Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef"
- Thread starter jdpiii3
- Start date
Benson0219
Member
Wonderful pictures!
Alex T.
Active member
I can't stop re-reading through previous pages of your thread. I wish I lived closer to the south so that I could take advantage of the sun's intensity, but New Jersey winters are far from ideal. I also love your fish selection. I hope that given time all these fish still get along because it is by far one of the most incredible mix of fish I've ever seen. Love the Moorish Idol! I had a friend that had one for almost 3 years and sold it to another hobbyist because he was downgrading. He told me that the key to that fish was NLS pellets and lots of them many times per day. It was FAT too! He parted with it at the perfect time, as his home was flooded by Hurricane Sandy 2 months later and he would have lost everything.
Lastly, I know it's been said many times, but I wanted to express my deepest sympathies for your wife's passing after her courageous battle with cancer. I've lost one too many family members (some younger) to this horrible disease, and hope you stay in the hobby and keep the tank flourishing. I've visited your thread many times, but never actively participated until this week. Deep down I was praying she'd pull through. Thank you for sharing such a personal aspect of your life that, if anything, can serve as a beacon of courage, resilience and strength for the many that have followed along. Many of us have difficulties with our health and other issues outside of this great hobby. In fact, it may have been these issues that brought us into the hobby in the first place. I can't think of a better way to remember than to have a living memorial that only gets better with time.
Hope you're well, and can't wait to see this tank's progress over the coming years.
Lastly, I know it's been said many times, but I wanted to express my deepest sympathies for your wife's passing after her courageous battle with cancer. I've lost one too many family members (some younger) to this horrible disease, and hope you stay in the hobby and keep the tank flourishing. I've visited your thread many times, but never actively participated until this week. Deep down I was praying she'd pull through. Thank you for sharing such a personal aspect of your life that, if anything, can serve as a beacon of courage, resilience and strength for the many that have followed along. Many of us have difficulties with our health and other issues outside of this great hobby. In fact, it may have been these issues that brought us into the hobby in the first place. I can't think of a better way to remember than to have a living memorial that only gets better with time.
Hope you're well, and can't wait to see this tank's progress over the coming years.
LCDR Noble
Member
just awesome…………..nothing more
I came across this thread looking at solar lit tanks. Read each and every page and left here with more than a lesson on solar tubes.
Your tank is beautiful as was your wife and her courage. It's sad to read such a journey but you truly showed how much you loved her. This is now my favorite tank on RC! I'll be tagging along from here on out.
Your tank is beautiful as was your wife and her courage. It's sad to read such a journey but you truly showed how much you loved her. This is now my favorite tank on RC! I'll be tagging along from here on out.
NYCHawkeye74
New member
Joe,
Thank you for this thread. I started reading because of the size of the tank you were building and I love seeing how people build things as I get ready to move from a 65 to a 220 in my 'man cave', but I kept reading because of how the tank is so intertwined with the story of you and your wife over the past couple of years. I kept reading praying for a happy ending to the story and I was moved when I learned of your loss.
First off and most importably, I am so sorry for your loss.
Secondly, the tank is a masterpiece that the two of you built together and in my mind is a testament to your relationship. Thank you so much for sharing all of it with all of us here.
I can only hope to have such a fantastic relationship and a shared love of reefing in my own life someday and to build such a wonderful symbol of that relationship.
God bless.
-Curt
Thank you for this thread. I started reading because of the size of the tank you were building and I love seeing how people build things as I get ready to move from a 65 to a 220 in my 'man cave', but I kept reading because of how the tank is so intertwined with the story of you and your wife over the past couple of years. I kept reading praying for a happy ending to the story and I was moved when I learned of your loss.
First off and most importably, I am so sorry for your loss.
Secondly, the tank is a masterpiece that the two of you built together and in my mind is a testament to your relationship. Thank you so much for sharing all of it with all of us here.
I can only hope to have such a fantastic relationship and a shared love of reefing in my own life someday and to build such a wonderful symbol of that relationship.
God bless.
-Curt
jdpiii3
Member
Hi everyone – Thank you so much for the great comments! Sorry for the lack of replies, since our anniversary came and went I’ve been in a very sad mood I haven’t wanted to communicate with anyone.
I wanted to drop by and say hello and let everyone know that the tank is doing well. The Moorish Idol is doing great and eats anything I put in the tank; I have even watched him take food from the Sohal & Purple Tang!
