730g In-Wall Display
- Thread starter tgreene
- Start date
tgreene
Reefer
I've ordered several tanks from them (300, 240's, 180's, 55 sumps) and all have been very well built structurally...
You haven't seen a tank though, until you've see one this size! :dance:
-Tim
leslie hempel
Member
wow love the size of that puppy...
kentrob11
Premium Member
I'll bet! Looks like a monster...I think your tank is about the max I'd personally go with glass...I'm doing a 10' x 5' x 5' in concrete with a 8x4 viewing pane this fall with a new home build so I'll be jumping right into your shoes soon enough
I'm really looking forward to watching as you progress through this project!
tgreene
Reefer
Sweet! Once you get to this size, the equipment and lighting is for the most part all going to be the same. The biggest difference is always going to be in the plumbing and fish room layout.I'll bet! Looks like a monster...I think your tank is about the max I'd personally go with glass...I'm doing a 10' x 5' x 5' in concrete with a 8x4 viewing pane this fall with a new home build so I'll be jumping right into your shoes soon enough
Keep in mind though that a "budget" for a build like this is nothing more than something that you think about and laught at. While mounting the lights I realized that I needed 1 more 4oow fixture/ballast/bulb so that was a $400 decision that took all of about 12 seconds to make. Yesterday was another $450 for the pair of scissor tables to lift the tank into place once I realized that we were SOL and I already had a man down with a nearly severd finger that's going to cost me another several thousand before he medical bills and therapy are all done... Once you're so far in, there is literally no changing your mind or turning back, so you have to just find more $$$ to throw at so you can keep moving forward!
Me..? I'm designing for chaotic flow, since I'll be building an SPS dominant system. I'm also really big on building tap-ports into the plumbing to eliminate the need for small supply pumps here and there for reactors and chillers. When designed properly, they can and should all be integrated into a retun system in order to reduce the heat output from extra pumps. I'm a firm believer on using much larger pumps than what would seem necessary, and less of them. It takes a lot more thought especially when taking into consideration future equipment additions, but overall you're so much further ahead economically and also in regards to never having to use internal pumps which add heat and all too often leak electricity.
I don't have a blueprint that I'm working from so I can't post anything up in that regard, because I tend to always design on-the-fly as I think things through at the time that I'm actually doing the drilling and plumbing.
-Tim
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USF Nealio
Go Bulls!
Why is it that there is no plastic rim on the top of the tank over the overflows?
tgreene
Reefer
Because there is no glass top plate at that point to attach the upper edge of the plastic rim to.
dahenley
New member
have you ordered anything new? you made a list of previous items (on page 1) but i was just wondering if you have stuck with it or made some new additions.
i love large builds, mainly for the tech and equipment side of things. (as you said, thats what makes large tanks different.)
i love large builds, mainly for the tech and equipment side of things. (as you said, thats what makes large tanks different.)
tgreene
Reefer
Add to it the following:
- (1) 400w Vertex ballast
- (1) 400w XM 20k bulb
- (1) LumenMax-II pendant
- (4) Vertex 4x2'" media reactors
- (1) 45cfm Air pump
- (1) 5' section clear PVC - 1"
- (1) 5' section clear PVC - 1.25"
- (1) used original Lighthouse Controller that I originally sold a friend and just bought back 2 days ago. This will suppliment my Lighthouse PRO.
Ultimately I'll be adding a 10-12kw Generac, a large volume air-exchanger, and lots & lots of alcohol for when I actually sit down and do a final cost accounting once the system is up and running!!!
-Tim
tgreene
Reefer
Something else that I'll be doing which I've never seen done previously (not that it hasn't been) is to plumb numerous elements of the system through the fish room wall so they are actually in my much cooler garage instead of the fishroom. The chillers and huge UV system will be through wall to remove as much extraneous heat from the room as possible, as will be the 300mg O3 generator and 45cfm Air Pump so they are not drawing in any humidity.
I'm also pretty sure that I'll end up designing and installing a new Top-Off Controller that has automated switching where it will "decide" whether it needs to supply the Kalk Reactor or just deliver fresh water depending upon pH readings and/or time of day.
