First SPS tank...and it's going to be huge.. I have loads of questions

[Harleyguy]

I placed this thread here (instead of Large Reef Forum) due to the specific nature of the tank. Originally I wanted a mixed tank, but what can I say I changed my mind.

First let me give some background on myself. I have been in the hobby for a few years and have several tanks. I started with a nano and worked up to a 220. Well about a year and a half ago I had to sell everything.... you see I'm in the National Guard and found out that I was about to be deployed. Currently I'm serving in Iraq and will be here for another 5 months, but when I get home the system is going into full swing. I have decided to spend some of my tax free dollars and buy my dream tank.

The tank will be 120"x60"x36" (1032 gallons inside glass) I will be ordering the tank before the 15th of January because by doing so I will save about $1000. The tank will be 19mm (3/4") glass, with Euro bracing on cross bracing on top and Euro bracing on the bottom. The front and left side of the tank will be low iron glass. The tank will have 1 external overflow running the length of the back of the tank. I don't want to see equipment in the tank; I don't mind if it's there, it just has to be hidden.

And let the questions begin:
1. How much flow should I have in my tank?
2. Will eight 400W 14K MHs with Lumenarc III reflectors be enough?
3. I'm going to have Spazz build me a huge skimmer... Can you over skim an SPS tank?
4. What reactors will I need?
5. DSB or BB?
6. How much liverock? (I'm already ordering 800# of Macro Rocks)
7. Refugium? If so how big?

I think this is a good start. Right now the most important thing is figuring out the flow, and where I need my holes so I can give the info to the builder.

[CUNAReefer]

Congrats on the new tank! I am building a large system myself (~600g).

For something that huge, you may want to consider TUNZE Waveboxes with some TUNZE Streams for extra water movement.

I have tried all different types of water movement devices and the Wavebox is my abosolute favorite.

As for the lighting, the luminarc III reflectors cover an area of 3' x 3'. Unless my math is incorrect, 8 pendants should be enough.

Can you overskim an SPS tank??? Your going to get some debate on this topic. How large is your bio load going to be?

Regarding the sandbed... I plan on keeping one because it has always worked well for me. What has worked well for you?

The reactors again will depend on your bio load. I will be adding a 8x18 GEO Ca Reactor and a Kalk Reactor. My supplements will be added via the aquamedic quad doser

Have you thought about a controller yet?

Well I am looking forward to the feedback on your tank.

Happy Holidays,
James

[ycnibrc]

I just upgrade to a 265gal and I have less than 1 inch of crush coral in the tank. That last for a week everytime I vacume the gravel I can see ton of detritus in the bucket so my advice of you is if you want to do sps then BB will be much easier to take care. I'm not saying that you can not do it with substrate. As far as flow that depend on what you keep in the tank. I have 2 H&S skimmer in my system and I could not be happier. So my answer is you can never overskim a tank. Most other tank have refugium is to add more volume to the whole system. It doesn't help much in your case since you have a large volume already.
I like the open look aquascape but that's my opionion.
As far as reactor you need something that can hold alot of media may be a custom made 2 chamber one.

good luck and have fun with your project.....:-)

[Harleyguy]

I am considering the Waveboxes, however, I don't want to see them... Is there a way to place them out of the tank by placing them in an overflow made specifically for them? I am also considering 4 streams (probably 6201s with every other slit cut out); however, if the 4 are not enough then I can always add 4 more.

As for the lights I was figuring 8 as well... Are 400W 14k MHs going to be enough on 36" depth?

As for bioload; I have this problem when I go into my LFS, I have to leave with something. I will start out slow, but most likely I will end up with a large bio load (I always do)

All my tanks have had a DSB, basically because I like the way they look. But with that said I have had trouble with sand being blown around due to heavy flow (I hate this).

I thought about the GEO 12x18, and I don't know much about the Kalkwasser reactor, because I have never used one.

I know I will get a controller, but I haven't even put any thought into it yet.

On a side note, I was thinking about running 2 OM 4 ways. One on sump return and one on CL. Both with about 5K flow each.

Thanks

[Putawaywet]

Have you considered a large surge tank instead of a CL?

You could easily have a 100 gal surge come in one end couple times a minute, roll the length of the tank, and then drain out at the other end.

Takes a lot less pumps/electricity and would save a lot of money up front.

Brett

[old salty]

LT (I'll promote you to CPT when you spell bicycling correctly!!),

You may want to consider a closed loop for flow on a tank that large. Other than that, DSB vs BB; you can go either way. I prefer BB unless you can hide the cross section of a DSB. Looking a 8 inches of rotting fish poop is an eyesore, no matter how nice the corals above look.

[CUNAReefer]

I think the surge device would be extremely cool. I've seen them on some really large tanks (500+ gallons). All of the corals look amazing. One drawback is you will get some bubbles along with the sudden surge of water. Still thinks its a great idea though.

[dots]

Have you reviewed this previously?

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=421812

[jamesdawson]

If you don't mind Harleyguy, who is building the tank?

I want a large glass tank this summer, but if ordering it early saves big bucks I'm very interested.

James, ex 11B

[jamesdawson]

Harleyguy,

While a think a 36" high big tank will look wonderful, its going to be very hard to do in-tank maintenance/cleaning at that depth. I'm 6'2" with pretty long arms and I can barely get to spots in my current 30" deep tank. I also question if 3/4" glass is strong enough for a tank of your dimensions. The 500G 8'x4'x25" I'm looking at from Glass Cages is also 3/4" and its 1/2 the gallonage of your monster!

At 5' wide, 10' long you had better plan on some time of scaffolding (maybe one of those Gorilla ladders that can be set up as scaffolding) to straddle the 5' width of the tank when working in the middle parts. Of course, you will need to move lighting out of the way in order to do that so I recommend building a framework to hold all your lighting and mount it to barn door type rails to easily move out and then back in. See Steve Weast's website as that is how he did his.

A bubbleless surge tank would be great, but Tunze water movement gear is awesome. Highly recommend you use waveboxes and maybe construct a false side or back to hide them in.

Streams are also outstanding and you should think about putting at least some of them on WavySeas so they oscillate--that way you get no dead spots. The challenge is to camouflage them. I'm planning on hiding them by using grey PVC pipes cut-in-half (lengthwise) with a slot (like a firing slot from a fighting position) for the mouth of the Stream to oscillate back and forth from within. I will fasten the 1/2 pipes to the side corners of my tank so that they can be easily removed for access. I might also try the spray on foam to break up the outlines of the Waveboxes/hidden WavySeas/Streams.

I think your lighting will be more then enough and I don't think you will be able overskim such a large tank if you have lots of well fed fish.

I would definitely do (all large) calcium reactor, sulphur denitrator, and a GFO reactor. A large refugium is always a plus since it provides plankton for the corals/filter feeders in the display. Reverse lighting it will also help even out the PH swing.

A sandbed also looks very nice in a large tank and you want at least as much open space as the rock structures take up. Again see Steve Weast's tank as the best example of landscaping a large home tank I have ever seen. 800 lbs of rock can go a long ways depending on how high/dense you make your structures. I would highly recommend building frames for the rock so you keep it off the bottom to prevent detritus buildup and keep it as open as possible for circulation.

My two cents, and THANK YOU for SERVING!!

James

[Oldude]

All my tanks have had a DSB, basically because I like the way they look. But with that said I have had trouble with sand being blown around due to heavy flow (I hate this).

I have a shallow SB and for the high flow areas where it gets blown away I place rubble so the bare glass is still hidden.

[crab0000]

Where in GA will you be? This sounds like something I would love to see! Stay safe for the next 5 months!