Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[mr.wilson]

I forgot to mention, miracle mud would work fine as a planting media for the mangroves. Of all the products readilly available, it's the closest to what they would be found in their natuarl environment.

There have been no studies into the composition of miracle mud, other than the manufacturers claims that it is "miraculous". As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the best asset of the product is its semi-bouyant nature that allows for free flow of detritus, more flow through the granules, high surface area, and a higher dissolved oxygen level. It is likely that even a few inches down into the mud, it has the same properties as the first inch of surface area where denitrification has been proven to be best. Miracle mud is basically a passive fluidized bed from my understanding. Adding any form of sand or gravel on top would defeat the purpose, but I see no problem in putting substrate below it. This will offer a more firm holdfast/ancor for the roots as the mud is pretty light.

While not a proven or widely accepted product, I haven't heard any reports of miracle mud being detrimental in any way.

 

[mikebpeters]

I can't believe that after every spare moment of my last week I have finally gotten to the most current post in this fabulous thread!

I have done a lot of surfing and have never come across another thread that has elicited such in depth discussion on so many important aspects of our hobby (despite the fact that it tends to be a little on the 'just in time delivery' side of things).

This tank certainly has fabulous potential and I look forward to tracking progress.

If I were to offer one suggestion it would be to attend MACNA down in Orlando this fall (3-5 Sep). I would suggest that this would be an excellent use of your time in that you would be able to listen to and talk with some of the most renowned experts in the field, and also see some of the coolest products on the market.

http://www.macna2010.com/

Good luck as you continue your build. I will be following with rapt attention

 

[3seconds2live]

I want a wheelpad http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/

mr wilson you are my new hero for finding this vid :lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

[venom550pm]

count me i on the book pre order

 

[Antonais1391]

same here

 

[Western_reefer]

Yes, very hands on for a biology teacher. You certainly aren't afraid of getting your feet wet. In Canada we shave the worker's heads and take their shoes away before we lock them in the tanks. It makes it harder for them to escape and easier to spot in the general population for recapture. We use smaller tanks to keep the males away from the females

:lmao:

 

[Padrino]

hey hey just so we are clear. I'm still first in line for this book lol

 

[nineball]

I hope to have a small update soon.....as soon as the second chiller is here we are wet! ! ! !

Peter

 

[Rascalson]

Nice!!! Chumming the water before you put out more baited hooks :thumbsup:

 

[nuccadoc]

Sweet! The tension is building!

 

[chingchai]

Peter. Some update. Please.

 

[artur]

i want to belive that Peter is very busy this weekend working on his tank so we could have does updates (hopefully)
How about a preview of an update??

 

[aceheart1976]

the suspense is killing me!!!!!!!
loving this thread and looking forward to the updates

 

[Aquarist007]

Mr. Wilson you should really get started on that book! Put me on the pre-order list.

I would love to co-author a book with Mr. Wilson. Heck I would love to contribute a chapter----a page--a paragraph--two sentences worth:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Hint Hint Mr. Wilson

 

[nineball]

the suspense is killing me!!!!!!!
loving this thread and looking forward to the updates

i want to belive that Peter is very busy this weekend working on his tank so we could have does updates (hopefully)
How about a preview of an update??

Nice!!! Chumming the water before you put out more baited hooks :thumbsup:

Sweet! The tension is building!

Peter. Some update. Please.

Thanks for your patience guys, There is stuff going on while I wait for the second closed loop system to arrive. Most of it is pretty mundane when I know the focus should now be on getting the tank wet!!!! But, unfortunately that second system has to be plumbed in correctly before we can bring on the water. For the moment I can share the following....................


Here is the fish room extension that will house the RO/DI water.

The white hose (hiding behind the black one) is the conduit housing the separate hoses that will deliver either pure top up water or salt water to the display tank and mars bars......... The black hose is the fresh water in to the RO/DI units.

The custom electrical switch boxes give me one location to get a visual map of all electrical activity in the room. The red light means there is live current going to the device. The green light means the device is using that current. The toggle allows me to kill any device in the room if necessary.

This is the wiring inside the waterproof box.............

I am waiting for the heavy sound proof glass window to arrive for the visual access to the Fish Room from the display tank area. It will be framed with the same granite as the ledge around the Display tank.

Hopefully the rest of the equipment arrives early this week and we can see some significant progress.


Peter

 

[mr.wilson]

You can all contribute to the book. I'm taking the Tom Sawyer approach, but instead of you guys painting a fence, it's editing a fish book

I'm dusting off some old posts about fish & coral acclimation, QT&HT (quarantine & hospital tanks), and fish & invert disease identification and treatment. After I've sifted through it and I'm completely sick of working on it, I'll post it in this thread. You guys can let me know if it needs to be more or less technical or detailed. Also the general direction of the writing. Let me know what you like and don't spare my feelings with what you don't like.

It's a hard subject to read and absorb, and an even harder one to try to teach and explain. I remember my first job at a fish store, I had ten years experience keeping fish so I thought I knew it all. It wasn't until the first customer asked me how a marine tank works that I realized that I didn't know all the answers and I had absolutely no idea how to explain it to someone who knew nothing about it. More than 20 years have passed since then and my current goal is lowered from teaching someone how a marine tank works to convincing them that I know how it works. I've yet to convince myself and the fish and corals definitely aren't buying it so it's gonna be a slow process

These first topics (QT/HT, acclimation, livestock health) aren't the fun ones like aquascaping or modifying equipment, but they are one of the most overlooked and important.

 

[mr.wilson]

The toggle allows me to kill any device in the room if necessary.
Peter

... or person. Frick'n lasers mounted on sharks heads, I love it!

 

[nineball]

I would love to co-author a book with Mr. Wilson. Heck I would love to contribute a chapter----a page--a paragraph--two sentences worth:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Hint Hint Mr. Wilson

Based on the excellent work you did compiling the material for the cap'ns Log I would say that there's value in that offer................ Mr. Wilson, when can we expect the first galleys.


Peter

 

[AF91107]

only in my biggest dreams, *sigh*

 

[reefgeek31]

my local club was just talking about there is not enough writing about this exact area.

You can all contribute to the book. I'm taking the Tom Sawyer approach, but instead of you guys painting a fence, it's editing a fish book

I'm dusting off some old posts about fish & coral acclimation, QT&HT (quarantine & hospital tanks), and fish & invert disease identification and treatment. After I've sifted through it and I'm completely sick of working on it, I'll post it in this thread. You guys can let me know if it needs to be more or less technical or detailed. Also the general direction of the writing. Let me know what you like and don't spare my feelings with what you don't like.

It's a hard subject to read and absorb, and an even harder one to try to teach and explain. I remember my first job at a fish store, I had ten years experience keeping fish so I thought I knew it all. It wasn't until the first customer asked me how a marine tank works that I realized that I didn't know all the answers and I had absolutely no idea how to explain it to someone who knew nothing about it. More than 20 years have passed since then and my current goal is lowered from teaching someone how a marine tank works to convincing them that I know how it works. I've yet to convince myself and the fish and corals definitely aren't buying it so it's gonna be a slow process

These first topics (QT/HT, acclimation, livestock health) aren't the fun ones like aquascaping or modifying equipment, but they are one of the most overlooked and important.