I'm also not ruling out adding a Geo-Thermal cooling loop in the future, and if I do it will be very simple to incorporate the way the plumbing will be designed for future applications as I mentioned a couple of posts above.
-Tim
I'm also pretty sure that I'll end up designing and installing a new Top-Off Controller that has automated switching where it will "decide" whether it needs to supply the Kalk Reactor or just deliver fresh water depending upon pH readings and/or time of day.
I'm also not ruling out adding a Geo-Thermal cooling loop in the future, and if I do it will be very simple to incorporate the way the plumbing will be designed for future applications as I mentioned a couple of posts above.
-Tim
SeaJayInSC
New member
Wow... As if it was impressive before... This is amazing...
tgreene
Reefer
What kind of bikes..? :lol2: I already own the new Samsung LED TV and complete Home Theater system (I had the 1st LED in town!), so not only am I good to go in that regard, but it would be really difficult for anyone to top it... Well, the LED TV anyway.Want to adopt me ? I'll bring my cars, bikes and home theater
To be completely honest in regards to this build, realistically the only way that I'm able to do this is because I used to own an Aquaculture Facility that I tore down after so many in our region tore down their reef tanks after our devastating 2 Ice Storms the year before last. I began taking system after system of-line but didn't tear them down in the hopes that things would turn around enough to where business may actually start back up, but then the government stuck their hands into everything in regards to the economy and the resulting financial crash immediately ensued. No business meant NO BUSINESS, so I tore everything down and have a redicolous amount of commercial equipment sitting in my old basement doing nothing at the moment.
When we bought our new house at the 1st of March, my wife and I knew that we would have to do something drastic in order to be able to install a reef system in this home due to the floor plan. Our current display tank which is still running at our old house while we beuyild this one, is a custom built 157g Starfire system that is essentially a cut-down 180. Even to bring that system over to the new house we would have to do something drastic in regards to space, so we just figured what the hell, if we gotta knock a wall out we might as well just go all the way and have the system that we've dreamed about for years. The only real difference at this point was the scale of the thing, because either way we were going to have to pay a contractor to do something since we no longer had a basement to work with.
We began thinking in terms of a traditional 240, then a 300, then began joking about the idea of something approaching 500, then my wife very sarcastically made the comment about me not being happy unless I just bought the biggest tank that Glass Cages could build and that I may as well just get whatever I want or I'll never be happy knowing that someone somewhere *might* actually have something bigger or better than mine... With her "blessing", I ordered the 730-C the very next day!
The really funny thing is, the other day she made a comment about how cool would it be it the entire garage was just converted into one giant reef tank, and the Bonus Room (my office) directlky above were opened up as a top access deck for diving it. This seriously got me to thinking, to the point that if we ever decide to sell this house and build......:bigeyes:
-Tim
tgreene
Reefer
As I recall SeaJay, we both tend to do pretty much everything way over the top!
SeaJayInSC
New member
Isn't that the truth?
Hey, if you're going to do it, then do it right.
The only limitation is finances... And if you can do it financially, then fer crissakes, do it!
This build is totally insane. Insane in a good way. A VERY good way.
Now all you'll need is some college-age hottie in a mermaid suit inside the tank, and all will be well.
Hey, if you're going to do it, then do it right.
The only limitation is finances...
And if you can do it financially, then fer crissakes, do it! This build is totally insane.
Insane in a good way. A VERY good way. Now all you'll need is some college-age hottie in a mermaid suit inside the tank, and all will be well.
tgreene
Reefer
Thank you. So when are you and Kym going to come see it..?Isn't that the truth?
Hey, if you're going to do it, then do it right.
The only limitation is finances...
This build is totally insane.
Bring your daughters! (I'm so dead for that comment) :fun2:Now all you'll need is some college-age hottie in a mermaid suit inside the tank, and all will be well.
-Tim
tgreene
Reefer
Feel free to have your parents sign off on the adoption papers and send you this way, but PLEASE don't forget your toys and lunch money!!!A giant Mitsu Laservue, ISF calibrated. One look and you'll take your LED back haha.
ZX14, R6 and RR600
