i am posting a link to my tank build thread here for any that want to follow.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70....aspx?Update=1
it has one unique feature and that is a skylight over the tank that is the same footprint as the tank.
the following is the first part of the thread.
700 gallon tank build.
First and foremost I want to thank my wife of twenty four years, Pam, for allowing my obsession to become a reality.
I have had a reef aquarium for a few years, ever since I went to a koi club member’s home and saw the magnificent reef tank that his wife had. My wife and I missed most of the koi club meeting mesmerized by the 260 gallon SPS reef tank. My wife said we have to have one. I said NO WAY, ABSOLUTLY NOT! Too much work, impossible to keep salt water fish and corals, oh my gawd corals, blah, blah, blah. I was basing my opinion on forty year old info from my childhood when I kept fresh water tanks as a teen. I have seen many tanks since then and Tankgirls is still among the best I have seen. TOTM quality. She has become a wonderful friend and mentor.
Needless to say we soon found a 120 gallon tank for sale in the local recycler newspaper. It had LR, LS, PC lighting, a few fish, and a couple soft corals. After a while we moved up to a 260 gallon tank that we still have today. It has halides, and lots of well established live rock full of life, worms, fan worms, sponges, tunicates, etc, DSB, and LPS, SPS and soft corals, a mature RBTA, and a few fish.
I now have several tanks for various corals, display tank, frag tank, soft coral tank, 400 gallon barrel outside in the sun with several hundred pounds of live rock waiting for the new tank to be set up.
I have some other folks I want to thank for all their expertise and knowledge they have shared through their writings on the forums and books they have written without which I would not have had the courage to attempt a new tank.
Tankgirl for her amazing tank that inspired us to get our first tank.
I highly recommend all the following authors for their work. Anyone setting up a tank or wanting to learn would do well to have read these books.
I have read and reread all of them several times over.
Invaluable sources of information I have learned much from-
Eric Borneman “Reef Corals” thank you for answering my questions on your forum.
Ron Shimek “Marine Invertebrates” and for answering my forum questions.
Scott Michael “Reef Fishes” series.
Julian Sprung and Charles J Delbeek for their series “The Reef Aquarium” vols I, II, and III, especially Vol III which is the most complete book I have seen on the science and art of setting up a reef tank. Charles Delbeek is the head of the Waikiki Aquarium. There they have a 5,000 gallon reef tank. Simply awe inspiring. It has a large skylight over the tank providing natural light supplemented with several 1,000 watt halides and a 10hp chiller outside the building.
This tank has two giant Tridacna clams that are about 25 years in captivity, the oldest clams in the world in captivity. They are HUGE.
Mr. Delbeek, thank you for the behind the scenes tour to see the tank from above and the giant surge devices and other equipment for the most magnificent tank.
Thank you to all the reefcentral.com TOTM’s tanks. I have read all your threads and drooled over the pictures in awe. Also thank you to all the others on the forums who have willingly shared their ideas and expertise freely.
Finally, thank you Anthony Calfo for being a sounding board for everything reef on the forums. No question to stupid to be answered respectfully.
Anthony Calfo-“Reef Invertebrates” when I bought this book I thought it was about corals, after all they are invertebrates, I was disappointed, and then I started to read it. Wow, a cornucopia of info on all the other stuff in our tanks. I have read it so many times the pages are falling out. Not disappointed any more.
“Coral Propagation” volume I- can’t wait for volume II with more pictures.
“The Conscientious Marine Aquarist” cowritten with Bob Fenner who is also a very entertaining speaker. This was my first book i got along with the first tank.
“C…The Journal”-very entertaining and educational magazine.
The system-
The tank is 96”X48”X36” Approximately 700 gallons.
Acrylic-built by SoCalCreations.com
It is viewable on three sides. The two long and one short side. It will be in the living room and entryway hall.
There is and external 3’ overflow on one end that will be in the closet adjacent to the tank and also there is an island overflow in the middle of the tank. Five 2” overflows total.
Two closed loops all with OceansMotions.com 4 ways with each powered by a Sequence Hammerhead, 5800 GPH. Closed loops have all openings through the bottom of the tank with 1.5” bulkheads.
Return pumps from sump in garage under tank. One Sequence Dart, 3,600 gph, and another Sequence Hammerhead, each on separate 20 amp circuit for redundancy. Returns are to be Calfo style closed loops around the top of the tank so as to give equal flow over the whole top of the tank.
Lighting-I have a 4X8 foot skylight over the tank. I have lined the skylight with highly polished aluminum 4x8 sheets from
http://anomet.com/cgi-bin/online/storepro.php. this particular sheet is 87% reflective. They have other sheets that are more reflective for visible light BUT reflect very low in the UV portion of the spectrum.
The skylight itself is single glazed acrylic opening type. Said to transmit 94% light and 44% UV.
I have an Apogee light meter and will be monitoring the light coming into the tank for many months before adding and fish or corals. Then I can decide what supplemental lighting I may need.
To accommodate the tank in the house we had to do a bit of reinforcing. After all, the tank fully loaded will weight somewhere around 8,000 pounds.
The tank is going to be primarily Stony Corals with fairly high light requirements and some LPS, and one large RBTA that is my wifes favorite. And of course fish. I hope to keep out the soft corals, we love them too but due to many of their fast growth rates and chemical warfare we will try to limit them.
I also plan to run carbon and ozone 24/7.
I still can’t decide what to do about a skimmer. I have read Anthony’s discussions about skimming and on the other hand I have read Eric’s writings about the skimmerless tanks with no water changes.
I have a small skimmer, the Aqua C EV-400 that I think I will run so I can add ozone, a 200 mg per hour Red Sea unit. So not quite skimmerless.
I have access to Free NSW at UCSB that I will be taking advantage of. I have a 1,200 gallon cistern in the front yard to hold the NSW.
i can only set up the tank now. i must wait until the rest of the house is finished to take over the garage for the sump and the rest of the equipment.
i will get the live rock in soon and the 6" sugar fine DSB seeded from my existing tanks. this will just run on the closed loops for months, 6-8 months while the house is finished.
this way the infauna in the sand be will have a chance to really mature and the LR will prosper. no additional light other than from the skylight.
i have the stand and we hope to start plumbing next week.
PLEASE DON'T POST ASKING FOR UPDATES. there won't be much activity for many months after the initial rush of set up. i will take periodic light readings and post on the thread along with periodic
pictures are on the other site.
Carl