Rockstar's diy coffee table fish tank

[rockstar]

OK everyone I need advice and input I know this isn't a nano reef but I like you all and value your opinions. This will take a few weeks due to money constraints but here is my idea....

 

I am going to remove the legs of my current coffee table. Refinish it in black and that will be my base. Drill some holes for wiring so they will be hidden under base where power strip will be.

 

Tank is 48" long by 12" wide by 18" high.I think this is about 45 gallons but they said 55. It is a little high but it will still look fine. Tank is free so can't pass it up. The tank will sit on the base.

 

I'm going to create legs out of black particle board or something similar that will be at corners and hold up the piece of glass for the top of the table. Top piece will be about 2 inches from top of tank.

 

So here's where I need some input... do you think led lighting strips would be sufficient and could be running along inside of the tank towards the rim? Are leds waterproof?

 

Also I could add filtration chamber inside of tank or do hob filter etc and use particle board to hide those areas like having it towards corner with wider "legs" for camoflauge.

 

I'll probably get a Skimmer and I need a powerhead. What sizes should I get.

 

Have a 10g now and I want to transfer livestock sand and rock from it and add more.

 

BTW I'm a woman doing this alone so no laughing at my idea and finished product

[evilc66]

Let me see if I have this straight...

• You want to take an existing coffee table, hack the legs off, then use it as a base/riser/tray for the new tank
• This new base would hide your power strip and all wiring
• You want to create "legs" at the corners of the tank to hide equipment, and support a glass table top that will be 2" off the top of the tank

I see a few problems with this.

1. The coffee table, even without the legs, probably won't be able to support the weight of the tank. We will need to see the underside of the table (with outside dimensions please) to get a feel for whether the table will need to be modified to work.
2. Placing the table top 2" over the glass is just a recipe for condensation and slat creep. If you keep the table top off the top of the tank, you will need a fan to circulate a lot of air through that section to minimize condensation. That will only amplify the evaporation rate in the tank, and will coat everything down wind of it with a fine layer of salt. If you put the table top directly on the top of the tank, you can reduce the condensation issues, but you will have problems with gas exchange
3. You can create a section in the tank to act like an all-in-one style tank. It's unlikely that you will be able to fit a skimmer in there though, especially if you put the table top right on top of the tank.
4. Strip lights will not be enough for a reef. Your best bet for lighting is going to be a spotlight with tight optics hung high over the tank. This will create some glare and reflection issues off the table top, but it's going to be the only way to get the intensity high enough without blocking the top of the tank/table with a light fixture.

Thinking outside of the box is great, but you may need to put a little more thought into this one. It's doable, but you will have to make some compromises to make the outcome worthwhile.

[DC5]

Seems like these would be a pain in the ass maintenance nightmare, but if you look around online, you should be able to see several designs that you can work from.

 

http://www.4fishtank.com/Table%20aquariums.htm

[farkwar]

Put a real reef tank over against that wall.

 

Get a table top MAME and put that where the coffee table is.

 

Not the Japanese Mame. The gaming MAME.

[farkwar]

If you Google images coffee table aquariums.... every pic you get a hit on, its a goldfish tank. Thats because they can swim in their own poop for a month without you doing anything to the system

 

Like evilC writes, a table reef system is, or seems, impractical.

 

Another suggestion, get a Fluval 12g and Niell's conversion package and put that on the coffee table, if you dont like the gaming table idea. Far more practical and doable.

[rockstar]

Ok so first problem is weight on the base. If i can reinforce the table bottom with 2 x 4s would this help with supporting the tank? I will post pic of table tomorrow.

 

Second issue is condensation. When I watch videos of them being made and look at ones ready to buy they all say to have the gap between tank and tabletop so condensation on glass doesnt happen. Could this be a larger opening like 4 inches instead of 2 and would that make a difference?

 

Third problem is cleaning or water changes. What if I use a piece of acrylic for the table top so its easy to lift? it would scratch easier but wont break easy and is way cheaper than glass.....

