you'll be the only one to ever see it.

1+ :hmm2:

[lexzbuddy]

Aesthetics are important here so I really need to find a solution that looks finished. It's going in the livingroom and a hole punched through the wall really won't pass muster in this instance.

The 6" slip/slip sounds interesting. Would you happen to have a link to illustrate what you have used billdogg?

I use 316 Swagloc fittings on equipment that remains subsea for 25 years. Unless there is some galvanic interaction they should hold up well. It's the cheaper 304 fittings that will give you trouble as 304 really is not suitable for use with sea water.

I have found some very cool gland type penetrations that are modular but the cost is silly, over a grand for the penetration box and associated gland blocks.

[billdogg]

I don't have any photos, and it's behind the stand now, so that may be kinda tough.

I just cut a hole in the drywall big enough to allow the coupler to slide in, then Spackled around it. All my plumbing and wiring for lights fits through with room to spare. Because it's pvc there is no worries about water damage.

[dkeller_nc]

Fellow engineer here; I get the desire for neat 'n tidy. I don't know of any inexpensive pre-made wall penetrations (especially if made of all 316SS), but here's a thought - why not make the wall plate(s) out of starboard (HDPE sheet)?

You can get it in something other than white (at least in the states), and it's easy to DIY your own bulkhead/cable pass-through arrangement.

You could also use acrylic/Lexan sheet if you want to permanently glue ABS bulkheads in the sheet.

[karimwassef]

If aesthetics count, make it an in-wall tank (frame the tank). Plumbing will not be aesthetic.

I started in the same place you are now... The complexities of running wires and plumbing through a wall were actually more trouble than framing the tank into the wall.

[lexzbuddy]

Thanks DK, I will have a look and see what I can find over here in the UK. I honestly hadn't thought about acrylic believe it or not. It will look good and is very easy to work with too.

Thanks everyone for your input. Once I have a working plan, I will get it made and let you judge if it has turned out duff or not.

Thanks again :)

[skeeter_ca]

I used a 6" hole saw to drill through both dry wall sheets. I have the aquarium against the wall so it can't be seen. The other side i built an oak box that houses my pump and chiller and it is positioned in front of the hole so it cannot be seen either. If you didn't look at it closely you would just think it is an end table. The holes in the wall cannot be seen from either side. My electrical, ATO and water change lines also come down through that wall and go into the aqaurium from that hole. Works great.

skeeter