the 1700g stingray reef

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belezeebub,
I just went throught the whole thread, awesome tank, here is your answer :)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=5930044#post5930044 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by midwestcustomaquariu
I received a call from the owner of this aquarium today to notify me that this thread had been started on Reef Central and that it might be a good idea to post.

I am the owner of Midwest Custom Aquarium and had the pleasure of building the tank on site for the owner. I would have to reiterate the first post of this thread and mention again that he is your normal everyday fellow, a sincerely good guy and not a millionaire who had this system up and running with the signing of a check. His family seems to be high on his list of priorities and because it is a busy time of the year for his work schedule, simply does not have the time to put into a thread and thus has asked to not be involved for the time being. He has indicated that he may step in if he finds the time in the future and may be able to answer some of the questions that only he himself would be able to answer for you. I am sure there are many and it is not hard to imagine that many hours out of one's week could easily be spent on just answering questions.

I should mention that I am not a regular visitor to Reef Central. Although I am a member, I have maybe posted a time or two and do not plan on checking back on this thread very often as it is a busy time of year for me also. I have been asked to post in case anybody has questions regarding the tank itself. As I mentioned, I will probably not be able to post or answer any questions here on Reef Central due to time constraints but I can be reached at the shop at 866-682-4498 or can be emailed directly at info@midwestcustomaquariums.com.

The tank itself is 100% acrylic. The outside dimensions are 184" long (over 15 feet), 60" deep, and 33" tall. The ends, bottom, and top are sunk into the rockwork which take up some viewing space but give a nice finished look. The liverock does have a PVC base onder some of it for a platform. I would have to agree that the pictures do not do it justice and that it does seem smaller in the pics. I am sure more pics will surface on this thread that may give a better idea. The pics of construction shown earlier are from our website and are the pics of that tank being built.

I would like to say that the owner should receive full credit for the design of this system....I built the tank only. From day one, he incorporated many features into the system that are beneficial to its health and maintenance. For example, there is a lot of heat generated my the thousands of watts of halides, which can be harnessed and used to heat the living space during the winter by the use of fans and ducts built into the house during construction. That is a lot of BTU's which are valuable to us up here in Minnesota during the winter months, especially with rising energy costs.

I have not been over and seen the tank personally since the first live rock was put in, put did see his former tanks and can say that they probably held the healthiest livestock I had ever seen. From the looks of the photos, this tank is on the same track. An experienced reefkeeper, only the owner could accurately tell you about his techniques and equipment used and deserves a lot of credit for the system he has worked very hard to put together. Please extend him some courtesy if he does happen to start posting by not hammering him with an extensive amount of questions.

Thank you,
Chris Boelke
Midwest Custom Aquarium
Click to expand...
 
Chris from Midwest Custom Aquarium was over the other day. He brought one of his customers over who is in the process of building a 1500 gallon completely circular reef which will sit in the center of his grand entrance. The tank will be plumbed through the floor to a fish room in the basement. The tank will be a full fledged reef similar to mine. We discussed the logistics of a center overflow and methods to disguise it. Looks like we will be doing the foam/epoxy/ aragonite method. I told the tanks owner I would help them put the system together.
 
Chris from Midwest Custom Aquarium was over the other day. He brought one of his customers over who is in the process of building a 1500 gallon completely circular reef which will sit in the center of his grand entrance. The tank will be plumbed through the floor to a fish room in the basement. The tank will be a full fledged reef similar to mine. We discussed the logistics of a center overflow and methods to disguise it. Looks like we will be doing the foam/epoxy/ aragonite method. I told the tanks owner I would help them put the system together. It think it would be fun and fascinating to help assemble another large tank.

On another note does anyone have any advice on constructing a marine vivarium/tidepool tank with a land section? I want to possible assembly a shoreline habitat and house a cephlapod for my office. I have constructed many large tropical vivariums for poison dart frogs but have never took on a marine tidepool/shoreline. I was wondering if anyone knew of any links to similar systems on the web or see any in person.
 
Are you planning on putting this down stairs where your old tanks were?

From what I have read about ceph's water quality and a tight lid are your main concern. If you have not checked out the Ceph forum start hovering around in there. There is alot of people whom have kept Ceph's for a long time.
 
Only problem with a tidepool that I could see, is what about the smell?! Low tides aren't really that great smelling. In a small space, I think you'd be overpowered. But it would be really cool to have a large granite bottom with a few spiny urchins cleaning off the algea and maybe an ocotpus that has his own little hole to live in. Good luck! I hope it works out for you.
 
Carman- Ive had quite a few ceph's-Octo's and cuttlefish. They are fascinating and can be trained to stay in the tank. This species tank will be upstairs in the office we are working on. Dod star As far as the smell goes it should be limited. The system would be designed to minimize these unwanted variables.I may have a suspened sand bed that could be removed and renewed periodically. It's all just plans at the moment and time is a big element that could change the whole set-up.
I like the idea of using a wave box. Thanks acrosteve.
 
A tidepool tank is a forever dream of mine! How awesome..go for it. I will LOVE seeing how you go about it. There is nothing more serene then sitting by ocean tidepools (except diving).

Thanks for the answers to my questions also. And, will the guy with the circular tank be posting here you think? That sounds amazing if it comes to fruition.
 
energy -

would you clarify the plumbing of your waterchange tank/tower?
in the picture that was posted earlier: on the side of this tank/tower facing your skimmer, it looks like you have a pipe going up to a bulkhead which also goes through an internal overflow box, then a downpipe from the overflow box toward the bottom of the tank.

did i read the picture correctly?

is this to siphon saltwater out of the tank/tower into the sump?

what is the purpose of the overflow box? - is it to mount a redundant safety switch to prevent over filling the tank/tower?

- thanks to you and those helping to document your setup!
 
I think that tank was an old fish tank that was modded to a waterchange tank. I think the overflow was useless. I may be wrong but that is how I remember it.
 
You have read the picture correctly. The water changing tower was an aquarium I purchased used. I left the overflow box in the tank to mount my shut-off float valve. I then plumbed the siphon line to the bottom of the inside of the tank. I placed a shut-off valve on the outside of the tank which drains into the sump. My RODI system fills the tank and shuts-off automatically. I add the salt and mix. I fill the tank above the u at the overflow box to begin the siphon. I simply placed the shut-off valve about 2" above the U. When the tank is full the siphon is ready to start without priming. Hope this clarifies things.
 
Energy,
I noticed in this picture what looks like the brace bowing with your weight on it. Is this the case? If so, are you worried about it?

armintankLarge.jpg
 
The braces on my 8' x 5' tank are bowing without me on them. They are 2" thick. One of my buddies asked about it but I don't really think it's a problem. Anyone know different?
 
i took that picture when he was picking a frag for me. the water level in the tank is always that high. the cross braces are huge in that tank, and in my mind that tank was over built. the acrylic might flex a little bit but will never give way. the entire system is over built. but he will never have to worry about a seam letting go and his reef ending up in his living room. i think that tank could support the weight of a car on it. :D
 
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