10' Pond Build

[moriarty]

I have been planning to do this for some time, and my schedule has finally allowed me to start getting things going.

I have to preface this thread by saying that this is definitely not a cheap/easy means for having a relatively large system. My reason for going with a pond is that I really enjoy the top down viewing perspective. I looked at a lot of different options, and decided on a 10' round intex metal frame pool with an additional 45 mil epdm pond liner.

I plan on doing the insulation this weekend, but wanted to set the pool up first so that I could get an idea of how it will look in the space that I intend for it to go.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64661

I'll update with more pics as I go along.

Thanks for looking!

[humaguy]

love it....good luck!

[krj-1168]

What are you planning to put in the pond?

Also approximate what is it's volume (how many gallons)?

[moriarty]

What are you planning to put in the pond?

Also approximate what is it's volume (how many gallons)?



The volume of the pool filled to about 6" from the top is roughly 1200 gallons. To start with, I'm going to plumb in a 150 gallon sump, and a 50 gallon container for equipment such as the skimmer. This will be about 1400 gallons in total. I left lots of space to add additional tubs as needed.

As for what I plan to put in, I currently have a juvie Queen Angel (3"), Maculosus Angel (5"), Aussie Harlequin Tusk, and a pair of Green Bird Wrasse which I'm sure will appreciate the extra space! I would eventually like to attempt keeping some of the larger angel species in pairs, and have been spending a good amount of time searching the forums looking at other RC member's experiences in doing so.

[Dmorty217]

Following along. How do you plan on accessing something in the middle of that 10ft pond?

[kegogut]

Following along. How do you plan on accessing something in the middle of that 10ft pond?
I would assume that he would walk out to the middle?

Looking forward to watching this progress. Good luck!

[SPotter]

im in! looks awesome!!!!

[HPark]

Funny - one of my current tanks is pretty shallow at 10" and even though I hated it at first, I've really grown to like the top-down view. Best of luck on this project - can't wait to see it progress.

[Zoodiver]

You'll like that pool a lot. I have a 1200 gallon Intex for holding sharks at my place - but with PVC instead of the metal frame. Those liners are tough.
For a cost effective biological set up, I'd suggest a large Rubbermaid trash can full of bioballs on a platform next to the edge. You can let it gravity feed back into the pool. It will also be a great way to provide a de-gas/off-gas area without the need to have the surface moving so much that you can't see down into the display area.

[Dmorty217]

I would assume that he would walk out to the middle?

Looking forward to watching this progress. Good luck!

Thanks captain obvious. I meant without putting swim trunks on everytime

[Cu455]

Thanks captain obvious. I meant without putting swim trunks on everytime

I didnt think it was obvious. I would have doggie paddled out there. He can also wear a wetsuit insted of the trunks.

The pool looks good. The window there is pretty cool. If humidity builds up you can throw an exust fan in the window.

[Cu455]

You'll like that pool a lot. I have a 1200 gallon Intex for holding sharks at my place - but with PVC instead of the metal frame. Those liners are tough.
For a cost effective biological set up, I'd suggest a large Rubbermaid trash can full of bioballs on a platform next to the edge. You can let it gravity feed back into the pool. It will also be a great way to provide a de-gas/off-gas area without the need to have the surface moving so much that you can't see down into the display area.

Was it stocked with PVC or did you switch the metal out?

[Dmorty217]

I didnt think it was obvious. I would have doggie paddled out there. He can also wear a wetsuit insted of the trunks.

The pool looks good. The window there is pretty cool. If humidity builds up you can throw an exust fan in the window.

I meant that I personally don't even like to stick my arm in my tank if I don't have to. With a pool as your tank putting on a wetsuit or trunks or whatever to get into the pool anytime you need to get something off the bottom/middle will become a huge PITA

[Zoodiver]

I didnt think it was obvious. I would have doggie paddled out there. He can also wear a wetsuit insted of the trunks....


As per my sig? Hahaha

Was it stocked with PVC or did you switch the metal out?

I swapped it. Some of their pools have the PVC option for bracing.


I meant that I personally don't even like to stick my arm in my tank if I don't have to. With a pool as your tank putting on a wetsuit or trunks or whatever to get into the pool anytime you need to get something off the bottom/middle will become a huge PITA

The trick is to make it so you don't need to go to the middle often...if ever. Once this type of pool is up and running, there shouldn't be a need to access the middle that often. Maybe once or twice a month - if even that much.

[Dmorty217]

As per my sig? Hahaha
The trick is to make it so you don't need to go to the middle often...if ever. Once this type of pool is up and running, there shouldn't be a need to access the middle that often. Maybe once or twice a month - if even that much.

Good points, I guess if you setup something that's 10ft across you sign up for getting into it. I was thinking cat walk...

[anbosu]

Good points, I guess if you setup something that's 10ft across you sign up for getting into it. I was thinking cat walk...

Or maybe one of those foldable ladders if they are big enough for that.

[moriarty]

Following along. How do you plan on accessing something in the middle of that 10ft pond?

Haha! I actually have a pair of waders that I'm going to re-purpose for reaching the middle if/when I have to. Going to try to set it up so that this happens as infrequently as possible!

[moriarty]

You'll like that pool a lot. I have a 1200 gallon Intex for holding sharks at my place - but with PVC instead of the metal frame. Those liners are tough.
For a cost effective biological set up, I'd suggest a large Rubbermaid trash can full of bioballs on a platform next to the edge. You can let it gravity feed back into the pool. It will also be a great way to provide a de-gas/off-gas area without the need to have the surface moving so much that you can't see down into the display area.

Yes sir! Doing exactly that!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64702

[moriarty]

I got the insulation and liner installed today. Was going to do it this weekend but I managed to finish what I needed to at work, and was able to start my weekend early.

First I put in a layer of 1/4" foam board underneath the pool. I had originally planned to go with something a little thicker, but thought that the pool might not sit right if I had done so. I'm going to trim the excess board away once the pool is filled.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64704

The next step was to insulate the walls with 6" thick fiberglass insulation. I'm sure this will be compacted down to next to nothing once the pond is filled. Because the underlaying foam board is so thin, I went ahead and put a layer on the bottom as well. (Once the liner is in place, it should be water tight).


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64705

Finally the liner. 45 mil liners are heavy (this particular one is 110 lbs), so I had a buddy help out as not to just drag the pool around trying to do it myself. We got the liner centered in the pool as best we could. I am going to play around with where I want the creases to be as I fill it up.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64706

Here's a pic of the 150 and 50 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks which will be the sump/refugium, and where the skimmer and other equipment will go. My next step is going to build the stands, and get them in place and plumbed.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=64703

I probably won't have any major updates over the next couple weeks as I promised my wife that I would get to a couple other projects around the house first. She's been great about my little basement project, so I'm more than happy to oblige!

[moriarty]

The pool looks good. The window there is pretty cool. If humidity builds up you can throw an exust fan in the window.

Yeah, that window worked out really well. If the dehumidifiers don't do the trick, an exhaust fan will be the way to go. Plus I have the added benefit of natural sunlight!

[moriarty]

Made a little progress. I decided to fill the pool with FW before placing any equipment to be sure that the size/shape didn't change once filled. Because of the fiberglass insulation, I had a lot of wrinkles at the bottom as the weight of the water compacted the insulation creating air pockets beneath the liner. I was able to sort this out with a rolling pin once the pool filled to about 5" and the water pressure was enough to keep it flat.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65276

I also built a stand for the main (150g) sump using 2X4's, concrete blocks, and rigid insulation that I had left over from underneath the pool. Next step is to drill the holes for 2" bulkheads which will be my return.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65277

I plan on adding 800 lbs of aragonite sand (fine). Any thoughts on whether I should drain the pool and add the sand first, or add it to a filled pool and leave the equipment off for a few days until it clears up a litte? I'm not quite to this step yet, just trying to plan ahead...

