I have decided, or rather my parents, have decided to let me get a new tank. It has always been a dream of mine not only to own a large tank >180g but to own and raise my very own shark. I finished year 12 last year, deferred this year after being accepted into Melbourne to study Science which will later be more concentrated on Marine Biology. I figure having marine tanks can only be a benefit to me and my schooling. The last few weeks I have been selling off older tanks and buying equipment for this tank. I predict after water displacement the entire system will contain roughly 1200 litres of water. The initial filling of the tank will be done with roughly 1000 litres of NSW. I will most like switch water changes between NSW and ASW each time depending when I can get to the coast. I hope you enjoy my tank journal. In a matter of weeks my room went from this;
To having nothing in it.
Tank; 6ftX4ftX2ft / 183cmX122cmX61cm. The extra width will be enjoyed by the shark and other fish for sure. The tank will be made from either 10mm or 12mm glass with standard bracing. The tank will contain roughly 3-5cm of very fine beach sand and have little in terms of aquascaping with only smoother rocks being used. The tank will have an internal weir roughly 80cmX20cmX12cm with two 25mm bulkheads, the tank will also have two 15mm bulkheads as the returns. The lack of height is mostly too reduce the weight of this tank as my house is on stumps; it also reduces cost and will not worry the shark.
Stand/Hood; Most likely standard pine stand built to accommodate sump and will be made to obviously support the extra width by having three rows of legs as opposed to the usual two. I will consider dressing the stand in either ply or a slate stylized wall. I do not plan to have a hood or cover glass; instead I may use an eggcrate/flywire type material. However if evaporation is too heavy and/or the room becomes too humid I may add cover glass.
Sump; Standard 5ft glass tank with 4 sections.
The first of the sections â€"œ starting from the left â€"œ will be one of the returns from the display and also the intake for the skimmer, biotower, calcium/phosphate reactor, and fluidized bed filter. The second section will be the return from the above equipment. The baffle in between is to stop â€"œ as much as possible â€"œ the water that has been through the skimmer, etc from reentering. This baffle is not touching the bottom of the sump so that if the return from the display is blocked the pumps for the equipment will not run dry. After the bubble trap will be the return and heater section. The last section will be for macro algae and live rock, a return from the display will enter here as well however at a decreased rate compared with the other return.
Circulation; Besides the 7800lph return from the sump I have a Seio M2600 10,000lph pump for ‘in-tank’ circulation, I will most likely get another if I am happy with its performance.
Plumbing; Most of the piping is standard white PVC. The piping used for the water coming from the display to the sump is mainly 20mm with a 25mm bulkhead, each of these consist of a ball valve and are set up as one acting like a siphon and one acting as a durso â€"œ just like in the tread ‘Silent Overflow’. The piping from the return pump will be mainly 15mm with 20mm PVC being used where most of the ‘turns’ are. The return piping will be split into two by a tee and will also have two balls valves if for some reason there is a need to restrict one sides flow. These are the returns and intakes.
Heating; For now heating will be provided by three heaters; a 300W Resun, a 250W Resun, and a 300W Aqua. I figured if one 300W heater could keep my 500litre tank at a steady 26 degrees 750W’s should be able to keep the tank at a stable temperature. I will eventually invest â€"œ hopefully before summer â€"œ in a chiller.
Lighting; Not 100% sure yet, I will most likely run a 2ft twin reflector for the fuge in the sump during the day. I decided not to go for a reverse photoperiod as I will not be having any corals, huge amounts of live rock or macro algae in the display tank, I doubt there will be too great of a pH fluctuation at night but time will tell. As for the display tank, I have a 150W MH with a 14,000K globe which I may hang close to the ceiling so it can light roughly the whole tank. I also have another 2ft twin reflector which I may put two actinic tubes in and also hang from the ceiling. The reason I want the lights to be as far above the tank as possible is so that it will require less light to evenly light the whole tank. As it will be housing little rock and no corals/anemones I don’t need or want too much lighting as I want algae kept to a minimum. Also the shark species chosen are all more active at night and will not appreciate bright lighting, I am going to see how much light a 2ft tubes and sun provide before adding the metal halide incase I don’t need it. I am also going to order some moonlighting from china which consist of roughly 50 super bright LED’s
Protein skimmer; Brought a DB Reeftech PS 3000E from a fellow member. Run by a TOTA 3800lph pump and has a Sedra 5000lph recirculating pump. I also have a Turbo flotor 1000 with an Aquabee 2000lph pump which I may add to the system if I feel I need to. Sure won’t hurt to have more skimming.
