A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

[palmer373]

what if you go fishing and "keep" what ever you catch and then put it in your aquarium!?!?

 

[acharpenter]

19,000....subscribed!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nahham]

Fish Variety

Fish Variety

I think a sample of what I can find in the local sea is due. Keep in mind that I have no clue about the English names. Most of those we actually catch while fishing. Will add more photos eventually.

Of course some clown fish and blue hippo tangs is a must addition so the children enjoy it as well

 

[nahham]

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.

It would be cool but I'll be worried about my tank ending up with only predators . Maintenance would be a hassle then.

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.

I'm dusting off my scuba diving gear. We have a couple of diving areas with some amazing views. I never thought of replicating the reef look, worth considering.

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.

Now now, we don't want any crazy talk

I think a couple of bambo sharks isn't a bad idea. Maybe we can upgrade to more aggressive sharks later, depending on what we catch while fishing. My cousins are fishermen by trade and we have an understanding that whatever they catch and is small to sell they come by and drop in the aquarium (we live across from the fish market). We'll see how that works.

what if you go fishing and "keep" what ever you catch and then put it in your aquarium!?!?

I caught this amazing parrot fish that I can't seem to find a photo of. It was green with white circles on the bottom. Beautiful thing. I just didn't have the aquarium ready for it yet .

 

[Bax]

Many of the parrots will munch your corals.

Of course in a system this size that may just be necessary pruning!

 

[Oil_Fan]

What an incredible build. Definitely following this one!!

 

[palmer373]

put that goruper in there!!!!!!!!!! thats gotta be like 6 feet long minimun! i like the colors of the local fish so i think an aquarium with those fish in it would be outstanding!

good luck!

 

[Bax]

Yeah!!!!!

The humongous grouper is a must!!!

 

[Readybreakletgo]

one word... wow

 

[nahham]

Refugium Updates 2009-03-08

Refugium Updates 2009-03-08

Hello,

This is taking WAY TOO LONG!! I want water in the tank yesterday and can't have it until Thursday. We will test for leakages then.

Some photos of the refugium's progress. I feel those are fillers but this is the best I can offer right now, so sorry

An overview of the refugium. HUGE!!

Another overview of the refugium. The guy on the right is standing upright and he is around 5'7". This is HUGE I tell you!!

Here is where the pumps will go. The saltwater well will be next to the pumps.

I'm not sure if it clear, but there is a 30cm gap there for the first section of the refugium.

Here is the gap for the transition to the final area of the refugium.

A full shot of the tank as it sands now. The holes at the back is for the overflow to the fish farm. Sadly we had a small miscalculation regarding that and had to lower it a bit, hence it's all broken and stuff.

Enjoy..

 

[Bax]

Hmmm! When we miscalculate here, usually a trip to the hardware store or two or three and it's all better.

I suppose that's not true of poured concrete, and in a project of this scale.

Looking back at some of the native fish in the local market, there are probaly lots of "coral safe" fish that are normally just too big for even a large aquarium. I think after a dive or two on your local reefs, you're going to have a lot of fun stocking this.

 

[Reefski's]

what experience do you have with smaller reef tanks?

have you used the local water before in a reef tank? i would be concerned with the water quality and pollution. it looks like a lot of shipping traffic in the local waterway.

 

[ufbrad24]

Simply amazing, I'll be following this one. Any ideas what type of livestock you are going to go with?

 

[michealprater]

Wow.

 

[Adam_T]

By the beard of Zeus! That's a huge tank.

 

[nahham]

Hmmm! When we miscalculate here, usually a trip to the hardware store or two or three and it's all better.

I suppose that's not true of poured concrete, and in a project of this scale.

Looking back at some of the native fish in the local market, there are probaly lots of "coral safe" fish that are normally just too big for even a large aquarium. I think after a dive or two on your local reefs, you're going to have a lot of fun stocking this.

