550 gal display question

[wmilas]

I'm in the process of laying out a tank for my rec room. It will be 120x36x30. Originally I had it positioned different and it was a bit smaller (96x36x30). After completing the plans with the builder there seems to be more room on the wall than I had thought. The tank will be viewable from 2 sides.. one long and one short. Ontop of that one of the other short sides will only be partial accessible from the fishroom (book case built into that side which will remove some depth)

I had planned to have it made of 3/4 acrylic but enlarged it will most probably be 1 inch acrylic (I'm guessing based on ATM's spec sheet and other builders sheets).

I WAS planning on using 6 vortechs for flow on the 96 inch version. Being that the tank is now 1 inch thick it kills the vortechs. So my options are closed loop and tunzes.

I've had smaller (90 gallon) tanks in the past and I cringe at the though of closed loop. The amount of power for a tank this size would be staggering for the correct amount of flow, and might possibly end up being supplemented by tunzies anyways.

I'm looking for practical experience from those of you that have a large tank like this. Am I making a mistake not considering a closed loop? Just how difficult is it to hide the tunzies when you have 10 feet to work with... in a small tank its hard but I'm thinking its going to be easier in a larger tank. What is the upkeep like both ways?

Thanks for your time.

 

[ricks]

What type of livestock are you planning on keeping????

 

[wmilas]

Mixed reef. I'll have a mixture of sps, lps, leathers ect. Lots of fish. It will not be a sps dominated tank as thats not quite the look I'm going for.

Basically I want to build islands and caves and aquascape from there. I want movement and a complimenting color scheme. Its kind of hard to describe something you can picture in your mind but not quite get out in words.

The main problem with this is I'm not sure WHERE I want the islands to go until I start to play around with the layout. Since I'll be able to see the tank through 2 panes it poses a layout challenge. Thats one of the reasons I'm hesitant to lock myself into a specific layout of I go closed loop.

Oh also I should probably mention that I plan to go with a moderately deep sand bed for looks and as I've had success with this before, and I don't personally like the look of a bare bottom on a tank this big with the type of look I'm going for.

Lighting will be all t5's.. lots of them, 2 5feet 12 bulb layout. I'm doing this for heat and humidity issues. If it doesn't pan out I'm not opposed to going to 250/400 MH's and using some of the t5's for supplements.

 

[ricks]

The reason I asked, is I have a mixed reef. But with lots of SPS, and getting enough flow has been an issue as the coral mature.

I'm running a CL Hammerhead, along with (4) 100 iwaki's on sea swirls. On top of that I've had to install (6) 6200 Tunze's on a mulitcontroller. just to keep up with flow.

My system is 96 x 36 x 36. And I run (6) 400 halides radiums on HQI's, (4) 160 VHO actinic, and (4) 96 watt PC's. To achieve the most spectrum possible.

If you stay with LPS and Softies, you might get by with less flow and lower lighting. But if the SPS bug bites, you will need an upgrade.. I can post a picture if you like..

Happy Reefing

 

[wmilas]

Sure I'd love to see picts.

Do the sea swirls add enough flow to matter or do you feel that most of it is coming from the tunzies? Do you have 4 sea swirls on a 100 iwaki or 4 100 iwakis running sea swirls each?

 

[jeffhaag]

Just tagging along. I ordered a 500L (120"L x 36"W x 30"H) tank scheduled for delivery 3/10 and was trying to decide if I should stick with close loops likes my 210gal, upgrade to Tunzes, or what. Mine is mostly softies and LPS. Sorry I don't have much to add at this point other then I currently run an Ampmaster 3000 for return through 2 seaswirls and have another on the closed loop for the 240.

For the 500gal, I was actually thinking about using a Sequence pump with an Ocean Motions 4 way valve and 1" returns on a closed loop in addition to my current static close loop on the Ampmaster along with the second ampmaster on the return. I was looking at the Tunzes becuase they definately suck less power, but I question whether they can get current accross the length of the tank. Mine will be in/through wall installation viewable from both the length sides so I wanted to try and get all current from the sides.

 

[wmilas]

Well one of the issues I'm having with the Tunzes is how to mount the darn things with the eurobracing thats going to come with an acrylic tank. It looks like you cant use the magnet holders as they are only rated to 3/4". So that would mean those goofy rails off the bracing, or drilling the bracing for some kind of custom mount, or using those fake walls to mount the tunzes, which eats space, and limits out mounting options.

If I wasn't so paranoid about a seam blowout on a tank this big (and the weight moving it!) I'd go for a glass tank and opt to use the vortechs.... why cant the Vortechs come in a 1" version and make my life simpler?

 

[jeffhaag]

I agree. A 500 gallon spill scares the heck out of me. I think I'll probably go closed loop with the ocean motions to generate the current. I need to order my pumps/parts this week so I'll let you know how I go.

 

[ricks]

I use magnet holders on my Tunze's and 1" acrylic.. they work just fine, if you don't mind spending 90.00 on each set.. Oh crap, I spent 510.00 for my tunze holders... here are some pictures of my system. I have added (2) more tunze's since this picture was taken. and have no problem with flow reaching the other side of the 8' tank.. Wmilas, that's (4) 100's on (4) sea swirls..

go with as much flow as possible.

Happy Reefing

 

[wmilas]

Wow. I'm startled by the amount of flow you need. What size tank is that, what size sump, and whats your sump turnover at?

Do the wavy seas feed from the sump or directly from the overflow/closed loop box?

 

[ricks]

Yes. I was startled by the increased amount needed as the corals matured. The trick is strong indirect flow, you don't want the flow blasting directly on the corals. That's why the rotating sea swirl and alternating current of the Tunze's works. I was wrong only (3) sea swirls, the back middle has an inlet bulkhead with pipe pointing down to the bottom of the tank. This keeps the detritus from building up under the rocks. And makes it easy to syphon it from the front corners with my weekly 50 gallon water changes.

The sump is 300 gallons and has the (4) 100's flowing through. The CL, has (4) return bulkheads mid level pointing into the back of the rock work, for extra flow around the rocks. Some of the flow from the overflows is diverted to a 65 gallon fuge, that is full of cheato, I harvest about 3-4 gallon every 2 weeks.

The other surprise was the increase in the demands on CAL and ALK. I was running a dual MRC calcium reactor 8" by 30" tall along with dripping Kalk at night and still coudn't keep up with the demand.

I started dosing in addition, Calcium chloride and sodium carbonate and bi- carbonate on a reverse cycle from the Kalk. Were talking about 20+ teaspoons a day each, I buy in 5 gallon bulk..

Along with a 1 HP chiller and 3/4 HP back up. I have managed to keep all the parms stable form many months now. I credit this to the rapid growth, and overall health of the reef.

Don't be fooled by the amount of cost that can go into a large reef. I spend about 500.00 a month just on upkeep...

Happy Reefing