1000 Gallon, Multiple Tank Setup

GCaquariumsGC · #1 03/01/2007, 09:08 AM

Plans are in the works for a huge public aquarium display. The plan consists of three acrylic tanks (170G, 220G, 290G) all plumbed togather into one custom made sump. The tanks will be open to a set of huge skylights where the light will then pass through a UV blocking canvas. The tanks have already been ordered and are in production

Current Specs are...

Lighting
Natural Lighting via skylights
VHO Lighting at 4 watts per gallon on 2 seperate ballasts per tank
3/4 Moon lights per tank
All lights will be controlled via Neptune System

Water
5 Stage RO/DI water
Tunze Auto Top-Off

Temp Control
Four Stealth 300W Heaters
1/4 HP Chiller

Return Pump
Iwaki WP-IKMX-100VT-15L (1986 GPH at 6ft)

Skimmer
Tunze DOC 9020

Powerheads
170G Tank - Two Tunze 6080
220G Tank - Three Tunze 6080
290G Tank - Four Tunze 6080

Rock/Sand
700lb Totoka Live Rock
AragaLive Sand

Automation
The entire system will be monitored and controlled by a complete Neptune system and AquaNotes.

There will also be a calcium reactor.

Please comment on any suggestions or possible changes!

Thanks!!
GCAquariumsGC

virginiadiver69 · #2 03/01/2007, 09:12 AM

Please keep a thread going so we can watch the progress. Sounds very cool.

ssbreef · #3 03/01/2007, 10:10 AM

Skimmer seems to be very small. IMHO to small for that kind of setup. Everything else looks awesome!

swclown · #4 03/01/2007, 10:58 AM

Cool stuff. If you're going to have corals, esspically sps, I'm thinking you will need more than one Ca reactor unless it's really big.
And like the person above me said another protein skimmer. I don't know how big the one you plan on is, but one for three tanks seams a little under-kill.

Very cool project. Keep us posted.

Tang Salad · #5 03/01/2007, 11:15 AM

What will be kept in these tanks?

GCaquariumsGC · #6 03/01/2007, 11:23 AM

EDIT: Protein Skimmer is a Tunzer Master DOC. I have to check on the exact model number...

Tank will hold fish, polyps, and some other corals. The idea is to start with easy to maintain and care for livestock and to progressively add more. At this point, it seems that the ONLY possible item(s) that may have to be upgraded in the future would be...

1) Lighting - on one tank if clams or other high light corals are to be kept

2) Calcium Reactor.

FB · #7 03/01/2007, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GCaquariumsGC
The tanks will be open to a set of huge skylights where the light will then pass through a UV blocking canvas.

I don't know anything about using natural sunlight, but why would you want to block the UV. Last time I checked their was no UV guard in the ocean.

Thanks

FB

rustybucket145 · #8 03/01/2007, 11:57 AM

yeah, my system's in a sunroom and gets tons of natural light. Once you see the polyp extension when direct sunlight hits the tank you will think twice about blocking any natural light you have access to.

GCaquariumsGC · #9 03/01/2007, 12:10 PM

Thank you! This is something we will look into. There is some concern over algae growth due to the natural light.

GCaquariumsGC · #10 03/01/2007, 03:46 PM

other suggestions/ideas?

antony1103 · #11 03/01/2007, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by FB
I don't know anything about using natural sunlight, but why would you want to block the UV. Last time I checked their was no UV guard in the ocean.

I agree, i would try to let as much unfiltered light in as possible. I would also add a bit more actinic lighting, maybe even 20000K MH's. The tanks are gonna look very yellow with natural sunlight, unless that is the look you're going for.

swclown · #12 03/01/2007, 05:27 PM

A couple of things you might want to think about when it comes to plumbing the tanks. First plan, plan, and then plan again. I guarentee you will waffle on ideas and your last solution will be no where close to your first idea.
But keep in mind how you are actually going to connect the tanks. You basically have two ways much like an electrial circuit, series or paralell.
In a series setup one tank would be the "return" tank or supply and one would be the drain and the third would be in between. The is the cheapest solution and the easiest but also has the most potential to go bad. Keep in mind anything that would affect one tank, plumbing wise, would effect the others, like a snail cought in a connection - would slow down the whole system.

In parallel you would just have one pump or more - supplying all the returns on each tank. I don't see how you could not have a sump with this setup though and your costs will go up in regards to plumbing supplies, and I think you would need a bigger pump. This also will be more complicated.

I hope this helps some. You may already know this stuff, but I love this "brainstorming" phase you're in now and talking about it. Good luck, this should be good

Indermark · #13 03/01/2007, 06:00 PM

Where is this new public aquarium being located (city)? Saint Louis really needs one badly. The closest thing we have is the City Museum and they really neglect the tanks that have coral in them, don't get me wrong really cool place to go though.

