Help me design the perfect 96"x48"x24"!!!

[mwood]

You running all those om 8way and 4way inputs and outputs from below? If so, you may find them to be too many. That's alot of holes in the bottom. They will all cut into your bottom support. You need a 6" hole in the bottom support for each hole in the bottom of the tank. Also, that's alot of plumbing to hide in the rockwork. It will limit your rockwork options. Moreover, if you have a blowout in your plumbing, you will loose water down to the lowest output.

Just some thoughts. You might consider tunze's or the new icecap pumps and only one closed loop.

What are you doing for substraight?

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions guys. Keep them comming.
Mwood- Love your tank. A good friend and local reefer has the exact same size tank as yours and I will admit it is what gave me the inspiration for considering this new tank of mine.
I agree that perhaps 3 closed loops would be too much. Two should be plenty if I keep the rockscaping open.
moonpod- can you post some pics of your steel frame?

 

[mwood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6414241#post6414241 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sonofgaladriel
...A good friend and local reefer has the exact same size tank as yours ...

Got pics of that tank? I like seeing other ideas on table tanks, but they are rare.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Unfortunately, he had to put his tank against the wall and he wanted me to build a canopy for it, so its not a true 'table top' nor open top tank. Its FOWLR, not a reef, run under VHO's only. But it is still quite impressive.
But, I loved the way his school of chromis would swim the length of the tank and watching the bigger fish swim away and slowly come back down the full length is just awesome. Of course his school of chromis didn't last too long after he added a lionfish.
Here's a pic:

 

[mwood]

Stand looks familiar. You make that one too?

PS, I just realized you are only 3-4 hours south of me. Best tanks must come from the midwest huh?

 

[Bebo77]

Sean who are you going to have build that tank and what are you going to do with the beast you have now... if its for sale let me know....

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Of course I'll approach Scott first to fabricate it for me. If he isn't interested I'll most likely contact Envision.
This bigger tank will replace my existing cube. I'm too lazy to care for more than one tank at a time.
Instead of all the closed loops, what about a Tunze wavebox on each end? Can these be programmed to ocsillate between each other? Would one wavebox on each end be enough to cover the 4 foot width?
But, if I go with these, there goes my idea of no clutter or any exposed cords, pumps, ect.. I would love for it to be a completely clean look with nothing showing but the acrylic along the edges.

 

[mwood]

Here you go. Like a tunze but no cords over the top.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...threadid=672444

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I don't think these will work on anything thicker than 3/4". They are promising though. But, I still think I'll like the completely clean look of the hidden closed loop returns in the rockwork.

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6409042#post6409042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sonofgaladriel
I'm concerned that at 30" tall, there would be no way to avoid a Euro brace around the top. I'm hoping that at only 24" I could go without the need for one. Plus, reaching the bottom of the acrylic to clean a 30" tall tank would be a pain.
My arm very comfortably reaches down to 24" without the need for any step stool or leaning into the tank.
Plus, at 30", there will be quite a bit of waste. A 4'x8' sheet split right down the middle length wise gives me two full sides and half a sheet gives me the ends. The half sheet left over can easily be used for another 24" tall tank and not go to waste.
Otherwise, I'd love the extra height.

If you don't go 30" then your thread should say "Help me design the near perfect 96"x48"!!! LOL, I am just kidding, as you know I just had a 96x48x30 built...

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6411209#post6411209 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vince
I had a 600 gallon reef tank that measures 10X4X2 . I agree with you about the height. It is a lot easier to work with. The 4 ft depth makes a lot of difference. Go to www.webshots.com and do a search for tankmasters and you will see what it looks like. Hurricane Isabel wiped out the tank in 2003 after it was running for 4 years so I shut it down. My backup generator died after the first day without power.I am thinking of starting it up again since all the equipment is still hooked up and the 1000 lbs of Fiji rock is still in salt water. I used 2 200 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank for a sump and a Refugium. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Display photos for tankmasters...

 

[Fade]

I'm getting a 96-36-30 tall built right now. I agree with the cleaning but you do get a better view with 30. I will deal with 30.

 

[moonpod]

 

[mwood]

What are you going to do about lighting? Have you seen the lumen max? It's a reflector designed for a 4'*4' area.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Ohhh, that looks very nice. With that fixture I could get away with only four halides. I'm going to look those up.
Thanks!

 

[nbd13]

Hey,

thought i would chime in about the wavebox.

i dont think you would want that type of flow. sure its a nice wave action, but you are going to need more current in the form of closed loops or streams or that vortex pump.

maybe 1 waveboxe to give that back and forth motion, but you will still need you closed loops to keep the SPS happy.

i like yourself really like a tank with no "clutter" in it.

anything you do will be nice i am sure espically the stand, haha.

hey BTW nice black tang any agression from the yellows when you added him? i want to get one here pretty soon.

Nick

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Hi Nick-Thanks for the input.
Unfortunately, that black tang in the pic isn't mine. I found that pic online somewhere and decided to use it as my avatar so I can stare at it from time to time and dream
I'll get me one soon.

 

[moonpod]

you'll need 2 waveboxes (wavebox with extension) for a tank that big.

 

[mwood]

That would be fun to see, a wave as big as that tank could handle. If you do run a wavebox, I'd make it a 30" tall tank and leave 4+ inches empty at the top. I've heard of some people building the box into the tank next to the overflow to make them less obvious.

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6419310#post6419310 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwood
What are you going to do about lighting? Have you seen the lumen max? It's a reflector designed for a 4'*4' area.

mwood, where did you see that these light a4x4 area ??

When looking on the site, I didn't find anything about the lighting area, also how far off the water would they need to be inorder to light a 4x4 area ??

Lumen Max Reflector