JapanReef - 450 gallon In-Wall system
- Thread starter NexDog
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The 'crete will be in the same position as this pic:Zephrant said:
FRONT
BACK
If you look at the shape, I'm going to do 2 islands with a canyon in the middle. I'm hoping to bring out the depth in the 3' deep tank by having the midlde and sides open almost to the back. There will be one rack per "island" - you can see a square behind the 'crete that juts out to the left (that's one) and there's earth in the pic where the other will go.
And then I'll put sand in the front section and the plan is that I can have nice flow through the racks without displacing that sand. So 2/3 of the tank will be BB and 1/3 will be 1" SSB which I'll stir and siphon regularly.
arconom - Heinz is right. The earth was just there for the mold. You can see I removed half in the last pic I post so imagine it with no earth, the 2 racks on either side, sand in the front and rocks stacked up on the barrier and racks behind.
When I build the racks I'll but it all together in the box again and will be easier to visualise.
When I build the racks I'll but it all together in the box again and will be easier to visualise.
TheCoralReef731
New member
Cool.
jumboshrimp18
Premium Member
hey NexDog,
I have never fully understood Steve Weast's returns through the bottom of the tank. That's just me. Find it difficult to conceptualize. He invited me to an open house last month but I was unable to attend. I guess it might be somewhat similiar to David Saxby's setup. Did Steve give you a detailed diagram or did you work it out from his website? The returns set-up in this way almost seem to me to be an extended spray bar, the virtues and drawbacks of which are extensively discussed on this site. How do you get equal pressure along the loc-line I wonder. Clearly the plumbing through the bottom of a tank presents a greater risk than not so undertake it carefully and plan for the worst. Like the OM a lot but I would opt for Tunze streams on this tank, since the CL reurn from the bottom. The streams would give you more surface flow where your SPS is going to be than the CL with the OM.
Plan on the eventuality of swappping out some of your equipment, especially the pumps. You may have gotten it all right but you never know until it's set-up.
I think you got the sand bed just right for this tank.
Where is the sump in relation to the tank? Do you have the space for a water change tank? Give us some details on the fish room if you have them. I'm not sure of the reliability of your electricity there but with a tank this big you may want to plan now for a backup generator, something on the lines of a Generac.
Exciting project, not to mention a whole new house in the works.
I have never fully understood Steve Weast's returns through the bottom of the tank. That's just me. Find it difficult to conceptualize. He invited me to an open house last month but I was unable to attend. I guess it might be somewhat similiar to David Saxby's setup. Did Steve give you a detailed diagram or did you work it out from his website? The returns set-up in this way almost seem to me to be an extended spray bar, the virtues and drawbacks of which are extensively discussed on this site. How do you get equal pressure along the loc-line I wonder. Clearly the plumbing through the bottom of a tank presents a greater risk than not so undertake it carefully and plan for the worst. Like the OM a lot but I would opt for Tunze streams on this tank, since the CL reurn from the bottom. The streams would give you more surface flow where your SPS is going to be than the CL with the OM.
Plan on the eventuality of swappping out some of your equipment, especially the pumps. You may have gotten it all right but you never know until it's set-up.
I think you got the sand bed just right for this tank.
Where is the sump in relation to the tank? Do you have the space for a water change tank? Give us some details on the fish room if you have them. I'm not sure of the reliability of your electricity there but with a tank this big you may want to plan now for a backup generator, something on the lines of a Generac.
Exciting project, not to mention a whole new house in the works.
Steve never gave me any detailed diagram (but did exchange a few emails). While working out my system I found it easy to conceptualise and visualise from Steve had done and AFAIK it's the only to maintain a "clean" system with sand. I think I'll put a Hammerhead down there and if it's too much and I can put a Dart. Having bulkheads on the bottom of the tank does not scare me at all especially with 3/4" acrylic. I guess I could ask the guys at Envision to put 1" even. If a bulkhead were to start leaking it would be a huge pita to fix but if it's just a few drips, I'd just let it drip onto the concrete floor and down the drain.
I'm totally prepared to swap out my closed loops for Tunze Streams in the future. I want to build something that is crazy SPS dominated and the 8 pulsing outlets on the 4-Ways is going to give the most chaotic flow. I know I'm going to eat it in electricity consumption but I'm looking for perfection here and as long as life is good, I'll go with it. Maybe in the future if things get tight financially I might have to reconsider but for now I'm planning on the here and now whilst having eyes fully open on the future possibilities.
The sump is directly below the tank. I have a full 3 metres wide space there and the room is sunk down half a metre below floor level so I have enough height for the skimmer and water change containers and auto top-off containers. I'm only going to use one water change container rather than 2 (seems like a waste of space). I'll just mark the tank at the point I need to drain too and open a valve on a T on a drain line and drain directly to drain in the floor and then pump the new water in.
I have a few generators at my disposal. My father-in-law has a gardening business and has a few. It's not like a UPS but if power goes out I can hook a generator up and run extension cords in. Electricity here is very reliable. I didn't even lose power in the last hurricane but some people did for 10 hours so I'm prepared for that.
I'm totally prepared to swap out my closed loops for Tunze Streams in the future. I want to build something that is crazy SPS dominated and the 8 pulsing outlets on the 4-Ways is going to give the most chaotic flow. I know I'm going to eat it in electricity consumption but I'm looking for perfection here and as long as life is good, I'll go with it. Maybe in the future if things get tight financially I might have to reconsider but for now I'm planning on the here and now whilst having eyes fully open on the future possibilities.
The sump is directly below the tank. I have a full 3 metres wide space there and the room is sunk down half a metre below floor level so I have enough height for the skimmer and water change containers and auto top-off containers. I'm only going to use one water change container rather than 2 (seems like a waste of space). I'll just mark the tank at the point I need to drain too and open a valve on a T on a drain line and drain directly to drain in the floor and then pump the new water in.
I have a few generators at my disposal. My father-in-law has a gardening business and has a few. It's not like a UPS but if power goes out I can hook a generator up and run extension cords in. Electricity here is very reliable. I didn't even lose power in the last hurricane but some people did for 10 hours so I'm prepared for that.
jumboshrimp18
Premium Member
All sounds good and well thought out. You have the best idea yet on RC: build the house around the tank! One small thought: when you place the OM's, make sure that they are accessible so thay you can open them up--by unscrewing the top screws--if need be.
Looking forward to following this thread.
Looking forward to following this thread.
Yah, I'm ging to put 2 pumps either side of the sump with the darts running the 4-Ways at the front (with the hammerhead and pan-world return behind them).
I'm looking forward to updating this thread and getting the tank up and running. Tank is still 6 weeks away but I'll have plenty of equipment updates and will post pics as the fish room takes shape.
I'm looking forward to updating this thread and getting the tank up and running. Tank is still 6 weeks away but I'll have plenty of equipment updates and will post pics as the fish room takes shape.
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