A Reef Tank in the Desert - +/- 1,400 gallon system

Cove Beach said:
The Atlantics are beautiful, i raised mine from a 1" baby, it is now around 6" and can be very agressive. It doesn't play nice with newcomers though so i will be finding a new home for him when i move everyone else to the new tank. So be prepared.
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Thank you Cove Beach. I love Atlantics. For whatever reason, I had difficulties keeping them in my old tank.

These two will be kept in the QT for a while until they are great eaters and are not so shy.

Right now, when ever I get near their QT, they cower in a corner or hide in a piece of PVC that I have on the bottom.
 
zibba said:
I hadn't been very active on the forums for awhile and I just came across your thread Dan. Absolutely incredible set up! Fantastic design and a real inspiration. I read through your thread and caught up quickly. I'll certainly be following a long from here on out. It's fun to see the real life ups and downs of a big build like this -- you've taken everything in stride -- bravo!

And, congratz on the new additions this week. :)
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Zibba.

Thank you very much for the compliments and for following along. I have been having a lot of fun with my build and still have a ton more to do!
 
lanshark said:
In the famous words of Ferris, Kabella! Joy to read through this build thread and follow progress. Getting good ideas for my next upgrade. Few Technical questions if I may;

Glass thickness and do you know if the builder built sides around bottom or on top of bottom piece of glass?

Anything under the towers or just very flat smooth? Did you do the simulated "power outage" to see if sump handles back flow from returns? I don't trust check valves as they fail at some point. How far from surface are your return lines? Use siphon break? Please share your approach to this important contingency.

Congrats! Like I'm looking at the MIRAGE check-in but with real coral!
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Thank you Ianshark!

I used 3/4" glass on the front and rear panels and I believe they used 1/2" on the sides. The bottom is made out of PVC. The tank was made by AGE out of Garland, Texas. The bottom and top are secured by a 2"x2" band of steel and I have two additional steel braces.

With regards to the towers... When I put together the three towers, I chiseled the bottoms of the rocks so that they would be smooth, flat and balanced.

The sump was sized and the plumbing adjusted for those "just in case" moments of a failed pump or the loss of electricity. I have turned off the electricity twice on my system to make sure that I would not flood my house. Actually, I will be doing it again this Friday when I do my water change. Rather than drain from the display, I am going to vacuum out my sump.

Thank you for all of the compliments on my build!
 
Wow what an amazing build, just went through everything start to finish. Took a few hours lol. You have done an amazing job and paid very close attention to details. Love the build,
You still thinking about getting the Achilles Tangs? Just curious cause I will eventually be getting 1 myself and want to know how succesful others are with them. :)
Thanks for any info, Jordan
 
arrows62 said:
danfeig compliments, your aquarium is fantastic.
I am a passionate aquarist Italian (sicily)
you left me speechless.
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arrows62 said:
danfeig two questions:
How long did it take to mature the dry rock?
You've got some live rock for bacteria?
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Arrows62, thank you very much.

The dry rock cured for several weeks in two large rubbermaid tubs. When I cured it, I used water from my tank cleanings of my 150 gallon to give it the natural bacteria. I also threw into the tubs large clumps of chaeto and some live rock from my sump.

In addition to the dry rock, I filled a 90 gallon tank with live rock and in the next week, I will be connecting a 150 gallon tank that if 2/3's the way full with another 320lbs. of live rock.

Is the marine hobby very big in Sicily? We go to Italy every 3rd summer but spend most of our time in Pelago/Florence.
 
There are a lot of fans in Sicily
but it is unlikely that there are large tanks like yours.
if you never came to Sicily in three years you'll be losing a lot of sun and a lot of history, but tuscany is wonderful, Sicily is a must see
 
Fluidized Sand Reactor

Fluidized Sand Reactor

So after months of waiting, I finally have my sand reactor hooked up to the main tank.

It took awhile to find a pump with high enough RPM to be able to fluidize the sand.

I hooked it up at first to my old 150 gallon tank filled with live rock. Because I used a real fine sand, CaribSea Aragamax Oolitic, there were a lot of small dust particles and sand that I didn't want to get into the main tank. After having it on the 150 gallon for a week or so, I transferred it to my main display. Pics attached...

P1010164.jpg
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P1010166.jpg
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Wow... inspirational... The tank is huge, the fish room is huge, the equipment is huge... I totally dig it! Great job man...
 
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