The Volcano Tank - Konolua

[Konolua]

How many gph is diverted from the return to the waterfall? How do you control how much water goes through the waterfall? Also, does it make a lot of noise?

Do you have any supplemental flow in the tank? I don't see any powerheads in the display.

Are the rocks secured in any way, or just stacked up?

It's split three ways off the main return from the sump...which the pump is rated at 900gph. I then have the feed go from 1/2" to 1/4" and then split again in three ways. On post 138 you can see the red valve, and that is how I control overall flow. My intent was to put further adjustments on each waterfall portion, but that proved to be unnecessary.

For the noise part, it is (surprisingly) quite. In fact, we have one of those "Zen type waterfall things" from Target or whereever and it is substantially louder than the Volcano. Frankly, it sounds like you are watering a plant. The main return pump is the best pump I have ever encountered (a Poseidon pump) and is absolutely, and I truely mean, dead silent. If not for the damn skimmer, the thing would be unnoticeable.

The rocks are just stacked up, but since there are only 3 as the foundation, they are very sturdy. This was of great consideration due to the inhabitants and their desire to knock crap over.....and it's been flawless....:love2:

 

[Konolua]

Wow! Ya know its funny, when someone shows up here, posts a great tank right out of the gate, its easy to think....this guys just a newb who did his research, did somethin crazy and got lucky. Thats so clearly not the case here. You have definitly raised the bar! Now that we see the inner workings and the attention to detail, its very obvious this was a very well planned build.

I cant help but think of the limitless possibilities of doing something like this with a fabricated rock structure.

Yeah, the fabricated or molded rock idea has my mind in a flurry. I am in the process of designing another one of these bad boys on a larger scale. My ORIGINAL intent was to simply duplicate the California cost...right down to the livestock, but given a situation at a LFS, I took on a lot of livestock that wasn't in the plans....but that opened up a ton of ideas.

I am excited when I start on the next one....it will be a 5' x 5' x 16" guy in the same thread as this Volcano Tank. However, since this was my first attempt of this style (with a full-blown plan), I have a ton of "would-do-different" ideas....one of which is the idea of fabricated rock. Or.....something in that vein.

 

[reef211]

Hey Konolua,

Awesome tank man, I love it. Have you thought about putting a red led light on top of the volcano to make it look like lava it flowing out. Just an idea that all. P.S. i might have to steal your idea on my next project. Thank you for sharing and keep us posted.

BigMike.

 

[Konolua]

Got a nice Sally Light Foot crab...and some marine fiddler crabs are on their way. I will get some pictures up soon.

Thanks to all for looking!

 

[Konolua]

Just some cool shots....

 

[bluetang66]

beautiful tank, a great idea.

 

[petemattersen]

Completely awesome, After a few trips to local aquariums i had some ideas for something similar. Nice execution, looks great!

 

[Konolua]

Sorry for not getting the invert list sooner. Here is the crustacean list....coral list to follow.

Pachygrapsus crassipes "Shore Crab" - 4 small, 2 medium, 2 large
Percnon gibbesi "Sally Light Foot" - 1 small, 2 medium
Staghorn Hermit crab - 1
Pagurus sp. "Blue Banded Hermit Crab" - Unknown, these are both typical reef scavengers and food for the large crabs. I introduce 20 per month or so.
Lysmata ambionensis "Cleaner Shrimp" - 1
Lysmata wurdemanni "Peppermint Shrimp" - 3
Calcinus elegans "Electric Blue Hermit Crab" - 1
Ciliopagurus strigatus "Halloween Hermit Crab" - 1
Stenopus hispidus "Banded Coral Shrimp" - 1

 

[Konolua]

Fish List:

Zebrasoma desjardinii "Desjardini Sailfin Tang" - 1
Zebrasoma xanthurum "Purple Tang" - 1
Amphiprion sebae "Sebae Clown" - 2
Amphiprion ocellaris "Black Ocellaris Clown" - 2
Amphiprion ocellaris "Ocellaris Clown" - 2
Neoglyphidodon melas "Blue Fin Damsel" - 2
Chromis viridis "Green Chromis" - 1 (I removed all the chromis a couple months ago and this guy appeared out of nowhere around 1 month later. I believe he got in the center overflow and somehow made it out eventually. Really crazy.)
Dendrochirus brachypterus "Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish" - 1

 

[LukFox]

This is so amazingly cool! Open tops make me nervous for the fish, but this is a really fantastic display nonetheless. It really brings up new ideas to try in future tanks if dimensions allow. Excellent job on making this work.

 

[Pylon]

I can't see the pictures, or the website at all

 

[Konolua]

I can't see the pictures, or the website at all

I can see them.....?

 

[Konolua]

I can't see the pictures, or the website at all

This reef central website, or the konolua.com/volcano website?

 

[usefulidiot213]

That's awesome.. I love the crabs that hang out on the rocks.

 

[Pylon]

Looks like I can see them now, thanks Gonna re read everything now that there is pictures

 

[romsoccer12]

literrally amazing? i have lots of questions!
how can that dwarf lionfish not be causing problems with all your fish/inverts??? im sure hes eating a couple...
also, 3 pairs of clownfish? do none of them fight?
is there any smell to the tank? i know liverock out of water can just be a horrrible smell
you have fit so many different species in there that many people have problems with and it seems to have worked out for you
truly this tank blows my mind!!
great job
colin

 

[ReefEnabler]

Incredible setup, I'm impressed by the unique design and love the way you sculpted "tide pools" in the volcano, and its awesome that the crabs go hide out there

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Konolua]

literrally amazing? i have lots of questions!
how can that dwarf lionfish not be causing problems with all your fish/inverts??? im sure hes eating a couple...
also, 3 pairs of clownfish? do none of them fight?
is there any smell to the tank? i know liverock out of water can just be a horrrible smell
you have fit so many different species in there that many people have problems with and it seems to have worked out for you
truly this tank blows my mind!!
great job
colin

Glad you like it! Me too!

The lionfish can't take down the inverts that I have....crabs are too big and well-defended, and the shrimps hang out in the crab area...which fends of the lionfish.

The clowns were introduced intentionally in order to reduce fighting. Remember too, the Volcano is "round/square" so there is no line of sight on all four sides, which also lends to friendly-ness.

No smell, as everything is consistently wet..therefore alive, not dead. It is actually a very pleasant smell...ocean-spray-ish! However, it is subtle so you can only even smell the pleasant smell up close.

 

[easydoesit]

Haha, I Love it! I wish I had ocean-spray-ish pleasantness smell in my house all the time. I have thought about doing something like this when I get another tank, mostly because I love trees and I think it would be cool to have mangroves growing out of the tank. This is quite a work of art you have. I will visit your website often. Thanks for showing us!

 

[Financial Panth]

By far one of the most amazing and creative tanks I have ever seen. Kudos for taking the road less traveled!

I bet we're going to see a lot more "volcano" type tanks in the future.