Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[nineball]

Good luck with your project, Peter. I'm sure it will be amazing. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thank you Ninong. Its funny, I don`t have a detailed visual blueprint of the finished product in my mind but I have a definate sense about this process that I will know how it will feel. It will sort of be like an `oceanic state of grace`.

Stay with us and I`m sure you will feel it too.

Peter

 

[nineball]

Hi Peter - really enjoying this thread!

I think the key thing about light loss over distance is that decrease in intensity follows the inverse square law. Basically, if you double the distance you quarter the intensity. I hope that makes sense but it's far more comprehensively and eloquently explained here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/8/aafeature/view?searchterm=inverse square law

and here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law

One of the benefits of LED lighting is that it can be sited closer to the water surface without the same heat issues as metal halide lighting though obviously the spread of light will be less (inverse square law again).

Cheers

Alan

Alan, I`m with you on the Inverse Square Law. The larger concern I have is whats in the light itself and can we expect to manage it effectively. I know there are differences between what we can see in the visible light spectrum and what the real needs of the plant and animal forms we are caring for. Is there an optimal recommended frequency set that, I assume, most closely replicates the natural light found in the real world. Somehow the plants and animals have figured it out and I`m surprised something so fundamental still seems to allude us. It should be science and not art that calls the shots on this subject.

But what do I know, sometimes I feel like I have the depth perception of a houseplant when it comes to this stuff.

Peter

 

[Patwa]

Patwa. Are you too nervous or skeptical?
The way you posted is really annoying me.
This is Peter's thread.
If you feel uncomfortable to read, just ignore it.

Oh Ching......how about you ignore my posts then? I'm from Toronto, Peter's from Toronto.....if he (and you) don't see the relevance in my comment about livestock in our city, then imo, that's just the start of bigger problems.

But yeah, i'm not nervous, Ching....but definitely, 100%, bonafide SKEPTICAL money can only do so much.....knowledge and experience accounts for the rest. Problem is, Peter has people feeding him both really good and really bad info....he just doesn't know well enough to soundly differentiate b/w the two.....i'm just worried when it comes to decision time.

To compound it, comments like this just makes it worse.....he hasn't even started the tank yet and you're already guaranteeing unequivocal success.....count your eggs before they've hatched much?? You and others are only giving him this false sense of security....that's dangerous territory, imo.

No matter what, Peter's tank will be the exception.
A guy from nowhere, none of experience in this hobby, can achieve the most beautiful marine tank.
The reason he can do this. Why?
You guys all know the answer.

Peter. I sincerely salute you.
You are the man!

really?

 

[reefgeek31]

SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN THE TIME OR ENERGY OF A RESPONSE!
Please continue with this amazing build I'm truely enjoying it without the attacks.

 

[keegoaz]

some people should not be given the time or energy of a response!
Please continue with this amazing build i'm truely enjoying it without the attacks.

+1

 

[Antonais1391]

[profanity] patwa your not making your case any better. and your loosing business for some LFS's.

No matter what, Peter's tank will be the exception.

A guy from nowhere, none of experience in this hobby, can achieve the most beautiful marine tank.
The reason he can do this. Why?
You guys all know the answer.
Peter. I sincerely salute you.
You are the man!

Chingchai is dead on with this comment. my club and LFS knowledge helped make my new 75gtank what it is!http://s1005.photobucket.com/albums/af177/antonias1391/?action=view&current=75gaquarium004.jpg keep at it Peter! dont give him the time of day. :bounce3:

 

[Cougarman]

Wow what a build thread. This thing is just plain awesome. Down the street from me too(Burlington).
I can't believe how long this thread is after only a couple months. I'm going to have to sit down and read the whole thing.
Now I know who to contact if I ever want to unload some of my large Tangs.
Good luck with everything. I'm gonna be following along now.

 

[mr.wilson]

You will do just fine with Reef Crystals, and I don't want to stoke the fire too much, but you will do fine with the reef specialty stores in the Toronto area as well. The local stores get in 1000 pcs of coral at a time and sell out pretty quick, so as suggested you need to be an early bird to get the premium worms. I know price isn't a major deciding factor but Toronto has the cheapest coral prices in North America from what I have seen in my travels. If you were to travel to hand pick corals, Indonesia or Australia would be the places to go.

