Jay Fortay
Uber Member
Hi all,
I have been following (and envying) your large tanks for years. I have been keeping Reef tanks for almost 13 year now. I started small and worked my way up to a pretty nice 120 at one point. I scaled back for a while, and when I recently moved to Montana I went on hiatus. It has been a little over a year and a half now with no reef :headwalls: I am very happy to tell you all that we purchased a home that we feel like we will be in for quite a while so it is time to jump in again. I have been plotting and planning this in my mind for some time now, and I am super excited that it is finally coming to fruition. Helping me with all of this is Tanner at Crystal Clear Aquatics in Bozeman, Montana.
Tanner is building the tank for us with these dimensions: 88"long x 29.5" wide x 20"deep (rimless). The front and the left side panel will be low-iron glass. We thought that 20" will still look plenty shallow over the distance of over 7 feet across and still give us enough space to do a quasi-bonsai SPS dominant reef. the stand will be a very simple iron stand with a completely open design. I have asked that the stand builder add a leg in the front-middle to match the rear, and also for another bar to run across the floor in the front making it basically a rectangular box of a frame.
The tank will be lit with 3 Kessil a360w. I have done some research on the spread of these lights. My idea is 2 "islands" in the tank. One about 48" wide on the right side, then a 24"ish one on the left. The larger of the 2 islands will have 2 Kessils over it and the 24" island will have 1. I hope that there will be enough light spilling over so as not to have shade in the open areas. I do have a plan to ad another Kessil if the left side looks too dim. The lights will be on a track system above the tank to keep everything looking clean and allow the ability to move the lights if need be. They will be controlled be an Apex Neptune controller.
Instead of having the equipment under the tank we will be routing all plumbing into the wall then through the crawlspace and back up into a closet under the stairs about 10 feet from the display. In the "fish room" we will have a 75 gallon custom sump, 55 gallon refugium, 55 gallon saltwater mixing vat, and all related equipment. All drains will be plumbed into the main drain line of the house and a bunch of planning has been done for emergency drain redundancy to ensure no water will end up on the floor. This will also make water changes a breeze. Thanks, Tanner!
Instead of writing the rest of the equipment list out in story form, here is a list of what I've got so far:
-Apex Neptune Controller
-(3) Kessil a360w
-200# base rock
-Reeflo Hammerhead 5555GPH for the return
-Reef Octopus 5000-SSS with bubble master pump
-(2) Hydor Koralia Evolution
-(2) 300 watt titanium heaters
-Melevs reef RO/DI
I am sure I am forgetting many details. I just wanted to get the build thread started so that I don't have to backtrack too far once it starts moving along. If you have any questions please ask. Or, if you have any advice or comments please feel free to leave those too. I will post more pictures as I have them. Tanner should have the glass in by next week, and the stand should be being built next week as well.
:fish2:
I have been following (and envying) your large tanks for years. I have been keeping Reef tanks for almost 13 year now. I started small and worked my way up to a pretty nice 120 at one point. I scaled back for a while, and when I recently moved to Montana I went on hiatus. It has been a little over a year and a half now with no reef :headwalls: I am very happy to tell you all that we purchased a home that we feel like we will be in for quite a while so it is time to jump in again. I have been plotting and planning this in my mind for some time now, and I am super excited that it is finally coming to fruition. Helping me with all of this is Tanner at Crystal Clear Aquatics in Bozeman, Montana.
Tanner is building the tank for us with these dimensions: 88"long x 29.5" wide x 20"deep (rimless). The front and the left side panel will be low-iron glass. We thought that 20" will still look plenty shallow over the distance of over 7 feet across and still give us enough space to do a quasi-bonsai SPS dominant reef. the stand will be a very simple iron stand with a completely open design. I have asked that the stand builder add a leg in the front-middle to match the rear, and also for another bar to run across the floor in the front making it basically a rectangular box of a frame.
The tank will be lit with 3 Kessil a360w. I have done some research on the spread of these lights. My idea is 2 "islands" in the tank. One about 48" wide on the right side, then a 24"ish one on the left. The larger of the 2 islands will have 2 Kessils over it and the 24" island will have 1. I hope that there will be enough light spilling over so as not to have shade in the open areas. I do have a plan to ad another Kessil if the left side looks too dim. The lights will be on a track system above the tank to keep everything looking clean and allow the ability to move the lights if need be. They will be controlled be an Apex Neptune controller.
Instead of having the equipment under the tank we will be routing all plumbing into the wall then through the crawlspace and back up into a closet under the stairs about 10 feet from the display. In the "fish room" we will have a 75 gallon custom sump, 55 gallon refugium, 55 gallon saltwater mixing vat, and all related equipment. All drains will be plumbed into the main drain line of the house and a bunch of planning has been done for emergency drain redundancy to ensure no water will end up on the floor. This will also make water changes a breeze. Thanks, Tanner!
Instead of writing the rest of the equipment list out in story form, here is a list of what I've got so far:
-Apex Neptune Controller
-(3) Kessil a360w
-200# base rock
-Reeflo Hammerhead 5555GPH for the return
-Reef Octopus 5000-SSS with bubble master pump
-(2) Hydor Koralia Evolution
-(2) 300 watt titanium heaters
-Melevs reef RO/DI
I am sure I am forgetting many details. I just wanted to get the build thread started so that I don't have to backtrack too far once it starts moving along. If you have any questions please ask. Or, if you have any advice or comments please feel free to leave those too. I will post more pictures as I have them. Tanner should have the glass in by next week, and the stand should be being built next week as well.
:fish2:
