New Aquarium Wall

*This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my full Disclosure Statement.

This was such a fun project! I was really excited about this one. Hubby has had aquariums since we were first married. This is the biggest one yet!

Let's start from the beginning.... I love going back and looking at where we first started in our little brick house. It's so hard to believe sometimes.

This photo was before we moved in. 

We took out the carpet (of course!). Then we took out the coat closet, the corner cabinet and the bookshelf wall. Man, it looks scary crazy! But you can see where we kept the fish tank.

Along the way, the wall and ceiling was repaired. Remember this house has been a work in progress for almost 4 years.

We decided to build this aquarium feature wall with kitchen cabinets that would match our kitchen. You can check out our Kitchen Remodel. That way it would almost be an extension of that space.

Here we taped out where the cabinets would go and how far they would stick out. I was a bit on the fence about that. I was concerned that they would eat up too much real estate in the dining room area. Turns out it worked out fine!

Hubby ran all the electric for the aquarium on a separate breaker. Then we also had to figure out what to do with out internet. We have a mesh system and trying to place that in an area that reaches to all areas of the house was difficult. 

This was our solution. We created a niche on the opposite side of the aquarium wall and ran the electric through to the other side. It seems to be doing the job and isn't too much of an eye sore.

We decided to keep that original light. It needed a little help. I just repainted the gold. It even works!!

Now we are ready for cabinets! The wall is painted. The support board installed. Let's get some cabinets installed!

It's soooo much easier to install upper cabinets when you place a support board on the wall. It's like having four extra hands! We attached them to the wall then to each other.

We like to build our cabinets to the ceiling. Plus I wanted to hang our cafe lights in the dining area. So Hubby ran electric to a plug on the side for me. I placed a smart plug in there so that we could tell Google to turn them off and on.

Now for the base cabinets. We were concerned about the weight of the fish tank. Did we need to build extra support? Thankfully, this is a support wall for our home. So we weren't concerned about the floor. We had concerns about whether the cabinets could support the weight of the aquarium. 

Instead of choosing 2 - 30" cabinets we decided to go with 4 - 15" cabinets. That would double the amount of support with the extra cabinet walls.

Our next concern was what type of counter? We could do the quartz, but that is then adding even more weight to the cabinets. We decided that a butcher block counter would give the fish tank great support without adding too much more weight.

We purchased the butcher block at Lowes and cut it to size. Did you know that if you tape your cut line it prevents splinters in your wood? Plus another tip is to always cut from the back side. It makes it a smooth cut almost every single time!

Then it was my turn to stain the counter. I used Minwax Pre-Stain. Then a quick coat of Minwax Classic Gray. Finishing with a coat of Minwax Provencial. It came out beautiful. Of course I had to clear coat it about 5 times with Minwax Polycrylic in satin.

Once the counter was installed, we were ready for the fish tank! Unfortunately, it was out of stock! We had to wait a couple of months, but it finally came in! 

Hubby did all the things to get the aquarium ready. He ran all wires and hoses through the wall, so that the tank sat flush against the back wall. Brilliant! It makes it look so clean.

There are many things involved in setting up an aquarium whether small or large. These are the things we purchased for our tank.

- 90 gallon glass tank
- Fluval Filter system for the size of our tank
- Fluval UVC Clarifier for filter to minimize algae
- LED Aquarium Lighting w/ Timer
- Aquarium Heater
- Aquatic Background Vinyl
- Aquarium Gravel (70-90 lbs)(Purchased at Petco)
- Govee Water Leak sensors (this is in case there is a problem in the filter system and will notify us of leakage) This comes in a 3 pack and we placed one under our washer machine and dishwasher.

We're getting there! We finished the crown molding. Added a pretty background for the fish tank and lights.

Air stones for bubbles.

Let's add some water!

We were so excited to get to this point. So ready to add fish.... But did you know you have to let an aquarium run for about a month to get the biological cycle ready for the fish? There is much to know about what it takes to care for the water and fish. Please do your research. 

So, we had to be patient....

But the day came and it was time to add our fish! So pretty!!

Here's the new fish tank wall! With floors new installed! The last project will be to build a top for it so we won't see where the hoses and wiring are and it will hide the light fixture.

Blessings!
Lori