Ryan

Hop · #14 03/01/2007, 06:45 PM

I'm still wondering what is going on with your posts? When you joined, you had in your occupation that you were an aquarium design and maintenance company. When I asked about that, you removed the occupation.

Since then you have posted:
1200 gallon system on 01.31.07

800 Gallon, MultiTank Setup Posted today...

Plus this thread about the 1000 gallon system. I have to be honest, I think your fishing for answers, bored or if you are a design company, well I won't go there.

So please, before I waste anymore time trying help, read your posts or give suggestions, please let us know what your intentions are

Thanks!

GCaquariumsGC · #15 03/01/2007, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Indermark
Where is this new public aquarium being located (city)? Saint Louis really needs one badly. The closest thing we have is the City Museum and they really neglect the tanks that have coral in them, don't get me wrong really cool place to go though.

Ryan

The aquariums will be located in New York. I really can't say which city yet until all of the final plans have been completed.

Quote:

Originally posted by Hop
I'm still wondering what is going on with your posts? When you joined, you had in your occupation that you were an aquarium design and maintenance company. When I asked about that, you removed the occupation.

Since then you have posted:
1200 gallon system on 01.31.07

800 Gallon, MultiTank Setup Posted today...

Plus this thread about the 1000 gallon system. I have to be honest, I think your fishing for answers, bored or if you are a design company, well I won't go there.

So please, before I waste anymore time trying help, read your posts or give suggestions, please let us know what your intentions are

Thanks!

I understand the skepticism. The original plan called for q 1200G system. Since then, the plan has been changed to three tanks (170G, 220G, 290G). If you include the sump, plumbing, and other equipment, the entire system is probably somewhere between the 800G to 900G area. I guess I overshot the the total tank volume when I estimated in some of my other posts. Now I am confident that the parameters are correct. I am not in the aquarium design business. Instead I am a hobbiest that is an employee of the company where the tanks will be installed. My employer knows that I am a hobbiest and asked that I look at the proposed specifications. After looking at the original proposal (the 1200G system) I had to intervene because the parameters were substandard (in my opinion). So that's my story. I hope that clears things up.

GCaquariumsGC

GCaquariumsGC · #16 03/02/2007, 08:16 AM

Most suggestions I have gathers indicate the following

1. The skimmer may be undersized
2. The chiller may be undersized
3. Not to use a canopy to block the light entering the tank.

Would anybody agree/disagree??

Hop · #17 03/02/2007, 02:34 PM

GCaquariumsGC: Thanks for replying to my question

Well it seems you have a big project. Not sure how it came about, but looks like your going to have you hands full. Especially now that the tanks are already ordered.

Some of this might be best taken up in PM, but a few things that must be answered is:
1. What is the budget for the system? What will the budget be for monthly maintenance/equipment/repair costs?

2. What are the designs for each tank? Species/livestock lists?

3. How much time is going to go into these tanks? Sometimes simplicity and cost efficiency does not balance when you add in the time needed for someone to keep the system running?

4. How complex/simple will things be made out? Do you have any sketches or outlines?

I would be willing to help more if we could answer these questions. It's a lot easier to say X, Y and Z, rather than can you afford X, does Y fit in your plans, does Z fit in your equipment room

As far as the three above questions:
1. I agree that the skimmer may be too small. There may also be the need to mod a skimmer in order to drain/go for a few days without attention. An example would be if it's in the budget, a Deltec with self cleaning head and drained so that minimal attention would be spent on checking/emptying/cleaning the skimmer.

2. I agree, I think you may need a 1/2 HP at the least. It depends on lighting and where each tank is located in the building. One thing in favor of the tank is the buildings climate control, which in theory would help, unless it went on the blink

3. I'm not sure on this one without a system sketch. Is this in a large sunroom type area or will you be bringing natural light into the system via something like a solar tube?

I could go on for quite some time, but if you want to possibly exchange some PMs, I'll be happy to assist the best I can

ssbreef · #18 03/12/2007, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GCaquariumsGC
EDIT: Protein Skimmer is a Tunzer Master DOC. I have to check on the exact model number...

Tank will hold fish, polyps, and some other corals. The idea is to start with easy to maintain and care for livestock and to progressively add more. At this point, it seems that the ONLY possible item(s) that may have to be upgraded in the future would be...

1) Lighting - on one tank if clams or other high light corals are to be kept

2) Calcium Reactor.

even if it's the Tunze Master Doc 9460 ( bigger moddel ) $2400. I wouldn't recomend it on your system. I would go with a Bubble Master or a Deltec AP1004