I wanted to share with everyone what I did on our anniversary, since I always gave Kelly beautiful red roses I wasn’t going to let this year be any different. So I took the rose petals and put them in 200 balloons and sent them to her. As they were floating to the heavens they formed the shape of a heart.
Marriage has been every bit as sweet and satisfying as I always dreamed it would be. My wife was my best friend, and I love getting to live life with her, sharing moments and making memories together. I feel incredibly blessed to have been wed to such an amazing woman.
Even so, staying married – and happily so — had taken much more work than either of us ever imagined.
Building a happy marriage is an ongoing process. It’s not something you can power through once, and then check off your to-do list. There’s no propping your feet up and saying, “That’s done. Now I can move on to a different project.”
Marriage is a dynamic relationship. If a husband and wife are not drawing closer, they’re drifting apart. If their love isn’t waxing, it’s waning. If their passion’s not heating up, it’s growing cold.
There is no automatic pilot, no cruise control, no steady state, no mindless maintaining of the status quo.
Living “happily ever after” is not a given. It takes purpose and persistence, planning and prioritizing. If I want a happy marriage, then I must work to make it happy, each and every day.
Getting married is easy. Staying married, not so much.
A lot of couples expect marriage to be a piece of cake. When they discover otherwise, many want to throw in the towel and get out of the kitchen.
Do you want a happily-ever-after marriage? It will require a lot of love and commitment, self-sacrifice and mutual respect, patience, forgiveness, friendship, and tender affection. God will supply the ingredients, but you’ve got to furnish the labor yourself.
I'll check in soon, Joe
I wanted to drop by and say hello and let everyone know that the tank is doing well. The Moorish Idol is doing great and eats anything I put in the tank; I have even watched him take food from the Sohal & Purple Tang!
I wanted to share with everyone what I did on our anniversary, since I always gave Kelly beautiful red roses I wasn’t going to let this year be any different. So I took the rose petals and put them in 200 balloons and sent them to her. As they were floating to the heavens they formed the shape of a heart.
Marriage has been every bit as sweet and satisfying as I always dreamed it would be. My wife was my best friend, and I love getting to live life with her, sharing moments and making memories together. I feel incredibly blessed to have been wed to such an amazing woman.
Even so, staying married – and happily so — had taken much more work than either of us ever imagined.
Building a happy marriage is an ongoing process. It’s not something you can power through once, and then check off your to-do list. There’s no propping your feet up and saying, “That’s done. Now I can move on to a different project.”
Marriage is a dynamic relationship. If a husband and wife are not drawing closer, they’re drifting apart. If their love isn’t waxing, it’s waning. If their passion’s not heating up, it’s growing cold.
There is no automatic pilot, no cruise control, no steady state, no mindless maintaining of the status quo.
Living “happily ever after” is not a given. It takes purpose and persistence, planning and prioritizing. If I want a happy marriage, then I must work to make it happy, each and every day.
Getting married is easy. Staying married, not so much.
A lot of couples expect marriage to be a piece of cake. When they discover otherwise, many want to throw in the towel and get out of the kitchen.
Do you want a happily-ever-after marriage? It will require a lot of love and commitment, self-sacrifice and mutual respect, patience, forgiveness, friendship, and tender affection. God will supply the ingredients, but you’ve got to furnish the labor yourself.
I'll check in soon, Joe
dave.m
Active member
When I read your description I thought maybe you were over-sentimentalizing things a bit, but when I looked at the image I was surprised to see that the heart shape is quite clear. I'm glad your special day went so brilliantly for you and that you and the tank are still doing well.
Dave.M
Dave.M
jdpiii3
Member
Thanks Dave
jdpiii3
Member
Someone asked me about my maintenance, figured I'd post it here as well.
Here is the maintenance for the tank.
I do daily water changes of 1%-2% takes less than 5 min.
Two 25 micron filter socks get changed daily.
Dose 250mL of vinegar spread out over the day
Dose Tropic Marin BIO-CALCIUM
Every two weeks or so I blow off all rock work
I feed Nori daily, PE Mysis, Rods Food, pellets, flake, New Era Marine Grazer rings, Reef Nutrition's Phyto Feast, Oyster Feast, Macro Feast. Everything gets Selcon
I maintain a salinity of 1.026 - Temp of 76.8-77.4 all year "“ Alk 8.6 "“ Cal 390 "“ Mag 1300
PO4 .00 - .02 - NO3 .2 -.5
Water turns 10x an hour, two MP60 add about 16,000 of flow and hour.
My Reef Creations MR-6R Skimmer recirculates the water at 5800 gallons an hour.
