Man Cave Tank Build 650 Gallon DT

BigFOWLR

BigFOWLR

New member
Hello all,

I wanted to start a thread about my tank and what has gone into making this dream a reality. This build is in progress as we speak and I will be updating from time to time as notable progress it being made. First the info on the system.

Display Tank: Custom built 650 gallon tank
Glass: 3/4"
Dimensions: 10' x 3' x 3'
Dual Overflows
Sump: (Under construction) Acrylic, 4 chambered, 8' x 30" x 24", total 300 gallons
Pumps: (2) Reeflo Hammerhead Gold, running at 240v
Lighting: 6 Led Light fixtures, each one has a 55 LED array, Blue & White
Sand: 600lbs of live sand
Rock: 1500lbs of Fiji live rock

The system is just about ready to be set up and filled. Since it is going into my garage, we are currently finishing the up fits to the garage to make it a worthy man cave and not just a junk storage room .. lol
I will post pictures shortly, I just do not have access to them at the moment, but had the time to start the thread ..

I have traditionally been a FOWLR tank guy, but now with the equipment I am using with this tank I am going to venture into corals, so lets see where this all goes.
 
When the sump ends up being larger than the large tanks on this build has to make you sit and watch this thing happen.
 
OK, so I finally got batteries in my camera and can start to share the build with you guys. Here are some pics. Now as I mentioned I am converting my garage for this, so don't mind the mess .. lol

Part one of the garage conversion was upgrading the lighting from the garage door opener to these LED buckets. They surprisingly light up the garage really well.


One thing I hate to see is a spaghetti mess of extension cords overloading a circuit, so in this case I mounted a dedicated circuit to these plugs installed in the ceiling. Each with protective weatherproof cases to avoid salt creep and on their own breaker. In addition I will be able to individually control the white / blue lighting through a pair of timers installed on the wall which also serve as switches for when I want to override the timers.

I also ran separate circuits to power the pumps. These switches are each 240V and can be independently shut down in case of emergency, maintenance etc. With over 5500 gph coming from each of the pumps, I am sure to have enough flow in case one of the pumps needs to be taken down. Also the pumps are being hardwired, no plugs, no chance for bad connections. Also the pumps will be approx, 6 feet away from the system, minimizing salt creep and water exposure.


I also installed a pair of high efficiency high airflow room fans. This should help keep the humidity down and keep the air flow comfortable enough until we determine whether or not the room will need to be air-conditioned.



What does 1200lbs of live rock look like .. This .. once we move it into the tank, I will be weighing each piece as it goes in to get a much more accurate total as to how much rock has gone into this system.

And finally here is the tank, the garage is big so a 10 foot tank kinda loses itself in the scale, but as the project processes and I clean things up in the garage its size and scale will quickly come back into perspective. This tank originally had one overflow in the center of the tank. Myself and friends from Aquarium Kingdom here in Miami, have changed the tank to now have dual overflows and much larger drains to accommodate the 11,000 gph that will be running through this system.

The sump is currently being modified by Aquarium Kingdom in order to accommodate the expected biological impact that we are going to add to the system. Once running I anticipate that I will have over 400 fish plus corals, so ensuring that the refugium can handle the bio load is critical.
Well, as I progress with the system I will be sure to update you guys .. The next step is completing the stand and placing the tank on top of some styrofoam to help distribute the weight load. Normally something you can with a couple of friends and a pizza. I wish it was the case with this beast. The logistics of gather 8 friends dumb enough to lift 3000lb tank is amazing .. lol

Thanks for watching..
 
I was so close to getting a tank with those dimensions however my wife/boss said no. Due to being in your front room and her being a interior designer I had to listen....

Have you considered using the sun to light your tank at all? Sola tubes or something like that I would think would be ideal with all the sunny days that you get down there?
 
Sun light has always been a possibility, since this one is in the garage I even contemplated solar reflectors to divert sun from the outside. The challenges IMO a solar system would face is algae growth. In addition, we are all greedy and want to enjoy these systems when we are home when its usually dark outside.

I have a larger outdoor system envisioned where I will have no choice but to use solar, but that is a pipe dream and I digress .. lol

For now I have 6 LED fixtures each with a 55 LED array Blue / white with 3W LED's. They light great and have no problems penetrating to the bottom, not to mention my LFS has already had success growing coral with them.
 
I agree with Dave. I'd go with Solatubes. You're in the perfect location for them. If you want nighttime viewing, add some supplemental LED's.
 
If I new about those sola tubes a few years a go when I setup my 475g w/o a doubt I would use them.

Go through that thread posted above and even send a pm to the tank owner to get some insight. If I recall he also lives in Florida however not sure how close to Miami he is.

I am still a fowlr guy.... I prefer large angels to large pieces of coral :)
 
dave.m said:
I think you are underestimating how fine a reef under Solatubes can be. Check out jdpiii3's reef here on RC.

Dave.M
Click to expand...

Thanks for that .. now you've gone and done it, You guys are right, where this tank is and its size lend itself perfectly for this type of lighting. Now I am going to have to reach out to them to see how this will work out for this tank.

And after seeing the effect it gives off, I may have to include this product for future lighting projects around the house as well.

That was a tremendous post by the way .. Thank you on many levels ..
 
You're very welcome. It's all part of being evil and messing with other people's lives.
smiley-vault-signs-131.gif


Dave.M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

guserto4
Planning a New Build - Acrylic Thickness 80x30x24T euro-brace?
Replies
1
Views
159
griss
griss
J
Plumbing 300 gallon acrylic aquarium
Replies
3
Views
3K
wvned
wvned
D
Structural support for 125 gallon aquarium
Replies
7
Views
779
ddang
D
U
New build
Replies
3
Views
796
griss
griss
A
Reef Tank Brainstorming
Replies
4
Views
2K
Uncle99
Uncle99
Back
Top