[caribfan]

I love this build! Thanks for the pictures and updates.

[anbosu]

I don't know why you couldn't add it while it's full of water - it might be a little messier but it's going to cloud up regardless.

[moriarty]

I love this build! Thanks for the pictures and updates.

Thanks! Has been a fun project so far! I'll definitely keep posting updates!

[Butchhe]

I plan on adding 800 lbs of aragonite sand (fine). Any thoughts on whether I should drain the pool and add the sand first, or add it to a filled pool and leave the equipment off for a few days until it clears up a litte? I'm not quite to this step yet, just trying to plan ahead...

It depends on your situation. Are you going to use FW or RO once its ready for the salt? When do you plan on mixing the salt? Has the sand been rinsed? If the sand hasn't been rinsed, it will turn everything milky white. If using the FW for the initial setup, I would mix the salt in the water first getting it to the right salinity/temp. In the meantime, I would be rinsing the sand to minimize the white chalky mess that most un-rinsed sand leave behind. Once the
temp/salinity is spot on, then I would add the sand.

[moriarty]

I don't know why you couldn't add it while it's full of water - it might be a little messier but it's going to cloud up regardless.

I would prefer to go this route, and would rather not have to drain/re-fill. Might use an old powerhead or two just to keep the water moving and avoid having a pool of standing water in the basement for a few days/weeks until it clears up. I don't plan on making any holes in the liner or the pool it's self to run pipe/filtration, so there is really no other reason that I'd have to empty it.

[moriarty]

It depends on your situation. Are you going to use FW or RO once its ready for the salt? When do you plan on mixing the salt? Has the sand been rinsed? If the sand hasn't been rinsed, it will turn everything milky white. If using the FW for the initial setup, I would mix the salt in the water first getting it to the right salinity/temp. In the meantime, I would be rinsing the sand to minimize the white chalky mess that most un-rinsed sand leave behind. Once the
temp/salinity is spot on, then I would add the sand.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm just going to use FW for the initial fill. I use RO water for top offs on my FO/FOWLR tanks, but just FW when I do water changes. Probably different from most people's methods, but It's been working out well for me for years. The sand does say "pre-rinsed" on the packaging, but from past experience, that doesn't mean too much. I'm probably underestimating the amount of time it's going to take me to rinse all 800 lbs of the stuff, so I'll need to get started on that sooner rather than later! I appreciate the reminder!

[Butchhe]

I know how much of a pita rinsing 100 lbs of sand is especially when it is real dirty. I can only imagine how long it will take for 800 lbs. Hopefully it is pre-rinsed like the bag says.

[moriarty]

Made a little more progress this week. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the bio-ball filled trash can, and a 3" hole in the lid. I decided to put the can in the sump on top of 2 stacked milk crates. Water flows from the pond through the can/bio balls, into the sump, and back to the pond via 2 2" bulkheads.

Bottom of the trash can
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65378

This isn't pretty!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65379

Not the clearest pics of the plumbing, but I put a cross on the outlet (ball valves on the top and sides so that I can control the flow. Water can flow from the pump into the can/sump as well as from each side. To create a gyre in the pond, one of the side valves will be partially open and the other one closed. I can change the direction/strength of the gyre by adjusting the valves. The top valve will always be fully open unless I need to take the sump offline.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65381

I also put threaded 90's at the end of the return piping so that I can rotate them to be consistent with the direction of the gyre.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65380

[Butchhe]

Looks really good. Have you added the salt yet? I hope not as I would hate to see you waste it once you start to add the sand and the water flows over the edge of the pool.

[moriarty]

Looks really good. Have you added the salt yet? I hope not as I would hate to see you waste it once you start to add the sand and the water flows over the edge of the pool.

No salt yet. Going to let it run for a bit with FW and see how things go. I also need to keep track of the water level to get an idea of evaporation rates, which I suspect will be pretty high. Looking into an ATO, but am not sure how I want to go about it just yet.

As for the sand... 800 pounds isn't nearly enough to displace so much water that it will overflow the pool (filled to 8" from the top). I guess it sounds like a lot, but the area of the pool is 78.5 square feet (1 X 40 pound bag covers about 5 square feet at 1" depth). So even if I do use all of it, the sand will only be about 1 1/4" deep. I'm probably going to start with half of this and add more if needed. I just want to use enough to fully cover the bottom of the pool without having a lot of exposed liner.

[chr154k]

I am slowly accumulating equipment for my saltwater pool, now all I need is one of my roomates to leave so I have a place to put it. What pump/gph will you be running through the filter?

[moriarty]

I am slowly accumulating equipment for my saltwater pool, now all I need is one of my roomates to leave so I have a place to put it. What pump/gph will you be running through the filter?

I'm using a mag drive 2400 for the main filter/sump. It moves a lot of water for using only 255 watts. I've always been a fan of mag drive pumps and use them on all of my other systems, so I figured it would be a good starting point for this one as well.

What type of pool are you planning on setting up?

[Zoodiver]

You say it's not pretty, but that plumbing looks great to me. Matching lines, no excess piping all over. I like it.

[Booboobear259]

This is a very nice idea there was a thread a while back on something of this sort except he had sharks and such and it was probably bigger given what the pool looks like. Following along here nice thread.

[G_Sanab922]

Following along as well..

Have an approx. 144x72x55 pool. Getting ideas..

[moriarty]

You say it's not pretty, but that plumbing looks great to me. Matching lines, no excess piping all over. I like it.

Thank you! Trying to keep the plumbing as simple as possible.

[moriarty]

Following along as well..

Have an approx. 144x72x55 pool. Getting ideas..

Nice! Hope to see a build thread when you get it started!

[blakew]

Going to be watching this build. I have been thinking about something like this for a while.

[Legalreefing]

Awesome!

[TheBookWorm]

Following along!

[ken6217]

Ae you going with no rock at all or did I mess this?

What skimmer are you going with?
Ken

[moriarty]

Ae you going with no rock at all or did I mess this?

What skimmer are you going with?
Ken

Definitely going to be adding rock. I'm going to do a few hundred pounds of live base rock set up like coral heads. I want to give it the impression of being a reef, so I've been working on making my own coral rock (polymer clay "corals" attached to dry rock) to go on top of the base rock. I did some research on some polymer clays, and the overall impression that I got was that since the manufacturer switched from petroleum based ingredients, there was nothing in it that would make it unsuitable for aquarium use once it was fully cured. I've had a couple of 10g aquariums set up with a lot of it relative to water volume. I didn't make any corals with it, just used different shapes/textures (large, small, flat, ground into sand size pieces etc...) for the better part of the year to see how it would hold up in saltwater, and if there would be any negative impact to water quality. I also have a 10g "control tank" set up with the exact same equipment/livestock (sans the polymer clay of course). So far, so good...

Here's a pic so you can get an idea of what it will look like. Still trying to work out how elaborate I want to make the corals, and trying to find a happy medium between not enough detail so that you can't tell what they are, and so much detail that they take forever to make.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9187&pictureid=65597

As for the skimmer, I still haven't decided on which one I want to go with. Will probably sort that out in the next few weeks.

