900 Gallon Reef Project

[Michael cicco]

main reason why u had some many prob with the corals bleeching is because the tank is so new , it takes more then a few mons to grow the corals u need a good yr, before u start adding stuff like that , it needs to go through the proper stages

 

[TripsterAK]

This is just an amazing build. Id have to say this is just about as close as i can imagine my dream tank to be.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

main reason why u had some many prob with the corals bleeching is because the tank is so new , it takes more then a few mons to grow the corals u need a good yr, before u start adding stuff like that , it needs to go through the proper stages

The tank is almost 2 years old.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Have you considered using a high strength PVC pipe to hold up your rock structures and the drilling some holes in them and connecting the pipe to the return to get flow out of the rock structures. I plan to build my islands for my next tank when I upgrade my 150 to try and reduce dead flow in the islands.

The problem is I have 7,000 gph per pump, the amount of flow would be crazy and the amount of plumbing work would be crazy at this point in the build. I am going with the approach of a more open rock structure and the waveboxes. I get a 2 inch tall wave across the whole tank using 2 Tunze waveboxes. Now I just need to get rid of the rest of the old rock and I should be good.

 

[fishhead79]

Looks good! Love all the fish. With that much room it must make corals look small. lol

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Okay quick update. I have made a few changes to the system over the past few weeks. With the advice of those Tunze wavbox fans, I ended up installing 2 of the Tunze waveboxes at one end of the tank:

They are held together internally by one Magfloat magnet and to the tank with a Great White. They create a 2 inch wave across the entire tank, its quite an amazing thing to see. Ill post up a video when I get a chance.

I also ended up clearing out the entire right side of the tank in terms of live rock to get it prepped for the new rock I built.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

In terms of building the rock structure with dry rock:

Step 1: Buy these in the appropriate thickness-

Step 2: Cut with this-

Step 3: Drill rock with this-

Step 4: Place acrylic rod into rock and cement into place with Aquamend-

Step 5: Build legs onto base rock-

Step 6: Combine top piece with bottom-

Step 7: Drill frag plug locations with the drill in the top piece-

More pics-

 

[dahenley]

i see your not using the same magnets... but what happens if you have 1 wavebox on the front and one on the back both on the same wall and shooting cross ways across the tank?
would it make a difference verses bot next to each other??
just curious.

 

[bullitr]

Suggestion why not put the wavebox next to the overflow box
I have 2 myself on each side
Its on the blue overflow its hard to see unless you look for it

Next project is to move my return so no more TUNZE 6305 showing

 

[Editour2]

Lawrence,
very nice tank. I have an in wall build as well (215 gals). Do you have a link to your build?
Frank

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Suggestion why not put the wavebox next to the overflow box
I have 2 myself on each side
Its on the blue overflow its hard to see unless you look for it

Next project is to move my return so no more TUNZE 6305 showing

I am going to probably end up moving it. but to do so would require me to redo the ocean motions setup I currently have. I simply don't have time for now.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

i see your not using the same magnets... but what happens if you have 1 wavebox on the front and one on the back both on the same wall and shooting cross ways across the tank?
would it make a difference verses bot next to each other??
just curious.

I had to swap out the stock magnets as they only allow mounting on thinner glass sizes. In terms of wavebox placement, it wont work as well split up. They have to either in synch or in opposition. Splitting them up wouldn't allow for the same wave height as they would tend to cancel each other out.

 

[rpjaws74]

wow like what your doing with the aquascaping!!

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Just did some PAR tests on the new Reeftech units vs a 250w DE Metal Halide (Geissman 20k Megachrome bulb) the results were pretty crazy. Looks like I am pushing well over 235 par at the bottom (34 inches of water) with a Reeftech vs 120ish with the Metal Halide and that is with my single units, the double units pump out even more. I have actually been forced to dial the whites back down to make things easier to acclimate new additions. New rock structure should go in today, Ill post up some pics.

 

[LOU A VILLE]

Just read through the whole thread, your tank is awesome. Looks like your chromis population has dwindled a bit. How many did you start with?

 

[cdrewferd]

Great to hear about the increased PAR with the LEDs. Can't wait for the new rockscape pics.

 

[Editour2]

Just did some PAR tests on the new Reeftech units vs a 250w DE Metal Halide (Geissman 20k Megachrome bulb) the results were pretty crazy. Looks like I am pushing well over 235 par at the bottom (34 inches of water) with a Reeftech vs 120ish with the Metal Halide and that is with my single units, the double units pump out even more. I have actually been forced to dial the whites back down to make things easier to acclimate new additions. New rock structure should go in today, Ill post up some pics.

Are you talking about the new 2012 Reeftechs? Not sure what you mean by single units vs double unless you were comparing 2011 to 2012. Also what did you dial the white down to? I currently use the 2011 Reeftech units....I just dialed up the white from 30% to 40%. I have had my Blue and Royal Blue at 70% the whole time.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Are you talking about the new 2012 Reeftechs? Not sure what you mean by single units vs double unless you were comparing 2011 to 2012. Also what did you dial the white down to? I currently use the 2011 Reeftech units....I just dialed up the white from 30% to 40%. I have had my Blue and Royal Blue at 70% the whole time.

I am talking the new 2012 units. I custom ordered a pair of double units (essentially twice the number of LED boards crammed into the same space). I ended up dialing the whites back from 100% to 70%, my blues are at 100% and the colored LEDs are at 20%. Also my new custom boards with Violet LEDs should be coming in shortly. I can't wait, as they hit the 420nm spectrum and it look like an phllips A03 actinic VHO bulb.

 

[Bennytheblenny]

Just read through the whole thread, your tank is awesome. Looks like your chromis population has dwindled a bit. How many did you start with?

I started with 30 and the huge domino has harassed 18 into either jumping out or dying from stress.

 

[LOU A VILLE]

I started with 30 and the huge domino has harassed 18 into either jumping out or dying from stress.

That suck! Beautiful tank, cant wait to see the new aquascape.