 

[Aquarist007]

You will do just fine with Reef Crystals, and I don't want to stoke the fire too much, but you will do fine with the reef specialty stores in the Toronto area as well. The local stores get in 1000 pcs of coral at a time and sell out pretty quick, so as suggested you need to be an early bird to get the premium worms. I know price isn't a major deciding factor but Toronto has the cheapest coral prices in North America from what I have seen in my travels. If you were to travel to hand pick corals, Indonesia or Australia would be the places to go.

A buddy and I went over to Canadian Fish Breeders in Scarborough yesterday. John sold me some livestock at a very reasonable price.
Other then CFB in Scarborough we are not familar with too many other stores in Toronto(we know of 3 or so in the Oakville Misss, area)
Can you list a couple where you would go Mr. W.

 

[chingchai]

:wave:

Thank you my friend......

By the way have things settled down a bit in Bangkok?? With the events in the Gulf of Mexico all other news has taken a back seat and rightfully so I guess. It`s a disaster of unimaginable proportion. But I still carry some concern for events in your country. I guess you could say its self interest on my part. I still have not visited Thailand for the first time yet and I am very much looking forward to a time when I can. :wave:

Peter

Anytime. My friend.
I look forward to seeing you.:wavehand:

 

[Posidion]

SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN THE TIME OR ENERGY OF A RESPONSE!
Please continue with this amazing build I'm truely enjoying it without the attacks.

Peter
I will choose to post this statement as not to add fuel. we must move along and be cautious not to loose focus on the the battles ahead. looking foward to more sign of progress as always.
Lately i have been following intermitantly so ill give my $.02 on the salt and controler now. Reef Crystals has been a staple for me over the last 6 years no major malfunctions due to the salt mix, in my experience. Also have used the red sea on some smaller tanks prior to plumbing all into one system, it has done me justice as well. Curently I am utilizing the Reef Keeper Elite for a controler the system is still relativly new to me. I am really impressed with it thus far. I have found it to be extreamly user friendly and the unlimitted possible configurations as well as ease of adding additional plug and play modules has won me over.
NOW LETS SEE SOME PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol2:

 

[Btortorelli]

Just want to say first off WOW what an amazing build !! and second what do you do for a living lol if you dont mind me asking?

 

[mr.wilson]

A buddy and I went over to Canadian Fish Breeders in Scarborough yesterday. John sold me some livestock at a very reasonable price.
Other then CFB in Scarborough we are not familar with too many other stores in Toronto(we know of 3 or so in the Oakville Misss, area)
Can you list a couple where you would go Mr. W.

I was just at Sea U Marine in Markham a few days ago. He had an excellent marine fish selection and some great sps prices (2 for $50) making room for 1000 pieces of coral coming in. I may miss some stores (sorry guys) but here is what comes to mind for reef specialty stores in no particular order...

Aquatic Kingdom (Mississauga)
Reef Raft (Mississauga)
ORG (Oakville)
Reefquarium (Markham)
Sea U Marine (Markham)
Aquarium Depot (Brampton)
Reef Maniac (Toronto)
NAFB (Scarborough)
Aquarium Services (Various)

Some of these stores export to retailers in the USA, sell wholesale to smaller stores, and travel to the source and cherry pick orders. You have to shop around because orders come and go quickly and like any kind of fishing you never know what you will catch.

In addition to these stores, there are a handful of frag dealers who sell mostly captive (mariculture) produced corals. Fragd.it in Oshawa is a reputable frag supplier with great stuff. Some of the frag suppliers are chop shops that buy wild collected corals at discount prices then chop it up on the spot and resell that $25 coral as 6 $15 pieces. Photoshopping and short shipping is another problem. These coral scalpers make it hard for reputable companies (who hold corals until they heal and offer honest photos and descriptions) to do business.

The Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto (MAST) has frag swaps and I've heard of other frag meets where you can pick up the best of the best coral frags. These corals have been cherry picked over the past 20 years, passed from one fellow hobbyist to the other. In addition to getting choice colours and varieties, you know these corals are well adapted to closed system lighting and water quality and are disease free. Most mariculture (farmed) corals are grown in the ocean in relatively shallow water so they are no easier to acclimate to aquarium conditions than wild caught varieties.

 

[Aquarist007]

I was just at Sea U Marine in Markham a few days ago. He had an excellent marine fish selection and some great sps prices (2 for $50) making room for 1000 pieces of coral coming in. I may miss some stores (sorry guys) but here is what comes to mind for reef specialty stores in no particular order...

Aquatic Kingdom (Mississauga)
Reef Raft (Mississauga)
ORG (Oakville)
Reefquarium (Markham)
Sea U Marine (Markham)
Aquarium Depot (Brampton)
Reef Maniac (Toronto)
NAFB (Scarborough)
Aquarium Services (Various)

Some of these stores export to retailers in the USA, sell wholesale to smaller stores, and travel to the source and cherry pick orders. You have to shop around because orders come and go quickly and like any kind of fishing you never know what you will catch.

In addition to these stores, there are a handful of frag dealers who sell mostly captive (mariculture) produced corals. Fragd.it in Oshawa is a reputable frag supplier with great stuff. Some of the frag suppliers are chop shops that buy wild collected corals at discount prices then chop it up on the spot and resell that $25 coral as 6 $15 pieces. Photoshopping and short shipping is another problem. These coral scalpers make it hard for reputable companies (who hold corals until they heal and offer honest photos and descriptions) to do business.

The Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto (MAST) has frag swaps and I've heard of other frag meets where you can pick up the best of the best coral frags. These corals have been cherry picked over the past 20 years, passed from one fellow hobbyist to the other. In addition to getting choice colours and varieties, you know these corals are well adapted to closed system lighting and water quality and are disease free. Most mariculture (farmed) corals are grown in the ocean in relatively shallow water so they are no easier to acclimate to aquarium conditions than wild caught varieties.

thanks Mr. W

When we do our coral or fish run we usually drop in on NAFB, Aquatic Kingdom, Reef Raft, ORG

There is also a chinese guy right across from BA in MIss.

Do you know what happen to www.wickedfrags.com in Oakville(Dave Jelly) I've referred a few guys there and there is no response back from him anymore

 

[lost in it all]

I don't know if I missed it but has plasma arc lighting, by seashine been suggested at all The early reviews seem to really show promise and with the size of your tank they kinda seem like a perfect fit. To put another controller out there, Peter you mentioned you were in electronics or something like that its called ReefAngel. it just came out but may have a lot of promise for your system. I have not used one personally but it seems like it is just a small computer basically that you can wright your own code for.

 

[cloakerpoked]

Caution is definitely warranted, but I think it bears mentioning that there is no settled science on what is the proper way to keep a reef tank, whether it be 20 gallons or 2000. We can all agree that the water should be somewhat salty, and preferably the tank should be lit with some kind of light. To criticize someone who is new to the hobby for taking a variety of advice from a variety of sources, being willing to change when large issues are identified, and drawing on the collective experience of a large community is misguided. The simple fact is, that many of our settled tanks are just as likely to experience a failure due to some unforseen or uncontrollable problem as Peter's will be. I think we should all strive to continue to positive vibe that this thread has held consistently since it's beginnings.

 

[Aquarist007]

Caution is definitely warranted, but I think it bears mentioning that there is no settled science on what is the proper way to keep a reef tank, whether it be 20 gallons or 2000. We can all agree that the water should be somewhat salty, and preferably the tank should be lit with some kind of light. To criticize someone who is new to the hobby for taking a variety of advice from a variety of sources, being willing to change when large issues are identified, and drawing on the collective experience of a large community is misguided. The simple fact is, that many of our settled tanks are just as likely to experience a failure due to some unforseen or uncontrollable problem as Peter's will be. I think we should all strive to continue to positive vibe that this thread has held consistently since it's beginnings.

not everyone in this world is level headed, tactful, helpful and amiable like the rest of us on here

I've learned to ignore the others on here---and not get into a negative discourse--sometimes the hard way. In the end the mods or administration treat you the same as the original poster. Why put yourself down to that level of negativism.

