My 400 gallon in-wall Miracles Reef Tank

Well the leak test went well. Now I can start putting in sub straight and saltwater.

Got Flow! No leaks here!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=300"><br><br>

The frag tank has flow and no leaks here either!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=304"><br><br>

8 way Ocean Motion. All work and no play makes a dull day!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=301"><br><br>

Now I need to tie in the chiller, the skimmer and finish the electrical and lighting.
 
Beautiful tank! Canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t get over the stand! Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m telling you, if I had a stand that gorgeous, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d show it off! That thing is too amazing to just hang out in the garage. Love the catwalk. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve commented on others stands, yours is the best Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve seen.
 
That's some pretty nice comments guys, thank you very much.

I still have the finish electrical and the lighting to get done. I never did locate the 3-way damper that I wanted for venting the light heat, so I will just have to use two inline fans on a Y.

We put styrafoam over the cat walk while we were plumbing. It was much easier on the knees!

<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=302"><br><br>
 
Here is what I am planning for my water changes.

<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=336"><br><br>
I will tie two 55 gallon blue barrels together. Both will have a Kent Float valve in them. Both will be kept full of saltwater. One will be run as part of the system. The other will hold fresh make-up water.

One will be run as part of the system and will be fed with a feed from the frag tank closed loop pump. It will drain into a 30 gallon fuge that will sit at the end of the frag tank; the fuge will drain directly into the frag tank.

When it is time to change water, I will close the feed to barrel one by closing the valve, then I will open the valve to barrel two and let it trickle into the system for a day, them open the valve back up to the normal rate.

At my convience I can drain barrel one, which will be pumped up hill into the drive way. That will help keep the grass out of our gravel drive way. I would worry about that much salt in our septic tank. Also a good portion of the water change water is used in the garden on the asparigas. It keeps the weeds down, but don't kill the asparagus.

After the dirty water change barrel is emptied, a valve will be opened and the barrel will be refilled with fresh RODI. After it is full, the valve will be closed and salt will be added. It will be ready for the next change.
 
wow that is outstanding. i will be watching this thread for sure. i am curious to see what you are going to do with your aquascaping.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7427636#post7427636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Genin
wow that is outstanding. i will be watching this thread for sure. i am curious to see what you are going to do with your aquascaping.
Click to expand...
Thank you, and Ya, Me Too!:lol:
 
I have to empty out 3 tanks and a stock tank to get the sub-straight out for the new system. I emptied the stock tank first, them moved stuff from the 125 into the stock tank, and on down the line till I got all the sub-straight.

Here is the stock tank is half full. The top layer was Southdown in plastic shoe boxes. The Southdown is in the display tank now. There was rock in the center which is now in the new sump, and the aggregate on the bottom goes in the frag tank.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=328"><br><br>
I have a walk out basement, so I backed the truck up to the door and loaded all the buckets and tubs into the truck. Then I drove up to the garage door and hauled it all into the fish room. I forgot to take a picture of the loaded truck. Now that was a Sanford and Son looking load if I have ever seen one! But it did work well!

The stock tank is now empty.

I pump water from these barrels with a Little Giant pump and garden hose, upstairs to cover the sub-straight and rocks.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=331"><br><br>

I have to drain the water from the 125 into the empty stock tank, then take the rock, corals and fish and put them into the stock tank too, so I can get the sand from the 125 for the new display. I also have a 50 and a 75 that I will have to do the same way.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=330"><br><br>

The display and frag tank are full of saltwater, sand and rock. All three closed loops are working great!

The return/chiller and skimmers are plumbed in.

Two 29 gallon tanks are empty. They were going to be used as a fuge for the display tank and the frag tank. Well, the $%#@ both cracked when we drilled them this evening. I don't have a clue what went wrong! :hmm1:
We had drilled several holes before and had great success!

I also have a 125 and a 75 emptied out.
And two of the holes have been drilled in the blue barrels for the water change system.
 
After a long day of sand and rock digging, this is what the new system looked like. Check out the water surface in the frag tank in the bottom of the picture. There is some pretty nice flow there!

I will need to fine tune the aquascaping and hope to cover-hide the lockline OM returns in the front.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=340"><br><br>

I am hoping to start transferring livestock very soon. And I hope to get the finish electrical done this weekend.
 
