New tank at Strong Museum!
- Thread starter museumguy
- Start date
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Re: New tank at Strong Museum!
dimensions?
glass or acrylic?<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13293921#post13293921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by museumguy
Just wanted to give everyone a little teaser, we are getting a new tank at the museum very soon. It will be bigger than 1200 gallons. Stay tuned!
dimensions?
suppressivefire
New member
so im just wondering... you took on the museum saltwater tanks with 5 months of experience?
museumguy
Active member
Heres the details
Heres the details
OK, heres the scoop on the new tank!
We will be getting a custom built, acrylic 1700 gallon tank from Seavisions of South Florida. It will be replacing our current 1200 gallon setup. It will have a similar footprint to our current tank, but have a much larger front viewing surface. It will start lower to the floor allowing close up viewing of all the bottom action for the smaller kiddos that visit the musuem, and go higher towards the ceiling, with a 5 foot viewing surface.
I visited the Seavision's factory in Ft Lauderdale, FL and was very impressed with what they had to offer. After some back and forth we decided their level of quality and impressive filtration system would be a good match for our museum.
The tank will be manufactured out of 2 inch acrylic. It will have a duel sump system which will add approximately 150-200 gallons to the tank's volume (exact sump volume to be determined). We will be using 4 chillers and 4 large UV steralizers, 2 skimmers and a heater. Much of the exact wattage, brands, etc are still to be determined so can't give too much info on those just yet.
The tank will feature a custom light fixture installed on the top of the tank so that with a flick of a switch the lights rise about 4 feet up for easy access to the tank. It will have 8 400W metal halides, and banks of T5 lights.
None of the equipment will be under the tank, it will all be stacked on a two level shelving system behind the tank for easier service.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the tank though is the filtration setup. We are getting Seavisions' CADS auto filtration system and Dialyseas systems for the tank.
The Dialyseas is pretty amazing. It utilizes an artificial human kidney to completely filter out all ammonia and other water pollutants before they can become problems in the tank. It also has a built in RO system that makes RO water as needed for water changes or auto top offs. It does automatic water changes 48 times a day for whatever amount you want. If you want 48 gallons of water changed a day, every 30 minutes it will change out 1 gallon. If you want 1 gallon changed a day, every half hour it does 1/48th of a gallon. It also monitors your salinity and will add salt brine from a salt reservoir to maintain constant predetermined specific gravity as it does water changes.
The CADS system is pretty amazing too. As the water drains from the tank is runs through a micron filter, whichs traps almost everything suspended in the water column and clogs easily. There is a float switch that monitors the water level in the filter chamber. If the filter starts to get clogged the water trips the float switch. The water flow is diverted around the filter and the water in the filter chamber drains. A vaccum then turns on and the filter chamber (which is a cylindar) rotates around the vaccum head, literally sucking all the detritus out of the micron filter. The vaccum process takes one minute, and I've been told it should kick on about 10-15 times a day. After the filter is vaccumed clean the water flow is brought back through the filtration chamber until the screen becomes clogged again. The waste that is vaccuumed off is automatically flushed down the drain.
I visited a 2000 gallon reef in FL with basically the same setup we are getting that has been going for three years. It has zero detectable nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, and ammonia and is loaded with livestock.
There are still a bunch of final details to iron out with the tank, and I'll try to keep those of you who are interested in the loop as we get closer to the new tank's arrival in December. Now comes the crazyness of switching the livestock over to the new tank, but before that I get to plan out the new livestock choices.
Needless to say, I am very very excited and I hope you are all excited too!
Cheers!
--Tad
Heres the details
OK, heres the scoop on the new tank!
We will be getting a custom built, acrylic 1700 gallon tank from Seavisions of South Florida. It will be replacing our current 1200 gallon setup. It will have a similar footprint to our current tank, but have a much larger front viewing surface. It will start lower to the floor allowing close up viewing of all the bottom action for the smaller kiddos that visit the musuem, and go higher towards the ceiling, with a 5 foot viewing surface.
I visited the Seavision's factory in Ft Lauderdale, FL and was very impressed with what they had to offer. After some back and forth we decided their level of quality and impressive filtration system would be a good match for our museum.
The tank will be manufactured out of 2 inch acrylic. It will have a duel sump system which will add approximately 150-200 gallons to the tank's volume (exact sump volume to be determined). We will be using 4 chillers and 4 large UV steralizers, 2 skimmers and a heater. Much of the exact wattage, brands, etc are still to be determined so can't give too much info on those just yet.
The tank will feature a custom light fixture installed on the top of the tank so that with a flick of a switch the lights rise about 4 feet up for easy access to the tank. It will have 8 400W metal halides, and banks of T5 lights.
None of the equipment will be under the tank, it will all be stacked on a two level shelving system behind the tank for easier service.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the tank though is the filtration setup. We are getting Seavisions' CADS auto filtration system and Dialyseas systems for the tank.
The Dialyseas is pretty amazing. It utilizes an artificial human kidney to completely filter out all ammonia and other water pollutants before they can become problems in the tank. It also has a built in RO system that makes RO water as needed for water changes or auto top offs. It does automatic water changes 48 times a day for whatever amount you want. If you want 48 gallons of water changed a day, every 30 minutes it will change out 1 gallon. If you want 1 gallon changed a day, every half hour it does 1/48th of a gallon. It also monitors your salinity and will add salt brine from a salt reservoir to maintain constant predetermined specific gravity as it does water changes.
The CADS system is pretty amazing too. As the water drains from the tank is runs through a micron filter, whichs traps almost everything suspended in the water column and clogs easily. There is a float switch that monitors the water level in the filter chamber. If the filter starts to get clogged the water trips the float switch. The water flow is diverted around the filter and the water in the filter chamber drains. A vaccum then turns on and the filter chamber (which is a cylindar) rotates around the vaccum head, literally sucking all the detritus out of the micron filter. The vaccum process takes one minute, and I've been told it should kick on about 10-15 times a day. After the filter is vaccumed clean the water flow is brought back through the filtration chamber until the screen becomes clogged again. The waste that is vaccuumed off is automatically flushed down the drain.
I visited a 2000 gallon reef in FL with basically the same setup we are getting that has been going for three years. It has zero detectable nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, and ammonia and is loaded with livestock.
There are still a bunch of final details to iron out with the tank, and I'll try to keep those of you who are interested in the loop as we get closer to the new tank's arrival in December. Now comes the crazyness of switching the livestock over to the new tank, but before that I get to plan out the new livestock choices.
Needless to say, I am very very excited and I hope you are all excited too!
Cheers!
--Tad
That sounds awesome. That's cool that you're making the bottom lower for the kids to be able to see in better. All the really wierd stuff is on the bottom anyway. Filtration setup sounds awesome too. What are you going to do about stocking it? Do you have a ton in your budget to go buy a lot of corals? You should take frag donations from people all over Rochester and load it up.
Conesus_Kid
Premium Member
I'm wondering if the 400 watt lights have enough "punch" for a 5 foot tall tank.
Sounds like a an awesome project. Keep us "in the know"!
Sounds like a an awesome project. Keep us "in the know"!
I was thinking about the same thing. I thought the last tank was a taller than it's depth. I'm havin gtrouble remembering now. I would think it'd be better to have a big square tank that isn't so deep. Then you're not frying those corals at the top and you're not depricing those at the bottom. Plus plenty of room to aquascape.
museumguy
Active member
Unfortunately we were pretty limited with floor space, so it had to be this way, or keep our current setup. As for the bulbs, Seavisions makes tanks this deep and deeper on a regular basis and have had a lot of success with this lighting scheme, so I'm trusting them that it will work well.
I saw this tank in person in Florida a few years after this picture was taken and it was still going strong with similar lighting.
http://www.seavisions.com/key1sweb.jpg
I saw this tank in person in Florida a few years after this picture was taken and it was still going strong with similar lighting.
http://www.seavisions.com/key1sweb.jpg
wastememphis
New member
Thats the first time I've heard of Dialyseas, thanks for posting.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
who decides on what materials and equipment is used @ the Strong Museum?
What's going to happen to the current 1200 aquarium that's being replaced?
What's going to happen to the current 1200 aquarium that's being replaced?
museumguy
Active member
We will be selling our current tank setup, feel free to send me a PM if you or someone you know might be interested in it.
Not sure exactly what you mean when you ask who decides what materials and equipment are to be used, but I usually do my own research on fish tank related items before discussing them with my musuem team and contractors. As for other things in the museum, thats a totally different department.
Cheers!
mikegerard
New member
It would be really cool to see the museum using some of the new LED lighting that is available. The initial costs would be higher but you could cut down on your cooling requirements and overall energy costs.
