A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

[nahham]

Refugium in the works

Refugium in the works

Hello everyone,

We made a place for the refugium today. A good 5 x 7 x 2 meter hole next to the tank. And as mentioned to seabayaquatic, at 2 meters and we already have a problem with sea water. Anyway, here is a photo of the hole:

I'm thinking of expanding the refugium by 1 meter. Whats 1 meter between friends, right?

Also, here is the repairs going on with the fish farm (aka fish spa). It's sad I had to lose a more than a meter of depth so that we could start repairing the thing:

The paint is already ordered as well. I went with a navy blue color that will cover the sides, floor, and ceiling of the aquarium. It should be painted by the end of next week. BTW, our weekend is Friday and Saturday, so calculate accordingly.

 

[KarlBob]

Think of the Chaetomorpha/Caulerpa bundle it would take to fill that hole in the first picture! This will be a different kind of refugium in more ways than just its size.

 

[docstomper]

OOO im in the usaf too. If I come to that country Im gonna visit!

 

[pco1988]

I have been reading and looking at the pictures of this tank since the beginning! It is quite amazing and I am excited to see it done!

 

[barnabus's gimp]

One more moronic drug reference from you and it will be my immense pleasure to permanently ban you from this site. BrianD

 

[nahham]

Floating Glass Boxes

Floating Glass Boxes

I was wondering if anyone here has experience with floating glass/acrylic boxes. I am planning to have a couple of those on top of the water so that people on the on-top-of-the-aquarium seating area can also "see" the reef. I'm planning to have them 1x1m as shown:

The edge is to be filled with foam or something so that it doesn't sink. Any thoughts?

 

[stormrider27]

You should PM "Mr. Wilson" as he has done some amazing work on public aquariums. Here are some of his master pieces

 

[nahham]

You should PM "Mr. Wilson" as he has done some amazing work on public aquariums. Here are some of his master pieces

That's some amazing looking sculptures. I will make sure to PM him when I'm closer to that stage. Thanks for the heads-up

 

[nahham]

You should PM "Mr. Wilson" as he has done some amazing work on public aquariums. Here are some of his master pieces

That's some amazing craftsmanship. I'll make sure I PM him when I'm closer to that stage. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[username in use]

My only concern would be the possibility of cooking whatever is below the acrylic, not sure if it would happen or not, just something to think about. Maybe only put them in when you have a party or something. Also, if it rains they are going to fill up with water.

 

[nahham]

My only concern would be the possibility of cooking whatever is below the acrylic, not sure if it would happen or not, just something to think about. Maybe only put them in when you have a party or something. Also, if it rains they are going to fill up with water.

The cooking part would probably happen considering, in summer, temperatures here reach close to 50 degrees Celsius (~122 Fahrenheit), so definitely not an all-the-time floater. I'm less worried about the rain though: average rain fall is 6.5 cm (~2.5 inches per year).

 

[nahham]

Submersible Pumps

Submersible Pumps

OK so now I'm thinking a bit ahead (decisions decisions) and was wondering about submersible pumps. I am thinking of having 10 submersible pumps between 2400 and 3600 g/h rate in various locations in the tank to create enough flow for a reef tank (hopefully). I used mag drives before and thought they were good so I'm thinking of Mag-Drive 24. I noticed that Mag-Drive 36 isn't readily available. Any suggestions regarding this?

I'm heading to the "local market" today to see what is available there just to make sure I'm getting the best price.

BTW, the refugium build is going well . It should be done by the end of the week as planned. Also, we'll start painting by tomorrow or after tomorrow (latest). I'll take a couple of photos of the progress in a day or two.

 

[ransomed4ever]

Nahham, here's something I saw in a nother thread from a guy in Australia building a 2300 gallon tank.

[/IMG]
It is a 171mm (6.7") internal diameter German-made ring thruster (used for steering small craft in tight situations). It should be reef safe and would be very versatile.
Here are the benefits:
It is bi-drectional, so I can switch directions to emulate tide
At ~450 RPM, it should consume about 200W and give me 57,000 GPH or 27x flow
From time to time I can crank it up to 1000RPM. This will consume 2,200W and move about 127,000GPH or 60x flow.

here's a link to his thread, maybe since you're both building on such a large scale you can compare noteshttp://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1431387

 

[Elliott]

another option are electric outboard motors, relatively inexpensive and efficient

 

[nahham]

Nahham, here's something I saw in a nother thread from a guy in Australia building a 2300 gallon tank.

[/IMG]
It is a 171mm (6.7") internal diameter German-made ring thruster (used for steering small craft in tight situations). It should be reef safe and would be very versatile.
Here are the benefits:
It is bi-drectional, so I can switch directions to emulate tide
At ~450 RPM, it should consume about 200W and give me 57,000 GPH or 27x flow
From time to time I can crank it up to 1000RPM. This will consume 2,200W and move about 127,000GPH or 60x flow.

here's a link to his thread, maybe since you're both building on such a large scale you can compare noteshttp://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1431387

another option are electric outboard motors, relatively inexpensive and efficient

aaah .. how helpful are you guys

I am loving the ring-thruster. I'm just wondering if it is really reef safe. In Diablo's thread, it mentions that it is still unproven to be so. I would like my fish to stay intact rather than sushi

Either way I've emailed to company to check on prices

 

[5h3rW1N]

wooow this is aan awesome build want to see more

 

[5h3rW1N]

more pix please

 

[nahham]

Some Teaser Photos

Some Teaser Photos

So the base concrete has been poured today. The paint is also here. A couple of relevant and irrelevant photos:

The base for the refugium is poured today. They will start building it tomorrow.

I don't believe how much depth I've lost (nearly 1.5 meters). Well at least now I will be able to see the fish all the time and won't have algae issues

PAINT IS HERE!!! Finally, can't wait to for to go on.

Here is the color I've chosen (Navy Blue). Hopefully it will look good on the walls.

Took this from one corner of the aquarium. I don't know with what to fill it .

The sea view from the seating area over the aquarium. Needs a bit of touch-up but I have time.

Hope you enjoy those.

 

[jason2459]

Great picture update. And WOW, look at all that construction going on. That place is growing. Just about every roof top has a crane on it.

 

[Damascus]

Nice coming along really well.