wall opening for aquarium

[JoJo]

After putting this aquarium into the wall i recently finished, the tank sits 3-4" inside of too far. the problem is if i slide the tank flush with the wall, the back corners are not being supported by the back legs of the stand(corners sit 3" in front of legs). with my fuge and sump under the display tank it would be hard to add more support legs. Any adeas would be greatly appreciated!f

[boozeman]

maybe you can attach some heavy gauge metal angle brackets to the supports

[blue_eyes53813]

Mine ended up like that. You could use the little bit of space in front of the tank for a ledge/shelf. You can get kinda creative with decorative molding. Its not all bad. Frame it in like a window. but better looking of course. good luck

[JoJo]

Good idea Booze. Vicki thats what i was thinking, i already have the decorative molding i may have to just double the amount so the molding can be on the inside and outside

[naperenterprise]

If this was my project I would build a decorative wooden frame that sits inside the hole you cut. (Kind of like a mini sunk in window) then like the others said highlight that look with the frame look on the outside of the wall. Make sure all the light leaks are sealed and you might want to coat the wood with a few nice coats of polyurithan to keep any salt creep from getting to the wood over the years.

Nice job on the tank, you'll love the finished job.

Oh, and try to hide the aquarium wood finish, only let the glass show, hide everything else

Originally Posted by JoJo

After putting this aquarium into the wall i recently finished, the tank sits 3-4" inside of too far. the problem is if i slide the tank flush with the wall, the back corners are not being supported by the back legs of the stand(corners sit 3" in front of legs). with my fuge and sump under the display tank it would be hard to add more support legs. Any adeas would be greatly appreciated!f

[sasquatch]

can we get a back pic? I dont see why it cant be moved forward, main bearing poit will be the wall, the back legs are more or less for balance

[JoJo]

thanks for the input Jason, the wood on the tank will be covered. and it shouldnt be too hard to seal all the light to the back side of the wall.

Sas, i will get some pics in the morning. yes the portion of the wall that the tank could sit was built as a load bearing wall. i dont understand how the back of a stand is just for balance if the tank weighs the same in each sq/ft.

[sasquatch]

it does yes, but the weight is spread out over the entire footprint of the tank, if the bottom is supported properly with plywood the wall takes or can take the majority of the load so the back of the stand is just to keep it level

[Triggerjay]

Can you remove the tank from the stand, and cut a peice of plywood to fit the tank dimensions, and screw it to your "window frame" footer, and to the stand? this way it overlaps, and allows you so slide the tank further out into the cut out?

Jason

[JoJo]

ok, i get what you're saying, the back portion of the tank will still be supported by the entire stand & the front will be supported by the wall. I was nervous that with the back corners not being directly over the stand corners it may of been a problem. but you're right, with it still being on the stand the weight is still distributed to all four corners of the stand. would 1/2" be to thin or should i got with 3/4"?

[Triggerjay]

I would go with 3/4... If there is any height difference between the wall and stand, 3/4" should handle it.

Jason

[naperenterprise]

I agree with Jason,
Use the ply wood to save some work, and push the tank up flush with the wall, then you will have a picture frame that will look beautiful!

I can't wait to see the finished product....

Jason

Originally Posted by Triggerjay

I would go with 3/4... If there is any height difference between the wall and stand, 3/4" should handle it.

Jason

[cioutlaw]

I like it sunk into the wall. if you just trim it out it will look fine. Here is another idea a fellow local reefer in my area did. He used 4" wide mirrors & it looks great. First time I saw this tank i said if i ever had an in wall i would do something like the mirrors. Would be a pain to keep them clean & might be expensive but an idea for you. This 1200gal. tank is in a Culvers restaraunt & is unbelievable.

[JoJo]

Thanks for the inputs. I ended with 9/16" plywood because that was about all i could fit under the tank. I took Booze's advice and bought some angle braces just to be one the safe side.

Outlaw it took me a minute to actually see the mirror, but it does look really nice & i do have (2) 4'x8' mirrors just sitting around. i just have to see if a glass shop would cut them for me and how much the would charge.