My *large* aquarium

[friendlyAlien]

Hi there,

so I think it is time to start to share my large aquarium build that i hope will go through the next coulple of months and have real life in the summer.

I have my office full of boxes, containers and other "necessary" stuff (psst) and have worked hard on the plumbing to reconnect my "fish room / man cave" int he basement from the last reef adventure with the upstairs living room.

The aquarium will hold about 200 gallon of water (60 x 28 x 28) and the sump/frag tank has about another 300 (I believe in water volume to ease maintenance).

Today I received notice from Miracles that my tank is finished and shipping together with pictures:

The lighting will be made of a self made LED build of 144 XPG LED's, three banks looking like this:

As you see I am one of the few LED guys to use a canopy. That is because my kids are at climbing age (2 and 5) and as my wife said: This is a swimming pool in the living room and a drowning waiting to happen - so I can't have it unless I close it up.

You also see not too many holes in the tank, I am really afraid of flooding and so I will use the power of MP 40's and Mp10's to create surfing waves for my fish instead of closed loops. There will be just two overflows and two returns from the sump (1200 gallon per hour).

Ok, that is it for now ... I know it is not the 8 gazzilion gallon tank but it fits the size limits of this forum, fits the corner that was made for it (or was it the other way around) and it is mine!

I keep you all updated on the build and specs and how it all comes together! I think the next comment maybe about how the fish room will be resurrected ... I think most equipment should still be fine and ready to go.

:bounce1:

 

[rnscross]

this is looking the goods, its a little more achievable that some of the monsters here(still love looking at them though) just a few questions, what is the dimensions of the frag/fuge? and what type/how many of each LED did you go with?

 

[jwoyshnar]

yes please give more details about your light

 

[friendlyAlien]

Sure, I am happy to give you more info on my little build. It is a pretty standard buil if you look in the DIY forum (that is where I got all the info from).

Each of the three "pendants" has
- 24 XP-E royal blue
- 18 XP-G R5 cool white
- 6 XP-G neutral white

whites and blues are driven by two paralell strings independently so I can control color and are connected to a meanwell 60-48D. I use 60 degree lenses for all of them.

Driving them at half their max (800 ma per string) creates more light than I ever imagined. I will meassure brightness once it is on the aquarium and am happy to share more then.

As for the frag / fuge they are two rubbermaid horse throughs, one deep, one flat. They worked Really well with the last setup (a 90 gallon) and so I plan on re-using that. Stay with me, once I am finish cleaning them I will post pics.

 

[gofor100]

Very nice... look forward to seeing this filled up. What other equipment do you have for this thing (i.e., skimmer, pumps, etc.)?

Thanks,

Chad

 

[friendlyAlien]

Yesterday the monster arrived and I started plumbing. Of course I need a lot more pieces. In any case, here the aquarium in its hopefully final place:

:bounce2::bounce1::bounce3::bounce2::bounce1::bounce3::bounce2::bounce1::bounce3:

 

[WienerDog]

Awesome piece...its a monster. Have fun!!

 

[friendlyAlien]

Oh I am a bit overwhelmed but am having a blast

Miracles does now know to build a TANK!

 

[golfoo]

looks great that tank!!!

 

[Sdooley]

little close to that fireplace ?

 

[friendlyAlien]

it looks closer than it is to that wood stove / fireplace. I have been meassuring the temperature impact of it all winter - but thanks for the worry! I was worried too!

 

[nl146]

Nice going! It would be great if you did a diy thread on your leds. Are you running the warm whites independent of the cool whites?

 

[James404]

Looks great so far! Tagging along...

 

[bigrock]

Nice looking tank. Is that starphire glass?
If you dont mind, about how much did miracles charge for the tank?
Thanks

 

[d3hree]

looks great!
What are your plans for the finish of the stand?
I would be more concerned with the window than the stove. I would make sure your aquascaping allows for easy access to the right hand side of the tank as that window will ensure you will get a constant dusting of algae on that side of the tank.

Looking forward to watching this progress.

 

[Ibixable]

Will the heater next to the tank be a problem with tempature control?

 

[friendlyAlien]

Hi,

just want to answer a few questions and then more updates tomorrow:

• Yes, this is starfire glass.
• The window I agree is of more concern, alas it only get sun in the late afternoon / evening in the summer so the impact is relatively low (if it works like it did with the 90 gallon I had in the same place a few years ago)
• The heater is interesting - good question! I never had to cool the 90 gallon in the same place in the winter, only in the summer. With the LED lighting I am hoping that cooling the aquarium is a problem of the past and that the heating bill is what will be the major cost. At least this time I shortened the heating behind the aquarium ... last time it was running behind and besides the tank

thanks for all the feedback by the way. I know it will make a difference in the end and I really want this to be a phantastic tank going forward.

 

[bata-bata]

nice build :inlove:
will tag along

 

[KuyaMark]

wowo very nice i'm tagging along

 

[friendlyAlien]

So it is time for an update after two days of working on the tank.

Over the last two days I finihsed plubming the system into the basement sump loop, installed "silent" overflows, decluttered the basement room, started building a rock wall for the back, sanded the aquarium and moved some of the rock into the aquarium for temporary in a first aquascape.

A busy day indeed. Next post will be finishing the hood with fans and the LED's and hopefully a fresh water soak and test of the system.

Here a couple of pictures:

My son cleaning the inside of the aquarium after I finished plumbing and got it all level:

A productive day :spin1:


The rockwall build, turns out I need twice as much coral rubble and pond foam than I anticipated. Expensive rockwall! All just because I don't like cleaning the back of an aquarium:

And finally moving the rock I have for scaping into tank - not a real aquascape yet but I realized that even is 28" deep is deep it could have been even deeper for depth affects in the aquascape.

Oh yes my son realized that the corners of an aquarium work like a prism and is looking for the gold at the end of the rainbow.