A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

[gman107]

keep posting pictures, you can never post too many !!!! this looks great

 

[tntneon]

-Hi nahhan ,

- realy awesome what you are making !!!:thumbsup:
Gives an whole new dimension to the words "bubbletrap" or "baffel" ,
we just glue a piece of plastic sheet or glass in ower sump , you have to pore a day concrete to have 1 or 2 "overflow walls" .

greetingzz tntneon

 

[daleKW]

Wouldn't rain effect the salinity???

 

[username in use]

he said earlier in the thread that they only get Aprox. 2" a year.

 

[lowlt]

I can't wait to see this with water and the flow through the sump

 

[daleKW]

he said earlier in the thread that they only get Aprox. 2" a year.

I missed that.. Thanks..

Awesome build. That guy hauling the wheel barrel of concrete in that pic is gonna need a protien shake..lol

 

[mborkush]

RE:HY drive 6000 pump

RE:HY drive 6000 pump

I use the pondmaster 4000 for my reef. They are your typical magnetic drive, epoxy sealed pump. They are OK'd for salt water per conversation with distributer. (I can only speak to what I've been told) They are a nice, quiet pump. Only down fall is low head pressure. These pmps do not pack much punch in the power area. If your pumping low head hight its well worth the money. It is probly the cheepest $$ 6000GPH pump out there.

 

[ReefJerk]

If it were me (oh how I wish it were...) I would place these in every hidden crevice of the tank. They are only 8 inches high and ~16 inches long and push ~10000 gph.

Best price I found was at http://www.azponds.com/New_webpages/New_subpumps_Classic.html

 

[nahham]

I can't wait to see this with water and the flow through the sump

Neither can I

I use the pondmaster 4000 for my reef. They are your typical magnetic drive, epoxy sealed pump. They are OK'd for salt water per conversation with distributer. (I can only speak to what I've been told) They are a nice, quiet pump. Only down fall is low head pressure. These pmps do not pack much punch in the power area. If your pumping low head hight its well worth the money. It is probly the cheepest $$ 6000GPH pump out there.

This is good to hear. I am not worried about the low head issue because I'm planning to use them submersed.

If it were me (oh how I wish it were...) I would place these in every hidden crevice of the tank. They are only 8 inches high and ~16 inches long and push ~10000 gph.

Best price I found was at http://www.azponds.com/New_webpages/New_subpumps_Classic.html

Those are a very good alternative. I couldn't find any mention of saltwater application so I emailed the manufacturer. I'll post their answer here.

 

[nahham]

How much Live Rock?

How much Live Rock?

I've been reading about how much live rock I would need for the tank and it seems 1.5 lbs per gallon is the most common number I came by. Is this right? I will need 30,000 lbs of live rock??? :eek1:

If this is right, and with the price I got for live rock ($6.75/kg) then I will need to pay around $92,000 for rock :eek1:

Getting the rock from the sea is sounding better and better

 

[username in use]

The aquarium by me has a 20,000g reef and they didnt use the standard live rock numbers. They started with dry limestone base rock from a quarry in the middle of the country and then added around 10,000lbs of live rock from the ocean which they cured off site for a few months first, but you could do it in tank. I think when you get to this size and these kind of numbers you dont need to follow all the general guidelines for small tanks. Also, with your ability to change large amounts of water on a regular basis you shouldnt need to have as much live rock as what is generally reccomended.

 

[KarlBob]

I've been reading about how much live rock I would need for the tank and it seems 1.5 lbs per gallon is the most common number I came by. Is this right? I will need 30,000 lbs of live rock??? :eek1:

If this is right, and with the price I got for live rock ($6.75/kg) then I will need to pay around $92,000 for rock :eek1:

Getting the rock from the sea is sounding better and better

1-1.5 lbs per gallon is a rule of thumb for relatively small tanks, on the order of tens or hundreds of gallons, not tens of thousands of gallons. Many rules of thumb don't scale up or down well, and I suspect this is one of them.

Because you have the ability to innoculate the tank with raw or coarsely-filtered seawater, you could pick up the bacterial components of your nitrogen cycle very quickly. As Username In Use pointed out, you could add plenty of "dead" rock, with the best source being ancient coral deposits. A few hundred pounds of live rock should be plenty, as long as you're willing to wait while the dead (a.k.a. "base") rock is "revived" by organisms spreading out from the live rock.

If you can get it, a barge-load of live rock direct from the ocean might be great, but:
A) I think the cost would be outrageous (less so than ordering it from a retailer, but still ridiculous);
B) Your order alone might result in the dynamiting of a significant reef outcrop, if your supplier is less than perfectly ethical/"green"; and
C) Your chance of acquiring undesirable hitchhikers would probably approach 100%.
(Hmmm. Item B might make a good thread all by itself in the Responsible Reefkeeping forum.)

 

[poposherry]

cant wait to see it

 

[KarlBob]

If you can get it, a barge-load of live rock direct from the ocean might be great, but:
A) ...
B) Your order alone might result in the dynamiting of a significant reef outcrop, if your supplier is less than perfectly ethical/"green"; and
C) ...
(Hmmm. Item B might make a good thread all by itself in the Responsible Reefkeeping forum.)

After consulting Nahham (who expressed interest in the result), I've started a thread on this topic in the Responsible Reefkeeping forum.

 

[Jay180reef]

Wow, I'll be following this build!!!

 

[footbagger311]

WoW! I want to go diving in this tank when it is finished.

 

[nahham]

Control System

Control System

OK so the refugium is very close to done. They will start plastering the thing tomorrow, and probably paint with epoxy the day after. I will keep posting photos of the progress.

I am looking at control systems that I can use next to the aquarium and stumbled upon ProfiLux II Outdoor. There might be better control systems but this is the only one that I found for outdoor use. Did anyone use it? Any other system you can recommend?

Another thing: I would love for the people on RC to contribute to the aquascaping design and stock list of the tank. I will take any comments/recommendations with an open mind so comment/recommend away. In the next couple of days I will start posting what I think would be a viable design and stock list (at least at the beginning).

 

[footbagger311]

This is probably not the best idea but if you went all natural and had predators and prey in the tank, that would be cool.

 

[palmer373]

for aquascaping and fish list, what about taking a dive off the coast of the UAE somewhere and looking at the fish and aquascape and try to make it. or you could take a photo(s) of a local reef(s) and try to match that. I think it would be cool to have a closely matched section of the local reef on land! oh ya and try to match the fish also.

 

[Bax]

I'd start with about 100 tangs (including some big boys like vlamingis) a shoal or three of anthias and fill from there!

This is one reef where thinking about a ray and smaller shark or two isn't out of line to add to the real life feel.

I like the idea of seeing what's local too.