mikegerard
New member
BTW Tad. If you need help getting rid of the 1200 gallon aquarium I'm sure you can find some local help 
New tank at Strong Museum!
- Thread starter museumguy
- Start date
museumguy
Active member
Thanks, I'm excited too! I know I'm new to the hobby and this is my job, but I am really getting into this. I consider myself to have one of the best jobs in the world right now.
And I am really, really excited about this tank. I promise you all that I'm going to do my best to have this be one of the best large scale reef tanks you will ever see.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
jeez- the original acrylic aquarium @ Strong didn't last as long as I thought it might. (I'm not a big fan of acrylic reef aquariums.)
I understand your position of having to work with what they give you over there, Tad, but another acrylic reef aquarium that's even deeper(!) already has me wondering about it's life expectancy.
If reefkeepers here in the forum knew the cost of the Dialyseas and the CAD system it would blow their minds. I'll go as far as to say that IMO they're a huge waste of money.
Will CF continue to clean the aquarium?
I understand your position of having to work with what they give you over there, Tad, but another acrylic reef aquarium that's even deeper(!) already has me wondering about it's life expectancy.
If reefkeepers here in the forum knew the cost of the Dialyseas and the CAD system it would blow their minds. I'll go as far as to say that IMO they're a huge waste of money.
Will CF continue to clean the aquarium?
museumguy
Active member
Having seen it in action I can say pretty confidently that it will not be a waste of money, especially in our museum environment. I know that to each their own, and this is not equipment for everyone. But my goal is to have an aquarium to present to our guests than on a scale of 1-10 is an 11, and I think this will help towards that goal. :lol:
I wish we could have done a large glass tank but couldn't due to potential liability of glass being so much more breakable than plastic (everything in the museum takes a BEATING). Hopefully we've learned from some of our mistakes and this tank will be with us for a very very long time.
chrisqueenz
New member
Wow, that sounds like an amazing system! Hey if you guys need any help setting that monster tank tank up please let me know.
Hec, I would pay just to help set that thing up!
Hec, I would pay just to help set that thing up!
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
was new on 7/20/06
was new on 7/20/06
RIP
we were there on grand opening night when I took that pic. (Former SM of P members here.)
I'd love to hear opinions from other knowledgable reefkeepers on the Dialyseas. This contaption has been around for (literally) decades. Just ask Brian... or Tom or John- somebody that doesn't sell 'em. Or do a search of RC. It's not your answer- it's a waste of money.
I take it CF will not be doing water changes but you'll be relying on Dialyseas to perform them?
I thought you signed on here to ask questions and here I am asking all the questions. Shame on me!
Of course you'll have a skimmer on the new 1700, right?
Dialyseas review here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/pr/index.php
excerpt from review
III. Summary and Conclusions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started this article with a statement about the claims Seavisions makes for the Dialyseas:
"The Seavisions website details Dialyseas' claimed benefits, which include reducing the concentrations of undesirable solutes (ammonium, phosphate, nitrate, etc.) to arbitrarily low levels, and maintaining high water quality almost completely automatically with little day-to-day input from the aquarist."
In my experience, the Dialyseas fulfills these claims.
I subtitled this analysis "Pros and Cons," and in no way do I feel that I have been "conned by a pro." After studying the system in operation for over 18 months, I can find no evidence of deception or misinformation in Dialyseas' description and marketing. The Seavisions Company offers a quality product.
This system represents a novel approach to addressing the water purification and water exchange requirements any aquarist faces. By and large it performs as advertised, although the problem with occasional oversalting should be noted. It has proven to be a robust and reliable technology in my hands and an asset to tank maintenance. Its automatic water change function is its primary value to me for the reasons described in Section I.6. Whereas other cheaper automated and semi-automated pieces of equipment are available to perform water changes, I am not aware of any that can actually increase the tank water's salt content to bring it in line with a preset value. These other systems can add premixed salt water, but that operation, in and of itself, cannot raise the tank water's salinity to a preset target level. One significant consequence of this "concentrated salt solution approach" to maintaining water quality is that the equivalent of 210 - 250 gallons (Seavisions estimate) of appropriately constituted salt water can be packed into a volume no larger than 1 cubic foot (see the salt bucket's picture in Figure 1). This space savings has been a real benefit for me. The Dialyseas system has distinct and unique advantages over other automated water exchange methodologies on these two points.