[moriarty]

Water still has a little clearing up to do, but I think my polymer clay coral rock looks half way respectable in there. Might play around with making some SPS this weekend.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9187&pictureid=65606

[kegogut]

Looks REALLY good man,top notch work for sure.

[jellyfishAtx]

Looks great, I'm following along can't wait to see the rest! !

[moriarty]

Thanks for the compliments! I added more sand, so it's quite cloudy once again. I'll take some more pics once it clears up. Started the cycle using a few shrimp. I also transferred some LR from my established tanks to the sump to help get things moving along.

[moriarty]

With the pond cycling, I thought that now would be a good time to come up with some stocking possibilities. I will be transferring most of my fish from my 120 and 240g tanks over to the pond, but will still have some real estate available to add others. I wanted to run my list of current fish along with some potentials by you guys, as well as to get some suggestions. FWIW, I will keep at least the 240 up and running so I will have a place to keep fish that don't play nice with the rest of the group.

Here is a preliminary list: (Keeping some from this list may exclude others, and I may add/subtract from it as time goes on, but it's a start).

Large Angels:
Pomacanthus maculosus (already have)
Queen Angel - Holacanthus ciliaris (already have)
2 Pomacanthus Annularis (already have, and are getting along well enough for now).

Dwarf Angels:
Centropyge loricula - Flame angel pair (already have)
Centropyge flavissima - Lemonpeel angel pair
Centropyge bicolor
Centropyge eibli

Basslets:
Serranus tortugarum Chalk bass (several)
Gramma loreto - Royal Gramma (have one, would like to add others)
Gramma melacara - Black Cap Basslet (my wife's favorite fish, and a must have)

Butterflyfish:
In my 20+ years in the hobby, I have never attempted keeping any species of butterflyfish. Definitely looking for suggestions here (would especially love to do a small group of a Heniochus spp.).

Chromis:
Chromis cyaneus - Blue Reef Chromis (group)
Chromis viridis - Green Chromis (group - if I can find healthy fish, which seem to be few and far between as of late)

Clowns:
Amphiprion Ocellaris (pair)

Damsels:
Already have several, and will likely keep a few groups of smaller more docile species to add color/movement.

Filefish:
Acreichthys tomentosus (already have)

Gobies:
Valenciennea strigata - Sleeper Goby (pair) - would add later once the sand bed matures

Tangs:
Naso unicornis Unicorn Tang (already have)
Naso lituratus **any thoughts on keeping these with N. unicornis?**
Acanthurus mata - Mata Tang (already have)
Paracanthurus hepatus - Pacific Blue Tang (already have)
Zebrasoma flavescens (would like to do a group of 5)

Wrasse:
Choerodon fasciatus - Aussie Harlequin Tusk (already have)
Gomphosus various - Green Bird Wrasse (pair)
**Looking for some other wrasse suggestions.

Triggers:
Odonus niger - Red Tooth Trigger **This is a fish that I keep bouncing back and fourth about adding. O. niger is one of the two fish that first got me interested in the hobby (the other was Rhinecanthus aculeatus) but I've never had the "right" system to keep one (for one reason or another).

Again, I'm sure as time goes on my list of fish will evolve/change a bit, but I thought it would be good to have something down "on paper" in terms of stocking. Please feel free to give criticisms/suggestions!

[xkon]

Cool idea and those corals look well done. I'm a little confused about how you will be able to really see whats going on inside the pool? Won't there be some kind of surface agitation/rippling going on to kind of disturb your vision?

[moriarty]

Cool idea and those corals look well done. I'm a little confused about how you will be able to really see whats going on inside the pool? Won't there be some kind of surface agitation/rippling going on to kind of disturb your vision?

Thanks!

There is a bit of agitation, but it's mostly on one side. My plan is to have 2 different "zones" in the pond. The side with a lot of agitation will be made to resemble a reef crest, and the side without will be more of a lagoon. Here are a couple pics to show what I mean.

This is what the water looks like on the side that will be the reef crest. Lots of surface agitation and very high turbulence/flow. I plan to do this side with lots of SPS, etc...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65726

This is the other side (lagoon) with the filtration running exactly the same as in the first pic. Very little surface agitation, but still a good amount of flow under the surface.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65727

And one showing most of the pond (sorry for the poor lighting in this one).

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=65728

For times when I want a better view of both sides, I did the plumbing where I can reduce the flow from the filter and have a very strong underwater current without much surface agitation.

It's difficult to get an idea of water movement from a picture, so I'll try to post a video sometime in the near future.

[Whiterabbitrage]

:inlove: Following.

[jellyfishAtx]

Following

[inigomontoya]

Awesome job, I don't like most fake coral but it looks great in this application. For fish you have to get a school of butterflyfish, schooling bannerfish (heniochus diphreutes) would be perfect. They would look really good top down. You could also get a bunch of raccoons with this much room.

[moriarty]

Awesome job, I don't like most fake coral but it looks great in this application. For fish you have to get a school of butterflyfish, schooling bannerfish (heniochus diphreutes) would be perfect. They would look really good top down. You could also get a bunch of raccoons with this much room.

Thanks for the suggestion! Will start with a pair of bannerfish for sure. I've always liked these, and think that they would make a nice addition.

[Butchhe]

If you are looking to get a small school, go with an odd number of fish. In a tank like that I would do 3-5 depending on what else you are going to stock it with.

[inigomontoya]

Thanks for the suggestion! Will start with a pair of bannerfish for sure. I've always liked these, and think that they would make a nice addition.

If you are looking to get a small school, go with an odd number of fish. In a tank like that I would do 3-5 depending on what else you are going to stock it with.

I'm with him but even more, like 5-9. They would look awesome from the top as a schooling group that you can see from a distance, like one huge fish. Like all fish they tend to schoal more as they realize the aquarium is safe, but they are supposed to group tighter than a lot of aquarium suitable fish.

We'll have to live vicariously through you. I was going to do 3-5 in my FOWLR but won't have enough room with other fish.

[mnkykng77]

Man I wish I could have a saltwater "pond" haha. If I ever win the lottery I plan to do this with a side view window.

[moriarty]

I'm with him but even more, like 5-9. They would look awesome from the top as a schooling group that you can see from a distance, like one huge fish. Like all fish they tend to schoal more as they realize the aquarium is safe, but they are supposed to group tighter than a lot of aquarium suitable fish.

We'll have to live vicariously through you. I was going to do 3-5 in my FOWLR but won't have enough room with other fish.

I'm sold! I did a bit more research on the species, and think that 7 sounds like a good number! I'm still not used to the idea stocking a system of this volume and tend to stock my tanks conservatively to begin with, so it's going to be an adjustment for sure! I'd like to add them all at once, so this will be something I'll do around the 6 month mark should all go well with the pond. Thanks again for the great suggeston!

[moriarty]

Man I wish I could have a saltwater "pond" haha. If I ever win the lottery I plan to do this with a side view window.

Funny you should mention that! I was actually playing around with the idea of adding some sort of window when I was in the early planning stages. Decided that it wouldn't be worth the extra effort/expense as you would probably have to be laying on the floor to look through it. However, a little lottery money may change my viewpoint a bit :)

[Whiterabbitrage]

What are you going to use to stop jumpers? Mesh?

I showed your build to my boyfriend. He was not excited. :rolleyes:
Non-fish people are so weird.

[Brando457]

Anyway to cut a clear piece viewing window in the vinyl?

[moriarty]

What are you going to use to stop jumpers? Mesh?