Biological filtration; Besides having as much live rock and macroalgae in the fuge I have a Mercury biotower with a 2000lph recirculating pump and a 245lph dosing pump, both Mercury brand. I know most of you guys don’t like using such towers but after much discussion on Shark and Ray forums a lot of people use and recommend them on shark systems. The tower measures 280mmX190mmX700mm. I also have a Pentair fluidized bed filter - FB900. It stands 880mm high and is 190mm wide it contains 4kg of media and is rated for systems up to 3420l. Am yet to get a dosing pump but it will be roughly 1500lph. I also brought a RESUN FBF-1000 fluidized bed filter but will most likely be replacing the media with a mix of calcium carbonate and a phosphate removing agent. This picture has most of the equipment minus the fluidized bed filter and the calcium/phosphate filter.
Auto top-off; DIY auto-top off unit using instructions from ATJ’s Marine Aquarium Site, I however used a different float switch with two wires as opposed to three. Pump used is a basic 400lph pond pump with a height max of 50cm. The tank to be used as a reservoir will be most likely a standard glass 2ftX1ftX1ft. The float switch will be placed in the return section of the sump with a acrylic ‘holder’. This picture shows the final product.
Misc equipment; Digital pH and temperature probes for 24 hour measurement. Single outlet air pump which may be used for auto top-off tank. Various testing kits, all the usual stuff.
Livestock; Possibly the biggest decision IMO. I am yet to narrow down the three shark species I want to keep. They are an epaulette shark, a brown banded bamboo shark, and a coral catshark. All have there advantages and disadvantages. I will most likely make a final decision after the tank is up, running and cycled. Over the course of the last month I have also wanted a volitans, a ray of some sort and a moray of some sort. I have eliminated the volitans already but am pretty adamant on keeping a moray eel. I find them fascination. I purchased a book on them and am awaiting its arrival. As I said the tank will remain much the same in terms of aquascaping regardless of what shark species I choose or its tankmates. That is besides the eel which will require a little more rock for a cave. I also have not decided of a clean up crew at this point. I need to further read on what these sharks/rays/eels will and won’t eat. I have ‘Aquarium Sharks and Rays’ the book which will help me in my final livestock decisions.
The tank is yet to be ordered as I still have some planning to do but I will keep you all posted. Thanks for reading.
To having nothing in it.
Tank; 6ftX4ftX2ft / 183cmX122cmX61cm. The extra width will be enjoyed by the shark and other fish for sure. The tank will be made from either 10mm or 12mm glass with standard bracing. The tank will contain roughly 3-5cm of very fine beach sand and have little in terms of aquascaping with only smoother rocks being used. The tank will have an internal weir roughly 80cmX20cmX12cm with two 25mm bulkheads, the tank will also have two 15mm bulkheads as the returns. The lack of height is mostly too reduce the weight of this tank as my house is on stumps; it also reduces cost and will not worry the shark.
Stand/Hood; Most likely standard pine stand built to accommodate sump and will be made to obviously support the extra width by having three rows of legs as opposed to the usual two. I will consider dressing the stand in either ply or a slate stylized wall. I do not plan to have a hood or cover glass; instead I may use an eggcrate/flywire type material. However if evaporation is too heavy and/or the room becomes too humid I may add cover glass.
Sump; Standard 5ft glass tank with 4 sections.
The first of the sections â€"œ starting from the left â€"œ will be one of the returns from the display and also the intake for the skimmer, biotower, calcium/phosphate reactor, and fluidized bed filter. The second section will be the return from the above equipment. The baffle in between is to stop â€"œ as much as possible â€"œ the water that has been through the skimmer, etc from reentering. This baffle is not touching the bottom of the sump so that if the return from the display is blocked the pumps for the equipment will not run dry. After the bubble trap will be the return and heater section. The last section will be for macro algae and live rock, a return from the display will enter here as well however at a decreased rate compared with the other return.
Circulation; Besides the 7800lph return from the sump I have a Seio M2600 10,000lph pump for ‘in-tank’ circulation, I will most likely get another if I am happy with its performance.
