SWUBE: 1000 gal Swiss Reef
- Thread starter Ridgeway Swiss
- Start date
scubadan206
Member
Before the builder could start with the walls and base I had to take out the cow feeder, yes you read correctly.... The house is around 250yrs old and is actually a farm that was converted many years ago and most of the part we live in is where the animals used to live hence in the room that will become the reef technical back office it used to be where the cows were fed and they had a 1ft high slab of concrete on the floor just to elevate their food a little, nothing a jack hammer wouldn't get rid of
I mocked up the tank with a wooden frame just to get a feel for it:
And then Benoît the builder cut the floor ready for the foundations, we decided that the correct depth was officially 1 Cocker Spaniel
Whilst this was going on we installed a dedicated electrical supply for the aquarium, this has 15 outlets and each one has an RCBO so in theory if any equipment goes it will only take out what is on that circuit and i will split the risks by having say 2 heaters and both on separate outlets
The base concrete was made around the steel frame as below
And for a while half the house was held up by temporary steel supports
OMG!!! How did you get my dog over to Europe just to take a picture of Him?
Except for the white tuft on your dogs tail, I think they could be identical.
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
Sola tubes would complete this tank
I wish...... I've cut enough holes in a 255yrs old house that she starts to groan at me.... and solar tubes would need to pass through the shower above:lolspin:
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
Here's Monty:
15 month old working Cocker
He has developed something I've never seen in a dog before in that he actually dives under water to collect stones. He is willing to keep his head under water for up to 5 seconds in search for the perfect stone and he seems as happy with his head under water as it is above water, albeit momentarily....
I should have put him in the tank when I wet tested it, that would have been fun to video.
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
Thanks guys.
May advance the filling to next week now, just gotta make my mind up on that scape. It's funny that when you scape with live rock time (lack of) takes away much of the decision process but when you have time it's often even harder as you search for an unrealistic perfection.... Reef OCD
May advance the filling to next week now, just gotta make my mind up on that scape. It's funny that when you scape with live rock time (lack of) takes away much of the decision process but when you have time it's often even harder as you search for an unrealistic perfection.... Reef OCD
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
The cleanliness of the electrical work is my envy.
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
ok an update is long overdue as the tank got wet in early July and progress has been good but slow.
Give me a few days to put something together
Give me a few days to put something together
mkindsfather
New member
Wow only word necessary!
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
OK just back in from a long USA/Canada week..... LA, Kansas, Milwaukee, Chicago and Toronto in one week was a killer so forgive my spelling and my waist line hasn't recovered from a Kansas BBQ experience:lmao:
I let the pictures do the talking and just add a few comments where needed.
I took quite some time over the scape as I knew what I wanted to achieve and had a very particular idea in mind (may have been slightly Oregon Inspired...)
I used a technique that I've been happy with before and that is to layer the rocks and then make egg crate steps behind them. This has a few advantages that I like. Firstly it keeps the entire space under the rocks free for fish to hide in and I really believe that all fish need good down time and some where to just get away, secondly it also allows you to have a good deal of flow going through there which avoids detritus build up and also promotes a lot of sponge growth.
The scape itself is basically an angled valley that dips towards the back to further accentuate the 5.5ft depth front to back.
View from the back in the technical room:
And here's what the children have called the fish bedrooms, plenty of space for down time and nice to be able to discretely see them in there if required.
Finally the scape was finished and then I could clean that sand.....
I took each 56lbs sack and thoroughly cleaned it first with tap water and then several times with RO water. After that algae magnets were passed through many many times to check for metal and boy was there some in there !!! and this is high grade sand from a top German supplier.....
I let the pictures do the talking and just add a few comments where needed.
I took quite some time over the scape as I knew what I wanted to achieve and had a very particular idea in mind (may have been slightly Oregon Inspired...)
I used a technique that I've been happy with before and that is to layer the rocks and then make egg crate steps behind them. This has a few advantages that I like. Firstly it keeps the entire space under the rocks free for fish to hide in and I really believe that all fish need good down time and some where to just get away, secondly it also allows you to have a good deal of flow going through there which avoids detritus build up and also promotes a lot of sponge growth.
