Fish tank in the wall

[FlyersFan]

I currently own a 55-gallon freshwater tank. I am in the middle of doing some remodeling at my home and I was thinking of placing the tank in the wall (I think that would look awesome) in my living room. It would be on an interior wall. I have an 8-foot wide archway that I'm going to shrink down to a 4-foot opening and put up a wall (the wall the tank would go in). I would be able to have access from the back that way. Is there anything I should know? I have made sure it would fit and I am building the wall so it is not a problem to add enough support for the weight. I am having a hard time trying to figure out how to install this though. I want to make sure I have complete access to the tank to do all necessary maintenance. That seems to be the tricky part. I want it to be flush in the front and have access from the back. Any thoughts and or suggestions? Thanks for your time.

[pgtek]

hi
would need a real hard support for a 55 gallons tank
thats over 500 pound of dead weight, not including the tank.
U need accessibility from the front or back and need to have intake so the fish don't dies lack of oxy.

cheers

pg

[kuhurdler]

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[BobDeRitter]

My Father in Law had this setup for years and years and loved it. In his case he cut a "window" on the LR side of a non bearing wall common to LR and BR. He supported the tank with extra framing and just boxed in the back. He made the height of the "window" about 12" higher than the tank, and filled that space with a lift up front - giving access to the tank for feeding, cleaning, etc. He put a small shelf in that 12" space above the tank that held filters, food, etc.

[Doglips]

I did this, tho it still aint got fish in it, just dead spiders.

Mine is a 150 gallon that a bar butts up against, with a bathroom on the other side (privacy partition inside the tank).

I used pressure treated 4x4 stand that I built, on concrete. Make sure that the weight is distrubuted if other than concrete. Make sure you have diagonal supports, especially if its a long tank. Put styrofoam under the tank, wood can warp with time (and bad construction), glass don't bend. The huge mistake I made, not sealing the tank during construction, if I had to do it again, I'd lightly silicone the lid on the tank. Cleaning the dirt, sawdust and drywall dust from inside the tank sucks!

Don't forget about lighting clearance and ventilation (lights get hot and fishies like air.

Vapor barrier above the tank. Mucho water evaporates from tanks.

I also hinged a lid on both sides (mine is in the middle of the room). And of course under the tank access for pump and filters. More access to the tank the better.

It can look awesome if you do it right. :thumbup:

Good luck.