CaptiveReefer03
New member
Greetings to everyone who is visiting my page-
Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Charles. I live in the Tampa Bay area here in Florida. I have made my dreams a reality here and I would like to take the time to create a tread and share my passion for the hobby with everyone. My background to the aquarium hobby; I have been actively reef keeping for almost 6 years now. I origionally started with a little 29 gallon system that slowly progressed into a 55 then about a year and a half ago I moved to a 360 gallon custom glass tank from Oceanic. After dealing with the " things I would Improve" and alot of sleepless nights contiplating design ideas shapes sizes and perceptions of the reef. I decided on a 600 gallon display to be built into the wall of my newly purchased home. I designed the aquarium as a cube to fit into a wall that seperates a workshop and the master bedroom. The cube design allows a great depth perception that is usually lost when you have the "wall look "of stacked rocks. The tank is limited on depth ( top to bottom) as it allows easy acess to clean and does not require the "wet pit appeal", as well as better lighting with less wattage and gives you the feel of a shallow tidal pool. Now for The tank demensons and specs : Main display 6'x6'x2' (LxWxD) constructed of 3/4" pollycast true 3/4" acrylic. The back has an added 1/4" black acrylic glued in and the over flow boxes are constructed into the outside of the aquaium to allow a full tank without the look of stack overflows in the main system and the loss of "prime real estate". The drains in the overflow are set up for accomidation of (2)2" durso drain systems in each box and will allow a good return to the sump system via the water wear in the back of the system to the overflow boxes. The tanks stand is constructed out of concrete block and the use of pressure treated 6x4's with a maximum gap between posts to be no greater then 9". The posts are then held together by pressure treated 3/4" plywood and 3" galvanized screws. Atop the pressure treated deck there was a 3/4" layer of foam added for leveling and padding for the tank. Under the system is a crawl space to maintance the main pumps and closed loop systems that will provide the bulk of my flow to the tank. The closed loops and the main system pump are to be run off (3) dolphin 1/15 hp pumps with the improved seals. All plumbing for the drains are 2" and the returns are going to be 1 1/2". Plumbing will all be done in schedule 40 white PVC. The lighting will be a DIY lighting hood system that I have constructed and built with the help of fellow reefers here in the area. The lamp hoods are 2'x2' and will fit atop each of the 4 openings at the top of the tank. I will be trying out 400 watt 220 volt at first due to the height of the lighting above the system to ensure I will not melt the tank. The system will be chilled through a 1/2" hp chiller from JBJ (which has worked wonderfully on my 360 with (5) 400 watt lamps atop it). Aside the main system and still to be constructed will be a holding stand for my (3) 60 gallon water barrels and a stand system for my sump, fuge and medical tank that will sit beside the system on the wall. and will help expand the total volume of the system. There will be (2) EuroReef CS12-2 skimmers that will be placed online to help keep the waste levels to a minimum along with the optional UV systems, Kalk, and CO2 reactor systems. In a nut shell its a breif overview of my system and a bit of history about me. I would greatly appriciate any feedback positives and negitves and please enjoy the best part which everyone loves; the pictures....
Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Charles. I live in the Tampa Bay area here in Florida. I have made my dreams a reality here and I would like to take the time to create a tread and share my passion for the hobby with everyone. My background to the aquarium hobby; I have been actively reef keeping for almost 6 years now. I origionally started with a little 29 gallon system that slowly progressed into a 55 then about a year and a half ago I moved to a 360 gallon custom glass tank from Oceanic. After dealing with the " things I would Improve" and alot of sleepless nights contiplating design ideas shapes sizes and perceptions of the reef. I decided on a 600 gallon display to be built into the wall of my newly purchased home. I designed the aquarium as a cube to fit into a wall that seperates a workshop and the master bedroom. The cube design allows a great depth perception that is usually lost when you have the "wall look "of stacked rocks. The tank is limited on depth ( top to bottom) as it allows easy acess to clean and does not require the "wet pit appeal", as well as better lighting with less wattage and gives you the feel of a shallow tidal pool. Now for The tank demensons and specs : Main display 6'x6'x2' (LxWxD) constructed of 3/4" pollycast true 3/4" acrylic. The back has an added 1/4" black acrylic glued in and the over flow boxes are constructed into the outside of the aquaium to allow a full tank without the look of stack overflows in the main system and the loss of "prime real estate". The drains in the overflow are set up for accomidation of (2)2" durso drain systems in each box and will allow a good return to the sump system via the water wear in the back of the system to the overflow boxes. The tanks stand is constructed out of concrete block and the use of pressure treated 6x4's with a maximum gap between posts to be no greater then 9". The posts are then held together by pressure treated 3/4" plywood and 3" galvanized screws. Atop the pressure treated deck there was a 3/4" layer of foam added for leveling and padding for the tank. Under the system is a crawl space to maintance the main pumps and closed loop systems that will provide the bulk of my flow to the tank. The closed loops and the main system pump are to be run off (3) dolphin 1/15 hp pumps with the improved seals. All plumbing for the drains are 2" and the returns are going to be 1 1/2". Plumbing will all be done in schedule 40 white PVC. The lighting will be a DIY lighting hood system that I have constructed and built with the help of fellow reefers here in the area. The lamp hoods are 2'x2' and will fit atop each of the 4 openings at the top of the tank. I will be trying out 400 watt 220 volt at first due to the height of the lighting above the system to ensure I will not melt the tank. The system will be chilled through a 1/2" hp chiller from JBJ (which has worked wonderfully on my 360 with (5) 400 watt lamps atop it). Aside the main system and still to be constructed will be a holding stand for my (3) 60 gallon water barrels and a stand system for my sump, fuge and medical tank that will sit beside the system on the wall. and will help expand the total volume of the system. There will be (2) EuroReef CS12-2 skimmers that will be placed online to help keep the waste levels to a minimum along with the optional UV systems, Kalk, and CO2 reactor systems. In a nut shell its a breif overview of my system and a bit of history about me. I would greatly appriciate any feedback positives and negitves and please enjoy the best part which everyone loves; the pictures....
