Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[Elliott]

ahh, water! :dance:

 

[TotalVapor]

YEAAAAAA Water! I love this build!

 

[reefman66]

The birth of a magnificent reef tank to come!!!! can't wait!!!

 

[Patrick F]

Hello Peter,

Its fantastic to witness the water entering the aquarium! I really like what mr. wilson has done to camoflauge the pvc on the closed loops and returns.

I also noticed in the pics we see a glimpse of some of the lighting that is perhaps going to be used on the system?

Anyhow keep up the great work guys things seem to be coming together very nicely!

Patrick

 

[elijaher]

Lookin great we got water.

 

[gig]

Woooooo! Water!

 

[nineball]

Hello Peter,

Its fantastic to witness the water entering the aquarium! I really like what mr. wilson has done to camoflauge the pvc on the closed loops and returns.

I also noticed in the pics we see a glimpse of some of the lighting that is perhaps going to be used on the system?

Anyhow keep up the great work guys things seem to be coming together very nicely!

Patrick

Hi Patrick, you are right. Even though its tap water for a test it still gives me goose bumps for what is to come. Even with all his skill Mr. Wilson couldn't camoflage the requisite can of Barq's Root Beer as you can see...........

The water is currently being drained to accomodate the new salt water being made as we speak. I am mixing up 400 gals of fresh RO\DI to mix with my reef crystal salt. This will be used to keep the base aquasculpture 'Live'. The Bros Grimm in concert with Mr. Wilsons input have decided that the tank will be done in thirds requiring at least three days to complete the task. The bottom third is tentatively schedualed for tomorrow...........if it does take place I will be taking pictures of the progress.

The lighting you have spotted is a general starting array of different lighting technologies which we will be testing and comparing over the next while. We are going to choose the best lighting for our corals so I expect we will be looking far and wide for the best solution. As Mr. Wilson has already stated we will be using our LUX and PAR devices to measure the real world examples over the tank. We have plasma, LED and MH (HID) housed with T5's and Moonlight led's and I know we will be taking our time to choose the absolute best technology for 'our' marine ecosystem. I know that Mr. Wilson and I will be scouring the MACNA for knowledge and real world candidates in a couple of weeks. We have sufficient technology for the time being I believe to give us what we need for the live rock in the display tank. I can say here however that we are keenly looking out for LED's that we can use to replace the existing lighting in the Mars Bar that we are planning to use exclusively for coral. This means we are looking for something in the four foot range with hopefully a low profile. We need three of them to complete the three levels in the unit. We are completely unbiased and open on brand and approach but we will not be entertaining DIY solutions. This would be way too much for us to undertake with everything else on our plates.

I will be throwing up a few pics of the mars bars shortly.

Peter

 

[Flems]

Finally good to see some water in there Peter. It's been a long time coming.

Im also interested in Mr. Wilson's secret recipe as I have a white PVC pipe coming out as my return that I'd like to hide.

 

[nineball]

Mars Bars

Mars Bars

Here are some shots of the Mars Bars that have been cleaned up by the Bros Grimm and refurbished by Mr. Wilson. We are currently testing the chiller on the coral unit and I have the temp at 56 deg F. We want to find out how efficient the unit is and what would be the consequence of a run away chiller.........56 is very very cold to the touch and before anyone says it I know the folks in Atlantic Canada think that's positively balmy!!!

Peter

 

[mynock11]

Absolutly Awsome peter!!! wish i could do this... looks like so much fun and what a learning experience it must be...I truly envy you!

 

[crazzy]

Raised the Bar very high with Mars Bars circulation sytem

Raised the Bar very high with Mars Bars circulation sytem

OMG.
The Mars Bars circulation system you have done Mr. Wilson has raised the bar mighty high - will be great for Clown Breeders and others!
Any possibility of a Flow Diagram?
Congratulations, work of Art! :thumbsup:

:beer:

 

[Rybren]

Kuddos to Mr Wilson on his cover-up job! It's great to see water in the system (even if it was only for test purposes) - it's one step closer to completion.

I just love every aspect of this build. You are managing to pull off what, I am sure, each and every one of your virtual team aspires to.

If you had a webcam pointed at me right now, you would see that I am green with envy.

One more thing, how long will it take to get the North American distribution rights for the Epo Putty, and when will the storefront be set up? I do believe that there is a legion of people eager to get their hands on this stuff.

