Pictures - 800 gallon reef - 7+ years in operation

[hcrk]

The following are pictures taken this weekend of my 800 gallon reef.

Please keep the following points in mind in looking at these pictures:

1. I spent about 1 year planning this reef, which has been in continuous operation for 7+ years now;

2. My theme throughout has been to try, in so far as possible, to create a "window" on the ocean;

3. I am more concerned with the overall look of the "window" than I am with the display of specific corals;

4. Apart from a few tasks that were clearly beyond me, such as the actual on-site assembly of the glass and the electrical work, I did the majority of the work
myself. I also maintain it.




A. The reef looking from the left side of the tank:





B. The reef looking from the right side of the tank. (the wall immediately to the left of the tank is covered with a full length mirror which creates the reflection)





C. The left side of the reef:





D. The middle portion of the reef:





E. School of tangs over mid-right portion of reef;





F. The right side of reef:





G. Overview of area where reef located





H. The tank on the right side of this picture is a second reef (225) which originally housed my first reef and which is now slowly being converted into my "Quiet Reef"
- - intended to house animals that are unlikely to survive in the Main Reef.
The large reef can be seen on the left hand side of this picture (with the accompanying reflection).

[scbauer]

That is a BEAUTIFUL tank... I'm so jealous. Nice work.

-Scott

[scbauer]

P.S. - any pics of the sump/lighting/plumbing/skimmer/etc...???

-Scott

[jackson6745]

Really nice work!!!!

[Mark]

Wow!

I would love to see pictures and learn details of the plumbing, filtration, and lighting.

[Mantis]

Very impressive.

Who built the tank? You said it was Starphire. It must be a laminated piece. Are you happy with how it has stood the test of time? Does the lamination process effect the clarity at all?

I would also love to see some behind the scene pics.

[R33f3r]

WOW

very impressive!!

[keegan]

Cool stuff!!

How is the maintanence schedule?

Keegan

[biodegraded]

An impressive reef which really ought to be written up in a Tank Of The Month article. The bar is impressive too...

[JeromeBaker]

HOLY CRAP!!! Amazing!

[yoink326]

NICE BAR!!!!!

[invincible569]

WOW!!!!! Now that is a true beauty!!! Is that your home too?

[kfisc]

Aha! Clearly, you live somewhere in the South Pacific, and have cleverly walled-in a bit of your basement with stout glass such that it looks directly into the adjoining lagoon. The light gave it away. Almost fooled me, though, so nice try!

[JOSHUAB]

Do you have the tank built at the same time you built your house, or did you do it afterwards???? And do you have any humidity problems; mold/moisture build-up; with the tank being that large??? It's awesome!!!!!

[gig]

killer!!!!

Need fishroom pics!!!!!

[Hellberg]

Oh my good! That is one sweet tank! WoW!

[hcrk]

Originally posted by scbauer
P.S. - any pics of the sump/lighting/plumbing/skimmer/etc...???

-Scott

Originally posted by Mark
Wow!:
I would love to see pictures and learn details of the plumbing, filtration, and lighting.

Originally posted by gig
killer!!!!

Need fishroom pics!!!!!

Yes, I will post some pictures of the support systems as soon as I get an opportunity to take some more pictures.

Originally posted by Mantis
Very impressive.
Who built the tank? You said it was Starphire. It must be a laminated piece. Are you happy with how it has stood the test of time? Does the lamination process effect the clarity at all?

I would also love to see some behind the scene pics.

Paid a professional to assemble the tank on site (it's amazing to see someone balancing hundreds of pounds of glass).
Have some pictures kicking around somewhere of the assembly and contruction process and will try to find, scan and post them if there is interest.

No, the starfire isn't laminated. Had some problems finding a piece that was 3/4" thick x 120"l x 36" h.
The pieces that were being produced by the factory (believe it was PPG) all had flaws. Finally found an unflawed piece in a distributors warehouse and paid to have it shiiped across the continent.

Originally posted by keegan


Cool stuff!!

How is the maintanence schedule?

Keegan

Reef appears to be in balance so maintenance is very limited. In fact, weeks can go by without any maintenance intervention at all.
(I know that this goes against the grain of prevailing opinion - but I believe that sticking one's hands into a tank often creates more problems than it solves) and this approach seems to work for me...


QUOTE]Originally posted by yoink326
NICE BAR!!!!! [/QUOTE]
Thanks

Originally posted by invincible569
WOW!!!!! Now that is a true beauty!!! Is that your home too?

Yes that is part of the basement in my home.

Originally posted by JOSHUAB
Do you have the tank built at the same time you built your house, or did you do it afterwards???? And do you have any humidity problems; mold/moisture build-up; with the tank being that large??? It's awesome!!!!!

No, the tank went in well after the home was built. It involved 7 men carrying in individual panes of glass (using industrial suction cups).
In order to take in the glass and stand (which was fabricated in 2 sections and boled together in place) into the basement, we had to remove the spindles and handrails on the circular oak staircase leading into the basement (when my wife realized what we were doing, she took 2 headache pills and then went out for a very long walk....)
As the whole house in well air-conditioned, the air conditioning seems to take care of the humidity in summer (it also helps to keep the temperature in check).
Have only noticed what I would characterize as a reasonably minor humidity problem in winter (have large central humidifiers that seem to have little to do).
Must admit, however, that I have at times considered isolating the tank areas from the rest of the house using, a heat exchange system, for example (like the idea, in theory, but the problem, such as it is, doesn't seem to warrent this sort of expense).




Thanks to all for your many compliments.

[baseballpro1919]

hey great tank. If u dont my taking the time do you think you could make a list of main fish and coral you have? Again amazing tank

[sharkboy11]

Wow simply amazing.........

definatly a TOTM!

800 gallon or more is my dream tank..

[Phantom Phish]

Amazing, simply stuning. And 7 years with a deep sand bed. Have you changed the sand at all over the life of the tank? How have you avoided the "old tank syndrome"?
It's a truly beautiful tank.

[ShipMate]

That is one fantastic tank.

Would you tell us about the type of lighting, filtration and pumps, etc.. that you use?

What would you do differently?

TOTM material here...

[white_queen]

VERY beautiful. How deep is the sand bed? How many lbs of LR did you put into that thing! SHEESH! That's a lot of time and money and effort but it looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

Angela <><

[Nagel]

Very sweet tank! lots of color in there.

It's hard to make a guy with a 300g tank jealous, but you managed to do it just fine...

ps. I agree, minimal intervention. My 300 is on autopilot most of the time. I think volume equals less intervention required....

[Unome]

All I can say is......DAYYUM!!!!

[PSEUDOREEFER]

Beats the hell out of my 75

WOW... just... wow

Still drooling