I showed your build to my boyfriend. He was not excited. :rolleyes:
Non-fish people are so weird.

Good call on something to prevent jumping! Was thinking of trying the kind of netting used in koi ponds to keep the fish in and predators out. Would like to make something thats easily removable/retractable and keep it in place at night and when I'm not home. There is a good 8" between the water line and the top of the pond, but it definitely couldn't hurt to take some extra precautions.

Non-fish people... gotta love 'em! My wife was less than enthusiastic about my little project when I first started putting it together, but she's starting to come around. She has already picked out a couple fish that she likes, so we are making progress :) We have an agreement where I get the basement, and she gets the rest of the house to do with what she likes. (She's an interior designer and isn't exactly keen on my potential for having "marine explosion decor" throughout the house). I will say though, she has been a really good sport about this whole thing :)

[moriarty]

Anyway to cut a clear piece viewing window in the vinyl?

Yeah, it can be done. If I had gone with a deeper pool I would have likely added a viewing window. With the pool that I decided on (30" depth), I can reach almost anything I need to without having to enter the pool. (granted my sleeves get a little wet if I'm not careful). I didn't think that a window would be of much value in a pool that is so low to the ground that you would have to be laying down to look through it.

[Brando457]

waterproof webcam connected to a 60" tv and a sub marine cam!

[las]

Love this build

[Zoodiver]

waterproof webcam connected to a 60" tv and a sub marine cam!

http://www.subvoyager.com/

I've used sub cameras like this in a few large displays.

[bfin3]

Are you concerned about humidity? My house isn't small and I've noticed a significant amount of extra humidity in the basement with just my 50 gallon reef and mixing station down there. I would think you'll have a sauna with that pond. It'll take a beast of a dehumidifier to keep up.

[baddiesel]

You can purchase bird netting from Lowes. Use thin wall 3/4" PVC to fabricate a frame first. Then, with a helper, stretch the bird netting and attach to your frame with black tie wraps. You can be creative by installing a hinge in the middle. Using thin walled PVC, it's easier to heat up slightly and bend to the curvature of your pond. Good luck with your build.

[cabinetman123]

This is insane! I love it. Looking forward to more pics!

[moriarty]

waterproof webcam connected to a 60" tv and a sub marine cam!

Don't encourage me! Haha!

[moriarty]

Are you concerned about humidity? My house isn't small and I've noticed a significant amount of extra humidity in the basement with just my 50 gallon reef and mixing station down there. I would think you'll have a sauna with that pond. It'll take a beast of a dehumidifier to keep up.


Humidity was actually a big concern! I purchased 2 70-Pint dehumidifiers. As of now, I only run one pretty much constantly which is plumbed directly into a floor drain. The humidity in my basement stays under 50% with just the one running. These also produce a bit of heat (a good thing in my case as I don't have to heat the water quite as much). I also have 3 screened Egress windows which help in the warmer months, but I may have to employ the other dehumidifier once the weather outside prohibits having an open window. Central air helps in keeping the humidity under control as well.

[moriarty]

You can purchase bird netting from Lowes. Use thin wall 3/4" PVC to fabricate a frame first. Then, with a helper, stretch the bird netting and attach to your frame with black tie wraps. You can be creative by installing a hinge in the middle. Using thin walled PVC, it's easier to heat up slightly and bend to the curvature of your pond. Good luck with your build.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm currently looking into some options for building a "frame" to go around the pond along with some sort of ledge to go around the top (As it is now, it kind of resembles a large trash bag filled with water, sand, and rock). Am considering materials like Trex decking and PVC wainscoting as I suspect that wood would likely not hold up unless I shellac the heck out of it. Once I get that sorted out, I'll figure out how to go about doing the netting. I like your idea of building a PVC frame. I may do several hinges so that it can be easily folded up and removed when needed.

[Been Mired]

They would look really good top down. You could also get a bunch of raccoons with this much room.

Really? I wouldn't think a raccoon would like living in this pond much. :fish2:

[moriarty]

Really? I wouldn't think a raccoon would like living in this pond much. :fish2:

Probably wouldn't be reef safe either (even for an artificial reef).

[kegogut]

I use the deer netting for my screens on all my tanks.

As for the frame around it you could always use ceramic or stone tile, Theres an LFS here that has a look down pond that has the stone around the sides with a ceramic tile ledge around the top you can lean on you help look into it since its raised about 48" of the ground.

[chirojosh]

wow, this is gonna be badass!

[mnkykng77]

Its been 2 weeks since your last update, I think, any new? haha.

Also, not sure if you had already mentioned it, but what/how do you plan to light the pond?

[moriarty]

I use the deer netting for my screens on all my tanks.

As for the frame around it you could always use ceramic or stone tile, Theres an LFS here that has a look down pond that has the stone around the sides with a ceramic tile ledge around the top you can lean on you help look into it since its raised about 48" of the ground.

I like your tile idea. Will have to look into that!

[moriarty]

Its been 2 weeks since your last update, I think, any new? haha.

Also, not sure if you had already mentioned it, but what/how do you plan to light the pond?

Not too much as far as updates go. Still waiting out the cycle. After the initial bump with a few shrimp blended into a slurry in the Vitamix, I've been using some expired dry food to feed the pond daily as I would if it were very lightly stocked (as it will be at first).

Still trying to sort out what I want to do for a skimmer. I attached an AquaC Remora Pro S skimmer that I had laying around to the back of the sump which has been pulling a good amount of dark brown/green skimmate, especially during the first few days. This won't be anywhere near sufficient long term but should be okay until I make a decision on which one to buy, or if I want to attempt a DIY skimmer project.

The pond gets a lot of natural sunlight from the south facing window just above it. I also attached a couple Kessil A150s to the ceiling (previously had them on my reef before upgrading) and while they add enough light to see well enough, I'd really like to go with a brighter center spot light. Still looking into different options for this.

[SteelMastiff]

Very cool build, tagging along for this one...

[tanksfishtank]

WhaT A awesome idea! I am excited to see the progress!

[cabinetman123]

Do a big algae scrubber.

[griseum]

Looks really good! Above my pond ive used every type of lighting you could think of in the past 5 or so years. The nicest look was two 175watt mh Hamilton bell pendants hung in opposite corners with Ushio bulbs, and some LED (Kessil) to brighten things up. Now im using 3x four foot dual bulb fluorescents and two Kessil LEDs, to conserve energy.
I really like the plumbing you did, definitely not bad at all!

[moriarty]

Do a big algae scrubber.

Definitely something I'm considering adding down the road!

[moriarty]

Looks really good! Above my pond ive used every type of lighting you could think of in the past 5 or so years. The nicest look was two 175watt mh Hamilton bell pendants hung in opposite corners with Ushio bulbs, and some LED (Kessil) to brighten things up. Now im using 3x four foot dual bulb fluorescents and two Kessil LEDs, to conserve energy.
I really like the plumbing you did, definitely not bad at all!

I'm a huge fan of your system! Read your thread a couple times over when I was planning out my pond. I love the look of halides, but thought I'd go with LEDs to save a bit of energy too. I actually think yours looks the best (from the video anyway) with the flourescents/LEDs in one of your more recent posts (5/17/2014).