Jerry

 

[mr.wilson]

Ooooh, I thought you were talking about 25 year old scotch not a 25 year old ...... Oops sorry!
:beer:

Peter

 

[mr.wilson]

I'm concerned about the amount of in-tank plumbing in the corner, which is going to be one of the prime viewing places. Plumbing is not pretty, and Mr. Wilson is a master at hiding it, but this looks like a real challenge specifically around the 45* rotation devices, which I would think, would need to be mostly exposed to rotate.

Any thoughts on this or is this part of the secret sauce?

You are exactly right, it is impossible to make that tiger vanish The L shaped design requires a two-tank flow design. You need to treat the short wing and the long wing as two separate entities. This means having ugly plumbing at the top middle instead of burying it in the end panels.

Peter is perfectly happy with visible plumbing, and there really are no options. We will minimize it as best we can and who's gonna notice it with 24' of reef tank right behind it

 

[cpl40475]

The rock on the plumbing for the closed loops and the internal returns is AWESOME. Very good idea for helping to conceal those.
PaulB another member here has broken beer bottles,beer cans ETC in his tank. If ya really wanted to leave the rootbeer can in there you might PM him and ask what epoxy he used to cover them. His tank is almost 40 yrs strong so the epoxy has gotta be safe lol.

 

[mr.wilson]

hmm thanks for showing that putty again , did you mange to ascertain whether the fungi resistance will cause any problems , i know Chingchai has used it with no problems but so far? Most of the aquarium made epoxy puttys are weak and dont work very well for sticking rocks together

For anyone asking about the Epo Putty we are still in the testing phase. ChingChai has had excellent results and our preliminary tests have shown that it passes the easy to use, and bonding tests with flying colours. We will be using a whole lot of it tomorrow and will report back phase two results.

There does not appear to be any antifungal agents or metallic ingredients. We will do some water testing as we go. Other epoxies lower the dissolved oxygen level and have been known to kill fish and corals if used in large amounts. I know other epoxies mostly for falling apart and looking like pieces of gum stuck to the rock. We intend to develop a system that will make the glue look like sponges. If all goes well we will develop a system for tinting it red, yellow and blue make faux sponges on the bond joints. For now it will just be texture techniques and making "mouths".

I have ordered some Epo Putty but would like to wait and see how this stuff works out before giving it the final stamp of approval. No wine, root beer, or epoxy until its time

 

[mr.wilson]

Here are some shots of the river rock which we figured would be excellent test material as they were very smooth and likely to break apart under pressure as there is nothing to hold the grip. We were unable to pry them apart. Even hitting them doesn't seem to work..........

We discovered that you can actually have whatever texture you want as a finish if you are the least bit creative with a mold that could emulate anything from a worm or sponge or any kind of sandy substrate. Its very easy to work with.

Peter

Working with rubber gloves adds a crisscross (knurled) texture, but not deep enough to show through coraline algae. Keep in mind that all these bonds will be hidden in 6-9 months. I think we can come up with a stamp/screwdriver thingy to make the holes (mouths) you see in sponges.

The hard part in making sponge textures is it is a positive (peaks pointing outward), and most stamps make a negative (peaks pointing inward). If the putty was softer you could touch it with something sticky and pull ridges out as you pull away, but I don't think this will be the case. Adding a colour may prove to be easier. These ones have pores rather than peaks so a rough plastic brush pushed into the epoxy may work.
http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/Haliclonasp.2(New).htm
http://www.messersmith.name/wordpre...e_encrusting_sponge_haliclona_sp_IMG_0025.jpg

For plaster and cement, a releasing agent is necessary when you press a mold or tool into it. Pam cooking spray and vaseline work but they need to be washed off well. Reef applications would require something like silicone grease, but I haven't tried yet. A little bit of water works and the putty will be less tacky than cement. It all comes down to working the material at the exact moment.

Of course this is overkill for most people, but we're talking about best practices.

 

[cpl40475]

Mr W.
How about a drill bit? Push it into the putty then twist it back out...kind of like reversing the drill blades path to pull the contents back towards the top.

 

[swissgaurd]

mr wilson
you probaly got some square bio cubes kicking around.you can cut to fit the crevises with the putty

vic

 

[DeepSeaBeauti]

I cant wait to see this thing full of life!!!!