Cliff/Spar's 450g Reef build
- Thread starter Spar
- Start date
Spar
New member
We built it in-wall and it just looked better to be at that height in comparison to the height of the room. Purely aesthetics. The one downside is that as coral grew larger, you would see the underneath of the coral rather than the top of it... (i.e. seeing the white part, not color).
When i redo my tank I will be making it a deeper SPS tank. (rocks only coming up to 1/3 the height or so)
Spar
New member
Future plans? Same size tank? Different material?
oh ya, my plan to 'take a break' has taken a more rapid timing and I will start it back up sooner than later.
Same tank, i am just having it fixed and a steel bracing put around it to prevent this same debacle from happening again. I am also changing my back glass pane to be starphire, which right now I just have the front pane as starphire.
i am going to make my rock work a little different (crescent moon look), and also be much lower down, only coming up to the 1/3-1/2 water level mark, to allow for more coral growth upward and outward. I will also finally have no sand and no snails, which i am quite happy for!
Spar
New member
Sounds good Cliff
Tried to also keep most of our rock under the half way point as well.
i did like my pillar look, but the problem is that it limits the real estate for SPS to grow up and out given the pillars had to have such a steep slope.
plus, i will be able to look down at the SPS rather than up!
I am considering upgrading my lights to give more PAR... any advice for a 96x36x30 tank? I will stay with MH's. I currently have 250w Radiums and exceptional color and growth on SPS toward the mid-to-top, but not as great down lower. What will give me better PAR at depth?
nuxx
.Registered Member
Could just supplement with Kessil A360N or A360WEs to get depth.
Were you using lumenarc or lumenbrite reflectors? The coralvue 400 watt adjustable ballasts are nice because you could tone down the new bulbs and bring them to full power slowly so you don't burn the corals. I used to work at a fish store and we did an experiment with some lumenbrite reflectors. Don't remember the exact numbers, but remember they made a huge difference.
Sucks about the tank. What manufacturer? I just bough a miracles tank used for 2 years. Seeing this has freaked me out. What was the defect that made it leak? My tank also open like yours and has no center brace. Will you be adding one?
Sucks about the tank. What manufacturer? I just bough a miracles tank used for 2 years. Seeing this has freaked me out. What was the defect that made it leak? My tank also open like yours and has no center brace. Will you be adding one?
Spar
New member
I have the LumenMax Elite reflectors. I use HQI/magnetic ballasts as they override the 250w Radium bulbs for better spectrum/PAR (I forgot the science on this one...).
An adjustable ballast would be quite nice. If I went with a bulb that didn't require a magnetic ballast then I would upgrade for sure.
The manufacturer was A.G.E. and yes was a manufacturer defect. Unfortunately they won't cover the cost as was 'out of warranty'. The defect was the choice of bracing... they put only eurobracing on the top which is just acrylic glued to the top, apparently was the 'fad' five years ago. They realized pretty quick apparently that this did not hold for tanks with high heat lights over it... but they didn't tell any prior customers... so we get to find out when water pours on our floors instead like I did...
I did not have a center brace, nor am I adding one now. I am just having them reseal the glass and put a steel frame around the top and bottom. According to them it will be strong at that point.
They come get the tank tomorrow and will be getting it back in around 3 to 4 weeks. I may delay it though as I am getting a new door installed in that period that will make it easier to get a wide tank through.
Icefire
Seasoned reefer
An acrylic eurobracing on a glass tank? thats a recipe for desaster, acrylic/silicone bond is weak. you need a mininmum of 1/2-3/4 glass eurobrace, probably 4-5 inch wide with a crossbrace. 8ftx30in high put lot of stress on a tank like that
What is the glass thickness all around?
Currently getting a 36x36x24 cube in 1/2 inch and Miracles didn't want it less than 5/8"
What is the glass thickness all around?
Currently getting a 36x36x24 cube in 1/2 inch and Miracles didn't want it less than 5/8"
Spar
New member
3/4" glass on all sides. definitely was a disaster indeed! 5 years ago apparently that is the path they were taking on many of their tanks.
I am keeping the acrylic eurobracing purely for aesthetics, but will have the steel frame all around the edges to hold it in place.
few more weeks until the rebuild, can't wait!
DavidinGA
Active member
Wow that stinks.Well, my day has come! My glass decided to separate on me a little over a week ago. Manufacturing defect of some sort...
I moved everything over to a 300 gallon tub in hopes to store it there until I got my tank fixed (minimum of a couple months). But, things started going south real quickly, starting with my massive turquoise staghorn dieing and an ammonia increase to follow. I only lost a few things at least.
This all happened on the same day I brought my newborn daughter (first child) home from the hospital. Between the shift in priorities with now taking care of her, and the emotional trauma of this tank collapse ordeal, my wife and I have decided to take a prolonged break from the reefing the world.
I can assure you all I will be back a few years down the road though!
Here is the final full tank picture I have from before the collapse, and then what it looked like after :sad2:
Was this a Cadlights tank?
nuxx
.Registered Member
Love our A.G.E. frag tank as well 
Made the trip up to Dallas to get it, barely BARELY fit in my wife's SUV.
The guys at A.G.E. were really nice and showed us around. Just didn't have any massive tanks they were working on.
Kind of makes me want to build our next tank to be the max size they'll do in Starphire!
Made the trip up to Dallas to get it, barely BARELY fit in my wife's SUV.
The guys at A.G.E. were really nice and showed us around. Just didn't have any massive tanks they were working on.
Kind of makes me want to build our next tank to be the max size they'll do in Starphire!
Spar
New member
Love our A.G.E. frag tank as well
Made the trip up to Dallas to get it, barely BARELY fit in my wife's SUV.
The guys at A.G.E. were really nice and showed us around. Just didn't have any massive tanks they were working on.
Kind of makes me want to build our next tank to be the max size they'll do in Starphire!
my original tank was starphire on the front and regular glass on the back. i hated the back pane being so green, and the starphire front-pane had large gashes in it from the company that installed it (not AGE). so this time around I had them move the gashed-pane to the back and put in a new starphire (equiv) pane in the front. looks amazing having both sides as starphire!
