I got the ok from the wife for my last tank

[scottw]

I have a few things going on right now, so if everything goes as planned then the wife has given me the Ok on the last tank. She said 1 more, I have went through more tanks in the last 2 years then most people do in a lifetime, so she said make it as big as I want so I wont get mad and want bigger. Wow is she going to hate that statement lol. I am going to build on a 15x20 addition to my home for this tank only. It will be a full working fish room, this will be an in wall tank. Total size will be around 1600 to 1700 gallons, with the show tank being 1000 to 1250 gallons.

Here are the 2 possible dimensions. It will be built on site from Will @ Aquarium Obsessed. He is nice enough to bring it to me, and build it onsite, there is no way to ship a tank this large and if it were possible I would guess multiple thousands! Talk about customer support! <o ="">

Starfire on 3 sides, External overflow the length of the back. This will be built on an steel frame, then powder coated, it will be built in 3 pieces so I can move it and also get it into the room! It will be over built so I can walk around the tank. It will be bare bottom with only a few holes drilled, I will run 2 closed loops with the Red Dragon 12m3’s to start, and if I need more flow, I will add another 12m3. I will have him drill 2 holes for that, and run the returns over the top, in my mind, the less number of holes on this size tank the better off I will be! After spending the weekend with Brian at fins reef he suggested some Tunze 6200, so I am thinking about 4 of them to start. I don’t want a ton of water through the sump, max of 3 to 4 times turnover. I want the flow in the tank, and give the skimmer as much surface time as possible. And of course this will be a total ZEOvit tank from day 1. I will run 2 x 6 liter zeovit reactors. This tank is going to be as efficient as I can get it. Only using Red Dragon pumps, a smaller Eheim pump for the Calcium Reactor, and using gravity for the Bubble King, and 4 tunze streams for a total of less then 422 watts, I don’t think I can get away with less. I figure on

200 watts for the tunze streams

174 watts for the 3 Rd’s

48-50 for the Eheim pump for the reactor.

<o ="">

And with lighting I will use Electronic Ballasts and SE bulbs with the help of the skylights.<o ="">




<o ="">

120x80x24 10 feet x 6.6 feet x 2 feet

3776 liters/ 998.94 gallons<o =""></o>


Or<o ="">

120x80x30 10 feet x 6.6 feet x 2.5 feet

4719 liters/ 1248.41 gallons


<u1 ="">I would like ideas for sump size for both sizes, but I am 99.9% sure I am going to go with the 120x80x30.<o ="">

I will be using the BK 400 I already have to start, and may end up going with the 500 or 650, like I said this is my last tank I am going to buy for a very long time! And after talking with Alexander, I will probably go with the 500, the 650 is just overkill and since the BK's are so efficient at skimming, I don't want to take out anything good from the tank.<u1 ="">

I have the Aquatronica and everything that goes with it already. <o ="">

So what I really need is lighting suggestions (monopod your thoughts too please). I will use a light rail for sure with this. I may also add some skylights to help with this and also get some natural sunlight into the room.
<o ="">
Sump size. I am thinking around 400-500 gallons to help keep the water cooler without the help of the chiller being on so darn much.

<o ="">
Calcium Reactor thinking I will use HKR 200 calcium-reactor incl. gas reduction chamber good for 4000 gallons. The one smaller is good for 1200 gallons or so, so I want to make sure I have enough for it.
<o ="">
Chiller size, keep in mind if needed I can have a 220 for the room to help with the lighting and chiller. The RD will be 110v or 60Hz so I will have both in the room.


Thanks guys I hope this dream becomes a reality very soon for my and my family.. Ok really its for me, my wife loves tanks, but she doesnt care if its 20 gallons or 20,000 gallons.. So I hope 1700 gallons or so will keep me happy for many years to come!

scott</o></o></o></o></u1></o></u1></o></o></o></o></o>

[Aged Salt]

Scott, can I take my PADI recertification in there? Bob

[gqjeff]

Bob, thats what I was thinking. We will get certified together heheeheh.... Scott, def going to be kick butt..

