Building an SPS Monster- my 1300 gallon SPS display

[abhishek@1985]

Amazing and mind blowing !

It's difficult to get my head wrapped around the sheer size and volume of the system . So I have read it atleast 3 times now . And still it feels like I should just keep reading it .

Copps - someday can you make a video of the tank if possible for those of us who cannot visit you in person ?

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Jeffie]

Absolutely incredible!

 

[copps]

Thanks guys!

Amazing and mind blowing !

It's difficult to get my head wrapped around the sheer size and volume of the system . So I have read it atleast 3 times now . And still it feels like I should just keep reading it .

Copps - someday can you make a video of the tank if possible for those of us who cannot visit you in person ?

Regards,
Abhishek

Abhishek, there are times where I stand above the tank and look what I created, and it feels like it's not mine. I cannot explain the amount of effort that went into this... I glued every pipe... placed every rock... mounted every coral... it's a bit frightening sometimes to see the world I've created and realize I'm in charge of it. I've planned my forever system since I was a kid... and it's nice finally having it... along with our forever house... knowing that whatever you do you will be able to ideally enjoy it for years to come. I will absolutely take a video soon... after my next scheduled Kydex swapout (which I'll explain later)... until then I have plenty more to share... something I haven't shown is the theater we had put in across the room in 2016. I carried over the same stone I used around from the aquariums for the pillars in the theater...

My four grandparents were Italian, and it took some convincing the wife, but I added many Italian elements into the space... including a looong slab of Italian marble with a waterfall edge that's natural and contemprary... just the way my wife and I like it... and gray is my favorite color...

Here you can see the tank in relation to the theater... disregard the 1300 as it's completely washed out in this shot, but you get the idea...

Water has been my life since I was a child... I grew up in Northern New Jersey on an island on a lake... we water skied and fished when the lake wasn't frozen... including barefooting... my older brother was the New Jersey State barefoot champion in 1987... and in the winter we played ice hockey... I played Tier 1 mite through midget and went on to play Junior hockey for the Washington Junior Capitals... I also grew up snow skiing in the winter and ski raced for my high school team... and of course I love the ocean and diving... so, we tried to tie water into the theme without going to overboard... another Italian element is the Italian tile we used underneath shaped like with waves...

Even the sconces for the theater were wave inspired...

And this is what happens when you have a hard core reefer do theater lighting... I won't show the 50,000 possible color combinations... but you get the idea... my daughter loves turning it pink when she has all of her friends over... :celeb1:

But when I have my reefing buddies over of course our favorite is... turning on the actinics... :fun4:

Copps

 

[mcreefster]

This site is full of incredible build threads but this one takes things to a whole new level. Your attention to detail, artistry in aquascaping, husbandry techniques and boldness to undertake a project of such magnitude is inspiring and commendable. Thank you for sharing and I hope you continue to share your progress.

 

[tom obrecht]

I think the only question yet to ask is...when can I move in!!��

 

[Greg 45]

Can you please list the parameters of the tank.

 

[cFloor]

Yessss! Thanks so much for starting this thread. :beer: Absolutely amazing and I'm looking forward to following along

 

[Wrangy]

John, your tank, fish room and basement area is absolutely stunning! I've always been a huge huge admirer of you tank and your gorgeous gorgeous fish!!

I'm over the moon you've decided to start a thread here and I will be reading every update like it's the word of god :lol:

 

[Ucantwin]

I don't look through the sps forum much anymore and only click on the alerts from old threads. I am glad today I took a look and found your thread. Your tank and the whole build looks absolutely amazing!

After not dosing kalk for a while and then starting it again to raise ph. Did you actually notice a difference in the tank or growth with the higher ph?

 

[SBV]

Stunning. Absolutely stunning!!

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks guys!



Abhishek, there are times where I stand above the tank and look what I created, and it feels like it's not mine. I cannot explain the amount of effort that went into this... I glued every pipe... placed every rock... mounted every coral... it's a bit frightening sometimes to see the world I've created and realize I'm in charge of it. I've planned my forever system since I was a kid... and it's nice finally having it... along with our forever house... knowing that whatever you do you will be able to ideally enjoy it for years to come. I will absolutely take a video soon... after my next scheduled Kydex swapout (which I'll explain later)... until then I have plenty more to share... something I haven't shown is the theater we had put in across the room in 2016. I carried over the same stone I used around from the aquariums for the pillars in the theater...

My four grandparents were Italian, and it took some convincing the wife, but I added many Italian elements into the space... including a looong slab of Italian marble with a waterfall edge that's natural and contemprary... just the way my wife and I like it... and gray is my favorite color...

Here you can see the tank in relation to the theater... disregard the 1300 as it's completely washed out in this shot, but you get the idea...

Water has been my life since I was a child... I grew up in Northern New Jersey on an island on a lake... we water skied and fished when the lake wasn't frozen... including barefooting... my older brother was the New Jersey State barefoot champion in 1987... and in the winter we played ice hockey... I played Tier 1 mite through midget and went on to play Junior hockey for the Washington Junior Capitals... I also grew up snow skiing in the winter and ski raced for my high school team... and of course I love the ocean and diving... so, we tried to tie water into the theme without going to overboard... another Italian element is the Italian tile we used underneath shaped like with waves...

Even the sconces for the theater were wave inspired...

And this is what happens when you have a hard core reefer do theater lighting... I won't show the 50,000 possible color combinations... but you get the idea... my daughter loves turning it pink when she has all of her friends over... :celeb1:

But when I have my reefing buddies over of course our favorite is... turning on the actinics... :fun4:

Copps

Once again, I am your son with his jaw hanging open!
That certainly is a dream Home theatre/tank room.
Love marble and the wave tiles.. among many things..