I clean the Sun-Domes on the roof about every three months.
Here is the maintenance for the tank.
I do daily water changes of 1%-2% takes less than 5 min.
Two 25 micron filter socks get changed daily.
Dose 250mL of vinegar spread out over the day
Dose Tropic Marin BIO-CALCIUM
Every two weeks or so I blow off all rock work
I feed Nori daily, PE Mysis, Rods Food, pellets, flake, New Era Marine Grazer rings, Reef Nutrition's Phyto Feast, Oyster Feast, Macro Feast. Everything gets Selcon
I maintain a salinity of 1.026 - Temp of 76.8-77.4 all year "“ Alk 8.6 "“ Cal 390 "“ Mag 1300
PO4 .00 - .02 - NO3 .2 -.5
Water turns 10x an hour, two MP60 add about 16,000 of flow and hour.
My Reef Creations MR-6R Skimmer recirculates the water at 5800 gallons an hour.
I clean the Sun-Domes on the roof about every three months.
ChrisColumbus
New member
I came across your thread today. I was drawn in by your amazing build but quickly became deeply saddened by your tragic story and loss of your beautiful wife. My Mom battled brain cancer for 16 months before loosing her battle. I am so sorry. You are in my thoughts. Your bouquet of balloons floating to the heavens in the shape of heart is your wife's gift back to you. All the best to you and thanks for sharing your tank and story.
ChrisColumbus
New member
Many questions...
Many questions...
I hope you don't mind I have many questions about your setup. It is similar to the one I am planning and you seam to be very successful. By the way, I love the natural light. Wish I could do that...but can't.
Mine will be a 500 g. 7.5' long, 36" deep and 36" tall acrylic. How do you find the acrylic in terms of scratching? Is the acrylic difficult to maintain? What specifically do you use to clean the inside panels? How do you remove the coralline algae?
As for depth..Is it tough working in the tank? Any suggestions for setup or regular maintenance with that depth? Especially cleaning the panels!
How about the sand line near the bottom. Some say to make sure the sand is fully concealed...but I want to see the sand like in tour display. How do you clean below the sand line along the panels...or do you never do that. How about cleaning the panels near the sand line?
Are you running your skimmer drawing water directly from the tank and returning the same without going through the sump. Can't quite tell. It seams like a lot of your success can be attributed to the mega skimmer flow you are running. Is it really 5000 GPH running throug he skimmer?
Do you run GAC, GFO, or any other media? What about calcium supplementation? Forgive me but I'm new with reefing and still learning all the details so maybe the various dosings you do are in place of some of this.
I'm trying to plan an efficient system in terms of upkeep...not trying to get away from maintenance...just want to create a system that works efficiently and minimizes unnecessary added maintenance.
Are you mp60s loud on the dry side? Mine will be in the room and am a bit concerned about noise.
Do you clean your filter socks in a washing machine?
What is your flow rate through your sump? Size of drain line(s) and return line and what size nozzles are you returning through?
Thanks a lot for your time. Sorry for so many questions.
Many questions...
I hope you don't mind I have many questions about your setup. It is similar to the one I am planning and you seam to be very successful. By the way, I love the natural light. Wish I could do that...but can't.
Mine will be a 500 g. 7.5' long, 36" deep and 36" tall acrylic. How do you find the acrylic in terms of scratching? Is the acrylic difficult to maintain? What specifically do you use to clean the inside panels? How do you remove the coralline algae?
As for depth..Is it tough working in the tank? Any suggestions for setup or regular maintenance with that depth? Especially cleaning the panels!
How about the sand line near the bottom. Some say to make sure the sand is fully concealed...but I want to see the sand like in tour display. How do you clean below the sand line along the panels...or do you never do that. How about cleaning the panels near the sand line?
Are you running your skimmer drawing water directly from the tank and returning the same without going through the sump. Can't quite tell. It seams like a lot of your success can be attributed to the mega skimmer flow you are running. Is it really 5000 GPH running throug he skimmer?
Do you run GAC, GFO, or any other media? What about calcium supplementation? Forgive me but I'm new with reefing and still learning all the details so maybe the various dosings you do are in place of some of this.
I'm trying to plan an efficient system in terms of upkeep...not trying to get away from maintenance...just want to create a system that works efficiently and minimizes unnecessary added maintenance.
Are you mp60s loud on the dry side? Mine will be in the room and am a bit concerned about noise.
Do you clean your filter socks in a washing machine?
