280+ Gallon Shark Tank

[alprazo]

It says the ultima is only for high flow rates. Would I want or need that much flow for a 300 gallon tank? Id rather not run a large 3/4 hp pump 24/7 if I don't have too it seems like an expensive monthly cost. I honestly haven't research the flow rates I need yet to know whats considered high or low.

A reeflo dart works just fine.

With the bead filters, you save on rock, other external filtration, powerheads because you can divide the returns, additional feed pumps for skimmers, and a sump. There is no maintenance costs for the filter like sponges, and filter pads, filter socks.

They can produce great water clarity, by removing particulate matter down below 30 microns.

Most public aquariums use either these or sand filters (Same idea but use sand instead of floating beads). The sand filters can become problematic over time and require a higher head pressure (bigger pump). They are much cheaper, can be found everywhere because they are used for swimming pools, provide a tremendous surface area, and clarify as well. Easy to find a used one on craigslist.

Live rock filtration is best left for the reef display. Imagine adding even a 1/4 lb of food to a reef tank every other day. It doesn't work well.

If you want to go cheap. Use a trashcan as a sump ( HDPE sump crocks from HD http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/3a/3a7641f9-43df-4642-9bd3-3965c510d43e_300.jpg work a little better ) and fill it with 2 cubic feet of kaldnes http://pentairaes.com/kaldnes-media.html , and add some airstones to agitate the media. That will cover your bio-filtration. If you place the skimmer on top of the trashcan with holes in the lid, any overflow lands in the can. Use a magdrive pump for your return.

As for a different forum for sharks. Out of respect to RC I will refrain from answering. If you do a web search, you should find one.

 

[Zoodiver]

Yeah, I'll second the bead/sand filters.
I'm not super excited about Aqua as a brand, but there are many others you can choose from and get a quality product at a good price. More or less they are pool filters. Also check Aquatic Eco Systems for similar units.

As for a skimmer, a properly sized skimmer set up right won't over flow once set. In sump isn't a bad thing to do if you are worried.

It sounds like you have a great plan laid out for the species you are planning to keep. I applaud your efforts to do it right the first time.

 

[skinsncanes]

I just spent two hours on the phone with Jeff from life reef systems about going with a wet dry filter over the bead filters. Anyone have any experience with his systems?

 

[Zoodiver]

Wet drys are good for biological filtration on systems with small loads, but on a tank that will have messy eaters like sharks, I prefer to focus on mechanical filtration to remove the waste prior to it feeding into the nitrogen cycle.

 

[griseum]

I have many in-line tanks, which in other terms could be considered a bunch of in-line sumps like you are thinking of doing. They are great in that I can disperse LR, Macro and Turf algaes, Mangroves, and small reef fish throughout these, as well. Now that the entire system is very mature, the Bacterial-Plankton produced by Bio-pellets, and high flow in all of the refuge-tanks has led to giant Live Sponges reproducing. I believe these Live Sponges to be the best Mechanical/Micron Filters. EDIT**** Of course one cannot rely on this alone, and the Sand/Bead filters are awesome! +1

As for a protein skimmer, IME, I would use one on any tank, whether the aquarium is small or tremendous.

When i watch the levels of Dissolved Oxygen, ORP and PH, through the Apex graphs on its firmware, all of these levels are subject to big changes when my skimmer is Off or On. I had to replace the high pressure pump that runs my big skimmer, a few weeks ago. While i was without pump for roughly 2-3 days prior to installing the new Iwaki, all of those levels, especially DO and ORP, plummeted.

So in my system, the Protein Skimmer is of crucial value in oxygenating the water. And that's with a ton of water flow, a decent amount of surface agitation throughout , a surface area of well over 140 square feet, and other oxygen increasing methods, already in place.

So I would say definitely to hooking up an appropriately sized Skimmer!

+1 with Alprazo, Zoodiver-
LR in with the Sharks, or in-sump, will become filled with detritus and then be of no use to filtration, specifically Biological. When the surface is covered in detritus and/or algae, it clogs the pours and blocks any surface are from being populated by beneficial bacteria. I find myself, in the tanks adjacent to the shark pond, using a Mag 5 or similar submersible pump, to blast the liverock with, with Filter Socks in key places, to clear any detritus that has settled on the LR. I catch it in the Socks, then remove those Socks immediately and replace them with clean ones.

Sorry this got so long... Good luck with the build!

 

[Cu455]

Awesome idea. I like the second setup better. If the tank is against the back wall will you be able to access it from the side room. Extending the tank to hide the overflow behind the wall sounds like a good idea.