 

[Padrino]

I was just at Sea U Marine in Markham a few days ago. He had an excellent marine fish selection and some great sps prices (2 for $50) making room for 1000 pieces of coral coming in. I may miss some stores (sorry guys) but here is what comes to mind for reef specialty stores in no particular order...

Aquatic Kingdom (Mississauga)
Reef Raft (Mississauga)
ORG (Oakville)
Reefquarium (Markham)
Sea U Marine (Markham)
Aquarium Depot (Brampton)
Reef Maniac (Toronto)
NAFB (Scarborough)
Aquarium Services (Various)

Some of these stores export to retailers in the USA, sell wholesale to smaller stores, and travel to the source and cherry pick orders. You have to shop around because orders come and go quickly and like any kind of fishing you never know what you will catch.

In addition to these stores, there are a handful of frag dealers who sell mostly captive (mariculture) produced corals. Fragd.it in Oshawa is a reputable frag supplier with great stuff. Some of the frag suppliers are chop shops that buy wild collected corals at discount prices then chop it up on the spot and resell that $25 coral as 6 $15 pieces. Photoshopping and short shipping is another problem. These coral scalpers make it hard for reputable companies (who hold corals until they heal and offer honest photos and descriptions) to do business.

The Marine Aquarium Society of Toronto (MAST) has frag swaps and I've heard of other frag meets where you can pick up the best of the best coral frags. These corals have been cherry picked over the past 20 years, passed from one fellow hobbyist to the other. In addition to getting choice colours and varieties, you know these corals are well adapted to closed system lighting and water quality and are disease free. Most mariculture (farmed) corals are grown in the ocean in relatively shallow water so they are no easier to acclimate to aquarium conditions than wild caught varieties.

Peter, it sounds like you have the same taste of sps domination fever that i have. If this is the case, the best place in Toronto is REEF RAFT. PERIOD.

John at North American Fish breeders has great sales and when he brings in aqua cultured SPS, he has a great selection of really good pieces but you have to fight with all the locals to get some as there is a lineup out the door waiting for him to open. Seriously some real animals out there!

I have heard good things about ORG. they bring in a lot of nice coral but its more expensive than any other place in the GTA.

Im not sure i would pick all teh coral from one source. Jay is the man to talk to at reef raft and he brings all kinds of amazing coral from Australia to teh red sea to the Philippines,

Hope that helps peter

Rob

 

[Padrino]

Caution is definitely warranted, but I think it bears mentioning that there is no settled science on what is the proper way to keep a reef tank, whether it be 20 gallons or 2000. We can all agree that the water should be somewhat salty, and preferably the tank should be lit with some kind of light. To criticize someone who is new to the hobby for taking a variety of advice from a variety of sources, being willing to change when large issues are identified, and drawing on the collective experience of a large community is misguided. The simple fact is, that many of our settled tanks are just as likely to experience a failure due to some unforseen or uncontrollable problem as Peter's will be. I think we should all strive to continue to positive vibe that this thread has held consistently since it's beginnings.

:hammer: AMEN BROTHER :hammer:

 

[Aquarist007]

Peter, it sounds like you have the same taste of sps domination fever that i have. If this is the case, the best place in Toronto is REEF RAFT. PERIOD.

John at North American Fish breeders has great sales and when he brings in aqua cultured SPS, he has a great selection of really good pieces but you have to fight with all the locals to get some as there is a lineup out the door waiting for him to open. Seriously some real animals out there!

I have heard good things about ORG. they bring in a lot of nice coral but its more expensive than any other place in the GTA.

Im not sure i would pick all teh coral from one source. Jay is the man to talk to at reef raft and he brings all kinds of amazing coral from Australia to teh red sea to the Philippines,

Hope that helps peter

Rob

Let's not forget about Ocean Abyss Aquatics. This is an up and coming fish and coral supplier run by Rick and Lorna Nelles from Hamilton. I rely on these guys almost exclusively for my clients stocking needs.