A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

I agree that the sand being used may be rich in phophates and all kinds of other "junk". Isolating the sand as a causitive factor of bad water quality & clarity can easily done by starting off with reverse osmosis/deionized or distilled (pure) water. Then add some sand to a bucket of this water and test the water 24 hrs later for phosphate and nitrate. It should be obvious if stiring the sand causes turbidity (cloudy water). It is possible that the sand may need to be scrapped.

Oyster or scallop shells will act as a cost effective absorbent for phosphate and other "bad stuff" in the sand. Ferric oxide-based exchange resins are a faster, more expensive remedy, but not worth the trouble until a known quantity and source of the phosphate is established. If this is the problem at all.

Our standard for ultra-low nutrients for our closed system sps tanks is not necessary for a soft coral open system. We can only aim for optimum water quality to limit the chance of failure.

Nuisance algae needs a few things to priferate. Shallow water with a subsequently lower colour temperature lighting is a good start. Nahham doesn't have the luxury of deep water to refract the light. Light intensity/par is also much higher than what one would find on a typical 10m + deep reef. Slow flow through and feeding (nutrient import) will increase organic nutrient (algae food) levels. These nutrients are not completely free to dilute into the sea so some form of refugium is a big plus. Macro algae growth is much more efficient than mangroves, and should be set-up as large shallow trays or raceways (water flows through a zig-zag maze of chanels).

The final piece of the photosynthetic puzzle for nuisance algae to take over is Co2. Until the prop pumps go in, there is limited gas exchange so the water below the surface will low in oxygen and rich in Co2.

The fish farm is an excellent meterstick here. It appears that Nahham has not had problems with algae blooms in the farm pool. The reef display should be better, but I'll admit that some of my best efforts have fallen short of the success rate of chance :)
 
Yes soft corals don't need low nutrients, in fact I use a 130 gal softie tank plumbed into my system as part of my filtering for my sps display rather than a macro algae refugium. Mr Wilson you are a wealth of knowledge and your contributions to the forums are much appreciated.
 
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I know that you have the flow pretty much figured out at this point. However, reef Builders just posted a HUGE new tunze prop pump from INTERZOO. Funny enough it says designed for public aquaria and I thought of the beast you have set up in your back yard.
 
Just FYI it is called the masterstream. And from the look of it something like this may be safer for your fish than the open prop that you are planning on from what I recall.
 
that is one long comment: is it to make up for reading through 26 pages?? Thank you for your very kind words. I couldn't of done it without the help of the people here at RC. Everyone contributed to the success thus far and I hope that they keep on contributing. I treat this project as a community project and any input/comment/critique/suggestion anyone has I take seriously..
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well it took me a whole day at work to read so i had to make my comment worthwhile :spin3:

Needless to say i will be tagging along anxiously watching your progress :fish2:

(not sure if youve closed the polls on the design but i vote for 1666 and second c57 just in case :spin2:)
 
It takes major committment to build a monster tank and you deserve totm for sure.

Thank you for commenting. A project this size takes a lot of help :). Thankfully I have a lot of that..

I know that you have the flow pretty much figured out at this point. However, reef Builders just posted a HUGE new tunze prop pump from INTERZOO. Funny enough it says designed for public aquaria and I thought of the beast you have set up in your back yard.

Just FYI it is called the masterstream. And from the look of it something like this may be safer for your fish than the open prop that you are planning on from what I recall.

I looked at the props and they look really nice, thanks for pointing them out. However, the biggest ones have a flow of around 40,000 GPH @ $3.752,63. The ones I got have a flow of around 75,000 GPH at .. let us just say a much cheaper price. The masterstream do use less energy (380W) though, but again it is only for 40,000 GPH :).

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well it took me a whole day at work to read so i had to make my comment worthwhile :spin3:

Needless to say i will be tagging along anxiously watching your progress :fish2:

(not sure if youve closed the polls on the design but i vote for 1666 and second c57 just in case :spin2:)

I'll make an exception. I now need to make a summary of the votes I got for the front design.
 
wow...unbelievable!!

kudos on this massively amazing project....and I'm nervous about my upcoming 180 build!

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I would be worried regardless of the size. The only thing relatively easier in smaller tanks is that other people that have experience in going through such a build and are willing to share their experiences. When the project becomes bigger, the number shrinks.

I was lucky that people like H20 Engineer, Mr.Wilson and others took a look at my thread, otherwise, I would of ended up making much more mistakes than I already made :).

Going scuba diving tomorrow, wish me luck :D.
 
Going scuba diving tomorrow, wish me luck :D.
Good luck!

If you catch some nice fish tomorrow, has the water cleared up enough to risk putting them into the tank? If not, I guess they could spend some time in the fish spa...

Do you know whether it would be legal to collect corals on your dive? Some countries, and some areas within a single country, have very different rules.
 
The copper level is high if accurate. Natural seawater is 0.00024 mg/l and typical aquarium levels are 0.024 mg/l as shown here... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/rs/feature/index.php
The effective treatment level of copper is 0.15 - 0.30 mg/l when treating parasites, so your test levels are at least lower than therapeutic levels.

Carbon will remove copper as will calcareous media such as coral sand and shells etc.
 
Good luck!

If you catch some nice fish tomorrow, has the water cleared up enough to risk putting them into the tank? If not, I guess they could spend some time in the fish spa...

Do you know whether it would be legal to collect corals on your dive? Some countries, and some areas within a single country, have very different rules.

I don't know about the exact laws, but we do have a national law about corals and marine life. We were supposed to go just after a storm so I was hoping to find some bits here and there. Also, I haven't gone diving in a very long time and wanted to get back into the habit. :)

The most glaring problem, assuming these numbers are accurate, is that the copper concentration is much higher than NSW. Corals would not live long in it. I would get it tested and re-tested to confirm this number.

I should get the water retested. It just takes too long.

Have decided on the pump you're going to be using yet?

For general circulation (waterflow), I got 2 x 0.5hp Brio Aerator. I'm told that the Brios are rated at 72,000 GPH each. For new-water-from-the-sea aka turnover pumps I got a couple of ESPA pumps with a pre-filter that are rated at around 9,000 GPH each.

how did the scuba diving go?

Unfortunately it didn't :(. Planning for another one during this week though. Will keep you updated.

The copper level is high if accurate. Natural seawater is 0.00024 mg/l and typical aquarium levels are 0.024 mg/l as shown here... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/rs/feature/index.php
The effective treatment level of copper is 0.15 - 0.30 mg/l when treating parasites, so your test levels are at least lower than therapeutic levels.

Carbon will remove copper as will calcareous media such as coral sand and shells etc.

Good news about the carbon, now to find some place here that actually sell it. I miss the days where I can just go online and order nearly anything. In the UK I even order my groceries online.
 
Nahham, You can go scuba diving off of the Sir Baniyas Island,
Besutiful, Amazing and very very Colourful fish out there

You may find dugongs, but seriously you are not allowed to take them home! I wanted one so bad for the tank I'm building. Since I cant, I will stick with Sand, Thresher Sharks and other huge fish.

The area is beautiful, the fish around the area are so pretty. From Blue, to yellow to so many colourful fish.

:'( I cant wait to do some scuba diving for my tank
 
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