Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[mr.wilson]

it might be a good idea to incorporate some "clean-outs" in the return plumbing....it doesnt take long for gunk to build up in the pipes and its nice to be able to run a pipe brush thru long lengths of pipe...

Every line has a true union ball valve so we can do an occasional backwash. I like the long Hagen (Fluval) pipe cleaners be we have a loooong run of pipe and it's all 1.5" & 2". Maybe a carrot on a string and a rat would work

 

[nineball]

Peter,
My wife and I will arrive late Thirsday night, too late for dinner. That said, we would both like it very much if you and others would stop in and see us. We are flying in for the show, to meet people, and will be helping friends with their booth. You can find my wife and I, Sandra and Tim, at the ReefWholesale exibitor booth on the floor. It is a distributor booth, so nothing to sell to the public, just there to support the hobby.

Given We are almost neighbours, it would be a pleasure to meet you, and Mr.Wilson if possible, at the show.

All the best, and I do hope to see you.
Tim

Thank you Tim. Mr. Wilson and I will drop by for sure.......We will look forward to chatting with you and Sandra. Mr. Wilson will be the one with the parrot on his shoulder....

Peter

 

[nineball]

I hope to publish the pictures of the aquasculpture in the late morning if the world of chores I have to do gives me a chance.....

Peter

 

[reeferbro0622]

I will be there, I would love to meet you and mr.wilson your build is absolutely amazing!

JT

 

[Beaun]

I can't believe what is happening, is there realy water being added!!!

I don't remember seeing it, and am sorry if it was already brough up, but have you thought about adding a surge to such a large system? It certainly would help add some randomness to the flow of the tank.

 

[nineball]

Aquasculpture Ver 1.0

Aquasculpture Ver 1.0

Here it is finally. Five fourteen hour days and still no end in sight! What a wonderful hobby.

The design goals as most of you know were to try and feature four distinct styles and give recognition to the Four Masters who were the best representations of those styles. I think we have achieved that even though it is only the underlying rock structure and not with the coral in place.

Other design goals were to allow maximum flexibility to maintain water flow through out the tank. This meant that ideally, less rock in the tank than is typical and a somewhat open airy look and feel.

This actually worked in my favour as I discovered quite by accident a fifth 'style' which the team can call its own. As the sculpting progressed one of the Bros Grimm found a rock that looked like a dinosaur head so with a bit of creative touch he finished the head with teeth. He decided it should go at the end (or the head, depending on your perspective) of the canyon style. Then we realized that the sides of the canyon looked like the skeletal lines of the dinosaur body. Jamie added a tail and voilà we have the Jurassic Park style! The Bonsai style stands on its own and will provide many hours of frag heaven for sure.

I will be naming the four masters soon........

There are a number of other 'discoveries' which we made as we were sculpting......

There really is fifty feet of seascape. The temptation to refer to a front and back side of the tank is very difficult to stop doing. Both sides are equally interesting and different from the other. In fact there are distinct areas that unique to each side.

There are a couple of sweet spots that we could not have anticipated because of mirror reflections that became clear with the introduction of the rock.

We really had to keep in mind that the live rock was not the end of the exercise but the beginning. Its very much like a great gardener or landscaper who knows NOT to crowd or overfill the initial landscape with plants that have no room to grow.

Someone in the thread suggested recently that wed shouldn't try and copy individual aquarists tanks and I think I agree with him. We are trying to identify and clone the 'styles'. Thats why I will name the aquarists after the styles have been set. Except ChingChai of course..:beer:

that is the first 8 ft ...... next 16 ft to come.

Peter

 

[bioload]

Well done :beer:

 

[nineball]

Next Sixteen feet......

Next Sixteen feet......

More to come.....I didn't quite make the full 16 ft......

 

[nineball]

Sixteen feet continued.....

Sixteen feet continued.....

This is the Bonsai group.........

End of side one......


Peter

 

[gig]

killer!!!!! :thumbsup::bigeyes::fun4:

 

[Tazzmacd]

Absolutely Beautiful!! Hats off to the team for a job well done on the whole aquascaping!!

 

[Lyfey]

Wow love the killer T-Rex rock! haha

 

[nineball]

Begining of side two......

Begining of side two......

End of side two...........


Peter

 

[nineball]

A couple of neat perspectives....

A couple of neat perspectives....

Peter

 

[TJQ]

I've been following this thread from a distance for many months, and I finally have to say that this is simply breathtaking.

The different styles are all very distinct, but all tie into each other in a very natural way. Well done! Now I have to decide which style I'm going to "borrow" for my upcoming 8 or 9 footer.

 

[SaraB]

Wow, the rockwork looks amazing! I bet you are really excited to see this all come together in the tank ... the meeting of liverock and saltwater!

Love the Bros Grimm Jurassic Park style!!!

I also don't envy the person that will be keeping all that glass scraped and clean

 

[dmb1977]

wow peter lookiung amazing, whats the plans for corals??:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Tanu]

Peter, this looks very well done! Enough 'negative space' for the corals to grow, the water to flow and the fishes to swim, enough rockwork for animals to hide. I'm really looking forward to this tank being populated. Judging from your previous messages, you'll probably not only be very proud, but you'll also have a plan for the next steps... Looking forward to each of the steps!

For now: be proud and enjoy your tank with a glass of wine!

 

[klipprand]

Hooray - it's looking great. Thank you for posting the pictures of your work. Looking forward to seeing the tank as you add more and it matures. Also, interested to hear more about lighting and how the filtration system is working. Thanks.

 

[MK Reefer]

Someone in the thread suggested recently that we shouldn't try and copy individual aquarists tanks and I think I agree with him. We are trying to identify and clone the 'styles'.

That was me lol I love the rock work. Flows nicely but you can still identify the individual styles. Great job and looks very natural and will fill in very nicely.

Mike