 

Fourth issue is lighting.... I am going to build a middle leg on each side of tank with a piece running across top to hide the center support on the tank itself and give more support for the piece of tabletop. I could put a 12 inch fixture on this and then supplement with leds running down the inside of the outer legs.... does this sound stupid? I would think if i get high enough par lighting then it will just be about where i place any corals. example mushrooms in lower output areas and sps in high output.... although im probably going to stick with soft corals as i have been doing good with them and like their look.

 

I know this isnt a typical reef tank but I like to try things before I just say it cant be done. I understand the difficulty of maintenance and knew my plan wasnt completely sound which is why I appreciate any advice given on here that helps me along the way. I also have space constraints hence merging tank and still usable table, and this could be one awesome tank if I can accomplish it.

[Tamberav]

Acrylic will warp I would think.

[farkwar]

Do any of these look like what you have in mind?

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=coffee+table+reef+tank&client=tablet-android-att-us&hl=en-US&source=android-browser-type&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=8aLYU6fsDc6gogSo6IHIBw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=800&bih=1280

 

Acrylic will warp I would think.

And its not cheaper than glass.

[evilc66]

Ok so first problem is weight on the base. If i can reinforce the table bottom with 2 x 4s would this help with supporting the tank? I will post pic of table tomorrow.

 

Second issue is condensation. When I watch videos of them being made and look at ones ready to buy they all say to have the gap between tank and tabletop so condensation on glass doesnt happen. Could this be a larger opening like 4 inches instead of 2 and would that make a difference?

 

Third problem is cleaning or water changes. What if I use a piece of acrylic for the table top so its easy to lift? it would scratch easier but wont break easy and is way cheaper than glass.....

 

Fourth issue is lighting.... I am going to build a middle leg on each side of tank with a piece running across top to hide the center support on the tank itself and give more support for the piece of tabletop. I could put a 12 inch fixture on this and then supplement with leds running down the inside of the outer legs.... does this sound stupid? I would think if i get high enough par lighting then it will just be about where i place any corals. example mushrooms in lower output areas and sps in high output.... although im probably going to stick with soft corals as i have been doing good with them and like their look.

 

I know this isnt a typical reef tank but I like to try things before I just say it cant be done. I understand the difficulty of maintenance and knew my plan wasnt completely sound which is why I appreciate any advice given on here that helps me along the way. I also have space constraints hence merging tank and still usable table, and this could be one awesome tank if I can accomplish it.

A few 2x4's (or similar, depending on what fits) in the right place will certainly be able to support the tank. The more area you can put in contact with the floor, the better.

 

As for the condensation, Farkwar may be right with the intended application of these tanks. The relative temperature of these tanks if they are just intended for goldfish will be lower than a reef tank, and won't create issues with condensation. Condensation forms when moisture in the air collects on surfaces that are colder than the air/moisture. If the glass is at room temperature (~70-72F), and your water is 78-80F, then you will have condensation. Blowing air across the bottom surface of the glass will help, but it will greatly increase your evaporation rate.

 

Acrylic would only be a good choice if it was as rigid as glass, which it isn't. To span the length of the table and still be able to support enough weight to actually be used as a table, the acrylic would be much thicker than the glass, and would start to approach the same weight. It's also going to be expensive.

 

A single 12" fixture mounted perpendicular in the middle of a 48" long tank isn't going to do squat. Adding the LEDs to the inside of the legs also won't be a good choice. Those LEDs will reflect a lot of their light off the glass, and you will be illuminating your room with them. You also wouldn't be illuminating the corals properly. For sps, getting light from the side would probably be fine. Any lps or softy will only be lit from the side, and will reduce the lights effectiveness. You might get some odd growth patterns from it.

 

If you can make it work, good for you (and make sure you document everything for the sake of others). It's going to be a challenge though to make everything work well. Keep in mind that the tank/table isn't the only thing you are going to have to consider, as large amounts of airflow to keep the condensation down will also be sending salty air throughout the rest of the room.

[Tamberav]

For condensation, it may be helpful to run the tank at a lower temp like seahorse tanks. You may need a chiller though depending in your house temp.

 

I was thinking maybe LED's around all 4 sides angled towards the rockwork but my concern would be cooling them.