I am less favorably inclined toward the value of its dialysis-based purification capability, despite the fact that this purification function appears to be the primary selling point advertised by Seavisions. The data support the conclusion that the Dialyseas can, in fact, deplete the aquarium water of undesired contaminants without causing ionic imbalances in other desirable water components. However, the concentrations of undesirable metabolites (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, etc.) that it removes are typically so low in a mature reef tank under standard operating conditions that the extra purification by the dialysis process seems, perhaps, to be overkill. On the other hand, the concurrent removal of desirable solutes, in particular calcium, seems like a big downside as it places added pressure on the calcium input devices (Dialyseas concentrated salt solution, Nilsen reactor, calcium reactor, others?) to keep up.
In the final analysis, of course, the question of whether the Dialyseas is worth the money is a question that can be answered only by each individual aquarist according to his/her own standards of expense vs. value. I hope that this analysis has provided some useful guidance for those contemplating this question.
was new on 7/20/06
RIP
we were there on grand opening night when I took that pic. (Former SM of P members here.)
I'd love to hear opinions from other knowledgable reefkeepers on the Dialyseas. This contaption has been around for (literally) decades. Just ask Brian... or Tom or John- somebody that doesn't sell 'em. Or do a search of RC. It's not your answer- it's a waste of money.
I take it CF will not be doing water changes but you'll be relying on Dialyseas to perform them?
I thought you signed on here to ask questions and here I am asking all the questions. Shame on me!
Of course you'll have a skimmer on the new 1700, right?
Dialyseas review here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/pr/index.php
excerpt from review
III. Summary and Conclusions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started this article with a statement about the claims Seavisions makes for the Dialyseas:
"The Seavisions website details Dialyseas' claimed benefits, which include reducing the concentrations of undesirable solutes (ammonium, phosphate, nitrate, etc.) to arbitrarily low levels, and maintaining high water quality almost completely automatically with little day-to-day input from the aquarist."
In my experience, the Dialyseas fulfills these claims.
I subtitled this analysis "Pros and Cons," and in no way do I feel that I have been "conned by a pro." After studying the system in operation for over 18 months, I can find no evidence of deception or misinformation in Dialyseas' description and marketing. The Seavisions Company offers a quality product.
This system represents a novel approach to addressing the water purification and water exchange requirements any aquarist faces. By and large it performs as advertised, although the problem with occasional oversalting should be noted. It has proven to be a robust and reliable technology in my hands and an asset to tank maintenance. Its automatic water change function is its primary value to me for the reasons described in Section I.6. Whereas other cheaper automated and semi-automated pieces of equipment are available to perform water changes, I am not aware of any that can actually increase the tank water's salt content to bring it in line with a preset value. These other systems can add premixed salt water, but that operation, in and of itself, cannot raise the tank water's salinity to a preset target level. One significant consequence of this "concentrated salt solution approach" to maintaining water quality is that the equivalent of 210 - 250 gallons (Seavisions estimate) of appropriately constituted salt water can be packed into a volume no larger than 1 cubic foot (see the salt bucket's picture in Figure 1). This space savings has been a real benefit for me. The Dialyseas system has distinct and unique advantages over other automated water exchange methodologies on these two points.
I am less favorably inclined toward the value of its dialysis-based purification capability, despite the fact that this purification function appears to be the primary selling point advertised by Seavisions. The data support the conclusion that the Dialyseas can, in fact, deplete the aquarium water of undesired contaminants without causing ionic imbalances in other desirable water components. However, the concentrations of undesirable metabolites (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, etc.) that it removes are typically so low in a mature reef tank under standard operating conditions that the extra purification by the dialysis process seems, perhaps, to be overkill. On the other hand, the concurrent removal of desirable solutes, in particular calcium, seems like a big downside as it places added pressure on the calcium input devices (Dialyseas concentrated salt solution, Nilsen reactor, calcium reactor, others?) to keep up.
