# interior design dilemma: is this possible?



## ixc (Dec 19, 2005)

Now i know this may not be the brightest thing in the world, but bear w/ me....

Is it possible to integrate my 135G tank into a TV stand for a 42"-50" LCD/plasma? the idea is this:

x Television x
.............Cover..............
Tank
....................................
.............BASE...............
....................................

So I've had a dilema regarding my 135G cichlid tank for sometime now and what started out as a joke w/ the GF may actually hold water...

Due to the floor plan of the downstairs part of my home, there is only one spot that a tank this large (26Hx72Lx18W) will fit and not block any doors/windows. This one is also the one that is intended for the entertainment center. As a result the tank has priority in this space and the TV is kiddy corner next to it.

the time has come for me to upgrade the TV since this one whines after being on for a bit and I am heavily leaning towards an LCD/plasma and being able to maximize the sitting room in the area but I dont want to tank down/get rid of my tank.

What would the minimum height of the base need to be for the filters (XP3 x 2) to gravity feed and still work)?

For reference here is the current layout...


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## gaqua (Apr 11, 2008)

Why not build a much lower stand for the tank and then wall-mount the LCD/Plasma above it?


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## John_Auberry (Dec 14, 2006)

And island tank I want to build


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

tv on the floor, or below eye level will strain your neck... sounds ridiculous but it will. TV should be at or slightly above eye level


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## moto_master (Jun 23, 2006)

"gravity feed"? do you mean you're siphoning the water out to the filters below? As long as the end of the siphon is below the top of the water level it should work. Of course, the lower it is the faster it's going to flow.

I like your idea for lowering the tank and putting the TV above it. I would just be worried about that nice TV getting wet. Maybe you could wall mount it above the tank like gaqua said. Love the tank btw. Good luck.


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## imusuallyuseless (Dec 28, 2005)

I lost my user's manual, but you can check yours to verify, but a quick google search revealed this:


> I can only find the manual for the XP1-XP3 on line and it seems they need to have a distance from the top of the filter to the water line of a minimum of 24" and a max of 55".


Since your tank is 26" tall, this would pretty much mean that the base for your tank would have to be at least the height of the top of your filter(or up to 2" shorter, technically speaking...)

Anywhoo, i'd probably make the base of the stand ~18" *IF* you're gonna have the canister on the floor either next to or behind the stand. That'll make the top of the tank 44". It really would be best to wall mount the the tv because if you want to put the tv over the tank you'll have to leave space for tank maintenace which would put the bottom of the tv at over 4.5' high...just my ttwo cents :wink:


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

Somthing about having many gallons of water next to an expensive tv scares me.


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## ixc (Dec 19, 2005)

Thanks for all of the responses everyone!

to answer a few questions:

a. I honestly had not thought about wall mounting above the tank after lowering it that by all means would be the best idea.

b. by gravity feed, I was referring to the amount of flow needed to get the filters and vaccuum started after cleaning the tank - the 24" hose setup should work out well as the filters would be directly below the tank.

@intermission: me too but with it being lower than the TV hopefully it wont be too bad.

@imusually: thanks for the prospective measurements, I will see how it stacks up (literally) as for maintenance the hood opens halfway the width of the tank making plenty of room to get inside - probably the biggest thing i am looking forward to w/ having a reason to lower the tank is that I no longer need to get on a ladder to reach the bottom :X


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## terd ferguson (Jul 31, 2007)

Doing water changes and substrate vacuuming can be become dangerous and espensive when some water spills on your 50" screen. Plus, it would look really busy. I would personally do it like you already have it in the picture. It seems like you're looking for a better solution that's just not there. But that's just me.

I'm running into a similar problem. The wife wants a new LCD screen in the fish room. There's really nowhere to put it with the new tank being so big. We moved the old big screen upstairs to our daughter's room. I'm trying to convince her that who needs a TV in the room when we've got this giant beautiful tank to stare at, lol.  It's not going so well. 

***Edited To Add***
Wall mounting should definately be an option.


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

With tv above the tank I'd worry about condensation etc building in the tv maybe. I don't know, I just don't think TV and tank close to each other is a good idea.


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## addicted2cichlid (Apr 8, 2008)

simplify it all...

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20060724 ... -aquarium/


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

This would be *super* expensive but I have to mention it anyways. I have seen movies where rich people have a TV pop up out of somewhere, you could have the 50" plasma descend from the ceiling and when its not in use it would go back up and be safe from spills and moisture.


