Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

Status
Not open for further replies.
1. Definately a spanish hogfish, never had any experience with them but I'm pretty sure they are crustacean nippers.

2. Different type of hogfish..

3. Very nice find!

4 and 9: are these both sixline wrasses? Could be interesting to watch.. Personally this is one of my least liked fish. They are extremely aggressive and I regreted ever putting one in my tank.

6 and 7: Both very nice fishes! I've had a royal gramma and two strawberry basslets and neither ever jumped. They don't seem real aggressive either.. I've kept a full grown royal gramma and a strawberry basslet in a 120g (4'x2'x2') tank for months with no problems at all. Orchid dottybacks (psuedochromis fridmani) are nice if you could get one.

8: IME, the pygmy angel is a great little fish! Never nipped at anything and other than being slightly aggressive/defensive against the sixline was well behaved.

Can't wait to see the mangrove display if you ever get around to taking pictures..
 
Hi Peter, Hi Mr.Wilson!

Hi Peter, Hi Mr.Wilson!

Are you guys done?
Let's have some party! I just got back from Thailand and Indonesia and I already feel like leaving again. I will put the water in my tank and will be ready to go.
By the way Peter, very nice fish! Do you have a plan of populating the tank?
Shawn, do you know an acrylic supplier in Europe or did you work with any?

Thanks

Andy :beer:
 
Are you guys done?
Let's have some party! I just got back from Thailand and Indonesia and I already feel like leaving again. I will put the water in my tank and will be ready to go.
By the way Peter, very nice fish! Do you have a plan of populating the tank?
Shawn, do you know an acrylic supplier in Europe or did you work with any?

Thanks

Andy :beer:

I used Hydrosight http://hydrosight.com/ in Germany. They are great to work with. Schuran does custom acrylic work, but it is expensive.

If you want to save money, order from China, but fly there to inspect the work if it is a large order.

You are welcome here any time, but I would wait until it gets warmer :)

I don't know the meaning of the word "done" :)
 
I used Hydrosight http://hydrosight.com/ in Germany. They are great to work with. Schuran does custom acrylic work, but it is expensive.

If you want to save money, order from China, but fly there to inspect the work if it is a large order.

You are welcome here any time, but I would wait until it gets warmer :)

I don't know the meaning of the word "done" :)


Sorry, I meant partially done. :)

Thank you for the link. The weather in Romania is about the same so I will not complain.

I have found this chinese company: http://www.zjgyjbl.com/english/list.htm


Andy
 
Okay, bring your skis :smurf:

Careful Mr. Wilson, Andy is a remarkable person and you could find yourself standing on some icy precipice listening to Andy's voice in the snowy distance yelling "comon Mr Wilson catch me if you can".

Andy you are welcome here any time and I will not make you stand in the snow!!!!!

Peter
 
Careful Mr. Wilson, Andy is a remarkable person and you could find yourself standing on some icy precipice listening to Andy's voice in the snowy distance yelling "comon Mr Wilson catch me if you can".

Andy you are welcome here any time and I will not make you stand in the snow!!!!!

Peter

Just explain to him that apres ski is done before and in place of skiing here in Canada.

I'll send my wife. She was game for the 60 second bobsled ride at the Calgary Olympic site when we were there last month. I got off the hook due to a skeleton competition when we went up there. Now that's a crazy hobby.
 
I set up the RK2 skimmer in a temporary spot until our sump gets in later this month. It's only been two days so it's still breaking in. I'm using a 240 watt DC pump to feed it. I have the potentiometer dialed back to 84 watts to get the 1500 GPH required for a two minute dwell time. We are getting some bubbles in the effluent/processed water, but there isn't much you can do about the internal design. We are using a filter bag to trap the bubbles and the effluent water goes through the refugium before entering the sump, and finally the display tank. The bubbles are long gone by then.

I am using the smaller 300mg ozonizer for now. It's the unit intended for the MARS system. I'm really happy with it and will post some details and pics in a few days. The price is competitive and it is far more solid than the ones coming out of China that dominate the market.

One of the mangrove walls is filled with magic mud and 200 mangrove pods. It is lit with a plasma light so we should see some fast growth, to mangrove standards anyway.

The second, backup, mechanical cartridge filter has been removed to prepare for the long awaited sump. The next step is to tackle the Profilux controller and build the live food culturing station. Peter is having fun with non-hatching decapsulated brine shrimp to get those polyps to stretch.

Our MHL light fixtures are getting here on tuesday or wednesday... Let there be light!!!... and photos :)
 
mr.wilson said:
until our sump gets in later this month
Sorry, but I do not understand how an area as large and populated as the GTA does not have a plastics fabricator that can't meet your needs. All the sumps have so far been ordered far from home and keep disappointing. A local builder would at least be close enough to go and give a poke to every once in a while. Or am I wrong?

