My 1165 Gallon in-wall Display Tank project

[Goodwin9]

Originally posted by jnarowe
what the heck? so many things they don't sell and they have that? And why 110g? Why not 160g or 200g to match salt buckets? Seems like a horrid waste of money to me.

I second Jonathans thoughts. I just purchased 2 160 gallon vertical tanks for the very reason Jonathan mentioned. Tanks were $165. each plus shipping.

[Albright]

Originally posted by Teremei
I know you already made your descision. But man, with a tank that size, you should go for a 3 sided tank so you can view everything from each side.

I mean there will be alot of fish in the back not visible alot of the time. I guess you could really have a nice open landscape with rocks along the edges and corners and some islands in the middle and that could help quite alot.

I would love to but unfortunately the area allotted for the tank combined with the size of it won't allow for it. It will be a very open aquascape with a lot of diversity.

However, having all of the livestock (at least the mobile members) not visible all the time is a plus IMO. It will keep things interesting and offer a lot of surprises for infrequent viewers of the tank.

[Albright]

Originally posted by skriz
You are in for an adventure! My tank has the same viewable pane as yours! 120" x 35"

Lighting that beast is going to be something! I would think MH is the best bang for your buck. Solaris would be insanely expensive to cover 66 x 120! With mh you can go with a mixture of 250w, 400w, & even 1000W. You don't have to have even lighting all over the tank. You probably want lower light around the areas that you can't really see anyway, right? If you are going to do a mixed reef, you can have areas of low light corals and areas of high light corals. This will save on energy and ballast cost.

Have you thought about how you are going to suspend the lighting? You'll have to have it so they can move out of the way to give you access inside the tank.

My 2 cents on the pumps. I am using sequence hammerheads (2) in my tank, which is located in the living room. They are dead silent! I can't even tell that they are on. So, I wouldn't waste your cash on the RD. Like bebo said, their main benefit is the sound.

Thanks Skriz. It is going to be quite a long and slow project

I have pretty much decided on the MH vs. the Solaris. As much as I enjoy the technology behind the Solaris on my 120 I like the look of the MH a lot better (there I said it).

The lighting will be built so that it can be moved completely away from the tank for maintenance.

[Albright]

Originally posted by jnarowe
I use 1000W Ushio 20+K lamps on my 35" inch deep tank and my corals love them. I also use a Hammerhead for my return and I can't hear it at all.

As far as 3 sides go, I don't buy into that. I had really wanted a 4-sided island tank or three viewable sides, but the fact is in-wall installations are just so much more practical, and as the "owner", I can see all 4 sides any time I want!

I have a feeling I'll be seeing the 3 least desirable sides all too often

[Albright]

Originally posted by CaptiveReefer03
If its okay that I drop my 2 cents in ,

If your going 66" front to back how are you cleaning the system up front? Acrylic is a great idea as my new system is built out of it but watch for thickness, that much weight is going to require some thick and i do mean thick acrylic! if your looking for black acrylic use a thin sheet and have them glue it in on the sides that your wanting its cheeper but still has the same appeal. Who ever you decide on your manufacture, tell them you want it glued solid and then it wont have a tendency to pull away in a few years after use if you end up geting a hairline crack and end up with salt creep down in between. Anyways another Idea is reconsider your viewing sides, its a shame to waste such a wonderful system only to have it viewable on one side. If your droping the dime then be able to enjoy it from multiple angles so that you can get the full effect of the tank in its entirety. Look at my system: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1166748 , and see if it gives you any ideas? I realize its smaller, and Trust me I wish I had the room for somthing as large as yours but either way enjoy!

Best regards,
Charles-

Charles, I've seen your thread a few times and read it in detail. Nice build you have going there.

I have really decided on Glass as I've even managed to scratch glass in the past and with maintenance not being one of my favorite aspects of reef keeping (is it anyone's?) I'm sure I'll wind up rushing things here and there and having a mess of a tank in a year or two if I go with acrylic.

As of now there will be no front access. The lighting will be movable so I can lay over the top of the tank on a catwalk type system to get to the front.

[Albright]

Originally posted by ctenophore
Here are a few thoughts to consider re: glass vs. acrylic. I have experience with large tanks of each type, and I have to say glass is the way to go. Keeping 30 square feet of acrylic coralline-free will be a full time job. I couldn't keep my 7'x30" front clean without hours of scrubbing. On the plus side, working a magnet made for 1" acrylic for an hour is an excellent cardio workout.

With that tank width and depth, you will be getting in it to do maintenance. My friend has a 10x4x30" (~700gal) and he has to get in. His is laminated starphire, 1" all around. Watching him clean his glass in 15 minutes with a razor magnet made up my mind to go glass on my new tank. Moving it was challenging, but we have some great pics to prove it can be done.

Another friend of mine has a 1000gal concrete tank, with two sides 1" laminated starphire. Every time I went to his house, his glass was spotless. His tank is 8x4x5, which also requires mask & snorkel ownership.

