600gal (96x48x30)
- Thread starter asnatlas
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asnatlas
New member
mwood said:
Well I think I am going to go 96", I was going to place it on one wall that was only 92", But I am going to place it on a diff wall in the same room. I am even thinking about making it 30" high as well...
As for the sump / ref I already have 2x 150gal rubbermaid stock tanks...
I personally don't like CLs... That is why I am going with the Tunze's...
I plan on having a canopy, but I am going to have a large vent fan sucking the air from the canopy and sending it eather into the room behind the tank if not even outside... I was thinking about just sending it into the room behind the tank because I will be having a fan pulling the air out of that room to the outside... The chiller I am going to try to get by without, I will run the setup for a while with out any fish / coral and watch it to see how the water temp acts...
Shawn
mwood
Premium Member
There's a 700 gallon 96*48*36" tank in the book Ultimate Marine Aquariums called Perfectionist in Action. It hase 2 ampmaster 3000's, 6 Tunze 2002's, and 2 ATK 6560's. It also has 4 400w 14k's and 4 250w 14k metal halides. This thing is a beast. You could do worse then end up with a tank like that. 
PS, got a bud with a wavebox. It is wild.:smokin:
PS, got a bud with a wavebox. It is wild.:smokin:
hello Shawn, imbuggin, everyone-
I installed and maintain an aquarium very similiar in size to what you are planning. 96x30x40. It is filled with a mixed bag of corals. SPS, softies, clams, etc. I has two built in overflow boxes, each overflow has two 2" drains. Main pump is a te-7md I believe.
An ETS skimmer fed by a tec-5.5 pump. 2 tunze wavemakers.
I made for this tank, an enclosed aluminum lighting system that is anodized grey. It holds six 400 watt halides. The enclosures have tempered safety glass lens' to contain the extreme amount of heat, and duct work to exhaust the heat out of the building. The safety glass is essential when hung over acrylic aquariums so that heat is not transferred to the acrylic.
This is a similiar system to what I fabricated for imbuggin. Both are hung over 96" aquariums. imbuggin currently has stainless steel enclosures, but soon will receive his aluminum versions. I donnot suggest using stainless for a couple reasons, mainly because the stainless is much heavier than the aluminum, and also because the brushed stainless steel will still discolor and corrode from the salt and other elements in sea water. Also, aluminum will stay a bit cooler to the touch.
I would personally use 400watt halides over such a deep aquarium, especially if you plan on keeping any clams. The aquarium described above has had a couple clams for many years. They are getting quite big now, but they have really started to grow more quickly and with beautiful color since putting them under the 400w halides. They were under 250w halides before in the same size tank, they lived but they did not grow nearly as fast.
pictures of the described aquarium and lighting enclosures here>http://homepage.mac.com/starpolyp/PhotoAlbum6.html
To avoid a long and borring post i will stop there, but if you have any questions regarding the set-up, filtration, or the lighting fixtures, feel free to ask.
I installed and maintain an aquarium very similiar in size to what you are planning. 96x30x40. It is filled with a mixed bag of corals. SPS, softies, clams, etc. I has two built in overflow boxes, each overflow has two 2" drains. Main pump is a te-7md I believe.
An ETS skimmer fed by a tec-5.5 pump. 2 tunze wavemakers.
I made for this tank, an enclosed aluminum lighting system that is anodized grey. It holds six 400 watt halides. The enclosures have tempered safety glass lens' to contain the extreme amount of heat, and duct work to exhaust the heat out of the building. The safety glass is essential when hung over acrylic aquariums so that heat is not transferred to the acrylic.
This is a similiar system to what I fabricated for imbuggin. Both are hung over 96" aquariums. imbuggin currently has stainless steel enclosures, but soon will receive his aluminum versions. I donnot suggest using stainless for a couple reasons, mainly because the stainless is much heavier than the aluminum, and also because the brushed stainless steel will still discolor and corrode from the salt and other elements in sea water. Also, aluminum will stay a bit cooler to the touch.