 

[hatfielj]

2 words...

HOLY CRAP!

 

[tom obrecht]

Pm sent

 

[JMetaxas]

Incredible tank !!

If you don't mind me asking, what might be your electric bill?

 

[tripdad]

The whole story and build is just great, thanks for sharing with us. Out of all the parts of this build to ooh and ahh over I am just in love with the huge school of anthias! As you said, nothing says reef better, just so dang cool. They have got to be amazing to see swimming in and out of the acro branches.

 

[abhishek@1985]

Thanks guys!



Abhishek, there are times where I stand above the tank and look what I created, and it feels like it's not mine. I cannot explain the amount of effort that went into this... I glued every pipe... placed every rock... mounted every coral... it's a bit frightening sometimes to see the world I've created and realize I'm in charge of it. I've planned my forever system since I was a kid... and it's nice finally having it... along with our forever house... knowing that whatever you do you will be able to ideally enjoy it for years to come. I will absolutely take a video soon... after my next scheduled Kydex swapout (which I'll explain later)... until then I have plenty more to share... something I haven't shown is the theater we had put in across the room in 2016. I carried over the same stone I used around from the aquariums for the pillars in the theater...

My four grandparents were Italian, and it took some convincing the wife, but I added many Italian elements into the space... including a looong slab of Italian marble with a waterfall edge that's natural and contemprary... just the way my wife and I like it... and gray is my favorite color...

Here you can see the tank in relation to the theater... disregard the 1300 as it's completely washed out in this shot, but you get the idea...

Water has been my life since I was a child... I grew up in Northern New Jersey on an island on a lake... we water skied and fished when the lake wasn't frozen... including barefooting... my older brother was the New Jersey State barefoot champion in 1987... and in the winter we played ice hockey... I played Tier 1 mite through midget and went on to play Junior hockey for the Washington Junior Capitals... I also grew up snow skiing in the winter and ski raced for my high school team... and of course I love the ocean and diving... so, we tried to tie water into the theme without going to overboard... another Italian element is the Italian tile we used underneath shaped like with waves...

Even the sconces for the theater were wave inspired...

And this is what happens when you have a hard core reefer do theater lighting... I won't show the 50,000 possible color combinations... but you get the idea... my daughter loves turning it pink when she has all of her friends over... :celeb1:

But when I have my reefing buddies over of course our favorite is... turning on the actinics... :fun4:

Copps

Thank you for the pics . It's an amazing big treat for anyone to sit in that 5 star theatre . I hope sometimes you get God Complex seeing what an amazing creation you have created .

May be I have missed but wanna know how do you mai rain flow in this ginormous reef ?

Man , someday if time is right - I would just like to travel and visit your home to just wrap my head around this monster !!!

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[biecacka]

John, very beautiful tank and house. I love the large variation of fish in the tank as well. I do however have one question for you and it is; you stated on page 1 "just say no to detritus" and showed the epoxied sand around the rocks. Is all of your sand epoxied or just in the areas surrounding the rocks?

Corey

 

[Stickboy97]

WOW! I will totally be using your thread as a bargaining tool with my wife! This will make convincing her I need a 220g and fish room easy! LOL

Beautiful set-up!!!

 

[Fredfish]

Stunning! How do you deal with humidity in the fish room?

 

[copps]

This site is full of incredible build threads but this one takes things to a whole new level. Your attention to detail, artistry in aquascaping, husbandry techniques and boldness to undertake a project of such magnitude is inspiring and commendable. Thank you for sharing and I hope you continue to share your progress.

Wow... thank you... those four things you mentioned are spot on... I could not sum it up better in four things as you just did... the first, attention to detail, I grew up hearing more than anything else, and has helped me tremendously in this hobby. My father was an Air Force pilot who flew over 200 combat missions in Vietnam, and fortunately for me survived. His father, and my grandfather, was killed in World War II when my father was just two years old. Despite growing up poor, thanks to my grandmother, and some very great role models that filled in for my grandfather, my father excelled and ended up retiring as a Boeing 777 Captain. He's now in his 70s taking it easy, and when I'm on travel he's the one who takes care of my systems... in more ways than one, he's earned the term "Senior Aquarist". I owe so much to him... way to go Pop...

artistry in aquascaping, husbandry techniques

I've always said this hobby has two sometimes very different skills/talents... one is the technical aspect... water quality... system design... things like that... but often overlooked is the artistic side of this hobby... our aquariums are our canvas, and our corals and rocks are our paints... some people kick butt on the technical side but don't know how to paint! Other paint so well, yet all the paint dies because they cannot keep it alive! Husbandry is very important too... I keep a whiteboard with all of the husbandry I perform and the dates. There are too many unknown things in this hobby... keeping a routine on things helped whittle down possible problems.

boldness to undertake a project of such magnitude is inspiring and commendable.

Again summed up so well... it took some stones to plan all this... and I'm married! Without having so much experience, and so many good friends in the public aquarium world that have done similar things (yet with employees and someone else's money... something I kind of overlooked ), I would not have been able to pull this off.

I think the only question yet to ask is...when can I move in!!��

First two questions for the interview...

1. Can you carry a 200 gallon box of salt?
2. Can you carry a full 5 gallon bucket of B-ionic?

Can you please list the parameters of the tank.

Temp: 76-79
pH: 7.8-8.0
Alk: (the only thing I test regularly) 8-9 dKH
Nitrates: low single digits... usually around 1
Phoshpates: 0.05 to 0.12

Copps