one month after the upgrade to an 850gal reef

Steve,
If you still have the old tank around, would you mind taking a picture of the top. I am curious about the layout of it and your new tank. All of the acrylic tanks that I have seen so far give you small holes to get your rock and corals into and out of. Did you find a way around this? I am also curious about why you prefer acrylic over glass. Is it because of clarity? I know most glass, other than the starfire glass has a blue green tint to it. If there are other reasons I would really appreciate hearing about them. I plan to upgrade in the future and want to take my time and plan it right. You have given my a great many ideas to start with, so again, Thank You.
 
Curlybear.... I have always perfered acylic for large tanks. It's just a personal perference...both glass and acylic have their pros/cons. My reasons for acylic are:

1) acylic is lighter and easier to move around. I struggled with this tank @1200lbs empty. I can't imagine the same size in glass.

2) clarity...even starfire when doubled paned or more has a green tint...to me anyway.

3) the large glass tanks that I've seen need to have a steel frame to help the silicone keep the seams together.

4)acylic is easier to work with (ie drilling)

5) glass is less forgiving if the stand has minor humps/valleys that can easily occur on very large tanks with very large stands/platforms.

I don't have a photo of the old tank; but, I do have one of the new tank... the openings are about 36 x 46. The thicker the top, the bigger the openings can be. My thickness is 1".
 
from the picture it looks like you plan on expanding this tank, since you still have over two feet left to the right on the stand? Di you sell your 500 tank?
 
Julio, no... I'm not planning on expanding to the right. I could if I wanted to; but, the tank wouldn't look right being so off center in the viewing room. That space to the right does several things...creates lots of space for equipment and makes a great work space when working in the tank. The main carrying beams for the structure are 5 1/8" X 16" glu-lam beams. These are stronger than dimensional lumber and are most often used for heavy loads with long spans... like over garage doors or long windows.
 
Steve,

Since you are a homebuilder, I was wondering if any of your customers ever asked you to build a reef tank integrated into their house like yours?

Also, why did you choose black acrylic on left and right sides of the tank? Wouldnt it be better if you could see your tank from the inside of your garage too at a different angle?
 
Gnarly tank, but I do have a question. I'm sure you have already thought this up, but because of the "depth" perception you were looking for, why didn't you put a mirror of some sort back there? Even sort of tinted so that it looks like it fades into infinity.

Luke
 
A mirror will aggrevate fish that dont like other fish of the same species.
( i.e. a maroon clown seeing another maroon clown in the mirror. )
They dont know any better and will probably freak:hmm5:
 
True about that, but, if it were tinted as mentioned befor wouldn't it be less stressful?? I wouldn't want a bathroom mirror back there in the first place because you might see yourself looking into the aquarium (don't know that for sure becasuse the mirror might just reflect the front acrylic). Also, I have two glass aquariums and I KNOW that my maroons can see themselves in the glass, very well. So why would a mirror be more stressful than glass?

Luke
 
Steve, what a tank!!!!!!!!!!! Seeing it on the forklift just proves the size even moreso.

Unreal!!! :eek2:
 
Amazing tank. How much did you spend on a tank like yours and how many hours per week do you spend on tank maintenance? Please share your expertise. Can you give us some specs on your tank hardware?
 
reefnovice said:
Amazing tank. How much did you spend on a tank like yours and how many hours per week do you spend on tank maintenance? Please share your expertise. Can you give us some specs on your tank hardware?
Click to expand...

Not to be unkind, but almost every question you asked was answered in this amazing thread. Brew yourself a nice pot of coffee and enjoy. ;)
 
Invincible... most of the homes that I build are in the entry level category...around $150K.... and as a result, closing costs are more of a concern than a reef. But, I could induldge someone if they asked for a system.
Your question on the black acylic is a good one. My last tank had clear sides and I really hated the mirror effect on the sides when viewing the tank from the front.....especially since I don't keep my sides clean of algae /coralline. I much perfer the black sides; besides, I rarely looked from the sides anyway on the old tank.

Simbo18.... I never really cared for mirrored backs. I perfer a black or a painted background that mimicks a sense of infinity... as if you were diving over a ledge. The black doesn't completely mimick the distant/infinity ocean water either...but, I might play with a multi-colored painted background (using dark blues and aqua colors) in the future to try to more accurately reflect a sense of ocean water infinity.

reefnovice... melev is quite correct...if there is something specific that you would like to know that you may have missed, please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Guys,

Please help me out... After looking at a pictures of the reef safe (heniochus) and the annal fin, I still could not know what to look for. Unless anyone have a picture of both the reef safe and the non reefsafe it would help. When you said the annal fin do you mean the fin next to the tail or the fin closer to the eyes ? What do you mean by the intersection of the line ? Intersection compare to what point of the fin ?

Thanks,

Mattt.
 
P.S. Anus means a$$, pardon my French. Hence, anal fin is the one "next to the tail" (below the tail to be exact).
 
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