I would personally use 400watt halides over such a deep aquarium, especially if you plan on keeping any clams. The aquarium described above has had a couple clams for many years. They are getting quite big now, but they have really started to grow more quickly and with beautiful color since putting them under the 400w halides. They were under 250w halides before in the same size tank, they lived but they did not grow nearly as fast.
pictures of the described aquarium and lighting enclosures here>http://homepage.mac.com/starpolyp/PhotoAlbum6.html
To avoid a long and borring post i will stop there, but if you have any questions regarding the set-up, filtration, or the lighting fixtures, feel free to ask.
mwood
Premium Member
starpolyp said:
Going to hijack the thread for a second, hope it's ok. I have halides over an acrylic tank, and there is a place or two where the acrylic gets warm, but I wouldn't call it anymore than warm. They are 12-13 inches off the acrylic, not the water. Is safety glass always essential, or is it based on how hot the acrylic gets?
i'll take that question
i'll take that question
I wish I didn't know thw answer to that question, but I do. If the arclyic gets warm when the lights are on it expands. When the lights go off it will settle back and contrast. Years (maybe shorter) of this abuse will weaken the arcylic. That could cause a crack in the most important support area of a tank. Once I added these vented fixtures I have no issue. Before I had them the top would get warm and one day cracked. Than another day cracked again. IT is VERY important on an acrylic tank to get that heat OUT of there! my opinion.
i'll take that question
I wish I didn't know thw answer to that question, but I do. If the arclyic gets warm when the lights are on it expands. When the lights go off it will settle back and contrast. Years (maybe shorter) of this abuse will weaken the arcylic. That could cause a crack in the most important support area of a tank. Once I added these vented fixtures I have no issue. Before I had them the top would get warm and one day cracked. Than another day cracked again. IT is VERY important on an acrylic tank to get that heat OUT of there! my opinion.
mwood said:
In the past year, I have had to reinstall two new aquariums in place of broken aquariums (broken top acrylic piece). The 500 gallon was one of them. Both aquarium were originally installed (not by myself) with lighting sytems that included open reflector type systems with halides but without a tempered safety glass lens. They were only 175w and 250w halides, spaced 12" above the acrylic too. I personally would NOT put halides over acrylic aquariums without some kind of protective lens, no matter what the tickness of the acrylic.
mwood said:
I scrolled up but did not see you mention what the wattage was on those bulbs but regardless-
it's a tough call. But to be completly sure and worry free about it, I would add a lens to those fixtures. You do have all that open air around the lights, and the bulbs dont appear to be directly above any acrylic, but its hard to say what will happen down the road after 8-10 years.
How hot is the acrylic getting?
mwood
Premium Member
2 400w Iwasakis and 2 250w 20k's. The 400w Iwasaki's couldn't be a worse bulb to have and I debated switching to 250w xm 10k's but can't make the finances work for now. Maybe that will have to be something I do later. A fan over the center brace would be easy.
Anyway, back to the original topic.
Anyway, back to the original topic.
asnatlas
New member
I really hate that I cant make up my mind 
I am tossing around a 96x48x24, or 96x48x30... I wanted to stay with Starphire, but if I go with anything above 24" on a tank that size I will need to have the tank built with 3/4" Diamante... So I am still debating...
Tomorrow I am going to build a wood frame of a 96x48x30 and make double sure I can fix it down the stairs... I have measured I don't even know how many times and everything seems to work... I will just feel much better once I build a test frame to make sure
Shawn
I am tossing around a 96x48x24, or 96x48x30... I wanted to stay with Starphire, but if I go with anything above 24" on a tank that size I will need to have the tank built with 3/4" Diamante... So I am still debating... Tomorrow I am going to build a wood frame of a 96x48x30 and make double sure I can fix it down the stairs... I have measured I don't even know how many times and everything seems to work... I will just feel much better once I build a test frame to make sure
Shawn
mark97r6
New member
My tank is 96 x 28 x 28 it looks so much better being 28 from top to bottom as the 'veiwing window' looks huge compared to the previos tank at 72 x 24 x 24.
