Building my own

[Soultwater]

For my first post thought i would ask for some ideas for setting up something very large. Been doing saltwater fish/reef for quite a long time but never quite broke the 150 gal range. I am in the USAF and will retire within 2 years and build a house... I have always wanted to build something large into a wall or as part of the basement.

What ever i decide i must have access behinde the tank/wall like a seperate room so i can have
filtration
large RO system.... could be used for whole house
extra frag tanks and systems
large slop sink
bathroom


I have been putting off this plan because i didn't know if i would purchase an existing house or build my own. I just purchased 5 acres so i guess im building my own.


I got this pic from someone that posted here, think it's 2000 gal
Since i don't have 20 posts i can't link the pic please copy and paste
must remove spaces between www and .
w w w .thereeftank.com/totm/mar07/angledfullshot.jpg

I was thinking somethinking like this but better

Ideas?

[VWD]

This is the link you wanted, Is a very cool looking tank

[Hop]

So what exactly is the question? It all boils down to the almighty dollar. The thing about that tank in the pictures is the guy had to bring the company into his house to build the tank. It is a nice tank. it is a little rough in how it is assembled IMO and I would classify it as a tinker tank, but I like them that way

[Hop]

Oh and I'm not sure if you know that this is Energy's tank. He kept it secret for a number of years, but word got out and he consented to an article. I can find a link to a thread by a buddy of mine that saw it in person and posted hundreds of pics of it. Ultimately he likes to enjoy his tank and doesn't post much about it.

But here is the article for the tank http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/totm/index.php

[richhershey]

Originally Posted by Hop

But here is the article for the tank http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/totm/index.php

Now that's a skimmer!

[OneDummHikk]

The volcanoes are incredible skimmers but there were some issues with them and the guy that builds them is incognito and nobody can get hold of him

[Soultwater]

Thoughts
#1 LED lighting?
Knowing that large tanks can run up a large electric bill I wanted to know if any new products like LED lighting are out that can handle corals?
2 Water movement and supply?
The sump system that I had in mind was going to be large some of the issues that I have not yet figured our are how to make cleaning and water changes easy. I Also wanted to know a plan for makeup water getting back into the tank. I want to use RO water in a system that I can gravity feed. Furthermore I want to gravity feed as much as possible with all systems to make the power consumption as low as possible.
I plan to do as much of the work myself with my own design I don’t feel the need to use many off the shelf products since most of them are not designed for large systems.
3 Wave makers
I got a chance to see some dump bucket system used at an aquarium in NC, I liked the idea but thought of a siphon from a large container would produce fewer splashes/mess.
#4 Skimmer
Well I had great results making my own in the past for much smaller systems about 150 gal my thoughts are that I can make one like in the pic for this large tank but I want to keep most of my plumbing inside the very large sump in case something fails.
I feel as I have a good grasp on the idea it’s self however the size of this large system may yet be the problem in the long run.

Other thoughts
Pumps what size pumps will I be working with and what are the annual cost of operating them?

[Hop]

LED lighting is taking a huge legal fight right now. So finding good LEDs is impossible. Solaris is gone and only imported lights can be sold. Not a good time to buy LED, even if you had the 15-30k for that much light...

Go to oregonreef.com and look at his water movement and waterchange schedule.

The cost of running pumps is directly related to your electrical cost

You can figure $300 a month as a good starting point on electricity depending on where you live. it goes up from there. I figured it cost about $400 a month to just keep my 450 running. It costs me $130 a month to keep my current 300-gallon running (electric, salt and other supplements).

[taminate]

Originally Posted by Hop

LED lighting is taking a huge legal fight right now. So finding good LEDs is impossible. Solaris is gone and only imported lights can be sold. Not a good time to buy LED, even if you had the 15-30k for that much light...

Go to oregonreef.com and look at his water movement and waterchange schedule.

The cost of running pumps is directly related to your electrical cost

You can figure $300 a month as a good starting point on electricity depending on where you live. it goes up from there. I figured it cost about $400 a month to just keep my 450 running. It costs me $130 a month to keep my current 300-gallon running (electric, salt and other supplements).

That is scary! I do not even keep track of how much it costs to run mine anymore...don't really want to know. On another note-that tank is awesome! That is what I want! I love the "rustic look" in my decor-and by using wood and rocks-it would be perfect. (I may have to win the lottery first however)