Plumbing; Most of the piping is standard white PVC. The piping used for the water coming from the display to the sump is mainly 20mm with a 25mm bulkhead, each of these consist of a ball valve and are set up as one acting like a siphon and one acting as a durso â€"œ just like in the tread ‘Silent Overflow’. The piping from the return pump will be mainly 15mm with 20mm PVC being used where most of the ‘turns’ are. The return piping will be split into two by a tee and will also have two balls valves if for some reason there is a need to restrict one sides flow. These are the returns and intakes.
Heating; For now heating will be provided by three heaters; a 300W Resun, a 250W Resun, and a 300W Aqua. I figured if one 300W heater could keep my 500litre tank at a steady 26 degrees 750W’s should be able to keep the tank at a stable temperature. I will eventually invest â€"œ hopefully before summer â€"œ in a chiller.
Lighting; Not 100% sure yet, I will most likely run a 2ft twin reflector for the fuge in the sump during the day. I decided not to go for a reverse photoperiod as I will not be having any corals, huge amounts of live rock or macro algae in the display tank, I doubt there will be too great of a pH fluctuation at night but time will tell. As for the display tank, I have a 150W MH with a 14,000K globe which I may hang close to the ceiling so it can light roughly the whole tank. I also have another 2ft twin reflector which I may put two actinic tubes in and also hang from the ceiling. The reason I want the lights to be as far above the tank as possible is so that it will require less light to evenly light the whole tank. As it will be housing little rock and no corals/anemones I don’t need or want too much lighting as I want algae kept to a minimum. Also the shark species chosen are all more active at night and will not appreciate bright lighting, I am going to see how much light a 2ft tubes and sun provide before adding the metal halide incase I don’t need it. I am also going to order some moonlighting from china which consist of roughly 50 super bright LED’s
Protein skimmer; Brought a DB Reeftech PS 3000E from a fellow member. Run by a TOTA 3800lph pump and has a Sedra 5000lph recirculating pump. I also have a Turbo flotor 1000 with an Aquabee 2000lph pump which I may add to the system if I feel I need to. Sure won’t hurt to have more skimming.
Biological filtration; Besides having as much live rock and macroalgae in the fuge I have a Mercury biotower with a 2000lph recirculating pump and a 245lph dosing pump, both Mercury brand. I know most of you guys don’t like using such towers but after much discussion on Shark and Ray forums a lot of people use and recommend them on shark systems. The tower measures 280mmX190mmX700mm. I also have a Pentair fluidized bed filter - FB900. It stands 880mm high and is 190mm wide it contains 4kg of media and is rated for systems up to 3420l. Am yet to get a dosing pump but it will be roughly 1500lph. I also brought a RESUN FBF-1000 fluidized bed filter but will most likely be replacing the media with a mix of calcium carbonate and a phosphate removing agent. This picture has most of the equipment minus the fluidized bed filter and the calcium/phosphate filter.
Auto top-off; DIY auto-top off unit using instructions from ATJ’s Marine Aquarium Site, I however used a different float switch with two wires as opposed to three. Pump used is a basic 400lph pond pump with a height max of 50cm. The tank to be used as a reservoir will be most likely a standard glass 2ftX1ftX1ft. The float switch will be placed in the return section of the sump with a acrylic ‘holder’. This picture shows the final product.
Misc equipment; Digital pH and temperature probes for 24 hour measurement. Single outlet air pump which may be used for auto top-off tank. Various testing kits, all the usual stuff.
Livestock; Possibly the biggest decision IMO. I am yet to narrow down the three shark species I want to keep. They are an epaulette shark, a brown banded bamboo shark, and a coral catshark. All have there advantages and disadvantages. I will most likely make a final decision after the tank is up, running and cycled. Over the course of the last month I have also wanted a volitans, a ray of some sort and a moray of some sort. I have eliminated the volitans already but am pretty adamant on keeping a moray eel. I find them fascination. I purchased a book on them and am awaiting its arrival. As I said the tank will remain much the same in terms of aquascaping regardless of what shark species I choose or its tankmates. That is besides the eel which will require a little more rock for a cave. I also have not decided of a clean up crew at this point. I need to further read on what these sharks/rays/eels will and won’t eat. I have ‘Aquarium Sharks and Rays’ the book which will help me in my final livestock decisions.
The tank is yet to be ordered as I still have some planning to do but I will keep you all posted. Thanks for reading.