BUT it is a right pain to reach the bottom! placement of corals/rocks is a right pain! It means getting on the step ladders and sometimes getting my armpits wet (not nice!!!)
If it fits down your stairs i think this 'trade off' is the deciding factor. To be honest i am not sure which i prefer, will have to think hard for my next tank..
HTH
MArk
BUT it is a right pain to reach the bottom! placement of corals/rocks is a right pain! It means getting on the step ladders and sometimes getting my armpits wet (not nice!!!)
If it fits down your stairs i think this 'trade off' is the deciding factor. To be honest i am not sure which i prefer, will have to think hard for my next tank..
HTH
MArk
mwood
Premium Member
If you stick with the 48" front to back, you may want to consider an open top tank. Use pendants or leave 6-12 inches open between your tank and canopy and have a step near the tank to look down. If you have sps this would look especally cool. Kinda like a clear bottom boat.
A tank this size made from glass would be incredible. I was under the impression this would be an acrylic aquarium. I missed the Starphire comment in the original post.
I have never seen a glass tank made 48" front to back that was open topped though, it would be awesome if they do. In fact, most of the glass tanks I have seen even close to 96x48x30 had multiple layers of Top glass with silicone between the layers. those tanks had small access holes in the top, like 24"x 20" big. And the layers of glass w/ silicone on the tops made for poor penetration by lighting systems. Just something to look into Shawn. Maybe the tank you are planning on having built will have some sort of molded fiberglass frame and supports which may make it possible for larger openings on the top. Also find out what the shipping weight would be on that tank, in may be very very heavy if its 3/4" glass.
do they make eurotops on a 96"x48"x 30" glass tank?
I have never seen a glass tank made 48" front to back that was open topped though, it would be awesome if they do. In fact, most of the glass tanks I have seen even close to 96x48x30 had multiple layers of Top glass with silicone between the layers. those tanks had small access holes in the top, like 24"x 20" big. And the layers of glass w/ silicone on the tops made for poor penetration by lighting systems. Just something to look into Shawn. Maybe the tank you are planning on having built will have some sort of molded fiberglass frame and supports which may make it possible for larger openings on the top. Also find out what the shipping weight would be on that tank, in may be very very heavy if its 3/4" glass.
do they make eurotops on a 96"x48"x 30" glass tank?
mwood
Premium Member
This is a very good point. I know someone who had a 360 gallon glass, and it was about 900lbs empty. You would need to secure profesional movers to move it into your house before it is built. The shipping and moving alone would cost as much as the tank. If you really want to do this out of glass, you may want to inquire about having it built on sight, if you have the money.
asnatlas
New member
mwood said:
Will (owner of AO/builder) is going to drive it down hisself for a s/h fee...
As for moving it down into the basement via the stairs, I already asked the local club and it seems like I have alot of willing people to help... For getting it down, I am thinking about placing it on a custom made sled and have that attached to an SUV and lower it down (with help from people) to the bottom, then from there, just move it into place... That is my idea for right now, unless that will not work or I come up with something different...
Shawn
asnatlas
New member
mwood said:
When I was planning this tank my main goal was to have 48" deep as I LOVE deep tanks. I was org thinking about like a 48x48x24, well you can see I ended up with a 96x48x30 LOL, I always have to go bigger
But with the 3/4 Diamante and euro bracing the entire top of the tank will be open... With it being 30" high and the stand at least 32" - 36" high that will place the top os the tank around the 62"-66 so I can't really have a top down view... I am only going to have a few SPS, but the clams would look awesome from the top... But then again with the flow I am looking at with the Tunze's, you would prob not be able to see much past the waves...Shawn
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