The beer logo and saying is great too. You are going to have some tap handles made with that logo. Are you planning on having a 12 keg set up or are the handles in the picture just added?

I hope you go through with it and I am excited to see you progress and results.

 

[premilove]

Is there anyway you can go wider than 36"? I think it will look much better on the width side of the wall.

 

[jarrett shark]

Great another shark lover like me
Gong to follow this build, GL

 

[Zoodiver]

....
When i watch the levels of Dissolved Oxygen, ORP and PH, through the Apex graphs on its firmware, all of these levels are subject to big changes when my skimmer is Off or On. I had to replace the high pressure pump that runs my big skimmer, a few weeks ago. While i was without pump for roughly 2-3 days prior to installing the new Iwaki, all of those levels, especially DO and ORP, plummeted........

I'm going to reinforce this. Dissolved oxygen levels being maintained are extremely important for sharks. When they start to drop off, not only do you have health issues related to low oxygen, you will develop CO2 build up in the tank (which will lead to a pH drop). Proper gas exchange is a huge factor.

 

[Cu455]

I thought of a great idea for you. You should have the shark tank behind the bar and make the bar a display refugium. Then plumb it in the back to the rest of the filtration.The bar top will sit on the refugium. This will give you two tanks to play with. I think it will look pretty good.

 

[skinsncanes]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I was on travel for work and didn't have time to respond but I will later!

 

[skinsncanes]

Is there anyway you can go wider than 36"? I think it will look much better on the width side of the wall.

I can't because of a beam in the wall. Only the front wall that supports the tank is in this pic until I have the tank to know where holes are, etc to build the other walls.

 

[skinsncanes]

I'm going to reinforce this. Dissolved oxygen levels being maintained are extremely important for sharks. When they start to drop off, not only do you have health issues related to low oxygen, you will develop CO2 build up in the tank (which will lead to a pH drop). Proper gas exchange is a huge factor.

The life reef wet dry filter is unique I'm that it adds oxygen through a bubbler into the biological part of the filter. That should help with keeping oxygen in the water. Also the filter is pretty large, two towers, with mechanical filtration on the top.

I'm debating adding a second sump as a live rock and maybe refugium. Though I might try without first

 

[skinsncanes]

Awesome idea. I like the second setup better. If the tank is against the back wall will you be able to access it from the side room. Extending the tank to hide the overflow behind the wall sounds like a good idea.

The beer logo and saying is great too. You are going to have some tap handles made with that logo. Are you planning on having a 12 keg set up or are the handles in the picture just added?

I hope you go through with it and I am excited to see you progress and results.

I haven't decided on tap handles yet but yes I have 12 kegs

 

[skinsncanes]

I have many in-line tanks, which in other terms could be considered a bunch of in-line sumps like you are thinking of doing. They are great in that I can disperse LR, Macro and Turf algaes, Mangroves, and small reef fish throughout these, as well. Now that the entire system is very mature, the Bacterial-Plankton produced by Bio-pellets, and high flow in all of the refuge-tanks has led to giant Live Sponges reproducing. I believe these Live Sponges to be the best Mechanical/Micron Filters. EDIT**** Of course one cannot rely on this alone, and the Sand/Bead filters are awesome! +1

As for a protein skimmer, IME, I would use one on any tank, whether the aquarium is small or tremendous.

When i watch the levels of Dissolved Oxygen, ORP and PH, through the Apex graphs on its firmware, all of these levels are subject to big changes when my skimmer is Off or On. I had to replace the high pressure pump that runs my big skimmer, a few weeks ago. While i was without pump for roughly 2-3 days prior to installing the new Iwaki, all of those levels, especially DO and ORP, plummeted.

So in my system, the Protein Skimmer is of crucial value in oxygenating the water. And that's with a ton of water flow, a decent amount of surface agitation throughout , a surface area of well over 140 square feet, and other oxygen increasing methods, already in place.

So I would say definitely to hooking up an appropriately sized Skimmer!

+1 with Alprazo, Zoodiver-
LR in with the Sharks, or in-sump, will become filled with detritus and then be of no use to filtration, specifically Biological. When the surface is covered in detritus and/or algae, it clogs the pours and blocks any surface are from being populated by beneficial bacteria. I find myself, in the tanks adjacent to the shark pond, using a Mag 5 or similar submersible pump, to blast the liverock with, with Filter Socks in key places, to clear any detritus that has settled on the LR. I catch it in the Socks, then remove those Socks immediately and replace them with clean ones.

Sorry this got so long... Good luck with the build!

