JapanReef - 450 gallon In-Wall system

[MickyB]

You will be very happy with a Tank from James, talked to him a few times. I've been to Japan once and went to Tokyo and then Osaka and took the bullet train to Kyushu. The people i met in Japan where very nice to me.

[NexDog]

rulesmith - I already have the Deltec 902. When I got it I thought I was oversizing nicely but back then my tank was going to be 60x30x30 and now it's decided on 72x30x36. The Deletec site says:

Capacity:
Normal Stocking: 660g
Heavy Stocking: 480g

My 150g sump will hold around 115 gallons of water so the system volume is around 450g so I'm within range of their heaving stocking capacity. But I'm not oversizing like I want to do. The 902 was $1800 and if you go any bigger on the Deltecs the price hike is huge. The 1003 is $3100.

So depending on how much I stock I might need another skimmer and thinking on BarrAquatics. The BA skimmers are becketts and I learned that the style of skimmer is very different from the asperating skimmers like Deltec (and Euroreef etc). So if I do get another skimmer, I'd like to try a different method. The becketts need huge flow and I don't want to put huge flow through the sump so I'd have to work out another system. The tank has dual overflows so I can restrict one that goes into the sump and have the other one fully open, I guess. Anyhow, I getting waaaay ahead of myself there. That's a project for this time next year.

Micky - I love Japan. I've been here 7 years with one year out when I had to go to Australia. My brother lives in Tokyo and I like to go up there once a year but I couldn't live there. I need countryside and greeness, lol. The town where I live is in a valley with hills on one side and volcanoes on the other. It's quite beautiful.

[Shawnts106]

I like the look of sand but didn't want a DSB but I also wanted the benefits of a BB tank which is quite a tall order I thought.

JUST a SUGGESTION...

do the thing in the back with the LR and whatever to keep the Detritus out of the back...

for the front, to get maximum filtration through your sand bed

Put a 1.5inch or 2.5 or 2 inch deep sandbed in the front... the sand being SUGAR SIZED ARAGONITE....

best for MAX bacterial colonization.... best stuff in the word...
You could also, to up the cycle a bit is put in some Live Sand mixed in with the sugar sized.... live sand being from Carib Sea... Its the FINNEST sand they make... very nice, very natural looking, and chock-a-block full of bacteria to jump start that cycle!!!

this would be a good decision IMO... hope you decide to do this

good luck on your project... looks like your tanks is going to be BEAUTIFUL!



oh, and

Konichiwa!.. sorry I didnt say it sooner... was kinda busy with that whole sand bed issue... huh!... hahaha


well...
Oyasuminasai!

[NexDog]

I don't really have a lot of choice on the sand. There is some find argonite and an even finer white sand - I usually mix them up. Good idea on helping the cycle with the sand. I'll be sure to do that.

Oyasuminasai - going to bed already?

[burntom]

Originally posted by mmd
i notice alot of vegetation right next to the recently poured foundation...appears the japanese take care in not destroying everything within site of the foundation like we do in america. must be nice tio be environmentally conscious....cant wait to see more pics

Hmm, I'm assuming that's because that's a neighbor's land. People build right up to the edge of their land here, given how expensive it is. You often see houses only a foot apart!

I'm in Tokyo, so NexDog's definitely got the better deal when it comes to greenery, living in Kyushu!

[NexDog]

Some of the land is the neighbours and some is ours. As Tom said, these days most people buy land that is only slightly bigger than their house due to the price. It's not as bad down here and people normally have a small front garden. We're lucky to have land that is a bit bigger than that.

I ordered my lighting setup today from Premium Aquatics. It's a PFO hood with 3 x 400w Hamilton 14k SE bulbs and 4 x 96w PC's on PFO Pulse Start ballasts. I'm pretty sure it will cover the 3ft wide tank if I suspend it high enough.

Full steam ahead on the house. Building had to be halted due to a major typhoon we had here the last 2 days. This is what it looked like on Tuesday:



Here's the fish room outline:



They framed the bottom floor yesterday:



And the top floor today:



Here's looking at the tank room from my office:



The tank room is not huge but as it's sunken in it has alot space under the tank - all the equipment will fit under there nicely. Has a sink at the end with cabinet above. Will have space either side of the tank too. Has an exhast fan, a vent and I'll whack an AC unit in there for good measure. Plus it has the drain under the sink.

[majesticangelfish]

Two words...
Japanese Spotlights!!!!!!!

Looks Great mate.

[NexDog]

You read my mind.

I'm going to have lots of space on either side of the hood for spolights. I remember seeing some crazy colouration on some acros in a thread about Japanese tanks. They seemed to use red spotlights alot so I'm going to see if I can get some. Not sure what I'm looking for though - any ideas?

[majesticangelfish]

http://www.lamp-network.co.jp/sc115_aqua/aqua_top.html

[majesticangelfish]

Also http://www.kuramata.co.jp/

[majesticangelfish]

And... the thread...
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...light=yasuhiro

And one more
http://www.reef-kuki.com/Equip-meta1.html

Cheers Josh

[NexDog]

Thanks Josh, lots of good info there. The lighting setup in that thread is just insanity gone mad.