Dave.M
 
Are you guys done?
Let's have some party! I just got back from Thailand and Indonesia and I already feel like leaving again. I will put the water in my tank and will be ready to go.
By the way Peter, very nice fish! Do you have a plan of populating the tank?
Shawn, do you know an acrylic supplier in Europe or did you work with any?

Thanks

Andy :beer:
Andy its good to have you back. I trust you had a great time with ChingChai. I really did miss being there with you. Please say Hi to Gabriella.

I am making progress here but there are a couple of long standing items that have been very difficult to get. One is my permanent sump. I am still waiting to get the permanent acrylic sump so I can finalize my filtration for the tank. I do have a temporary sump, thanks to Mr. Wilson but it will be nice to get the proper unit in place. The manufacturers of acrylics appear to be very undisciplined and untrustworthy. Make sure you take great care Andy with your choice of manufacturer for any custom acrylic.

The other challenge has been lighting. It appears that LED technology still has some distance to go before its ready for an installation like mine. I did however run into a well known firm here called aqua-medic who are supplying me with the MH/T5 units for my tank. They have been very helpful in helping get the right solution for my tank. The lights will be here by Tuesday I think do that part of the build will be complete.

I am still planning on a considerable buy for my first coral order and I have not given up on the prospect of going over to the Philippines to organize it. I will not stock any more fish until the coral is in place. This will take me a while but I am determined to do it right.

Peter
 
This will take me a while but I am determined to do it right.

Peter

It's this kind of attitude that makes this such a truly spectacular and inspiring build, Peter. Truly, one of a kind. Can't wait to continue to watch this tank progress. One of these days I'll have to get back up to that area (I worked in Toronto for a while) and check out that gorgeous tank in person.
 
Careful Mr. Wilson, Andy is a remarkable person and you could find yourself standing on some icy precipice listening to Andy's voice in the snowy distance yelling "comon Mr Wilson catch me if you can".

Andy you are welcome here any time and I will not make you stand in the snow!!!!!

Peter

Thank you Peter!
I will negotiate with Gabriela for another departure. By the way she asked me about the pictures from Orlando, if you could please find some would be great.

I am really sorry to hear you had difficulties with some of your suppliers. I have also seen a lot of LED tehnology in Germany this year at INTERZOO but I didn't want to try any of them yet. Nobody could't guarantee a thing and if they did they asked a fortune.

I have used the Aqua Medic lamps for almost 5 years and never had a problem with them. For my new tank I adopted the idea of reflectors because I am going to buy about 150 -200 small corals and I want them to grow in my tank, so I will need a lot of light.

About the corals why would you go to Philippines? I will join you also there but I just don't see why there? :confused:

Andy
 
with all the trouble trying to get an acrylic sump,why not just go with glass.
is it only because of the holes to be drilled

vic
 
Sorry, but I do not understand how an area as large and populated as the GTA does not have a plastics fabricator that can't meet your needs.

To answer your double negative... We don't and they can't.

The first sump was delivered, broken and removed by my predecessor. I ordered one from my usual supplier in the USA, but they appear to be having some internal problems that are causing external problems.

I tried a local guy, but he strung me along for a few weeks then backed out of the job. I am confident in the abilities of our new source. Here is a drawing. I dropped the white acrylic and reduced the 3/4" material down to 1/2". I sent out the request for bid with oversized materials because I contacted some non-aquarium manufacturers. The job went to an experienced tank builder so we reverted to standard sizes. White acrylic would have pushed the job back, and it wasn't vital to the function of the sump. I just thought it would look modern, hide salt creep, and block some light. We may add a Starboard lid later to shade it.

sump48x30x24.jpg
 
Thank you Peter!
I will negotiate with Gabriela for another departure. By the way she asked me about the pictures from Orlando, if you could please find some would be great.

I am really sorry to hear you had difficulties with some of your suppliers. I have also seen a lot of LED tehnology in Germany this year at INTERZOO but I didn't want to try any of them yet. Nobody could't guarantee a thing and if they did they asked a fortune.

I have used the Aqua Medic lamps for almost 5 years and never had a problem with them. For my new tank I adopted the idea of reflectors because I am going to buy about 150 -200 small corals and I want them to grow in my tank, so I will need a lot of light.

About the corals why would you go to Philippines? I will join you also there but I just don't see why there? :confused:

Andy

I think Peter means Indonesia. Maybe he wants to meet in The Philippines to plan it:) I think that's how they did it in WW11 :)
 
with all the trouble trying to get an acrylic sump,why not just go with glass.
is it only because of the holes to be drilled

vic

Glass takes two months and you don't have the flexibility of acrylic for holes etc. Acrylic is cheaper and I would have to make changes to the stand to support glass. In time we may add holes or other details. Once the glass is tempered, that isn't an option.
 
I would also like to add ,as Shawn mentioned, it is extremely difficult to find a reliable source of acrylic fabricators.I had similar issues.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top