 

I think its possible but will require a lot of planning, trial and error, and more expense then a traditional tank. You may get it up and running, find something doesn't work the way it did in your head and have to replace it, ect.

 

However, If you have the time and $, I think it would be a very fun project.

 

 

If you don't want to deal with lighting, you could put non-photosynthetic corals in the tank. The easier ones like sun corals/dendro's and some of the large polyp NPS gorgs that are easy to feed. Instead you would have to deal with filtration although they can deal with high nitrates/phosphates easily. Low lighting (strip lights) would also mean no algae to worry about. You could run a dirtier tank, but you would have to remove the top to feed them maybe every 3 days which will probably be the one thing that may get annoying.

 

I had sun corals, gorgs, and a chili coral thriving in a 20g long with only weekly water changes and activated carbon. They only really cared about food and low lighting.

 

The rock would stay bare white since no coralline algae (which may be a good thing vs scraping 4 sides of glass) but you could get that man-made purple rock if you wanted some color.

[rockstar]

alright... so support is figured out but not lighting or condensation. i will work on these two things. the size acrylic i needed was cheaper than the glass at my local hardware store....and acrylic is used for replacing glass table tops all the time. i understand it isnt cheaper some places and that it would need to be thick enough to support weight but with bracing in the middle this could still be a viable option for the top. Temp here in indiana is average and we have no ac in my home so room temp is around the same temp as tank most of the time. i suppose i could make a top thats not see through since you cant really see down in a tank if the flow is very high....i will document my success or failure as i go along the tank comes sunday so ill be able to do full measurements etc starting then. again thanks for your help and ideas!!

[Horerczy]

Tagging along to see how this goes.

[NanoFever]

alright... so support is figured out but not lighting or condensation. i will work on these two things. the size acrylic i needed was cheaper than the glass at my local hardware store....and acrylic is used for replacing glass table tops all the time. i understand it isnt cheaper some places and that it would need to be thick enough to support weight but with bracing in the middle this could still be a viable option for the top. Temp here in indiana is average and we have no ac in my home so room temp is around the same temp as tank most of the time. i suppose i could make a top thats not see through since you cant really see down in a tank if the flow is very high....i will document my success or failure as i go along the tank comes sunday so ill be able to do full measurements etc starting then. again thanks for your help and ideas!!

Being so low though if you cant see through the top wouldn't a low coffee table tanks beauty be lost if you have to look at it while laying on the floor. As long as you keep lower light/temp requirements you could do something like this.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/341196-20-gallon-tall-coffee-table-aquarium/

[rockstar]

That's kind of what I've been thinking of nanofever. I also found some other forums where people use these as reefs so I feel more encouraged that it can be done. Man I wish the tank would get here lol I find myself looking at my 10g tank and telling them before long they will have more space they were right about this being an addiction

[rockstar]

small update.... received the tank and purchased materials needed to modify the table. i will start refinishing it etc tomorrow. Tank is taller than was said but will still make a nice piece of furniture....its just going to be taller than a coffee table and shorter than a dining table, which works for us and means fish will be easier to see.

Im going with 72 watts of led the full length of the tank and can add 30 or so more watts later if needed. Purchased internal filter with biorings etc plus filter i already have so gph will be 421 which is close to 10x actual water that will be in the tank. trying to find 150 wt heater for less than $40. Also may have the glass top for free so that cut down on cost

 

ill post pics of base when its painted and reinforced.

[evilc66]

421gph in a 48" long tank? Might want to think that one over. You should be shooting for closer to 2000gph, if not more.

[rockstar]

dang i get tired of all the misinformation..... i thought 10x water flow was good. ill look into a powerhead or 2 to up the flow and hopefully that will do it. put one filter and powerhead on each side facing each other to cause some turbulance. thanks evil

[hey]

dang i get tired of all the misinformation..... i thought 10x water flow was good. ill look into a powerhead or 2 to up the flow and hopefully that will do it. put one filter and powerhead on each side facing each other to cause some turbulance. thanks evil

 

10x display turnover to filtration is fine, but flow in display should be much higher via powerheads. I run 2-3 display turnover to my sump but have about 32x flowrate to gallons in the display itself.