L.A. in wall 800 gallon system!

[kinggeorge818]

Hello My Name is George,

I have been dreaming of a large reef tank for about a year now and I have been using this time to plan and research using Reef Central as my hub for knowledge, inspiration, ideas, and motivation!

I currently have a 145 gallon half circle tank with a 100 gallon sump...I love my current tank very much and have found so much fulfillment in keeping a reef tank that I wanted to try my hand at something larger scale and more professionally planned!

The only draw back to going larger was resources, knowledge, patience, patience, and patience!

 

[kinggeorge818]

Some Background

Some Background

So during this past year of saving, thinking, planning and paitence I had a chance to read up on other people's posts and start absorbing their knowledge..people like Ching Chai who has inspired me to go the extra mile to do things beautifully and with style!

Here are also some youtube videos of large tanks that have inspired me to want to do something this intense...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TAVaA-RNWo&list=FLP4Ty-iWvi9sb3BuH0iZJXg&index=61

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sncfi4hgnM0&list=FLP4Ty-iWvi9sb3BuH0iZJXg&index=95

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EleyglEn9fM&list=FLP4Ty-iWvi9sb3BuH0iZJXg&index=99

 

[kinggeorge818]

Some Basic 3D renderings

Some Basic 3D renderings

Here are some renderings in 3D (I used to be a 3D artist in the past!) :dance:

 

[kinggeorge818]

Current look of the house

Current look of the house

Here are some pictures from both sides of the wall of where the future tank will reside!

I own a commercial/residencial construction company and I just remodeled my house two years ago when I first bought it! The wifey wasn't too happy to have me tearing apart the house again but she came around to the idea and now is on board and excited too!

I am having a 120"x36"x30" glass tank being built which will take up 10ft. of the 16ft of space I have on one side of the wall! Next to the tank will house part of the equipment...the other parts will reside in the garage and the outside of the house for noise reduction reasons. ;-)

 

[kinggeorge818]

Here are more pics...

Here are more pics...

Here is the other side of where the tank will reside...I will move the entertainment center and have the wall framed and opened up!

 

[Euler Kernighan]

Hey King G, this is gonna be a HUGE thread, uh? :beer:

i'm trying to figure out if you are going to a fish room or just a sump... what type of illumination are you going to use? Any special equipments / circulation approach? and the most important... when big tank arrives?

lot of questions, uh?

good luck with this new projetct! :thumbsup:

i'm working in a large project too > http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2003931

 

[kinggeorge818]

Thanks for your kind reply,

1) I'm gonna have the sump area in the garage (plumbed through the crawl space).

2) The fish room next to the tank will have very few items such as a vat for extra water volume, room to work on plumbing and an area to hide from my wife when she finds out how much all this is costing! just kidding...love you hunny

3) I'm going with M/H for illumination for now with either t-5s or vhos (you guys can chime in with your opinions! I'm not going with LED lighting for now to save on the enormous cost, because I don't feel you get the same growth, and I believe in 2-3 years I will upgrade to LEDs when the technology has matured more.

4) As for circulation I'm going with two separate ocean motion units each with it's own 5000-6000 gph pumps (you guys can give me your opinions on those pumps as well) As well as a third pump from the sump pushing the same amount. I'm also thinking of putting in 2-4 mp60s (vortec)

5) Protein skimmer looks like it might be the reef octopus xp 8000, it's said to be rated for up to 1,500 gallons and looks sharp...what do you think?

6) Big Tank arrives mid-December....patience! patience!

Thanks Again.

 

[djmurray]

Hey KG and welcome,

Awesome tank you've got planned. Take your time to make it all work out and you will be rewarded.


We all rush but never get the results we wanted,I would say your lighting is spot on (not an LED fan)

As for circulation what kind of scape are you looking for?

Regards
David

 

[bullitr]

Kinggeorge very nice build !
Are you from 818 area?

 

[kinggeorge818]

Hi David,

Thanks for the words of encouragement and I will definitely be taking my time to build this tank correctly (I have a budget in mind but anything that is out of my reach now will be planned on for future improvements).

As per you question I don't think I quite understand? what do you mean scape?

 

[kinggeorge818]

Design Consistency

Design Consistency

As I'm designing this tank and display I wanted to keep with the design I had come up with throughout the house ... so here are a couple pics to give you an idea of what I am trying to match.

 

[kinggeorge818]

kitchen..

kitchen..

Here is the Kitchen Pic

 

[kinggeorge818]

Here are more random pics...

Here are more random pics...

Bar & Breakfast Area!:smokin:

 

[kinggeorge818]

Current Tank Pics

Current Tank Pics

Here is a picture from some time ago of my current tank...It's a mixed reef but my new tank will be SPS dominant with some LPS and softies on the bottom!

 

[kinggeorge818]

Kinggeorge very nice build !
Are you from 818 area?

Thanks for the encouragement and I am from the 818 area code...porter ranch area to be precise. Not too far from Stevenson ranch!

 

[bullitr]

Great your across the hill from me!

Check us out San fernando valley reefers we have few members with good looking tank ,some hook ups for fish, corals, equipments or just a helping hand.

Our website is down at the moment should be up and running tomorrow but the our forums are online
http://sfvreef.proboards.com/index.cgi



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CarlitosReef]

Tagging along this thread, seems like is going to be a CRAZY BUILD!!! Please tale A LOT of pics!!...... I am a T5 fan due to it gives you a lot of room to play around with the colors. Let us know if you change your mind on MH :spin2:

 

[kinggeorge818]

Great your across the hill from me!

Check us out San fernando valley reefers we have few members with good looking tank ,some hook ups for fish, corals, equipments or just a helping hand.

Our website is down at the moment should be up and running tomorrow but the our forums are online
http://sfvreef.proboards.com/index.cgi



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would love to meet up with you guys sometime for your reef club! Just give me a heads up!

 

[kinggeorge818]

Looks great

Thanks for the compliment and wish me luck...it's kind of nerve racking to work on a tank o this size!

 

[kinggeorge818]

Tagging along this thread, seems like is going to be a CRAZY BUILD!!! Please tale A LOT of pics!!...... I am a T5 fan due to it gives you a lot of room to play around with the colors. Let us know if you change your mind on MH :spin2:

What made you choose t-5s? Do you get the same growth out of t-5 lighting? Is it expensive to change out a ton of bulbs twice a year? And can t-5 reach to the depth I have at 30"?