What is your flow rate through your sump? Size of drain line(s) and return line and what size nozzles are you returning through?
Thanks a lot for your time. Sorry for so many questions.
jdpiii3
Member
I hope you don't mind I have many questions about your setup. It is similar to the one I am planning and you seam to be very successful. By the way, I love the natural light. Wish I could do that...but can't.
Mine will be a 500 g. 7.5' long, 36" deep and 36" tall acrylic. How do you find the acrylic in terms of scratching? Is the acrylic difficult to maintain? What specifically do you use to clean the inside panels? How do you remove the coralline algae?
I have a 36" scraper with plastic blades, and I replace them often just go slow and clean the blade often. Yes it will scratch just work slow when cleaning, that will help limit the scratches.
As for depth..Is it tough working in the tank? Any suggestions for setup or regular maintenance with that depth? Especially cleaning the panels!
Everything I do in the tank needs to be done from a ladder, even feeding but with the correct tools its not the bad.
How about the sand line near the bottom. Some say to make sure the sand is fully concealed...but I want to see the sand like in tour display. How do you clean below the sand line along the panels...or do you never do that. How about cleaning the panels near the sand line?
I use a magfloat, and sandwich a magic eraser between it to catch any sand from scratching the acrylic. To clean the between the sand and the acrylic I take a piece of 1/2"PVC and run it along the sand bed it does a good job.
Are you running your skimmer drawing water directly from the tank and returning the same without going through the sump. Can't quite tell. It seams like a lot of your success can be attributed to the mega skimmer flow you are running. Is it really 5000 GPH running throug he skimmer?
My skimmer runs directly from my coast to coast overflow, and then goes to the sump, my skimmer uses a Reeflo Hammerhead Gold to recirculate the water in the skimmer 5800gph.
Do you run GAC, GFO, or any other media? What about calcium supplementation? Forgive me but I'm new with reefing and still learning all the details so maybe the various dosings you do are in place of some of this.
All I do is skim, filter socks (25 micron) and dose vinegar. For calcium I am currently using Tropic Marin BIO-CALCIUM
I'm trying to plan an efficient system in terms of upkeep...not trying to get away from maintenance...just want to create a system that works efficiently and minimizes unnecessary added maintenance.
Are you mp60s loud on the dry side? Mine will be in the room and am a bit concerned about noise.
the dry side is in my pump closet, but when they are on pulse mode you can hear them powering up and down
Do you clean your filter socks in a washing machine?
Yes, but first I hit them with the garden hose, then in my machine on sanitize mode.
What is your flow rate through your sump? Size of drain line(s) and return line and what size nozzles are you returning through?
rate of flow is about 10x I have 3 -2" drains going to my sump, and a 1-1/2" return line with 4 - 3/4" nozzles that send water across the six feet
Thanks a lot for your time. Sorry for so many questions
No problem, hope my answers help.
ChrisColumbus
New member
Many thanks
Many thanks
Thanks for your answers. Really helpful.
One question. Can you give a bit more detail about your reply: "I use a magfloat, and sandwich a magic eraser between it to catch any sand from scratching the acrylic. To clean the between the sand and the acrylic I take a piece of 1/2"PVC and run it along the sand bed it does a good job." How does the magic eraser help prevent sand scratching and do you run a 1/2" PVC pipe along the sand line?
Many thanks
Thanks for your answers. Really helpful.
One question. Can you give a bit more detail about your reply: "I use a magfloat, and sandwich a magic eraser between it to catch any sand from scratching the acrylic. To clean the between the sand and the acrylic I take a piece of 1/2"PVC and run it along the sand bed it does a good job." How does the magic eraser help prevent sand scratching and do you run a 1/2" PVC pipe along the sand line?
jdpiii3
Member
It's been six months since Kelly passed away, I will love you always!
I love you, I love you
I cry out to the night sky
Don't worry, no one can hear me
It's just you and I
I look to the heavens and what do I see
It's your eyes, now stars twinkling down on me
I want you to know
No matter how much time passes...
No matter where I go
We'll always have these moments
That only you and I know
Thank you for the continued support! One of our videos broke 20,000 views today!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IufiOrZy-x4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I love you, I love you
I cry out to the night sky
Don't worry, no one can hear me
It's just you and I
I look to the heavens and what do I see
It's your eyes, now stars twinkling down on me
I want you to know
No matter how much time passes...
No matter where I go
We'll always have these moments
That only you and I know
Thank you for the continued support! One of our videos broke 20,000 views today!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IufiOrZy-x4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