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Clearly its time to move if you have to choose between a tank and a tv in the same space. Find a new place that you can add a whole fish room.


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## John_Auberry (Dec 14, 2006)

I have fried more then one electronic doing stupid stuff, but in a crazy ditch effort to make money Sony made more then one TV LOL


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

xalow said:


> This would be *super* expensive but I have to mention it anyways. I have seen movies where rich people have a TV pop up out of somewhere, you could have the 50" plasma descend from the ceiling and when its not in use it would go back up and be safe from spills and moisture.


wouldn't be too expensive to have it tilt up to the ceiling and swing down to view. You could even lie on the floor to watch the ceiling. Put a little bulkhead around it to hide the hardware.... :thumb:


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## travis2k (Apr 23, 2008)

You could put the TV on a swing arm, so it s out of the way when not in use, and swing it in front of the tank when watching it, or..

buy a projector and screen, (if you have enough distance from the wall to where a projector would mount) I have one at home that drops in front of my fire place and love it, similar pricing to a TV, you can go larger with only a small loss in quality, and the screen retracts up to the ceiling, would take a little more wiring, but keeps al the electronics away from the tank.


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## ixc (Dec 19, 2005)

lotsofish said:


> Clearly its time to move if you have to choose between a tank and a tv in the same space. Find a new place that you can add a whole fish room.


I would love to go this route as the market is @ a great point to buy...but that being said, trying to unload my place is where the trouble will lie. I've always like the idea of a fish room though.



> You could put the TV on a swing arm, so it s out of the way when not in use, and swing it in front of the tank when watching it, or..
> 
> buy a projector and screen, (if you have enough distance from the wall to where a projector would mount) I have one at home that drops in front of my fire place and love it, similar pricing to a TV, you can go larger with only a small loss in quality, and the screen retracts up to the ceiling, would take a little more wiring, but keeps al the electronics away from the tank.


Itd take a heft swing arm to make it to the middle of the viewing space (the cutout is 9ft wide). When i first moved in a thought about a projector screen as well but have two problems with that setup.

1. my downstairs a greatroom setup (meaning no walls dividing the spaces) so the projector would be hanging above the kitchen island so that it would clear the cieling fan

2. I have a lot of windows in this area as well which is also leaning me towards LCD.



> With tv above the tank I'd worry about condensation etc building in the tv maybe. I don't know, I just don't think TV and tank close to each other is a good idea.


i am hoping i dont have too much of a problem with this. I already have glass tops on the tank to keep in the splashes and the hood over that. Being that I am located in Vegas typically the air is dry enough to compensate for ambient humidity.


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## dooo_36 (Jul 16, 2008)

xalow said:


> This would be *super* expensive but I have to mention it anyways. I have seen movies where rich people have a TV pop up out of somewhere, you could have the 50" plasma descend from the ceiling and when its not in use it would go back up and be safe from spills and moisture.


also i think he said he had a two story which means you can't do this...

:thumb:


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## travis2k (Apr 23, 2008)

> 1. my downstairs a greatroom setup (meaning no walls dividing the spaces) so the projector would be hanging above the kitchen island so that it would clear the cieling fan
> 
> 2. I have a lot of windows in this area as well which is also leaning me towards LCD.


I have my projector sitting above my dining room chandelier, as my dining room and living room are one.

2. I had the same problem, curtains with blackout fabric would do the trick, I have dark pleathery type curtains that block enough light, I got from home depot, not too expensive.
The room doesnt have to be super dark, but... the darker the better.


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## BenHugs (Jan 13, 2007)

I would go LCD for starts they are much lighter than the plasmas.
They do make brackets to hang tv's from the ceiling and you could just tilt it to your preferences. 
This may be more work than you want to do but why not build the tank into the wall and hang the tv above it then the moisture would be in the room behind instead (providing there is a room behind)


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

I have a 42" plasma over a 55 and a 29 on a wall mount. No problems. I would stay away from the tv bring so low. Too many things to block the view of the tv. If you have complete covers on your tank to hold back the evap you will be fine. Oh and if your a gamer I would go for a plasma due to the Hd blacks can be adjusted. I have both lcd and plasma. I perfer The plasma over the lcd. Color brightness all around plasma IMO.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Any conflict from the light of the tank and the TV being so close together? I know having TV in front of bright windows is a problem making it hard to see the TV.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Nope my tv is less then a foot from the tank too. Neither one has a glass tol though. I would see your concern but you could put something on too of the glass to block the light.


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