the 1700g stingray reef
- Thread starter spazz
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spazz
New member
one thing you guys need to remember is that alot of the corals and fish came from the system he had before the 1700g tank was put up. so thats why the corals are so big. he had aprox 700g worth of tanks in the basement before. then he took everything an put it in the 1700g tank. so alot of these corals and fish have been with him for years. so this tank is new but most of the corals and fish are old. lol
RedEyeReef
Active member
Very inspiring... I need a bigger tank. What type of 400w bulbs are over this tank?
Keep the pictures coming.
Keep the pictures coming.
Nice pictures Scott and glad to have you over. This tank has been running since May -2005 with no break in. The salt was mixed on May 25th and the first coral was placed in the tank May 26th. This was limited to what frags were left over on the 1200 lbs of live rock that was being placed in the tank. The tank never cycled and the corals that were in place began growing immediately. I let it set for a couple months before really adding anything significant. Many of the corals and fish did come from my 700 gallon reef which was in the basement.
The resin- I used a standard paint brush to dab the sand into all the nooks and crannies created by the foam while the fiberglass resin was hardening. I tried other methods but in the end the good old paint brushed worked the best to reach in all the places.
Light Bulbs. I use 400 watt 14k coralvues, 400 watt 20,000k xms, 250 watt radiums and 250 watt 20,000k xms, I also use vho actinic and will be setting up 11,000k t-5's over the tank.
The resin- I used a standard paint brush to dab the sand into all the nooks and crannies created by the foam while the fiberglass resin was hardening. I tried other methods but in the end the good old paint brushed worked the best to reach in all the places.
Light Bulbs. I use 400 watt 14k coralvues, 400 watt 20,000k xms, 250 watt radiums and 250 watt 20,000k xms, I also use vho actinic and will be setting up 11,000k t-5's over the tank.
Somebody asked about the magnets so here goes: I use three magnets to clean the 1.25 inch thick acrylic. I have three seperate surfaces so I tried three different magnets. Two are mag floats I believe they are the 500 and the 1000 unit. It was the two largest units they made. The third magnet is a magnavore 10 (non-floating). The magnavore does the best job cleaning the acrylic but also has the smallest surface area. I use whatever is handy to clean the coralline- Plastic card, scraper etc.
Thanks for clarifying about the paint brush and it's role in making the faux rock/pvc stands..... I just didn't see how you could get sand and rocks to stick to a regular paint brush for application. but it sounds like you got the end of the brush "wet" in the resin first 
. One last question.. how long did you let the spray foam cure before applying the resin and how long does it take for the resin to set ? I mean, how much time do you have to apply the sand/shells/etc before the resin is too dry to accept any more ? I know that you previously stated that the resin cures in about a week.
Oh, and I forget now, did you say that you glued the PVC framework together before you started "foaming" it ? or jsut snug fit was/is good enough ? (seems like snug fit would be more than enough, what with all of the foam and resin covering it).
Again, many thanks for your wondering innovations. It has been quite inspiring to say the least
. One last question.. how long did you let the spray foam cure before applying the resin and how long does it take for the resin to set ? I mean, how much time do you have to apply the sand/shells/etc before the resin is too dry to accept any more ? I know that you previously stated that the resin cures in about a week.Oh, and I forget now, did you say that you glued the PVC framework together before you started "foaming" it ? or jsut snug fit was/is good enough ? (seems like snug fit would be more than enough, what with all of the foam and resin covering it
).Again, many thanks for your wondering innovations. It has been quite inspiring to say the least
Travis
10 and over club
AQUAN8TOR, FWIW, I use the Tunze magnet cleaner 220.560 on my 1.25" acrylic and it does an awesome job. It used to even remove small patches of coralline but for some reason my coralline seems to be growing thicker now and has to be manually scraped off. This magnet is very strong and does require a little "work" to slide it across the acrylic.
Sparkss I snug fit the rack together so I could easily modify it at anytime in the future. I let the styrofoam sit for about 1 day before applying the resin. The resin itselfs sets up fast but this is dependent on how much hardner you apply to the mixture. Most resin is a two part mixture and the set time depends on what proportion you mix the two. Once it begins to set it hardens rather quickly. I made many small batches to complete the rack system. I also found out that if you pour the resin out and dump in substrate it will make an awesome flat rock. Just set up a mold to contain the liquid until it cures and hardens into the form you choose.
travis, thanks for your magnet input. Energy, does the foam/resin/pvc rack float without rock on top?? This may be a dumb question, but I've considered the same thing before, and just want to be sure. Thanks. BTW, you are my new personal hero!! 
Congrats on the new baby boy!!
Congrats on the new baby boy!!
AQUAN8TOR said:travis, thanks for your magnet input. Energy, does the foam/resin/pvc rack float without rock on top?? This may be a dumb question, but I've considered the same thing before, and just want to be sure. Thanks. BTW, you are my new personal hero!!
Good question, although the racks are open, so the only thing that would maybe float would be the spray foam. The pvc, resin and sand/shells all would sink.... I guess alot would depend on how much foam you used compared to the other components. But like you, I would like to hear what Energy has to say about it
Carman34L
In Memoriam
he has a automated 100g or so water change setup where he just opens a couple of valves and its done. He explained to me that with the exception of cleaning the Acrylic it almost is on auto-pilot. a tank that size you think would entitle alot of work, but it looks like he has it setup to where it runs itself (almost) I am sure that Energy could explain it better but that is what I took out of our conversation.
asnatlas
New member
AQUAN8TOR said:
I have a Magnavore 6 that I use on my 92gal that I got with my used 220gal, I love it... Once I get the 220gal setup I will put the Magnavore 6 on that and I have a Magnavore 8 for the 600gal...
What I do is go to Walmarts and buy one of those algae cleaning pads for like $1.50 and cut it in half to fit the Magnavore, Since the magnet is soo powerful it will compress the pad some and and I use that for cleaning, cheaper then paying 10.00 + S/H for the replacement pads and works great...
Shawn
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