Reef Aquarium 1350 gallons in Bucharest

[Jason F]

Hi.
Nice background You have made mr.wilson.

andytripa
I just found Your topic and it´s impressive. I have planning to make about same size tank and and i´m thought Tunze 6508. Did you got that bigger one or what kind of stream you decide to buy. Are you satisfied with those pumps? Can you give some info your technic and how thin is the glass ?

Sorry my english.

 

[andytripa]

Hi.
Nice background You have made mr.wilson.

andytripa
I just found Your topic and it´s impressive. I have planning to make about same size tank and and i´m thought Tunze 6508. Did you got that bigger one or what kind of stream you decide to buy. Are you satisfied with those pumps? Can you give some info your technic and how thin is the glass ?

Sorry my english.

Hi,
I haven't decided on which pumps I'm going to buy. The only things I bought so far are these:

8 CoralVue SE 400W Finished Pendant Large
8 Reeflux 400W SE 12,000K bulbs
8 Coral Vue 400w Dimmable UL approved 90-240VAC Ballast
2 Coralvue 1000W SE 20,000K bulb
2 Galaxy 1000W electronic ballast

I'm still waiting for these to come.
The glass is 3.4cm with PVB (polyvinyl butyral) in the middle.

Thanks
Andy

 

[curlykid]

hey dude, awesome fish you got there! About the pumps, i would go with 2 Vortech MP60's, they are very small and push 12,000 gph. I think, they are about $600, not sure. So, less cost, and smaller than Hydors or Tunzes, plus it's got a fancy driver with a lots of modes.

 

[nineball]

Hi,
I haven't decided on which pumps I'm going to buy. The only things I bought so far are these:

8 CoralVue SE 400W Finished Pendant Large
8 Reeflux 400W SE 12,000K bulbs
8 Coral Vue 400w Dimmable UL approved 90-240VAC Ballast
2 Coralvue 1000W SE 20,000K bulb
2 Galaxy 1000W electronic ballast

I'm still waiting for these to come.
The glass is 3.4cm with PVB (polyvinyl butyral) in the middle.

Thanks
Andy

Andy, that's some serious light you have there!!!! It certainly looks like you and I might have a group buy for some great coral in our future.....

Peter

 

[mr.wilson]

I don't know if any of you like big tanks. I hope he link works http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f176/pictures-of-bills-system-149347.html

 

[andytripa]

hey dude, awesome fish you got there! About the pumps, i would go with 2 Vortech MP60's, they are very small and push 12,000 gph. I think, they are about $600, not sure. So, less cost, and smaller than Hydors or Tunzes, plus it's got a fancy driver with a lots of modes.

Hi curlykid,
I appreciate you like my fish. Here is more of my fish:

About the MP60 pumps I saw them at MACNA in Orlando and they work only for 1in glass. My tank has 1.34in glass but thanks anyway.

Andy

 

[Jason F]

8 CoralVue SE 400W Finished Pendant Large
8 Reeflux 400W SE 12,000K bulbs
8 Coral Vue 400w Dimmable UL approved 90-240VAC Ballast
2 Coralvue 1000W SE 20,000K bulb
2 Galaxy 1000W electronic ballast

I'm still waiting for these to come.
The glass is 3.4cm with PVB (polyvinyl butyral) in the middle.

Thanks
Andy

Hey!

Be careful with those lights. My friend tank is about same size than Yours (over 1500liter), I mean height. He has 3 x 400w HQI + some T-5 lights, and It almost burn corals.

I think Vortech doesn´t have that big stream, wich could move water enough. Smaller Tunze´s master 6508, flow rate is 5,283 - 21,133 gallon/hour. Price is ok from here http://www.aquatropshop.de/product_info.php?info=p9184_Tunze-turbelle-masterstream-6508.html
But I don´t know how much is it in my country, too much i belive.
Let´s keep thumps up.
-Jason

 

[fote03]

Now thats one crazy build. im going to tag along!

 

[miguelp19]

awesome build! inspires me even more to look for a good paying job to have a tank like that one day!!! will definately tag along!

 

[andytripa]

Hello my friend. Great to see you are progressing on the tank. Now that I know where your build thread is I will never get any sleep

You can add perpendicular plastic grid to the back wall for coral shelves and depth. It looks more realistic when you use uneven/broken pieces of plastic grid.

Another trick is to use spray foam to add texture and detail. Apply it in short squirts. Shooting it from farther away adds more texture. The cement is expensive and more importantly, very heavy so try to use styrofoam when you can.

You can also use PVC pipe to make a skeleton framework for the rock formation.

Nice work Shawn! Thanks for the tricks, maybe I will use some of them.
Today I received the rocks and tomorow I will star to cut them.

Andy

 

[andytripa]

Andy, that's some serious light you have there!!!! It certainly looks like you and I might have a group buy for some great coral in our future.....

Peter

Thank you Peter! I don't know if I choose well this lighting solution but I think each of us has to try something to achive best practice. Lately there was a lot on your shoulders.
....so thank you for sacrificing a lot of money for our knowledge.
I really appreciate everything you've done for this hobby. :thumbsup:

About the corals, anytime with pleasure....

Andy

 

[Haplochromine]

Those rocks are very interesting. I like what you've done here.

 

[mr.wilson]

You can also drill the rocks with a diamond hole saw like the ones used for drilling glass tanks. Once the rocks are drilled you can fit them over a PVC skeleton and cement around the joints and bare spots where the pipe shows.

I use a 1/4" PVC plate at the bottom under the sand to support the pipes that are threaded into it. Try to use 45˚ elbows to break up straight lines. Flat pieces are the easiest to work with.

Here are some pictures of a similar tank to the one I showed earlier.

Keep intake strainers accessible.

Linking two or more sections helps with stability while maintaining a light and open look.

You can also fill the gaps between rocks with expanding foam and coat with cement for texture and durability.

This tank is only 10" wide but the rock work stretches up 36" with the hlp of a PVC back bone.

The 4" PVC overflow box is covered with cement and small rocks.

As delicate as it looks, it cannot collapse even in an earthquake

Don't fill all of the seams or you won't have room for placing corals

 

[dantimdad]

I'm sure precautions were taken, but that tank scares me. It looks like you could bump into and knock it over!

 

[mr.wilson]

I'm sure precautions were taken, but that tank scares me. It looks like you could bump into and knock it over!

I don't know what kind of parties you throw, but I want an invite for the next one

The plumbing goes through to the stand for some extra stability and every level is affixed to whatever it rests on, including the floor. the first time I did a tank like that I was nervous too, as I though to would be top heavy. The tank is remarkably stable on it's own due to the weight. The 1 1/4" bottom doesn't bow. It certainly would if it was wider though.

 

[dahenley]

now that you said that,you can really see how thick that bottom is compared to the sides... thats sweet!

 

[Zero Cool]

Wow, that is really cool, great idea.

 

[dantimdad]

Tell you what Mr. Wilson, next party I have you are invited... and I'm sure you won't have to do any tank work while you are here... maybe.

 

[Euch]

I'm from the far-away Belgium, but I'm really impressed with what I can learn only in this thread already. Awesome, really awesome, my tank looks like a big bucket of water compared to what I see here

 

[dantimdad]

Welcome to ReefCentral Euch!!!