A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

[masterswimmer]

I think you need to add a ray and a shark.

 

[ransomed4ever]

Nahham, Are you going to be focusing more on fish or corals? If you are wanting to do a decent amount of corals in there I think you could add a lot more rock, probably 4-5 times as much as you have now.

 

[nahham]

The top view of the tank was very cool

It is actually very clear and nice looking at it from the top. I wish looking at it from the glass will look the same in the near future.

looks empty - needs large coral reef

Agreed. I would rather, however, add everything slowly rather than at one time.

I think you need to add a ray and a shark.

I dunno about a shark, maybe a bamboo shark and rays I can get easily. Bit by bit it will fill up.

Nahham, Are you going to be focusing more on fish or corals? If you are wanting to do a decent amount of corals in there I think you could add a lot more rock, probably 4-5 times as much as you have now.

I wanted a mixed tank, hopefully with ALOT of each . It all depends on what I can get/catch, and if it will survive in my tank.

4 - 5 times? I wish my friends who helped with the rocks can read this, they will have tears in their eyes . We already have something close to a ton of rock in there.

Speaking of which, I think the rocks are leeching something because some of my small fishes are dying, and those rarely die, even when the contaminated water was added by mistake, some of them survived. I've opened the "from sea" value a bit so that new water come in for a while just in case.

 

[K.Sweeney]

I'm just guessing here but 20k bulbs is the bluest night like you get which gives you a deep-sea feeling.

Yes, and white light may confuse the fish

 

[Reefski's]

moon light is not blue. it is just reflected sunlight.

 

[ransomed4ever]

It may be close to a ton of rock, but in that size of tank they look like pebbles. As small as those piles are any coral that is placed in them would be lost in a tank that size, unless you somehow got your hands on meter+ sized colonies, and then you could only fit a few on each pile. Looking back on your pictures of the rocks in the tank the rust color on them suggest to me a high iron content. If they have iron they could have any number of other metals that could be poisoning the fish. Maybe you should look into some kind of man made rock made from aragonite based cement, then you could build them to how you want, and they could even me hollow to save on weight. Look up reefball.org to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

[j-dizzle]

nahham thought i would check in again and great progress to say the least! love the rock seems to be a great foundation for the corals to grow on. any possibility of over flow into your hardware bunker or any precaution to prevent a worst case scenerio?

 

[nahham]

It may be close to a ton of rock, but in that size of tank they look like pebbles. As small as those piles are any coral that is placed in them would be lost in a tank that size, unless you somehow got your hands on meter+ sized colonies, and then you could only fit a few on each pile. Looking back on your pictures of the rocks in the tank the rust color on them suggest to me a high iron content. If they have iron they could have any number of other metals that could be poisoning the fish. Maybe you should look into some kind of man made rock made from aragonite based cement, then you could build them to how you want, and they could even me hollow to save on weight. Look up reefball.org to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

I am planning to some DIY rock later on. I just wanted the limestone to be a base for everything else.

nahham thought i would check in again and great progress to say the least! love the rock seems to be a great foundation for the corals to grow on. any possibility of over flow into your hardware bunker or any precaution to prevent a worst case scenerio?

Good point. There are redundant overflow holes at the back of the tank. Also, the glass is lower than the side walls and if the overflows does not do the job the water should overflow from the glass. Finally, the bunker walls will be raised so that there is a somewhat more comfortable walking under it.

 

[nahham]

Minor Update

Minor Update

• The roof of the equipment bunker got poured today.
• The electrical work is still going on. The people are going crazy trying to make a place for the pipes in the reinforced concrete. I said you don't need to break it, just lay it over, but they are insisting on doing it 'their way'.
• I separated a small area (3x8m) for the mangroves in the fish farm. I'm getting some to help with the filtration (hopefully). I'm thinking 24 or so mangroves might help with the filtration a bit. What do you think, is a square meter a good enough area for mangroves? Can I have more mangroves?
• Getting some fish for the fish farm as well.
• A civil engineer came by today to look at the situation of the saltwater well. He is (hopefully) getting back to me tomorrow regarding the cost of making a 10m deep well. He said "but you are close to the sea, you will get salt water" and I said "exactly"

 

[nahham]

Updates 2010.07.28

Updates 2010.07.28

Here are some photos of today:

This s a view of the mangrove isle I've made. The water still didn't clear up.

Another view of the mangrove isle I've made.

The equipment bunker as it stands now.

The entrance to the equipment bunker.

The electrical work being done. This is by far the most professional job I had on the tank.

Another shot of the electrical work.

The last batch of the Subaiti. They sent around 400

The rabbit fish. I got around 30 - 40 of these.

Yet another shot of the rabbit fish.

The mangroves before going in the mangrove isle. It should be done by now.

 

[sarmo]

i really like the mangrove forest idea. the green will look really good as the plants grow larger. how is the water flowing through or over the mangrove island? is there a pump that pulls water from the mangrove island back to your sump or vise versa?

your progress looks great. i bet you are happy to be finally starting to stock with fish. have you added any coral?
keep up the great work and updates

 

[nahham]

i really like the mangrove forest idea. the green will look really good as the plants grow larger. how is the water flowing through or over the mangrove island? is there a pump that pulls water from the mangrove island back to your sump or vise versa?

your progress looks great. i bet you are happy to be finally starting to stock with fish. have you added any coral?
keep up the great work and updates

My return is in the middle of the mangrove isle. If you look at the first picture, there is a cement block on the right. This block is sitting over an cement block enclosed area with a cover on top (so that to help prevent algae from growing).

I'm very happy with the progress. I did have a brain coral but it bleached out when I added contaminated water. Will be adding some more when I'm sure the water parameters is up to par

 

[raw88gt]

to raise the water level in the tank could you possibly use some pvc piping in each overflow to the fishfarm?

 

[Monkeyfish]

What species of Rabbit fish did you catch?

 

[nahham]

to raise the water level in the tank could you possibly use some pvc piping in each overflow to the fishfarm?

I do not need to raise to water level in the tank; it is quite close to the edge of the glass. However, to control the level I just close off some overflow holes with foam cups. This is something I should posted in the ghetto thread as well .

What species of Rabbit fish did you catch?

The rabbit fish is Siganus canaliculantus. It is very common here in the region.

 

[kinlayan]

looking very good Nahham! cant wait to see more

 

[palmer373]

wow a lot has improved in a month, great job! arent those rabbitfish a tad small tho? lol i think it would be sweet to get a shark or two but i would be worried about them chowing down on your fish but with the open sand scape that you seem to prefer, some stingrays would be awesome! great job i like it!

 

[j-dizzle]

+1 great progress!!! bunker and electrical is looking great! love the rabbit fish!!!!

 

[LamboAM]

Great work!!!
Can't wait to see all those fish in action.

Do you have a list of fish in mind - or basing it on what you can catch locally?

 

[nahham]

wow a lot has improved in a month, great job! arent those rabbitfish a tad small tho? lol i think it would be sweet to get a shark or two but i would be worried about them chowing down on your fish but with the open sand scape that you seem to prefer, some stingrays would be awesome! great job i like it!

I agree they are a bit small, but they aren't disturbed by other fish because of their poison. They also don't fair very well in the heat.

I am planning to get a small shark or two.