Thanks for the help. I'm going to get a life reef protein skimmer to go with the wet dry I think. And a large 36 inch one.

Because of your comment I'm leaning towards a second sump w most of the love rock since the sharks will just clog it anyway. I'll need to decorate the tank with some but I'm thinking most will go under the tank.

Did you buy sponges or did they just grow naturally over time?

 

[griseum]

I'm going to add this post to my Sharks in HD thread in Fish Only and Agressive forum:
That is also where I will upload pictures of the different sponges that I've seen growing in my tanks

There are LFS around me that do sell tropical and sub-tropical (without telling customers) Porifera is the phyllum in which all Sponges fall.
Something i saw for sale recently in a reef tank full of frags, fell under the Hexactinellid class, which are glass sponges.

Demospongiae is another class, which makes up almost all of the Porifera phyllum. These are the types of sponges, I believe, that have developed for me. Much of the structure of the Demosponges are silica-based. This makes sense because I used Play Sand early on in the life of the system in the shark pond and also in some tanks. Play Sand is a silica sand. Not aragonite like what I have in some tanks now. But the silicates from that original sand would have contributed to the Demosponges development and i also see sand that gets kicked up by powerheads, sticking to the sponge colonies, and I assume, being enveloped.

These curious sponges I did not intentionally purchase. I have hundreds of pounds of LR, I could not really say how much because it is dispersed throughout many tanks and I havent kept track over the years. Most of the LR started out as Dry Rock, from CaribSea or Marco. However an initial ~hundred pounds of various Live types like Fiji branch, Tonga, shelf, a little base rock, seeded the refugia. To this day, if I happen to see a piece of cured LR for sale at an LFS with a lot of interesting, non-pest, Growth on it, I will purchase it to increase diversity throughout the system.

I would definitely not rely on sponges for any type of consistent filtration, and I hope i didn't convey that sort of message. I believe that they are one of the many fascinating creatures that develop in refugia, and as do most micro-fauna, they also aid in the breakdown of nutrients. Smaller mouths to smaller mouths to smaller mouths!

Definitely employ both filter socks/pre-filters and a large mechanical/biological filter, such as bead or sand filters, in your Life Support system for your Shark tank. These types of filters are easy to employ and offer the benefit of being able to easily clean them out by backflushing them. This will work well for you as well because if I recall correctly, you may have said you have a floor drain? or the ability to install a drain?
Either way, sharks make messes.....

Again, sorry for the length of reply.

 

[premilove]

280+ Gallon Shark Tank

Wait that support beam looks like it's on the length side, 72". Basically, can you get anything bigger than 36" wide? 72"x48+" xwhatever your height is"

 

[skinsncanes]

Wait that support beam looks like it's on the length side, 72". Basically, can you get anything bigger than 36" wide? 72"x48+" xwhatever your height is"

Nothing wider than 36. It'll look sweet don't worry

Essentially the tank will look like it's the entire corner of the room and as a divider to the "pool table" room.

I'll have better pics after I get the drywall up this week and cabinets up next week

 

[carmelpi]

I'd skip the eels. The sharks might enjoy them but the eels won't like being dinner. Also, benthic doesn't mean lazy. They can get fairly active (not trigger active, but still active). If you can go for wide and shallow you'll have more success imo. Mechanical filtration plus a good skimmer is the best way to go.

I'm not a huge fan of people keeping sharks but it sounds like you're doing your homework, which is a step in the right direction (gotta love the people who buy the shark BEFORE the tank and then panic because it doesn't fit in a 40g biocube smh). Looking forward to some pics of the tank in progress.

 

[skinsncanes]

Questions

Questions

Well Ive been reading your posts and researching a lot. Heres a few questions/comments I have.

I'm leaning towards an overflow using a siphon instead of drilling holes in the tank. Since I have a room for the back of the tank i want the flexability of being able to move them around as I learn the best way to plumb everything in my system.

I'm planning on getting the life VS3-36, 36" tall protein skimmer.

Life reef pre filter over flows

Life Reef LF2 300 Wet Dry Filter.

Im currently researching RODI filters. Do most of you use these? i have well water?

Also, im researching auto flow valves to set up the RODI in a way that auto tops off the sump, and has water storage for water changes.

Im debating how much live rock to get and if ill have it in a second sump or just in the tank. I might make an arch in the center of the tank to have live rock, and some protection, but a open swim path for the sharks.

Anyone have pump reccomendations? Otherwise i was looking at the blue line 30hdx or 40hdx. I want something that is effecient, but will last.

Who runs redundant pumps? If I did two sumps maybe id just give them both their own pump to have redundancy. Thoughts?