[griseum]

Mo- Thanks! It's always nice to hear that!
I think your pool is coming along great! I had originally used Intex pools before I built the wood frame about 5-6 years ago. I'm so glad to see you put down a pond liner!
I do miss the circular design sometimes as you can create a pretty good current that will follow the circumference, giving you a pretty good turnover of water through your filter. You will still need some random flow/laminar flow as well, of course. The issue of flow, in a 10 foot circle is something that caused me a bit of a conundrum.... I was faced with getting good water flow to all areas of the pool/pond, which created surface agitation and of the the lack of visibility that comes with it, or having water that, I felt atleast, was too stagnant.

LEDS along with your ambient lighting, or a few fluorescent bulbs would, not only look nice with a crisp 12 or 10k/14k look, but will keep ambient heat levels down too. I believe in the video you speak of, I was using just the Kessil LEDS. However on the June or 6/2014 video I had on 4 or 6 HO Fluorescents, which give off a bright daylight look, which isn't very esthetic but allows me to see the pond and plumbimg, as well as observe the sharks & fish for any signs aggression and whatnot.

Definitely plan for humidity. It may seem manageable at first, especially with Fall starting.
You'll soon be wondering how the pool lost an inch of water to evaporation in just a few days (which equates to more than 50 gallons) !

[moriarty]

Mo- Thanks! It's always nice to hear that!
I think your pool is coming along great! I had originally used Intex pools before I built the wood frame about 5-6 years ago. I'm so glad to see you put down a pond liner!
I do miss the circular design sometimes as you can create a pretty good current that will follow the circumference, giving you a pretty good turnover of water through your filter. You will still need some random flow/laminar flow as well, of course. The issue of flow, in a 10 foot circle is something that caused me a bit of a conundrum.... I was faced with getting good water flow to all areas of the pool/pond, which created surface agitation and of the the lack of visibility that comes with it, or having water that, I felt atleast, was too stagnant.

LEDS along with your ambient lighting, or a few fluorescent bulbs would, not only look nice with a crisp 12 or 10k/14k look, but will keep ambient heat levels down too. I believe in the video you speak of, I was using just the Kessil LEDS. However on the June or 6/2014 video I had on 4 or 6 HO Fluorescents, which give off a bright daylight look, which isn't very esthetic but allows me to see the pond and plumbimg, as well as observe the sharks & fish for any signs aggression and whatnot.

Definitely plan for humidity. It may seem manageable at first, especially with Fall starting.
You'll soon be wondering how the pool lost an inch of water to evaporation in just a few days (which equates to more than 50 gallons) !


Still trying to work out the issue of flow vs surface agitation. As it is now, I do have a pretty good gyre from keeping one of the underwater ball valves attached to the PVC cross partially open (takes flake or floating pellets less than a minute to complete a circuit around the pool). However I plan to have a few species that do best in higher flow, and feel that this may not be enough. Did you ever come to a compromise with yours?

I installed a RAB Lighting 5100K floodlight over the weekend - well not quite installed, but mounted to the ceiling and pigtailed into an extension cord. I didn't want to commit to running conduit until I was sure I'd be happy with the look. The fixture has an angular design, so I was able to mount it off to the side of the pool. The entire pool gets a good amount of light, and because it's not mounted overhead, it doesn't add any glare/reflection.

Thanks for the tip on water loss! I'm going to start shopping around for a better RO unit and some sort of ATO.

[griseum]

Wow. Just checked out the RAB lighting site and they have some really innovative products! 400 watt LED flood lights! Wowsers... Shoot me a PM about which model and bulb type you went with, as I am now a bit interested myself!
As for the flow, now with the Square shaped pond, I've tried quite a few different arrangements, and I have a very large pump, the Reeflo Tiger Shark on hand that I will ultimately rework all of the plumbing with yet again.
But for now, I have 3 sets of 1" PVC at about 3 foot intervals on the left side, that are returns from the refugium tanks in the adjacent room. They are at about a 45 degree angle with that side of the square. Then on the perpendicular wall is where I have the intake for the filtration equipment, with a closed loop LR sump and a cryptic fuge, that return water directly straight down the parallel wall. (Parallel to the wall with the 3 sets of returns at a roughly 45 degree angle to the pond.) So if that makes any sense at all ( LOL ) I've tried to create a gyre, in a square, with what I've got....

I have all of the plumbing on hand, as well as the good intentions, of creating a closed loop inside the pond with a separate Panworld/Blueline 70HD. Haven't gotten to it yet :-)

So with the current arrangment...
The one corner where the water flows out straight down the right side wall towards the back wall.
As well as having the intake another pump that powers the protein skimmer, and the skimmers returnin that corner
...has the created one corner/quarter of the pond with the most turbulence & splash.

[moriarty]

Wow. Just checked out the RAB lighting site and they have some really innovative products! 400 watt LED flood lights! Wowsers... Shoot me a PM about which model and bulb type you went with, as I am now a bit interested myself!
As for the flow, now with the Square shaped pond, I've tried quite a few different arrangements, and I have a very large pump, the Reeflo Tiger Shark on hand that I will ultimately rework all of the plumbing with yet again.
But for now, I have 3 sets of 1" PVC at about 3 foot intervals on the left side, that are returns from the refugium tanks in the adjacent room. They are at about a 45 degree angle with that side of the square. Then on the perpendicular wall is where I have the intake for the filtration equipment, with a closed loop LR sump and a cryptic fuge, that return water directly straight down the parallel wall. (Parallel to the wall with the 3 sets of returns at a roughly 45 degree angle to the pond.) So if that makes any sense at all ( LOL ) I've tried to create a gyre, in a square, with what I've got....

I have all of the plumbing on hand, as well as the good intentions, of creating a closed loop inside the pond with a separate Panworld/Blueline 70HD. Haven't gotten to it yet :-)

So with the current arrangment...
The one corner where the water flows out straight down the right side wall towards the back wall.
As well as having the intake another pump that powers the protein skimmer, and the skimmers returnin that corner
...has the created one corner/quarter of the pond with the most turbulence & splash.

PM Sent.

Makes perfect sense actually... Some visual aids from your thread helped clarify a bit too!

[moriarty]

The pond has finally gotten to a point where I feel that I can safely start adding a few fish (Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - between 5 and 10 PPM according to my Salifert test kits).

I decided to add my Cheilinus oxycephalus first to give him a bit of time to get accustomed to the pond/stake out a territory as he is one of my less rambunctious fish.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66088


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66089

[Been Mired]

Yay! First fish is always so exciting. :clap:

[moriarty]

Yay! First fish is always so exciting. :clap:

Yeah, for sure!

Will probably transfer a few more over this weekend provided all continues to go well with the Maori wrasse. He's been very active didn't skip a beat when it came to food. So far so good!

[moriarty]

Thought I'd move some tangs over today.



http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66138

[Betta132]

Curious: what's the cost of setting this thing up, not counting fish prices? And what's the approximate monthly cost of running it?

[kegogut]

Looking good man. Hows the skin coming along,you decide how your going to do it?

[Butchhe]

Looks good!

[moriarty]

Curious: what's the cost of setting this thing up, not counting fish prices? And what's the approximate monthly cost of running it?

I would estimate that I have between $3600 and $4000 invested in equipment up to this point (intex pool, liner, pump, tubs/sump, salt, misc. plumbing, temporary skimmer, insulation, sand, base rock, mechanical/biological filtration, lighting, and dehumidifiers). There is still a lot that I plan to do (add to the filtration, more LR/base rock, lighting and skimmer upgrades/additions, and building some sort of frame). This is likely going to be an ongoing work in progress, which I am completely okay with :)

Tough to estimate monthly running costs accurately as I have been in my home for under a year and really have no previous energy consumption data to compare with. The most significant energy use definitely comes from the almost continuous use of the dehumidifier(s), but cutting down on lighting costs (natural sunlight & LEDs versus metal halides) should make things more manageable.

