Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[Haksar]

Wow..this pictures were worth waiting.
Great work Peter and Team.

 

[tom obrecht]

Reefkeeping has come a LONG way from my first tank years ago. My first tank was a 55 with a skilter!:lol:

I've following this for awile and have not commented simply for I've been waiting to see the finished product. I must say you have set the bar high and everything is coming along great! Keep up the good work!
:thumbsup:

 

[mr.wilson]

It's been eight months now since Peter received his live rock from Indonesia. The tank has been aquascaped and running for about two months. I did some water testing a few days ago, just before adding the fish, here are the results...

Phosphate (Salifert) = 0 (will try again with more accurate test kit)
Nitrate (Salifert & API) = 0
Ammonia (API & Seachem) = 0
Nitrite (API) = 0
Alkalinity (Salifert) = 7.7 (low)
Magnesium (Salifert) = 1600 (high due to Kent mag dosing for hair algae)
Calcium (Salifert) = 420 (no supplementation yet)
Strontium (Salifert) = 16
Iodine & Iodide (Salifert) = 0 (low)
Iodide (Salifert) = 0 (low)
PH (API, Profilux) = 8.2
Salinity (refractometer, Pinpoint salinity meter, swing arm) = 1.026

 

[Crisis64]

Hey Shawn, if you ever have any trouble with that Schuran Jetstream Calcium reactor, don't hesitate to call me, I used to be the wiz kid on these guys! I setup the one at Reef Raft yrs ago.

 

[auem]

just going to ask about those hair algae..but you have answered it....can't wait to see the corals going there...

 

[mr.wilson]

I'm not sue if I mentioned it, but the DC pumps from Venotec use 420 watts each at full power, and a mere 94 watts at 50% power. I assumed that at half power they would use half as much electricity, but they use 1/4. The whole water column is moving very well with only 500 watts consumed in total. When we feed the tank, all food remains suspended until it finds an open mouth or drain intake. If you take a look at the photos I posted, you will see the surface is moving extremely well, thanks largely to the eductors and variable flow controller. Unlike standard flare nozzles, we have an organic looking variable ripple across the entire 24' x 3' surface. The water settles a bit just before going over the overflows for better (thinner) surface skimming.

Peter will attest that the tank is running completely silent. The dual overflows have 1.5" primary (surface tension) siphons and 2" secondary Durso (aspirated/vented) drains. This set-up is running successfully at 65% for 15 minutes and can still handle the excess for the one minute of 100% flow every 15 minutes. There is very little air introduced to the draining water, so there are virtually no bubbles in the sump.

 

[Rybren]

Well done, gentlemen. Well done!

 

[mr.wilson]

Hey Shawn, if you ever have any trouble with that Schuran Jetstream Calcium reactor, don't hesitate to call me, I used to be the wiz kid on these guys! I setup the one at Reef Raft yrs ago.

This one didn't come with any instructions but Chingchai sent a pic of his set-up and Schuran got back to me pretty quick. I initially thought the feed line was on the intake, rather than a venturi on the output of the closed loop pump. I ordered some 1/2" inline PH probe holders (1/2" MPT x compression fitting) from Champion Lighting to thread into the imperial adapted GF ball valve. I don't know why a PH probe holder isn't a stock feature?

 

[mr.wilson]

just going to ask about those hair algae..but you have answered it....can't wait to see the corals going there...

The elevated magnesium may have helped, but the big ticket was the snails, hermits, and conchs. There is still a little there, but it is being consumed and receding (turning white and dying off).

 

[SaraB]

Wow, simply stunning! I love the reflection in the pics off the granite counter edging too!

 

[mr.wilson]

Wow, simply stunning! I love the reflection in the pics off the granite counter edging too!

Thanks Sara, Peter has thousands of pictures he has been taking but I think he has photo anxiety from deciding which ones to use. On top of that, the fish room looks like a war zone every I add more equipment.

Does anyone have any comments about lighting aesthetics? Which parts of the tank look good from a lighting standpoint?

 

[SaraB]

Does anyone have any comments about lighting aesthetics? Which parts of the tank look good from a lighting standpoint?

I'll take a look later and let you know my comments ... I've got 3 people and 3 sports cars waiting on me to get ready so we can hit the road for a fall ride ... it's going to hit 80 degrees here today!

 

[dahenley]

Mr. Wilson, just curious on your CA reactor setup. i see your using standard CO2 regulators. have you looked into the AquariumPlants electronic ones?
i am sure you have been doing this long enough to where you have the standard ones down pat, but us newbies seem to do better with the AP ones. just a suggestion to look into if you ever have a problem or something.

also your comment on lighting, what are you wanting information on? color, brightness, ect....
i think its hard to give opinions when its not my tank... i always ran 20K 400w XM's on my tank, and loved everything about them. i just picked up some 12K reeflux bulbs and them make everything look totally different. (im currently running 20Kxm's on one side of the tank and 12K's on the other..... it has been like this for a while now and i still cant decide which i like the best... so i am supplementing to see what looks better as a combo. mainly because i dont want to burn 400w bulbs all day. )

i know that wasnt the answer you were looking for, but its my opinion......

 

[Crisis64]

This one didn't come with any instructions but Chingchai sent a pic of his set-up and Schuran got back to me pretty quick. I initially thought the feed line was on the intake, rather than a venturi on the output of the closed loop pump. I ordered some 1/2" inline PH probe holders (1/2" MPT x compression fitting) from Champion Lighting to thread into the imperial adapted GF ball valve. I don't know why a PH probe holder isn't a stock feature?

It used to be, all you needed was the rubber insert for the specific probe size you were going to use. Also Shawn I would highly recommend against using that type of calcium for that reactor, it is very efficient in the use of co2, use the large grain stuff as recommended by Schuran.

 

[Crisis64]

Shawn forgot to mention, if you need instructions, send request into Schuran, (hermann.schuran@t-online.de) they will email you a pdf document.

 

[Crisis64]

Shawn I found my manual, here it is

 

[dave.m]

Does anyone have any comments about lighting aesthetics? Which parts of the tank look good from a lighting standpoint?

I would have to say the short end of the ell, at the leftmost end looks the most natural to me. If I recall correctly, that is the 14K MHs. A simple rule of thumb for me is to look at the colour of the sand. If white sand looks blue or yellow, it isn't right. If white sand looks white then you are in the right zone. But then again, I'm biased.

Dave.M

 

[ksed]

Shawn

Have you taken any par readings with the different bulbs.
I had the Ushio 400w 14k bulb on the PFO HQI Which are actually 430w.
At about 1ft directly down from the bulb the Quantum Par meter maxed at 2000. therefore over that by how much I won't know. I did notice that the bulbs after 6months the spectrum shifts over to the yellow side. I you have either alot of T-5 to of set the yellow that will work.
Then I tried the Ushio 20k, less par but still good numbers
1500-1600 same location. A little to blue for my taste, but because I am not running supplemental lighting , I am stuck with the 20K , but if you do have supplemental lighting I would work with the 14k. You do need quite a bit of it, the 14k are overpowering.

IMO

 

[Elliott]

WOW, so much progress! :thumbsup:

 

[chingchai]

Good progress.
Hats off to you guys.
For lighting,
Due to limited space, I think you should go for LED.