Okay, I am really seeing light at the end of the tunnel now! Yesterday I finished emptying and cleaning the 125 that used to be the main display. The tank, stand and canopy were delivered to its new owners at 10:00 Saturday morning in Topeka. That felt like a true milestone!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=352"><br><br>

After returning home, I finished all the electrical. On the left side of the panel, the black square thing is a 220 outlet for plugging in our generator; and on the left side, the black device is a signal bridge and booster for my X10 AquaController stuff. There are 10 circuits dedicated to the fishroom, two for the generator, 2 for the X10 bridge and 6 for the actual running of the system. Now the fishroom AC and the Chiller both work! Another milestone! I am feeling good now!
:dance:
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=354"><br><br>

The system has two skimmers, and I got the auto top off hooked up in the sump, which is where one of the skimmers sits.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=353"><br><br>

The water has cleared nicely and I can actually see the rock work that Mitzzi and Luckybaker so neatly stacked into some awesome formations! The fish are going to love it!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=355"><br><br>

And, the tank now has its first inhabitant. Mitzzi, you know when I couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t find Frug Wednesday (lawnmower blennie); well I found him today (Saturday) after the sludge settled in that big blue tub, in about 3"s of water. I figured if he could survive that, he deserved to be the first in the new tank. Boy, it sure seems like he's lovin' it! He has been from end to end and back again! When I dropped him in, I told Loren we probably wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t see him for another week, but he has been all over the place.

Any way, that made for a nice end to a very hectic, but constructive last couple days!
 
It was a long day, with a lot of great progress!

It was a long day, with a lot of great progress!

The water change system is now in place and functioning with one barrel full. I will fill the other barrel tomorrow, and it will be ready for the next water change. It will be great to just close the valve to one barrel and open the valve to the other barrel and the water change is done. Then I can empty and refill the barrel that was taken out of service at my leisure.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=366"><br><br>

While Erik was working on the plumbing for the water change, Mitzzi was working her tail off on the rockscape! And once we were all pretty much satisfied with that, we started the fun part (well, for Mitzzi and I any way, Erik likes the plumbing best, I think), filling the tank with all the stored livestock and coral. The water is still a bit cloudy, but it is starting to clear nicely. I think it will be in good shape by morning!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=363"><br><br>

<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=365"><br><br>

I was able to catch Mimi (Naso Tang) out of the 180; which is still pretty much loaded at this point, emptying it will be tomorrowââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s project. Here she is just starting to venture out. But now she is flying all around the whole tank! She looks like she will soon be losing some of her fat wrinkles is she doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t slow down!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=364"><br><br>

The fish are going crazy! The tangs are pretty much schooling and jetting all over the place. It sure looks to me like all the fish are smiling! Erik even caught a couple of them doing the wild thing, Monica and Willie go figure! It must have been the night for such activity, because later I caught two of my Maxima Clams doing the wild thing too!
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=367"><br><br>


This was an exhilarating and fun day, and we got much further along than what I had planned! But I missed the best picture of all! Mitzzi sleeping on the sofa, sitting up, with a can of beer in her hand, and it was her first beer too!
 
We have all been waiting for this moment (you, above all of us, of course), and it looks.... fantastic !

Now, we´re waiting for pictures with "clear water".
 
I am having trouble getting good full tank shots. The lighting is giving my camera problems. Here are a few section shots. I will keep working on tank shots. I still need to get the locklines in the front concealed with rocks, moved and or shortened.

The tanks seem to be schooling quite a bit and racing all around the tank. Herb (purple tang) and Yeller (yellow tang) are still not buddies and would just as soon not have to deal with one another. There is quite a bit of sparring going on between those two. At least they are pretty evenly matched. <img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=371"><br><br>

Most of the acros have browned some from all the moving around, but they are already starting to color back up.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=368"><br><br>

All five of the clams made it, but the one on the left is not looking so great. It looks like it lost part of it's symbiotic algae and is gaping some what. I am hoping it will start looking better soon. At least it isn't really looking any worse.
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=369"><br><br>

Encrusting Acro
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=370"><br><br>

There is still a lot of work to do! But at least things are fairly stable for the tank right now.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7476692#post7476692 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cathy8424
Encrusting Acro
<img src="http://www.high-velocity.org/saltcity/album_pic.php?pic_id=370"><br><br>
Click to expand...

What a beauty !

Cathy,

Will you be able to hide those pipes of the closed loops or are you goping to wait for nature (coraline) to do it ?
 
Thank you for the compliments!

As time permitts, I will hide them as best as I can, by bending and shortening some. After that nature will have to finish the job. Right now, there are many other priorities!
 
I have never commented on anyone’s tank build thread. But I must on this one. It is awesome people take the TIME and MONEY to make there fish and corals feel like home. Awesome job. One day I will be on this level. I have the shivers just reading the thread thinking of what the future holds for me:). Thanks for the ideas and pictures and most of the inspiration. Please keep us all posted with pictures.

Mike
 
Cathy- This is looking awesome! I'm so glad this has worked out well for you in the end.
I'll be joining your 'big tank' club pretty soon. Scott has given me a great price on my proposed 72"x72"x30", but I've asked him for a quote on a 96"x48"x30". I think the longer tank will fit better in my game room so the 6' cube will have to wait until I get a bigger basement ;)
Again, congratulations on a job very well done!
 
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