[moriarty]

Looking good man. Hows the skin coming along,you decide how your going to do it?

Haven't made any progress here, but I'm leaning towards using some sort of tile for a ledge. Still going back and forth about how I want to do this. I think a mosaic tile pattern (beach glass look) would be pretty cool.

[kegogut]

I would estimate that I have between $3600 and $4000 invested in equipment up to this point (intex pool, liner, pump, tubs/sump, salt, misc. plumbing, temporary skimmer, insulation, sand, base rock, mechanical/biological filtration, lighting, and dehumidifiers). There is still a lot that I plan to do (add to the filtration, more LR/base rock, lighting and skimmer upgrades/additions, and building some sort of frame). This is likely going to be an ongoing work in progress, which I am completely okay with :)

Tough to estimate monthly running costs accurately as I have been in my home for under a year and really have no previous energy consumption data to compare with. The most significant energy use definitely comes from the almost continuous use of the dehumidifier(s), but cutting down on lighting costs (natural sunlight & LEDs versus metal halides) should make things more manageable.

Thats not bad considering the set up. This hobby is always an ongoing work in progress no matter what size tank you have IMO.

[moriarty]

Started on a refugium tub to grow macroalgae. I currently have macro growing in the sump but would prefer a dedicated, more shallow container. May use the shelfs below it to add a DSB and/or some sort of sponge culture tub for the angels.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66168

[Betta132]

Have you considered a school of cardinalfish? It's not really something you see all that much... Perhaps a couple dozen threadfin cardinals?
Or what about one of the smaller sea robin species? Those are really cool. There's an aquarium near us that has one in their stingray touch tank, and it's one of the silliest little fish ever. Also, they make noise!

[moriarty]

Have you considered a school of cardinalfish? It's not really something you see all that much... Perhaps a couple dozen threadfin cardinals?
Or what about one of the smaller sea robin species? Those are really cool. There's an aquarium near us that has one in their stingray touch tank, and it's one of the silliest little fish ever. Also, they make noise!

I think that a sea robin would be a really good "top down" fish! I have caught many of these guys with a hook and line in South Florida on surprisingly large bait. I'd be afraid that many of my smaller fish would wind up as snacks however.

As for a large cardinal school, I really like this idea. I'd have to go with a larger species like Apogon aureus or A. compressus (The former being very difficult to find IME). I have a couple larger wrasse species that will likely be a problem with any of the smaller species.

Another option for a shoaling fish that I have been looking into is a medium size school of Monodactylus argenteus. They do get to be on the larger side, but tend to stick together and don't break down into pairs as some of the cardinal species do.

[NewbyReefer]

You could also go with a mixed school of Scatophagus argus and Monodactylus argenteus if you go in that direction.

[Betta132]

There are a lot of smaller robin species, though. Perhaps a marine biologist could tell you which of them are smaller? I know there's one kind that's like 6" or so at full size.

Monos and scats? That would be cool, they're neat fish.

Have you considered lookdowns as an option? I personally think they're neat. Really active, though...
Would a snowflake eel be an option? I'm not sure about their compatibility, but it seems like you're keeping mostly large-ish fish that a snowflake couldn't eat.
You should get a handful of yellowtail damsels. They kind of half-school around corals and such, and they mostly avoid the attention of larger fish from what I've seen. There's a bunch of the little guys in the touch tank I'm remembering, as well as in a shark touch tank (little sharks) and they're pretty neat. Plus, $20 should get you like 10 of them.
Sea moth?
Maybe a small flounder species? Or a ray?
I know you probably have a plan, I'm just chucking ideas at you.
What's the biggest guy you have planned? Biggest mouth?

Ooh- you should stick a couple of mangrove propagules on top of your rock islands. You could let them grow nice and huge.
Are you going for kind of a bay-type look? Like the sandbed/rock/coral areas that aren't quite reefs? Because if so, I vote for a couple big piece of driftwood.

Hey, I bet you could chuck a lot of 'pest' crabs in there. They'd either be fine (too small to kill things) or they'd be snacks.

[Zoodiver]

Looks downs are cool, but they are Crpytocaryon magnets and almost vanish when looking in from the top.

[rpjaws74]

very creative set up man.... I like it

[moriarty]

There are a lot of smaller robin species, though. Perhaps a marine biologist could tell you which of them are smaller? I know there's one kind that's like 6" or so at full size.

Monos and scats? That would be cool, they're neat fish.

Have you considered lookdowns as an option? I personally think they're neat. Really active, though...
Would a snowflake eel be an option? I'm not sure about their compatibility, but it seems like you're keeping mostly large-ish fish that a snowflake couldn't eat.
You should get a handful of yellowtail damsels. They kind of half-school around corals and such, and they mostly avoid the attention of larger fish from what I've seen. There's a bunch of the little guys in the touch tank I'm remembering, as well as in a shark touch tank (little sharks) and they're pretty neat. Plus, $20 should get you like 10 of them.
Sea moth?
Maybe a small flounder species? Or a ray?
I know you probably have a plan, I'm just chucking ideas at you.
What's the biggest guy you have planned? Biggest mouth?

Ooh- you should stick a couple of mangrove propagules on top of your rock islands. You could let them grow nice and huge.
Are you going for kind of a bay-type look? Like the sandbed/rock/coral areas that aren't quite reefs? Because if so, I vote for a couple big piece of driftwood.

Hey, I bet you could chuck a lot of 'pest' crabs in there. They'd either be fine (too small to kill things) or they'd be snacks.



Your stocking ideas are very much appreciated! My stocking plan is more of a rough outline, so I'm always looking for ideas.

The fish with the greatest potential to eat smaller tankmates will be my Surge Wrasse (Thalassoma purpureum). Even though it's currently only a 4.5" initial phase, I have to keep it's eventual size potential in mind and stock accordingly. I do have several small groups of damsels (including yellowtail damsels) which will hopefully stand a chance with a large amount of rock.

I do plan on adding a few mangroves to the "lagoon" side of the pool. My idea is to submerge and fill a small (40 gallon or so) kidney shaped preformed pond liner with sand (which will also add some of the benefits of a DSB) and surround it with LR/base rock to hide the liner. This should give the mangroves a place to take root without having the potential of them puncturing the main liner... That would be bad...

[moriarty]

I think my next investment will be a real camera, but here are a few more cell phone pics in the mean time.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66187

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66189

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66188

The yellow/blue tangs are still on the thin side, but I have definitely noticed an increased appetite since going from QT to the pond. In addition to regular feedings, I'm making it a point to keep nori available for them at all times.

[pinnatus]

What will you do when algae covers up those nice corals etc.?

By the way it looks awesome. Defifnitely a different perspective on the fish than the usual side view.

[moriarty]

What will you do when algae covers up those nice corals etc.?

By the way it looks awesome. Defifnitely a different perspective on the fish than the usual side view.

Funny you should mention that! I used a toothbrush to scrub some algae/diatoms off of the corals earlier today! I actually think they look a little goofy in there, and the algae was an improvement to some of them. I may move the majority of them to the "reef crest" area where the surface agitation prevents clear viewing, and spend the extra time to make some more realistic looking corals for the lagoon side.

[pinnatus]

I think they look pretty good. I was just concerned that they will get covered up with algae and lose their nice colors. They will still keep the shape, though.