[invincible569]

Awesome thread NexDog! Keep us updated. Im anxious to see the outcome. I also love how its more than just the tank. Very good information! At least now if I ever visit Japan, I know who I can visit.

[massman]

Nextdog,
D not pay to have individual items sent over, it will cost a fortune.
Have them all sent to your tank builder(or someone else), then get him to place them into the container as one.
Shipping charge should be volume based not weight. I cannot see the volume being more than 1/3 of a 40' sea container. This should cost no more than $1000-$1500 for everything to be shipped.
A family member had 3 cars fully stripped into 4 boxes each (body and all) and shipped over to Australia and that cost me about $6000 us.
Ring around for a shipper. It will save you $$

ps looking good though

[NexDog]

massman, well, have to do everything in stages really. Can't really fork out all this cash in one go if you know what I mean.

[paulpp187]

just taggin

[burntom]

Nexdog,

Just a quick post to say I hope you've not been hit by Typhoon 14 too bad. Been watching all the pictures of landslides/houses washed away etc and hoping it's not you!

Kyushu's beautiful, but dangerous in August/September!

Tom

[rulesmith]

so at this pointe and time if you had to go for just one skimmer which one would it be?

[burntom]

Originally posted by majesticangelfish
http://www.lamp-network.co.jp/sc115_aqua/aqua_top.html

Eeek. Now you see why NexDog is importing all his stuff. That first spotlight is over $600...

[Lostmind]

Hehe, I am going to japan in the next few months. Want me to bring some reef stuff over on the plane and then the train? hehe.

Seriously, that's a big house for japan.

I've never been down south in Japan, only Yokohama/Tokyo and up to Hokkaido.... you should set up a b&b for reefers when the tank is setup. (ryokan?)

[majesticangelfish]

Originally posted by burntom
Eeek. Now you see why NexDog is importing all his stuff. That first spotlight is over $600...

worth every cent.

[chainsaw5vent]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by NexDog
[B]Background:
And the project is born.



So the main equipment:

Deltec 902 Skimmer
PFO hood (3 x 400k Hamilton 14k moguls with 4 x 140w VHO)
3 Sequence Darts (closed loops)
1 PanWorld 100PX-X (return)
2 Iwaki 30RLXT (chiller and skimmer)
2 OM 4-Way units
1 OM Super Squirt
Arctica 1/2hp Chiller
Aquatronica
Korallin Calcium Reactor 3002
AquaMedic Kalk Reactor

wow. looks like a good setup.

btw. how much does land cost in that area of japan, anyway?

[NexDog]

Nursing a monster sized hangover today. This country is so steeped in tradition and alot of them involve drinking copius amounts of alcohol.

When the roof goes on they have this ceremony called "Mune Age" (mu-ne a-ge - 'raising the roof'). They put this huge sign on top of the roof that signals to the neighbourhood that the ceremony is going to be that day. When everyone gathered, I climbed on the roof with the carpenters, some guys from the building company and my father-in-law and we threw candy, rice cakes and coins down onto the crowd below after drinking half a bottle of saki. Kids love this ceremony for obvious reasons.

We put boards down over the floor joists and in the evening about 40 people came over and we all got drunk as hell inside the house. I'll post some pics later and I have some updates on the tank and my concept of half sand half BB method that I'll be using.

[massman]

Originally posted by NexDog
When the roof goes on they have this ceremony called "Mune Age" (mu-ne a-ge - 'raising the roof'). They put this huge sign on top of the roof that signals to the neighbourhood that the ceremony is going to be that day. When everyone gathered, I climbed on the roof with the carpenters, some guys from the building company and my father-in-law and we threw candy, rice cakes and coins down onto the crowd below after drinking half a bottle of saki. Kids love this ceremony for obvious reasons.

We have something similar over here but a bit more simplified, and it comes about quicker in the building process too!
It's called a slab party. Basically, once the concrete slab has been poured. (and dried!).
Simply gather friends, a few slabs of beer, park yourself on the pad and consume!

Mine's in about 2 weeks

[NexDog]

Tom, we did okay in the typhhon. It hit hard on Monday night but it was pretty much here on Monday morning to Tuesday evening because it didn't move fast. Lots of people lost electricity, cable and there was bad flooding in Miyazaki city. My sister-in-law lives closer to Miyazaki and they lost water too. We got off lucky and I didn't even lose my cable connection.

rulesmith - tough question on the skimmer! I'd say the Deltec 1003 but at $3,119.00 I doubt I would have bought it even if I knew my system volume was going to end up at 450 gallons. The BarrAquatic SK5220 at a modest $749 looks awesome but these dual beckett monsters need monster flow like a Sequence Hammerhead. As I opted for low flow through the sump, putting a Hammerhead on a skimmer would result in major overskimming (same water would go through 4 or 5 times on each pass through the sump). An asperating skimmer is the way to go on systems that don't have huge flow through the sump and the Bubble King is probably the king of asperating skimmers and the Bubble King 300 is rated for 800g at $2239 (AquariumObsessed).

I did give alot of thought to EuroReef recirculating skimmer and the CS12-5-RC rated for 700g at $1897.95 (MarineDepot) looks good. I'm just going to see how the Deltec 902 performs when I've stocked heavy and if I'm not satisfied, I'll get the BK or the EuroReef, install and compare.