The scape itself is basically an angled valley that dips towards the back to further accentuate the 5.5ft depth front to back.
View from the back in the technical room:
And here's what the children have called the fish bedrooms, plenty of space for down time and nice to be able to discretely see them in there if required.
Finally the scape was finished and then I could clean that sand.....
I took each 56lbs sack and thoroughly cleaned it first with tap water and then several times with RO water. After that algae magnets were passed through many many times to check for metal and boy was there some in there !!! and this is high grade sand from a top German supplier.....
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
Next was to fill the system, with zero TDS RODI water with a good deal of patience.....
Progress was slow as I ran the RO with a 2hrs on and 30min off cycle so I dodn't kill the new high output booster pump which was about $200
As I had used 100% Marco Rocks I used about 1.5 gallons of ATM Colony but additionally I added around 35lbs of very mature live rock in the last sump
Top view gives a better Impression of the more or less 5.5ft x 5.5ft
Next was to get the Deltec Eco Cooler on-line and after some more drilling of holes through the 40" thick stone walls of the house I had the pipes in for the feed and return from the sump to the cooler. It's mounted high so it can gravity feed back to the sump.
And it's under the barn so it stays dry
I also upgraded 2 of the MP60's with QD drivers:
And wow do they make a difference !!! will upgrade the other 2 soon as it's certainly worth it, can hardly hear them now.
The UV is now Installed under the tank, it's a TMC commercial 220w unit which I will run for the weeks around new fish Introduction.
In order to reduce salt creep I added covers on the sumps, mainly on the top sump as this is totally covered now and the lower sump is 50% covered as I still want some gas exchange in there.
The skimmer has a solenoid (Apex) controlled drain that operates every 6hrs to drain the cup, at the same time the Deltec Self Cleaning head operates and I've made a new washing system, but still need to source a good pressure pump for it.
And with some programming help from those kind people over on the Apex forum I managed to sort out the automatic filling of both the water change tank and the ATU tank:
Progress was slow as I ran the RO with a 2hrs on and 30min off cycle so I dodn't kill the new high output booster pump which was about $200
As I had used 100% Marco Rocks I used about 1.5 gallons of ATM Colony but additionally I added around 35lbs of very mature live rock in the last sump
Top view gives a better Impression of the more or less 5.5ft x 5.5ft
Next was to get the Deltec Eco Cooler on-line and after some more drilling of holes through the 40" thick stone walls of the house I had the pipes in for the feed and return from the sump to the cooler. It's mounted high so it can gravity feed back to the sump.
And it's under the barn so it stays dry
I also upgraded 2 of the MP60's with QD drivers:
And wow do they make a difference !!! will upgrade the other 2 soon as it's certainly worth it, can hardly hear them now.
The UV is now Installed under the tank, it's a TMC commercial 220w unit which I will run for the weeks around new fish Introduction.
In order to reduce salt creep I added covers on the sumps, mainly on the top sump as this is totally covered now and the lower sump is 50% covered as I still want some gas exchange in there.
The skimmer has a solenoid (Apex) controlled drain that operates every 6hrs to drain the cup, at the same time the Deltec Self Cleaning head operates and I've made a new washing system, but still need to source a good pressure pump for it.
And with some programming help from those kind people over on the Apex forum I managed to sort out the automatic filling of both the water change tank and the ATU tank:
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
So after leaving things to settle a few days I added the first new fish (had some existing to help with ATM cycle)
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
It's hard to get a good view of the technical room as it's very small and right behind the tank but here's a effort to give you some Impression at least.
Ridgeway Swiss
A Member
So as things have been slowly settling down then I have started to add a few animals, this fella stands out but that's mainly because he'd like to eat the children, dogs or just about anything that he can fit in his mouth and that so far Includes a LN Hawkfish and a Yellow Wrasse
Still he is stunning and as long as he keeps those teeth away from me he has a stay of reprieve.
Still he is stunning and as long as he keeps those teeth away from me he has a stay of reprieve.