[sh8g8delik]

Oh man this is awesome!! i thought going scuba diving in hawaii would be like this but it wasnt..... at least in the touristy area. This is so much nicer than my experience. Now if only my house had a room this big.....

[G_Sanab922]

Regarding monthly costs, in a system of this size something to consider investing in could be a solar panel. I would imagine everything just starts adding up.

Nice pics! The fish look great! Keep up the updates! 👍

[Betta132]

If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.

Do you have a cleaner wrasse? I'd suggest one... With all those fish, I bet you can keep one alive, and most things don't eat cleaners.
What about- hmm... What are those fish with the barbels on their mouth, the ones that play in the sand? Grunts? Aha- goatfish! Those are fun. I vote you get some goatfish.
Jackknife fish?
Hi-hat?
Engineer goby or two?
Filefish?

[G_Sanab922]

If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.



That's a good idea, GoPro! I used mine on my tank and I only have the silver hero3+ , comes out great!!

[moriarty]

Regarding monthly costs, in a system of this size something to consider investing in could be a solar panel. I would imagine everything just starts adding up.

Nice pics! The fish look great! Keep up the updates! 👍

A very good idea, and something that I hadn't thought of. I have a lot of space outside that I could put one. Will definitely look into it!

[moriarty]

That's a good idea, GoPro! I used mine on my tank and I only have the silver hero3+ , comes out great!!

I will look into these. I get down to the FL Keys quite often, so I would have other applications for it as well!

[moriarty]

If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.

Do you have a cleaner wrasse? I'd suggest one... With all those fish, I bet you can keep one alive, and most things don't eat cleaners.
What about- hmm... What are those fish with the barbels on their mouth, the ones that play in the sand? Grunts? Aha- goatfish! Those are fun. I vote you get some goatfish.
Jackknife fish?
Hi-hat?
Engineer goby or two?
Filefish?

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm not sure how well a cleaner wrasse would do even in a heavily stocked pond, but I think that a smaller species of goatfish would make a nice addition! I have a Bristletail filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus) and am keeping an eye out for other possibilities.

[moriarty]

Oh man this is awesome!! i thought going scuba diving in hawaii would be like this but it wasnt..... at least in the touristy area. This is so much nicer than my experience. Now if only my house had a room this big.....

Yeah, diving snorkeling can be hit or miss. And thank you for the compliment!

[G_Sanab922]

A very good idea, and something that I hadn't thought of. I have a lot of space outside that I could put one. Will definitely look into it!


I was talking about it with my friend/electrician and he does solar panels as well. On a decent panel that will power your lights and a few other things it comes out to a total costs of 500-750. With converters and everything. He has 3 panels and powers all his electronics in his truck and has plenty left over. So definitely it isn't that expensive in the long run. The panel doesn't have to be that big.

I will look into these. I get down to the FL Keys quite often, so I would have other applications for it as well!


Water is cold down here now but I soon I'm going to use it! Where are you located? I'm in key largo.

[moriarty]

That is much less than I would have expected and would be well worth the initial investment long term! My family has a mechanical contracting business (mostly industrial/commercial) but I can probably still get a decent rate on residential equipment from our suppliers.

I'm in Michigan now (Relocated here to help with the family business) but lived in South Florida (Boca Raton) for just short of a decade after college. Used to get to the Keys every other weekend while I was living there, but have to settle for a half-dozen times or so per year as of now. My wife and I actually got married in Key West this past June, and have another trip down in the works for this winter. I actually prefer Key Largo and the Middle Keys to Key West (can't beat camping at Bahia Honda) while my wife prefers the latter, so we try to divide our time and get to both while we are down there.

[G_Sanab922]

Yea, but also might depend on your area of course. I know they charge a lot to install so that can be killer and could make the difference. But if you feel confident with that I would recommend it, just make sure to get everything you need. Can't slack on electrical materials.

And awesome, congrats!
Yea I'm not into key west, it's too crazy and just a different atmosphere. Plus it's too far from the mainland and do a lot of business and miami and it's better for mostly everything anyways.

[pinnatus]

Many states will also subsidize alternative energy projects. Louisiana does.

[moriarty]

Many states will also subsidize alternative energy projects. Louisiana does.

Worth looking into!

[TheAngelfish]

Hey, this is a bit off topic. I think it would be cool to add some flashlight fish to your pond

[Betta132]

Hey, this is a bit off topic. I think it would be cool to add some flashlight fish to your pond

Did some research on these guys, and that wouldn't work. They need a tank with basically no light, or they get pretty stressed out.

[HowUDoin]

Started on a refugium tub to grow macroalgae. I currently have macro growing in the sump but would prefer a dedicated, more shallow container. May use the shelfs below it to add a DSB and/or some sort of sponge culture tub for the angels.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66168

Wow! So much progress since I last checked in on this thread, way to go! Looking sweet, school of tangs and that's just a very small area of your system.

Speaking of which, I am really interested in how you have set up your 'fuge. Would you be so kind as to post some more info as to how you have this plumbed? I am looking at setting up multi-tank system after the Xmas holiday, and I have been looking at stock tanks as one option for use as sumps and live rock + water volume, so any info you can impart would be very helpful.

[moriarty]

Wow! So much progress since I last checked in on this thread, way to go! Looking sweet, school of tangs and that's just a very small area of your system.

Speaking of which, I am really interested in how you have set up your 'fuge. Would you be so kind as to post some more info as to how you have this plumbed? I am looking at setting up multi-tank system after the Xmas holiday, and I have been looking at stock tanks as one option for use as sumps and live rock + water volume, so any info you can impart would be very helpful.

I appreciate the compliment! I haven't made any progress on the fuge since posting this pic (not sure if I'm going to keep it where it is or move it behind the sump, and wanted to be sure I like it where it is before filing/plumbing it). Either way, I want to cut down on the number of pumps in use, so I'm planning on plumbing a 3/4" or 1" reducing tee into the horizontal part of the line that supplies the sump (the one to the trash can) along with a ball valve so that I can control/stop the flow to the refugium if needed. Water will flow from the tee into the fuge, back to the sump through 2 1" bulkheads cut into the side of the refugium tub, and back to the pool. Hope that made sense. I'll post some pics after I get it plumbed.

[moriarty]

Just a quick update and some more pics. Added a few more fish from my 120 and 240 DTs. I was kind of surprised to find out that the magnets from Koralia pumps are strong enough to go through 3 liners plus a layer of insulation. I attached 2 Evolution 1500s to the side of the pond opposite the filter/sump and aimed them in the direction of the gyre. This should add a little more flow. Have 3 more on order which should be here this week.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66280
First nori feeding of the day with a photobomb from my Humu.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66281
The bare patches on the bottom of the pond are from my maroon clowns, who have been relentlessly clearing away patches, likely looking for a suitable spawning site.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66279
Found it! Female maroon guarding a new clutch of eggs.

[edinphilly]

First of all, AWESOME setup. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Second, I have to ask the OP and any others who have giant systems... what do you guys do for a living? The reason I'm so curious is that while I'm sure it is very expensive I'm also sure it takes a ton of your time. Most of the guys I know who can afford a set up like this work hours that wouldn't allow them to take care of it. Maybe you're retired? Don't mean to be rude or anything... if anything I want to be like you 👍

[sh8g8delik]

Most of them, i believe have very understanding spouses!

