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  #1  
Old 01/11/2007, 07:21 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Location: Austin, TX
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Not a typical doctor's waiting room... 450 gallon reef

Hi all,

First I'd like to introduce myself. My name is John and I own and operate a saltwater maintenance business in Austin, Texas with my business partner Brian. I've been keeping saltwater tanks for going on five years now and it has become my life's passion.

Austin is getting a new children's hospital this year (Dell Children's) and one of my very good friends (Mike aka Dudester on RC) commisioned us to build a 450 gallon reef tank into the Pediatric Surgery waiting room. This thread will document the building process of the tank in hopes that it helps others down the road.

On to the specs!

Last edited by thedude15810; 01/11/2007 at 07:44 PM.
  #2  
Old 01/11/2007, 07:42 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 466
Tank:

Manufactured by Acrylic and Glass Exhibits out of Dallas, Texas.
www.acrylicandglassexhibits.com

96"L x 36"W x 30"H

The tank will just into the waiting room as a divider and will be viewable from three side. The fourth side has an external weir type overflow and will back into a small tank room. The tank's bottom is constructed out of Sch. 80 PVC.

Stand:

Custom steel stand and cabinetry.

Circulation:

Return - Sequence Dart (3600 gph)

This pump will be cranked down to probably 2000 gph but Sequence pumps can be ramped down and consume less electricity.

Closed Loop - Sequence Hammerhead (5800 gph)

Wavemaker - Tunze Wavebox and Extension

Sump:

Custom 150-180 gallon acrylic sump/fuge.

Support Equipment:

Skimmer - Deltec AP902

Kalk Reactor - Deltec KM500

Calcium Reactor - Deltec PF601 (with Rowalith C+)

Rowaphos Reactor - Deltec FR509

Auto topoff - Tunze Osmolator 3155

Controller - Reefkeeper 2 (w/ expansion socket and PH probe)

RO/DI unit - Aqua FX Mako

On site saltwater mixing reservoir for waterchanges.

Lighting

(3) 400w Coralvue Reeflux 10k bulbs on Coralvue Ballasts

(4) 72" URI True Actinic VHO's on Icecap 660's

Pictures of the tank as the silicon cures should be up soon, followed by pictures of the space and eventually installation.

Thanks for looking!

John
  #3  
Old 01/11/2007, 07:48 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Mike's original thread documenting his tank can be found here if anyone is interested.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=4
  #4  
Old 01/11/2007, 07:55 PM
gkarshens gkarshens is offline
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Sweet. can't wait to see pics!
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  #5  
Old 01/11/2007, 08:12 PM
ret25yo ret25yo is offline
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i'm also trying to get ahold of that manufacturer for my 270g... its tough..
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  #6  
Old 01/11/2007, 08:20 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Acrylic and Glass Exhibits does not sell directly to the public.

Hope that helps,

John
  #7  
Old 01/11/2007, 09:28 PM
invincible569 invincible569 is offline
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John, cant wait to see some pics. Do you guys have a public store in Austin?
  #8  
Old 01/12/2007, 12:37 AM
Prince Dakkar Prince Dakkar is offline
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can't wait to see pics.Great project
  #9  
Old 01/12/2007, 01:17 AM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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Location: Austin, TX
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John, thanks for starting this thread. I'm glad I didn't start it months ago when we only had drawings and a bunch of ideas - now you have to host it .

invincible569 - John and Brian have a shop here in Austin called Kingfish Aquariums. It hasn't been open for very long but already it has a large following and they've distinguished themselves by stocking and selling top of the line equipment and dry goods, healthy fish and inverts, and premium live rock. They're both extremely knowledgable and they have different strengths which complement each other. This makes for an ideal LFS, and I feel lucky to live in a city where so much experienced help is available to me.

Now on to the tank. I, too, can't wait to see pics!!
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  #10  
Old 01/12/2007, 07:40 AM
divecj5 divecj5 is offline
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Sounds awesome John and Brian. Just making my way over here after following Dudester's thread for a long time. Can't wait to see the pics.

Adam
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  #11  
Old 01/12/2007, 09:19 PM
bcoons bcoons is offline
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Location: Central Texas
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Hey, I'm here! Looking forward to following this one. I'll have to get down to Austin one of these weekends to go visit Kingfish.
  #12  
Old 01/12/2007, 10:43 PM
EnFuego EnFuego is offline
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Location: University of Texas at Austin
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Hey guys, this is mburton from ARC. Looking forward to see how this thing shapes up. John/Brian, have you guys opened the shop up? I knew you had livestock in, but wasn't sure if you were actually open to the public yet.
  #13  
Old 01/13/2007, 04:06 PM
thor32766 thor32766 is offline
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wow, sounds like the kids are going to love seeing this thing!
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  #14  
Old 01/13/2007, 04:06 PM
thor32766 thor32766 is offline
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wow, sounds like the kids are going to love seeing this thing!
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  #15  
Old 01/14/2007, 06:23 PM
makoJ makoJ is offline
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Location: Texas
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looking forward to the pictures!!
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300Gal SPS tank
  #16  
Old 01/15/2007, 11:11 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Ok finally got some pics! Originally the tank was going to come in tomoprrow but with the ice in Texas, it will probably be later this week. On to the pics!









  #17  
Old 01/15/2007, 11:12 PM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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I'll work on getting some pictures of the equipment and live rock next!
  #18  
Old 01/15/2007, 11:24 PM
gkarshens gkarshens is offline
Will work 4 corals
 
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That thing is a beast!
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  #19  
Old 01/15/2007, 11:58 PM
scaryperson27 scaryperson27 is offline
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8'.

Really nice.. I like
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65 gallon 36x18x24tall-20 long Refugium,
Octopus NW-150 (modified to recirc.)
2x250 Aqua Medic Phoenix 14k bulbs

!!!!!!!!!!!!!FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!
  #20  
Old 01/16/2007, 01:08 AM
melev melev is offline
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I'm with your tank!
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  #21  
Old 01/16/2007, 01:11 AM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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I dunno John, I think we should have gone BIGGER .
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  #22  
Old 01/16/2007, 01:45 AM
JayS JayS is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by ret25yo
i'm also trying to get ahold of that manufacturer for my 270g... its tough..
After talking to them direct and then one of their "retailers in Houston" it took 5 weeks for them to get me a quote. I followed up with them atleast 3 times and they kept giving me over to different people to talk with. I ended up going with Aquarium Obsessed and was very happy.
  #23  
Old 01/16/2007, 02:31 AM
thedude15810 thedude15810 is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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My experience couldn't have been farther from yours. Tom answers my calls and emails very quickly and has been extremely informative during every tank build.

My experience with AO was that it took 2 or 3 weeks to get quoted, then at least 12 to get the tank built. The last tank we got from AO (while beautiful) took about 15 weeks to get to Texas.

Mike,

Haha this one looks heavy enough to me!
  #24  
Old 01/16/2007, 02:38 AM
drummereef drummereef is offline
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That tank is sick. Very nice.
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  #25  
Old 01/17/2007, 02:22 AM
EnFuego EnFuego is offline
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wow, that thing looks great. If you all need any help with the move, give me a PM and I will send over my number.
 

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