[scottw]

I agree Bob and Jeff. Come on over I need to get cert before I go to Interzoo, we be going to da Red Sea .. whoo hooo

[nbd13]

Its about time Scott, haha!

couple questions and suggestions...

1. why starfire on 3 sides? it will be inwall right? so you will only see the front pannel of glass so why do you want the sides starfire?

2. i agree about the less holes, but is there a way to add more closed loop pumps? trust me after having 4 6100s in my 180 and now having none in the new tank is really nice to not see those big things in there, now granted your tank is bigger, but think of how cool it would be to see no powerheads or plumbing and just have the focus on the corals and fish..... something to ponder maybe.

3. i would go with the second opition for tank size with the little bit taller tank... i mean i have had 24" tanks and my drean tank will probably be 28 or 30ish" it give you alot more room to play with aquascaping and if you use reef ceramic it would look really good to have the extra 4"...

4. other suggestion use reef ceramic rocks as said above with some LR mixed in... i will have to send you some pics of my tank it really looks great because of these...

this is what i would do for your tank, get the back wall plates all the way around since its in wall then you dont have to worry about keeping the sides of the tank clean (less work for you, i know how you are haha) then get a couple pillars and minireefs, they are really nice espically the minireefs... and throw them int he center...

i think this idea would be excellent espically with a huge school of anthias.... maybe group 4-6 pillars and 1-3 mini reefs in the middle or you could even split it up and have 3 island in the middle 2 with pillars and you should get 2 mini reefs and put them back-to-back i should have gotten 1 more minireef and done this....

the big advantage to this is you can keep the detruis in the water column also because you want have HUGE piles of rock and plus this is something the US has not seen yet, i mean Klaus uses this method on the tank he builds and look at the end result a natural looking reef.

just and idea to get you started but defenitly cover the sides with those wall plates....

4. on lighting i agree this is Chucks field here....

5. on sump size go as big as you can.... hell you are already talking a huge amount of water arent you going to add your frag tanks to this system?

plus the extra amount of water will allow more water so you can have more livestock.... and it will help with microbubbles...

you may want to hit up Dave (o2manyfish) about the sump he knows his stuff after talking with him i wish i would have talked to him before i had mine built, one key is to make sure you have the last baffle under NOT over, learned this the hard way.

alright lets see what else can i say?

just another idea for flow, maybe you could add another closed loop and run 3-4 sea swirls off of it like a bank of them along the back, but ditch the 90 degree elbow and get yourself some 45 degree elbows...

alright thats enough for now, haha sorry for the rant, i hope you find some of this useful now off to type a stupid bio report....

Nick

[invincible569]

Wow, that would be sweet! Love the overflow idea!

One question, what size thickness will it be? Maybe I missed it?

[AquariumObsessed]

So much for my tank...now I have to build Scotts!

[nbd13]

Hey Will i have been following your thread, you need to get your tank DONE! haha

It will take Scott another 1 or 2 before he starts on his addition....

in that time you can build yours!

Nick

[fkadir]

Scott, Im in awe on the size of that thing. 6.6 ft width? Are you serious?

[mane3215]

Damn thats funny, was just telling Edward when I get my "real" house I will be doing at tank those exact dimensions! Kind of spooky! That tank will be insane!

As for lights, I would do some heavy research, I am going to blow a load of cash on t5's and see what happens in my 30" deep tank. I am hoping to find a way to keep sps to the bottom if I think thats where I want the piece. Worse case I will get these 150w jap spot light mh's and hit individual colonies which I think will do the trick. that will also substantially cut on electricity bills.

I would like to see a tank with that depth have the lights get "dimmer" as they go toward the back to simulate more "depth" in the tank then there actually is!

I agree with Nick on the starphire, or you should build the room in a "U" shape so you can walk all three sides on the front and have a little less room in the back for equipment. How will the tank be braced? If it were me I may make it 31.5" and run a 1.5" steel angle around the top to hold it all together to give as much access as possible. Then you could build the front wall down enough to cover it and still have 30" viewable.

