Anderson Family Reef - 1200 Gallon System

Newbie Aquarist said:
That there sir is some serious growth AND you have frags growing in the overflow box. Great way to save on powerheads.
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Thanks Wayne! You are rocking your build as well! Love your water mixing station!

Zoas and palys in the overflow! When the power shuts off they are low profile enough to stay submerged! :thumbsup:
 
theReefKing said:
And done..... Three days, including a 2 hour car ride home from the zoo on Father's Day (wife drove :-) and I have finally read every post! And... Wow!
I am so impressed and learned so much! Thank you for taking the time to share! One of the things I love about this hobby is you never stop learning, and you can't ever stop trying to be better. Always room for improvement. Great life lesson.

Wife and I have 9 reef systems going in the house right now, and are starting to plan our big 380 project. (That is what brought me to your thread) learned so much! And I am not a beginner.

Any advice out there for our 380 tank and 500 gal system, the main problem is that we won't have an equipment room so everything needs to be under the tank. Can we pull it off? Advice?

Dave, also noticed you are in mortgages. I am a loan officer for Wells Fargo, who do you work for? Crazy times with the rates so low, I can't keep up with demand! Looks like I will fund around $8M this month but I might die of a stroke before I get there!!

Thanks again! Bill in Charleston, Sc
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Hi Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my build thread! I agree, I am constantly learning new ways to build out systems and care for all the different types of marine life we house in them! This is the reason the hobby has kept my interest for many many years! :thumbsup:

WOW!! 9 reef systems ... That's awesome!!! My advice is to consolidate your systems into one large system that has automation and an easy way to do water changes! I use to have many tanks but I love having one big system that has plenty of room for all my favorite livestock. The single system has cut down my maintainence time so I can better focus on the details of water quality and consistency. I did have a 150 gal frag tank I used for the quarantine and holding system while I set up the big tank. Setting up the system "right" out of the gate will make doing your maintainence easy and when it's easy... it gets done! Yes you can pull it off all under the tank!!! Maybe your biggest challenge might be your water mixing station... Can that be remote? Feel free to PM me and I'm happy to give you my advice on whatever you are working on!

I started a 6 year mortgage career at Wells Fargo then spent 4.5 years with a broker doing new construction business. I transitioned into software sales and management about 4 years ago! I do know what you are talking about closing all that business! Stay alive buddy, you have a big build to accomplish! :thumbsup:

Thanks again for the kind words and let me know how I can help you when the time comes for your sweet new system!!!
 
Dapg8gt said:
Dang man always looking forward to the updates.. I just subscribed to your YouTube page to be notified on both fronts lol.. Awesome man.. Gotta be bummed the frag tank is already almost at capacity.. J/k that's a great thing to have.. Love the frags in the overflow good thinking:).
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Thanks for checkin them out! It's cool to know people are as stoked as I am about this radness!!!

I am getting quite a collection of videos on the old YouTube! I love looking at the videos when I first set up the tank and comparing them to the current growth!

Thanks for chiming in! Reef on Friend!!!
 
Nice. Another carrer jumper. I was a Submarine Officer, then a Nuclear engineer in the civilian world, and now a banker!! I like the freedom of the current profession, although I can get tied to the cell phone at times.

One of our main concerns with what will be over a 500gal total volume system is the skimmer which will have to be under tank. What does everyone suggest for skimmer brand and size? We plan to have a steel frame stand with removable cabinetry skirt, and are thinking we will have the stand 36" rather than 32" so we can get as much room as possible.

Dave, question. So, sic frag tank. What the heck do you do with all those frags?
 
theReefKing said:
Nice. Another carrer jumper. I was a Submarine Officer, then a Nuclear engineer in the civilian world, and now a banker!! I like the freedom of the current profession, although I can get tied to the cell phone at times.

One of our main concerns with what will be over a 500gal total volume system is the skimmer which will have to be under tank. What does everyone suggest for skimmer brand and size? We plan to have a steel frame stand with removable cabinetry skirt, and are thinking we will have the stand 36" rather than 32" so we can get as much room as possible.

Dave, question. So, sic frag tank. What the heck do you do with all those frags?
Click to expand...

I would rock an internal Octopus XP5000 or two XP3000's on your system. Love those things! Small footprint, process lots of water, plug and play!

Thanks, the frag tank is basically to house the corals that are growing into each other or the fish break off naturally. I will end up trading or selling them I guess...:dance:
 
Amazing tank there dca, i've been digging through looking for some schematics of your closed loop but couldn't find anything. Could you possibly point me in the right direction? Very curious what your thoughts on the CL are now that it's been up and running... I hate the look of PHs and think that in a larger tank a CL is the best way to go, IF, done correctly...
 
WSPepsilon said:
Amazing tank there dca, i've been digging through looking for some schematics of your closed loop but couldn't find anything. Could you possibly point me in the right direction? Very curious what your thoughts on the CL are now that it's been up and running... I hate the look of PHs and think that in a larger tank a CL is the best way to go, IF, done correctly...
Click to expand...

I love the closed loop on the big tank! Hide the returns and rock it full flow 24/7! :thumbsup:











 
WSPepsilon said:
Nice, definitely the cleanest look you can get. No regrets then? Anything you would modify if you could do it over?
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No, I love the low water movement and constant flow across the bottom of the tank. :dance:

I would take the time to hide the return nozzle even better using some mortar mix and rock to mould them into a seamless rock structure with the nozzle the only thing exposed.

I like using the loc line so I can adjust the flow once all the rock and coral are in place... :thumbsup:
 
worm5406 said:
What about items getting too close. Do you have it set so that you can adjust the return flow?
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I used loc line so I can adjust the direction of the flow as the corals grow in...:thumbsup:

I have seen some other stationary closed loop returns that look more camouflage and still work great with limited to no adjustment ability...
 
dca22anderson said:
I would rock an internal Octopus XP5000 or two XP3000's on your system. Love those things! Small footprint, process lots of water, plug and play!

Thanks, the frag tank is basically to house the corals that are growing into each other or the fish break off naturally. I will end up trading or selling them I guess...:dance:
Click to expand...

One of the priorities for us is Electricity out of the water when ever possible. So the XP5000 external looks promising... I think we will start by picking out the skimmer, and then make everything else fit.
I do like the idea of redundancy by using the two 3000s.

I am working on a 3D to scale design of the build. I will post once I have the rough draft, because I want all the big tanks with experience out there to rip my design apart and improve it with their experiences.
 
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