Absolutely true. Thankfully, I have an architect brother on-call and I'm not afraid to use him. However, if the worst happens, we can always delete and re-do

I'm looking forward to the stocking part. We are seriously considering a couple of bamboo sharks, eventually that is. We are planning to start slow. Checking the water quality as we go and adding more and more stuff.

what experience do you have with smaller reef tanks?

have you used the local water before in a reef tank? i would be concerned with the water quality and pollution. it looks like a lot of shipping traffic in the local waterway.

I've been on and off with tanks. I've been traveling for the past .. mmm .. 10 years so I wasn't able to run one continuously because of that.

As for the pollution, we usually get the water at least 2 meters below surface and therefore any pollution is usually not a problem. We ran the fish farm for nearly 6 months with water directly from the sea without any problems. Additionally, in the current expansion, we will get the water from a saltwater well next the refugium and have natural filtration through the refugium (something that we added recently as well).

Simply amazing, I'll be following this one. Any ideas what type of livestock you are going to go with?

The short answer is whatever I can get my hands on, fishing or otherwise Look at the photos above

The long answer is we will start slow, adding hardy fish from the local environment and expanding from there (and of course live sand and live rock). I'm hoping that using local fish will have a better success rate, at least at the beginning. Eventually though I will like to get more exotic fish. I'm getting restless just thinking about it. :bounce2:

 

[KarlBob]

The short answer is whatever I can get my hands on, fishing or otherwise Look at the photos above

The long answer is we will start slow, adding hardy fish from the local environment and expanding from there (and of course live sand and live rock). I'm hoping that using local fish will have a better success rate, at least at the beginning. Eventually though I will like to get more exotic fish. I'm getting restless just thinking about it. :bounce2:

I agree that local fish will probably survive best. The same goes for coral. Someone suggested reproducing a local reef earlier, and I think that's a great idea.

Adding non-local fish to a tank with such direct connections to the ocean is another issue to think carefully about. The growing lionfish population off the US Atlantic coast is one example of an invasive species that has flourished in a new environment, far from its natural predators. Judging from the photos above, it looks like the local species could provide the tank with a wide variety of attractive fish.

 

[palmer373]

Someone suggested reproducing a local reef earlier, and I think that's a great idea.

your welcome :rollface: i have always dreamed of having a tank filled with local fish but since i live in an igloo(jk :lmao and i cant really keep them locally, ill settle with spreading my idea.

have fun with stocking! you should of made it bigger to put a whale shark in it!!:lmao:

 

[zaheda]

Amazing build. Where in UAE are you? Make sure when bonding the glass as if you get a leak or crack will mbe one major disater. See what happened to the Dubai Mall tank of 6 million litres. Good luck.

 

[nahham]

I agree that local fish will probably survive best. The same goes for coral. Someone suggested reproducing a local reef earlier, and I think that's a great idea.

Adding non-local fish to a tank with such direct connections to the ocean is another issue to think carefully about. The growing lionfish population off the US Atlantic coast is one example of an invasive species that has flourished in a new environment, far from its natural predators. Judging from the photos above, it looks like the local species could provide the tank with a wide variety of attractive fish.

I agree with the notion that it might be a problem adding non-local fish, but then the children will hate me for not having a nemo and a dori in the tank

Another thing, the overflow goes through the fish farm, and those fish are aggressive, I mean really really aggressive. They would eat anything we throw for them, including small fish and something not so small fish as well. I once threw a lamb leg with a bit of meat on it and they disconnected the two bones in seconds (and ate the meat in the process). That's my firewall

Amazing build. Where in UAE are you? Make sure when bonding the glass as if you get a leak or crack will mbe one major disater. See what happened to the Dubai Mall tank of 6 million litres. Good luck.

Thank you. I'm in Ajman. I don't think it will be a "major disaster" just a minor one.

And I'm happy to say the leakage was fixed quickly in Dubai Aquarium. I was there a couple of days ago. Planning to snap some photos for y'all.