Building my new office

Last year I planned to build a fancy fishroom downstairs with all sorts of awesome features. But reality and the need to someday sell the house someday meant I should focus on finishing up bedrooms instead. So I ended up with a fish wall in my upstairs office at home... Here's some progress pics:
Before: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Flooring: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Moving in: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
And the final result: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My two favorite tanks: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The top two tanks are disasters in recovery, so this isn't really a finished project. There are a few tanks who didn't fit in here... mostly because of weight (I am going to have to crack open the floor and reinforce it ...) at least they fit elsewhere! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
There will be another 40 to the left of that 13

What do you guys think? Any recommendations?

The 40 breeder looks neat being low light.

Are the shelves attached with straps to the wall/studs? I would hate to have an earthquake shake and topple the tanks. Just a thought. Other than that it looks very nice. The tanks have a very clean presentation. Wish my tanks could look like that. Until then I'll have to learn more!!!

Ugh...... that wall looks amazing, and your tanks look great! Those racks look amazing as well!
I like how all the tanks are in just one place. It makes maintenance faaaaaaaaaar easier, that's for sure! Me likey!!

Being that it's an office, I'd never get any work done because I'd be too distracted by watching all those sweet looking tanks!

Tom. Love the new look in your office from last visit. Beautiful tanks.   

MRTom wrote:
And the final result: [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

What do you guys think? Any recommendations?

I love the look of your setup Tom.  Are those 5G tanks on the bottom rack in the top picture...they look great stacked side by side like that...I thought it was a big tank with dividers at first.

Love the layout in your 40G tank...looks pretty natural.  Is that your native fish tank...the 40g? And the hydroponics tank on the left...will you be planting the top part?

 - Nice work MRTom!

Looks great! I love having a tank in my office, though for me its behind me when I sit at the desk and I always feel like Im being watched by the fish...

I love the look of the 40 gallon! Also like the office tanks. No backgrounds on those?

Some of them look good without background cause of the color of the wall. Then 1 tank has a HOB that you can see but still beautiful to see.  Bet tom gets no work done in the office.

Wow, looks awesome!!

Great looking wall o' tanks.   

Thanks everyone! About not getting any work done, the wall of tanks is to the left of my corner desk, then I have this to my right. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I find that my brain needs short distractions or else it wanders around. I get more work done at home than at work... at home, if my brain wonders, I look at the tanks for a minute, then get back to work. At the office, my mind wonders, I walk out for coffee or soda, stop by someone's office, then get back to work half an hour later! And about the backgrounds, I thought of doing them, but the color of the walls is growing on me now!

Denizaari wrote:Are the shelves attached with straps to the wall/studs? I would hate to have an earthquake shake and topple the tanks. Just a thought. Other than that it looks very nice. The tanks have a very clean presentation. Wish my tanks could look like that. Until then I'll have to learn more!!!

No they're not, but I worry about this a lot. I made sure the tanks and the house are insured for earthquakes. But my worry is that if there is an earthquake, the tanks will fall through the floor before they tip over and fall... I'm chatting with contractor buddies to fix it by next summer.

cichlid-gal wrote:
I love the look of your setup Tom.  Are those 5G tanks on the bottom rack in the top picture...they look great stacked side by side like that...I thought it was a big tank with dividers at first.

Love the layout in your 40G tank...looks pretty natural.  Is that your native fish tank...the 40g?  And the hydroponics tank on the left...will you be planting the top part?

I was blown away when I first setup the four 5 gallon tanks in the rack. They fit the space to a millimeter!!! I think it is a nice way of running 4 isolated tanks off a single air pump! I did make abs plastic dividers that I put between the tanks so the bettas aren't flaring at each other all the time. I'm looking at setting up another rack of these tanks this weekend!

As for the 40gal, that is actually my malawi tank. My main thing in that tank is making sure they have lots of hiding space, so I took the thinnest rocks I could find and made as many hiding spots as I could. They seem to be doing pretty well. My only problem is that the wood is still releasing some tannins darkening the water. I haven't decided if I'm happy with dark water or if I should remove the wood. As for the aquaponics setup, it will be running off the water in the 40 gallon malawi tank. Once the homeshow comes by this weekend, I will tear down the 25 cube (in the intro post) and use the gravel for the aquaponic setup

if you decide to remove the logs, just boil a bunch of water one night (usually 4 pots full) and add to your wood in a bucket. leave it overnight, keep doing this until the water stops looking like cola, also if the wood is soft enough prolonged boiling can remove even more.