My new project is a 5.5x4x4 fiberglass tank with a wood & foam core and 1" laminated starphire front pane. It is fairly light considering the size, and very durable as well. I will start a thread once I get the glass installed and the system going.

I think acrylic is great for large fish-only tanks, but not for high light & alkalinity sps reefs. The coralline will kill you, unless you contract that work out to a maintenance company or something.

Good luck with your project.
Justin

Thanks for the insight Justin. It was a help in pushing me to go with glass

Now just to decide on a builder.

[Albright]

Originally posted by ekovalsky
I'm very happy with my AGE tank. Their pricing is very good considering the quality. You only need starphire glass on the front panel which will help with the cost. AGE built a metal stand for my tank at a very reasonable price, probably cheaper than I could have sourced it locally.

You may want to consider using a light mover (like the Gualala) considering how much area you need to illuminate. You could probably get by with half the number of 400w MH you would otherwise need and your corals will be getting illuminated from different angles during the day, similar to nature. The Sfiligoi modular MH/T5 lighting units are very nice too.

I'm in contact with AGE as I love the routed PVC bottom concept. Just waiting on a quote from one of their dealers.

I don't really like the light mover concept too much. Lighting should be finalized just as the tank order is completed as the two are tied together pretty tightly.

[FUA]

wow the size of that skimmer and reactor, wow!!!

[Albright]

Originally posted by billyr98
you keep buying equipment at this size, you might need the entire basement

LOL, one day

[Albright]

Originally posted by jnarowe
hey, what are the dimensions of the SCH? Any idea if they sell them as a separate option?

I'll have to measure it for you. The brushes would need to hit the inside of the top of the chamber properly for it to work so I doubt it would work well on a skimmer it wasn't specifically made for.

They make them for the AP702 up to the AP1006 so there are a # of sizes. What skimmer are you looking to put it on?

[Albright]

Originally posted by SERVO
Wow this is going to be great! I also saw both your skimmer and Ca reactor and wondered where they were going!

This thing is going to be a monster! Too bad you didn't win that Marco Rock assembled center piece (or did you ). That thing would look great in your system!

I didn't get the assembled piece but I did win the 50lbs of Fiji

I have bought his rocks before and love them. They will be the majority of what goes into the large tank for sure.

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by Albright
I'll have to measure it for you. The brushes would need to hit the inside of the top of the chamber properly for it to work so I doubt it would work well on a skimmer it wasn't specifically made for.

They make them for the AP702 up to the AP1006 so there are a # of sizes. What skimmer are you looking to put it on?

Yeah that's a good point. I want to put one on my DIY skimmer, but obviously mine is significantly deeper than the Deltec. I guess I'll drop that pipe dream and build my own or maybe install a wet neck.

[jglackin]

This is going to look great!

[dandy7200]

I think you would be better off with just a big bucket. I got a 105 gallon poly tank from tank-depot.com for $200 shipped. I bet you could get a large enough tank for a 50% water change for less than $500,plumb it and throw a Dart on there and still be under 1k, although you don't get a free bucket of salt.....

http://www.tank-depot.com/productdet...rt=A-VT0625-64

[mfaustria]

Hey Albright I hope you don't mine me tagging along your thread!! Maan this tank is going to be a beast, especialy with all the expensive equipment you have gotten so far and I know there is more to come.

[chrisqueenz]

Wow, that is big!

[jgmclellan]

Looks amazing Albright!

Your build is very similar to what I am planning for down the road so I hope you don't mind a few questions about your planning.

Like yours my planned tank location takes the tanks directly under the trunk from the furnace - what do you plan to put on the roof to cover that up to avoid water damage in there?

Looks like you've decided on glass over acrylic - just wondering about drilling the bottom of of a glass tank as opposed to the acrylic - does anyone know what the limitations become?

Keep us posted this will be great to follow along.

[wizsmaster]

Albright,

Have you decided on a builder for the tank?
I'm currently thinking of moving, again ... and i'm trying to price out a 120" x 36"/42"/48" x 30" glass tank .. as well as figure out if i'd be more feasable to have it built on site by local glass shops ... kind of a scary thought though - if you ask me.

[Mishap]

Hi Albright,

I just got through reading this thread and all I can say is wow!

I had my picture taken next to your skimmer at MACNA, can't wait to see what it does on a stocked system.

Some insight on the mixing system, We used them in the mom and pop store I used to work in...... they're not the best thing. Nice concept but not enough volume for anything to be good. The auto fill system they come equipped with fail horribly too often. You're much better off going with a poly-container and a nice pump for your mixing and transfer.

If ya ever need another pair of hands to help ya out, let me know. I'd love to see this set up first hand!

Matt

[davefan13]

Jeez, no new updates? You have to have gotten something done in the past like, month or so :P

[mfaustria]

Yea Albright, come on maan can't wait to if you had done any thing else to the tank, keeping us in suspense. Show us the picture!

[Marc]

Tagging along....

[reefer_man_mike]

that skimmer hooked me.. im along for the ride now

[asnatlas]

Originally posted by Marc
Tagging along....