Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

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I just love this tank. Mr Wilson is a glass hydrometer or refractometer more accurate when checking salinity?

I still like the old glass ones, especially the big ones, but the Veegee saltwater calibrated model is supposed to be the best tool. The Filter Guys sponsor here and have them in stock.
 
Right now, it's a QT/HT for bigger fish. We like to be prepared for any kind of emergency or new arrival. As we progress it will probably be a non-photosynthetic reef. We will swap out the biofilter for a protein skimmer and add some additional flow and let the fun begin. It is lit by two Orphek PR 25, 12 watt lights. They are meant for nano tanks, but they do fine for fish only tanks that are deeper (32" deep in this case). I'm really happy with the 80/20 aluminum T-slot stand. It won't rust, it's high tech looking, and you don't have to wait for welding and powder coating. It's like an erector set for big kids, with a million options.

Don't worry about Photobucket, I will be ready to retire in 15 years and can supply all the photos for a small fee :)
Were did you buy the 80/20 aluminum?
 
beautiful, inspiring pics!

couple of questions for mr. wilson re: refugium design.

A well planned refugium should be no deeper than 6", have decent flow to deter red cyanobacteria, utilize high intensity lighting, and contain an iron rich substrate such as laterite or get regular doses of iron.

1) Is there an optimal level of turn over from the tank? If not, what have you seen work with chaeto?
2) Does chaeto benefit from an iron supplying substrate? I presume we want enough flow to tumble the chaeto without disturbing the substrate? Do you recommend Miracle Mud, this AP Laterite (http://bit.ly/rsgeft) or some other? My fuge is 60" x 30" x 6" so a higher internal flow rate may be an issue for the substrate.

Okay, that was more than a couple questions! :)

This tank thread is the foundation for many of our large tanks!
 
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Peter and Shawn,

How is the color improvement and growth rate of SPS?
Are you happy with LED?

Chingchai, I am very happy with the LED's that I am using. Not all LED's are the same. We have been continuing to evaluate a number of current products but in my opinion we have not found anything better than the Orphek. As you may remember I was very supportive of the potential of LED's when I started the build but I couldn't find any products that would compete with MH at that time. However things are changing very fast in the industry and our experience with real products has suggested that LED's are probably ready to take on tanks of 30 to 36 inches high without compromising coral health, growth or colour. In fact I believe that there is a definite advantage to the aesthetic colour in a reef tank that MH does not do as well.

The nature and type of royal blue lights alone on the reef are certainly unmatched by either MH or T5/8's. In a long tank like mine where there is a fair amount of diversity the lighting can be adjusted to accommodate the different needs of different life forms without compromising the general health of the other inhabitants.

As I said I found the Orphek lights to be unique but to be honest I don't have enough engineering knowledge to tell you why. I need Mr. Wilson to comment on how the technology works to produce the results that I like. I can tell you that I doubt that the lights I have been using would work in your application because your tank is too deep for them to work well. There may be some models either in production or in prototype form that I have not had experience with that might be suited to your tank but Mr. Wilson has much better information on the available technology than I do to answer that one.

I do like the colour on my sps and the growth is really starting to take off. I am nowhere near the richness of coral you have in your tank but for the first time I can feel that there is a strong potential to produce a strong and vibrant coral reef. The fish certainly look great under these lights which is an added bonus in my opinion.

You will just have to come over and see for yourself!!!!

Peter
 
Peter, any chance we can get some of your latest photos in higher resolution?

Your tank looks fantastic and is an inspiration to us all! Keep up the good work.
 
And I thought I had a big tank...lol! The closest I'll ever get to having a tank this big is if I take a picture of your tank turn it into a poster with the same measurements and paste it on my wall hehe! kind of like the fatheads company does for athletes and celebrities. Maybe they should do one of your tank? Just a thought
 
And I thought I had a big tank...lol! The closest I'll ever get to having a tank this big is if I take a picture of your tank turn it into a poster with the same measurements and paste it on my wall hehe! kind of like the fatheads company does for athletes and celebrities. Maybe they should do one of your tank? Just a thought

I agree, I would by a Fathead poster of the tank for my wall... better yet, one of those backlit pictures like the ones of Niagara Falls with magnetic fish swimming around :)
 
Peter, any chance we can get some of your latest photos in higher resolution?

Your tank looks fantastic and is an inspiration to us all! Keep up the good work.

Scott,

The short answer is yes. I have been working on a web site with Dave M's help which will have a huge library of digital photo's in full resolution for easy download if you wish. I will release it as soon as Mr. Wilson gives Dave M the updates he needs for the hard written content that has been gathered by Dave. One small observation however. The galleries are huge with what may appear to be a lot of similars. When I take digital pictures, I am hoping for one good picture in 20. There may be very subtle differences in angle, light or exposure but rather than choose one and throw the rest out....I keep them all.

I use a photo site called Phanfare as the storage is unlimited, there is no restriction on file sizes, I can save both JPEG and RAW full size and I can create albums which can be posted to the web with no bandwidth implications to me.
Add to that backup within the cloud.....for me that is an important distinction, Backup within the cloud NOT to the cloud. That means that there are two copies in two locations within the cloud. So I can have a catastrophe at home and my photo archive is never at risk. Phanfare can be destroyed and there is still a copy that I can access anywhere in the world and they support PC and MAC platforms. I think the current rate is 29.95 per year without RAW & limited video storage but its a very good deal to protect and distribute your photos. I think I am paying somewhere around two hundred a year because I wanted everything they offered and I believe it works well for me.

Finally, I have no personal economic interest in Phanfare but I do mention it here because I believe for us marine foto addicts this service is clearly a best practice worth recognition.

Peter
 
I take it back I dont have a wall that BIG!!!

Sure you do silly. It's not that big. All you need is one wall 16 ft long (everybody has at least one of those) and another connected 8 ft long to accommodate the L. Since this is two sided you just might want to do the right thing and complete the other side by using the remaining two walls for the complete view. That might even be better than what I have to do which is walk over 50 feet to go from one side to the other. Just ask SaraB she has actually done it!!!
 
Mr. Wilson quoted heavily in Coral Magazine Blog on LED

Mr. Wilson quoted heavily in Coral Magazine Blog on LED

To this thread community...........

Our tank has been referenced in an article on LED lighting and they have used a lot of material from Mr. Wilson. Also mentioned is reef central and Chingchai's build.

http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/we-know-mhl-works-led-can-work-better

congratulations to all the Reef Central thread folks who have supported best practices through the life of this build.

Peter
 
Nice write up...thanks for the link.

I also use 02 PR156 WUV custom made 60/40 90 optics for my 05 ft SPS dominated tank and I am very happy with the results..
 
Bare with me here, I'm trying to post a slide show...



Okay, I've never been crazy about Photobucket. How the... do you make the slide show full screen?
 
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great slide show Mr Wilson but I couldnt get it to work on full screen. probably just my computer.the tank is looking awsome

No, it looks like Flash won't do full screen :( I'll upload the pics to Peter's cloud and get him to set up a proper slide show. In addition to my Photobucket subscription, also pay for storage at Mac, but it only does slide shows for Iphoto :(
 
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