[Diesel3443]

Thats amazing, 6.5 ft wide, unbelievable Scott. I always new you were crazy but you have outdone yourself and I love it

[Miguelito]

My God, what a beast. I love glass, especially starphire (I've had two), but I'd never do a glass tank that large. Acrylic is so easy to drill. So easy even a moron like me drilled 5 holes into my tank yesterday. You really have to have your flow planned out. Over plan, and you can plug the holes you don't need if you go glass.

I think four 6200's will be a good start but you'll need a lot more than that. Just on my 340 ~ 7x3x2 I was running two 6200's and two 6100's and it didn't provide enough flow from top to bottom. Definitely have the builder drill a LOT of holes, unless you plan on a top manifold.

I'm sure you know Steve Weast's website, I would even contact him for some advice.

[Heinz]

120x80x30 10 feet x 6.6 feet x 2.5 feet

4719 liters/ 1248.41 gallons

gets my vote

[Ruth]

WOW Scott! Looks like a very interesting project and should be a fantastic thread to watch how you progress. By the time I get plumbing figured out on my tank we will probably be up and running around the same time LOL.

[scottw]

OK I will start with Nick.

1. Starfire on Front and sides only b/c I want people to be able to see into the tank in while in the dedicated fish room they can see the quality just like on the outside. The back is going to have the full length overflow so it will hide a lot of the tank so no need for SF there.

2. I will start with 2 RD as dedicated closed loops. I may go with 2 more and then just fine tune with 2 tunze 6200’s.

3. I agree 100%

4. Yes sir, this will only have Ceramic reef rock for sure. Back wall for sure will be the entire length with multiple pieces. A few Large outcroppings, a Few Mini-Reefs, and some pillars for sure.

5. You read my mind, I love anthias and will have a large school in excess of 20. As well as a school of black tangs, and 1 gem tang. Not sure on the rest of the fish as this will be SPS only tank, no LPS (maybe a few exotic pieces from Anthony, Eric, and Chris), zero softies (unless the wife really wants her BTA for the Picasso percs.

6. Nope the frag system will be hosted outside of the house, in a warehouse if that route is chosen for me, otherwise just a big show tank, and a nice sized sump, which I can hold clams in.

7. I will NEVER run a SeaSwirl again, I have had 4 and all 4 have died on me in less then 6 months.. This baby is going to be as efficient as I can get, and if that means its going to take 10 years for me to see the savings in going with the Red Dragons, then so be it.

8. that was not a rant, that was great info bro, you just went through this. But do remember with ZEO scraping the walls is a thing of the past

Edward,

You will have to talk to Will about that, I know nothing about it to be honest with you I have always used Acrylic. I would guess ½” but I may be off, maybe ¾”? Oh Willy .

<o =""></o>
fkadir,

I want to go bigger but I wont be able to fit it in the room, as it is he is (notice I said he is) going to have to carry in each piece and build it on site. Hehe.. ok I will help you out Will, as well as 6 more people!

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Chris aka Mane,

The tank will stick out of the wall 4”-6” I will build the stand to do so, and then put wood or something around the stand so it looks like part of the wall.

<o =""></o>

Sean,

Like I said before my wife said last one in the house, so if I don’t go big I will kick myself in the butt ever time I look at it! But yes she read this thread and said “you didn’t say anything about 10 feet” hehe.. Just like Will’s wife, she has no clue how big this thing really is until she see the stand.

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Miguelito,

Will and I agree the less holes the better. I will do like you said and run top manifolds. I am sure you will agree 1500 gallons of water on the floor is not a good thing, .

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Heinz-e,

I agree with you, I am for sure going 120x80x30.

<o =""></o>
Ruth,

God I hope not lol, you better have yours up before me. I am looking at a 6month time frame until there is water in it. I have to get the plans drawn up for the addition on the house, I get the fish room, my wife gets a new section installed over the new garage, 20x20 to do whatever it is she wants to do, it will be our home away from home . We want to have another child and our home only has 2 bed rooms, I guess in 1914 they just put everyone in the two rooms lol.. Not here hehe.
<o =""></o>

This is going to be a lot of fun, I just hope everything goes as I have it planned in my head. Maybe Will can do a cad drawing of it?