In the final analysis, of course, the question of whether the Dialyseas is worth the money is a question that can be answered only by each individual aquarist according to his/her own standards of expense vs. value. I hope that this analysis has provided some useful guidance for those contemplating this question.
Last edited:
museumguy
Active member
Just so its clear, first and foremost I signed onto this site not to ask questions, but because there are a lot of great people on here, and I hope I can get to know many of you. Knowledge you all so willingly share is a great bonus.
Gary, I appreciate your's and everyone else's concerns about our tank and the equipment we have purchased, but please realize that even though I am new to the hobby I did not make these decisions lightly, or without a great deal of research. I thank you for the link you posted, I am already familiar with it though and it was of great interest to me when I was researching the machine. Lots of interesting information in there for sure!
About the skimmers, we will have 2 skimmers, one in each sump. Again, the brand and power of the skimmers are still TBD.
When we decided to go with it I knew some people would find it to be a controversial purchase, and it is fine that you don't think it will work for our system, I just hope I can prove you wrong instead of right! Wish us luck!
Gary, I appreciate your's and everyone else's concerns about our tank and the equipment we have purchased, but please realize that even though I am new to the hobby I did not make these decisions lightly, or without a great deal of research. I thank you for the link you posted, I am already familiar with it though and it was of great interest to me when I was researching the machine. Lots of interesting information in there for sure!
About the skimmers, we will have 2 skimmers, one in each sump. Again, the brand and power of the skimmers are still TBD.
When we decided to go with it I knew some people would find it to be a controversial purchase, and it is fine that you don't think it will work for our system, I just hope I can prove you wrong instead of right! Wish us luck!
chrisqueenz
New member
I would love to see the skimmer or skimmers that will be on tyhe new tank. Dont really know what equipment is on the old tank, but could there be a possibilty of maybe using some of the old equipment?
Yea, I don't understand why they're not using most of the existing equipment. To Tads defense if I was given a budget of whatever size he got I'd just go nuts.
But then I'd probably take all the old equipment home and... What do you know, I've got a HUGE tank at home. Where'd that come from? Oh yea Strong, that equipment was only worth $200. Here you go (Hand over two Benjamins) I already took the liberty of selling it for you.
But then I'd probably take all the old equipment home and... What do you know, I've got a HUGE tank at home. Where'd that come from? Oh yea Strong, that equipment was only worth $200. Here you go (Hand over two Benjamins) I already took the liberty of selling it for you.
Brent Thomann
New member
Tad, its very nice to have you as a part of our little community, thanks for signing on and especially for sharing! Keep up the good work.
There's a lot of friendly people on these boards. There is also a lot a lot of opinions, try not to take them personal or let them give you a buzzkill.
There's a lot of friendly people on these boards. There is also a lot a lot of opinions, try not to take them personal or let them give you a buzzkill.
museumguy
Active member
Thought I'd give this a bump.
We are now a lot closer to the tank's delivery. We are aiming to have the tank delivered on January 12th, but it may get pushed back a day or two due to weather and other things out of our control.
We have finalized a few more details since I last updated, so I thought I would share. We will be having 4x 1000w 14k Halide lights, and approximately 12 24-36" T5s with single bulb reflectors for illumination.
The entire lighting structure is built into something similar to a garage door opener, which will raise approximately 26 inches above the tank at the flip of a switch.
We are anticipating doing the grand opening launch the weekend of January 31st (which is also my birthday, what a cool present!). That said though, the tank should be stocked and hopefully stabilized within a few days of delivery, so you folks are welcome to stop by anytime after delivery and I'd try to show you around a little bit.
