450 Gallon Peninsula Display

[jwccwj]

Mcrist I love your tank its really coming along nicely.Im just wondering how much support you put in to support the weight of the tank seeing its on a upper level and all.Also how are the cabinets coming along?

thanks.

[mcrist]

Originally posted by samson78945
great lookin tank..cant wait to see more pics!

Maybe this week, my cabinet is going to be attached this week to see if everything fits. I plan to take some pictures then.

[mcrist]

Originally posted by jwccwj
Mcrist I love your tank its really coming along nicely.Im just wondering how much support you put in to support the weight of the tank seeing its on a upper level and all.Also how are the cabinets coming along?

thanks.

I needed to do a lot of reinforcing of the floor since I estimated the tank to weigh about 5,000 pounds. First a tripled all floor joists and then placed a metal beam under the far end of the tank away from the foundation wall. I have the beam supported by two pillars that are rated for 15,000 pounds each. I knew I couldn’t just place the pillars right on the concrete floor so I needed to first put down a 4x4 foot 1/2 think solid metal plate. I figure the plate would help to distribute the weight over a larger section of the floor to help the floor from cracking. The plate itself weighed over 300 pounds and was a real pain in the a** to get into the basement. I also built a 2x6 wall about 2 feet away from the foundation since the tank is about a foot away from the outer wall and I was concerned about the shearing affect on the floor joists.

Here are some pictures of the beam and the plate that support my tank.

[jwccwj]

The supports you put in look like you could hold another tank of the same size no problem,im considering a penninsula in my new home as well and i was wondering how to do it so those pics gave me some ideas.

I like the idea of running the returns across the top of the tank to the far end,at least that way all the grud gets pushed towards the overflow.

[mcrist]

Some photos of my cabinets under construction.

[mcrist]

The cabinets are almost done, just two more doors. Here are some photos.

[FibberMcGee]

Wow, now thats a nice finish to a great tank. Great job!

[spazz]

well after seeing this i smell something..... could it be tank of the month????? it just maybe. let that tank mature a few months and it may end up on the front page in the honors spot. it sure looks nice.

[mcrist]

Thanks FibberMcGee and spazz. Tank of the month not yet, it’s definitely not worthy of it. I need to fix a lot before I could ever dream of that honor. I still have a nitrates issue that won’t go away and I need to shorten my closed loop return lines. Most people seem to dislike them and I will admit they are a little long. I also need to replace my light fixture with a sexy European model. I have my eye on the Infiniti by Giesemann but I am having a hard time forking over the cash for it.

[Jar*Head]

That is a beautiful tank, i love the dimension. I show your tank pic to the wife lastnight try to convince her with dimension, thanks god you have a pair of crosshatch (her favorite fish). I think she is going to approve for the 96x48x24. But we are not moving to Colorado till next year Jun or Jul... I am looking forward to see your tank in the front page soon. Good luck

[mcrist]

Thanks Jar*Head. I wanted to go with an 8 foot tank too but it wouldn’t have given enough clearance to walk past the tank. The crosshatch triggers are my favorite too. You won’t be disappointed in a 4 foot wide tank.

[Jar*Head]

Mcrist, i just sold my 4x4x2. I know exactly what you mean.... My new tank will house a bunch of fish. I will add as much as my BK400ext can handle

[nattydread]

I love this tank.

Question about the lighting?

[mcrist]

Thanks nattydread. What's you question on the lighting?

[Jar*Head]

Talking about lighting, have you ever thought about using LAIII or Lumen bright with t-5 or Atinic suppliment on a light rack? I want to have all my lighting on the rack. Now i got all excited about my future tank. too bad, it is a year from now...

[mcrist]

I love the LAIII but they are butt ugly and big for an open top. They work great for in the wall systems or if you are willing to build a light rack. I want the top to be as open as possible so I need to go with some slim fixture. I was originally planning on using the LAIII and having my cabinets built to the ceiling but I quickly changed my mind when I considered the cost, humidity in the hood, and how much it would separate my two rooms.

[tcmfish]

Mount some frags on those closed loop lines that would look cool in a couple months

[mcrist]

Originally posted by tcmfish
Mount some frags on those closed loop lines that would look cool in a couple months

I never thought of that, I may try your idea. Any thoughts on what type of corals Maybe an encrusting species. Thanks...

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

How big are those Crosshatch's? I know you've probably posted it already, I'm just too lazy right now to go back and read through all of it. They look huge!

Very nice tank, btw!

Keep us updated.

[mcrist]

Originally posted by TheSaltwaterGuy
How big are those Crosshatch's? I know you've probably posted it already, I'm just too lazy right now to go back and read through all of it. They look huge!

Very nice tank, btw!

Keep us updated.

They are both 7 inches long and they are my pride and joy. They had to be since I never spent that much money on fish.

Thanks for the compliments.

[MGB]

Nice tank mcrist,
That sand bed looks like a detritus nightmare though, I wonder if thats contributing to your nitrate problem by being a sink hole for all that trigger fish waste. I decided to go BB and if you could see the amount of detritus I pull out on a regular basis, you would be shocked. The live rock alone constantly produces detritus, plus I've got a small mountain of snail poop always present. Good luck, keep plugging away.

[mcrist]

Originally posted by MGB
Nice tank mcrist,
That sand bed looks like a detritus nightmare though, I wonder if thats contributing to your nitrate problem by being a sink hole for all that trigger fish waste. I decided to go BB and if you could see the amount of detritus I pull out on a regular basis, you would be shocked. The live rock alone constantly produces detritus, plus I've got a small mountain of snail poop always present. Good luck, keep plugging away.

That is exactly what I am thinking but my convict blennies wouldn’t make it without the sand. I originally went with sand for my wrasses and jawfish. The jawfish didn’t make it and the wrasses don’t care that the sand is even there. Oh well the blennies do and for the most part I like the look. If I can’t fix it over the next few months I will have to remove the sand and go bare bottom. That will really suck though.

[MGB]

I don't think it will suck too much, you'll be able to crank the flow and get more of that fish waste into the sump and skimmer, fish are a lot more adaptable than you think, I'm sure your blennies will survive. On your lighting thoughts, I went with the Giesemann Infinity which was expensive, but is a great performing as well as looking fixture. I wasn't dissapointed.

[tcmfish]

Idk if I would use encrusting species on the returns because they will still look like returns after they encrust. I would use a branching coral like acropora or poccilopora that will have an encrusting base but will branch upward. A soft coral would look cool too. Idk experiment with it.

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

I'd love to keep some Crosshatch Triggers, thing is, they don't do well with sharks...

Maybe my next tank will have some.