Here is a picture of a guy doing some welding in the tank.
I'm excited! Less than one month before we tear down the current tank.
Cheers,
Tad
We are now a lot closer to the tank's delivery. We are aiming to have the tank delivered on January 12th, but it may get pushed back a day or two due to weather and other things out of our control.
We have finalized a few more details since I last updated, so I thought I would share. We will be having 4x 1000w 14k Halide lights, and approximately 12 24-36" T5s with single bulb reflectors for illumination.
The entire lighting structure is built into something similar to a garage door opener, which will raise approximately 26 inches above the tank at the flip of a switch.
We are anticipating doing the grand opening launch the weekend of January 31st (which is also my birthday, what a cool present!). That said though, the tank should be stocked and hopefully stabilized within a few days of delivery, so you folks are welcome to stop by anytime after delivery and I'd try to show you around a little bit.
Here is a picture of a guy doing some welding in the tank.
I'm excited! Less than one month before we tear down the current tank.
Cheers,
Tad
chrisqueenz
New member
Sweet! Are you guys going to use the existing rock and add more or just or keep the same amount of rock? I would definatly go for the more open look using less rock. That thing is going to look amazing!
museumguy
Active member
Tom from The Reef Shoppe will be aquascaping it, using a lot of our current rock but some other pieces from our different tanks as well as some new rock. Definately going to go for a more 3D aquascaping effect. Since the tank is even deeper we are really going to be leaving room for the corals to grow up and out. May not look spectacular at first, but after 6 months to a year for everything to grow out, I am confident we will have a world class reef display. Watch out tank of the month, here we come!
museumguy
Active member
No, we have not decided on a few of the final details such as skimmers and UV. Our contracter has one other tank in front of ours that he is finalizing, then we'll hammer out final details on everything in the coming weeks.
Talking to the guy from Seavisons, they use skimmers that on first glance are not nearly large enough for this sized tank. Because of the CADS filters which are self cleaning and the dialyseas systems, there is very little organic material that stays in the water column. I watched him do a large feeding or krill, mysis and silversides in his aggressive tank, and everything that went through the overflow was filtered then vacuumed out of the system within about two minutes. He said that his research and experience has shown that in his systems if you maintain large aggressive skimmers, the skimmate tends to be almost entirely minerals from the water and very little dissolved organic matter.
Cheers,
Tad
Talking to the guy from Seavisons, they use skimmers that on first glance are not nearly large enough for this sized tank. Because of the CADS filters which are self cleaning and the dialyseas systems, there is very little organic material that stays in the water column. I watched him do a large feeding or krill, mysis and silversides in his aggressive tank, and everything that went through the overflow was filtered then vacuumed out of the system within about two minutes. He said that his research and experience has shown that in his systems if you maintain large aggressive skimmers, the skimmate tends to be almost entirely minerals from the water and very little dissolved organic matter.
Cheers,
Tad
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
nobody ever asked so I'll volunteer
nobody ever asked so I'll volunteer
is anybody helping you with this project,Tad? Some free unsolicited advice that will be sure to draw someone's ire:
add this all up
*poor size aquarium (way too tall/deep and not wide enough)
*intense lighting (1,000 watt halides with acrylic? yikes!)
*poor fish stocking choices (your highlights look like lowlights to me)
after a few months time passes it's going to be difficult to maintain coral health in this aquarium not to mention a huge challenge to maintain long term.
is there any way to turn this bad boy on it's side and use it's front as the top?
nobody ever asked so I'll volunteer
is anybody helping you with this project,Tad? Some free unsolicited advice that will be sure to draw someone's ire:
add this all up
*poor size aquarium (way too tall/deep and not wide enough)
*intense lighting (1,000 watt halides with acrylic? yikes!)
*poor fish stocking choices (your highlights look like lowlights to me)
after a few months time passes it's going to be difficult to maintain coral health in this aquarium not to mention a huge challenge to maintain long term.
is there any way to turn this bad boy on it's side and use it's front as the top?