[jdm1114]

[QUOTE=moriarty;23193377]Just a quick update and some more pics. Added a few more fish from my 120 and 240 DTs. I was kind of surprised to find out that the magnets from Koralia pumps are strong enough to go through 3 liners plus a layer of insulation. I attached 2 Evolution 1500s to the side of the pond opposite the filter/sump and aimed them in the direction of the gyre. This should add a little more flow. Have 3 more on order which should be here this week.

Very cool build! Why not go with the more powerful Koralia Magnum 8's?

[G_Sanab922]

First of all, AWESOME setup. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Second, I have to ask the OP and any others who have giant systems... what do you guys do for a living? The reason I'm so curious is that while I'm sure it is very expensive I'm also sure it takes a ton of your time. Most of the guys I know who can afford a set up like this work hours that wouldn't allow them to take care of it. Maybe you're retired? Don't mean to be rude or anything... if anything I want to be like you ��

Don't think it's really that much of a difference in price between a pond like this and a large tank (200-300g) system with stand and everything. Now with equipment like lights and skimmers, of course it's bigger and more of them so that part will be more but if you shop it and go to multiple places to get prices it wont be that bad.
It's basically just a big DIY project, if you have some time to spare. But if you pay other people and businesses to do everything for you, like the guys from "Tanked" (horrible example because they are ridiculously expensive), this build would be the price of a house...
You are correct though, the time is what doesn't allow some people to do bigger builds like this. I'm doing a 75 build right now and don't have that much time for it lol little by little though, slow and steady wins the race in this hobby anyways.

[Zoodiver]

Second, I have to ask the OP and any others who have giant systems... what do you guys do for a living? The reason I'm so curious is that while I'm sure it is very expensive I'm also sure it takes a ton of your time. Most of the guys I know who can afford a set up like this work hours that wouldn't allow them to take care of it. Maybe you're retired? Don't mean to be rude or anything... if anything I want to be like you 👍

As posted, it's often times cheaper to go this route than a tank. When people approach me about wanting sharks, the first thing I do is explain why a pool like this is the better way verse a glass/acrylic tank in most cases.

When people ask me how big my biggest personal tank is, I tell them 1,200 gallons. They instantly assume I spent tens of thousands. I think I have less than a grand into the set up.

[moriarty]

First of all, AWESOME setup. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Second, I have to ask the OP and any others who have giant systems... what do you guys do for a living? The reason I'm so curious is that while I'm sure it is very expensive I'm also sure it takes a ton of your time. Most of the guys I know who can afford a set up like this work hours that wouldn't allow them to take care of it. Maybe you're retired? Don't mean to be rude or anything... if anything I want to be like you 👍

Thank you! Yeah, this system really wasn't too spendy at all. I think the biggest single expense (aside from the fish, the majority of which I have had for quite a while) was the salt mix. As for time, I actually spend less with the pond than I do with my reef/smaller systems as the larger volume adds stability. The initial set up took a while, but I did it a little at a time over the course of several weeks. :)

[moriarty]

[QUOTE=moriarty;23193377]Just a quick update and some more pics. Added a few more fish from my 120 and 240 DTs. I was kind of surprised to find out that the magnets from Koralia pumps are strong enough to go through 3 liners plus a layer of insulation. I attached 2 Evolution 1500s to the side of the pond opposite the filter/sump and aimed them in the direction of the gyre. This should add a little more flow. Have 3 more on order which should be here this week.

Very cool build! Why not go with the more powerful Koralia Magnum 8's?

Yep, the 3 new pumps that I ordered are Magnum 8's! Forgot to specify in my last post. I had considered going with a single VorTech MP60w but I'm not planning on using the wave feature (thought that all of the water sloshing around may not be the best thing for the frame/liner). Can always add a few more down the road if the flow still isn't where I would like it to be.

[moriarty]

Most of them, i believe have very understanding spouses!

Yes!! Definitely so in my case!!

[Reefer07]

LMAO about the koralia magnets. I just recently got a 7 from a friend and I had to pry the thing apart with a putty knife. So frustrating. They put out some serious flow for a good price tho.
Nice setup, keep the pics comin.

[hkarmy25]

That humu looks like a freaking balloon! Such a neat build...

[Fish lover]

Wow !! Love the idea !!! And really I like how did you buld it. I think it will be better if you plan to hide the filter by putting plants or cover it with wood or convert it to a waterfall same as koi pond ,, it is just an idea:)

[moriarty]

LMAO about the koralia magnets. I just recently got a 7 from a friend and I had to pry the thing apart with a putty knife. So frustrating. They put out some serious flow for a good price tho.
Nice setup, keep the pics comin.

Funny! I had to do the same with one of mine that had been sitting around unused for a year or so.

[moriarty]

That humu looks like a freaking balloon! Such a neat build...

Thanks! I am really surprised at how quickly the Humu has been growing (both in length and width). I got him about 6 months ago at under an inch in length. I'd say he's easily doubled in size already. I've read in numerous places how they are slow growers, but I don't think mine got that memo.

[blutang007]

I love it. Looks amazing

[moriarty]

Wow !! Love the idea !!! And really I like how did you buld it. I think it will be better if you plan to hide the filter by putting plants or cover it with wood or convert it to a waterfall same as koi pond ,, it is just an idea:)

Definitely planning on doing something to cover the pump housing (inside the pond) at the very least. I originally wanted to do some sort of waterfall, but figured the salt creep would get out of hand. Still working on a frame for the pond, and might incorporate something from that into the filter.

[moriarty]

I love it. Looks amazing

Thank you! It's been a fun project so far!

[moriarty]

Just wanted to do a quick update. I've been pretty busy with work this past month and haven't had the opportunity to make any major improvements, but wanted to share what I did manage to work on.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66763

Got the fuge plumbed in. I wanted to keep energy costs down by not adding any more pumps, so I decided to plumb a 1 1/2" to 1" reducing tee from the line that feeds the filter/sump along with a ball valve (to control the flow) into the refugium (50 gallon rubbermaid on the right). Water flows from the fuge through 2X 1 1/4" bulkheads back to the sump.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66760

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66761

Made a couple mangrove containers from aragonite sand and white Portland cement. After they hardened, I soaked them in FW for a good month (with lots of water changes) until the effect to the pH of the water was minimal. I then added a few polymer clay corals, filled them with about 4" of sand, and done! The flat bottoms also allow me to stack more rock without having to worry about creating pressure points in the liner. Please excuse the cloudy water in the first 2 pics. I took these after rearranging some of the rock.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66762

An almost FTS or "FPS".

[moriarty]

I placed an order with LA/DD earlier in the week for an assasi and niger trigger. Due to the weather they had to hold off on shipping the niger from Wisconsin (and I really appreciate them doing so) but the assasi (From LA) arrived this morning.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66758

still in the bag

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9382&pictureid=66759

drip acclimating to QT

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=66764

This guy should be here tomorrow (weather permitting).

[griseum]

Looks great! The rock and coral structures look fantastic!
Gave me a few ideas... lol...
The plumbing looks great too!

[moriarty]

Looks great! The rock and coral structures look fantastic!
Gave me a few ideas... lol...
The plumbing looks great too!

Thank you! I really appreciate the compliments!

...And considering that I got most of my ideas from you, I'm happy to return the favor! haha!

[SteelMastiff]

Thanks for the update, love the Triggers...

[pinnatus]

I notice that the fish are staying very close to the rocks and not too much in the open areas. Do you plan for more rock areas?

[moriarty]

Thanks for the update, love the Triggers...

Thank you! My O. niger was delivered this morning, and I have to say that it looks even better in person! Have been keeping an eye out for an assasi for some time as well. The blues on it's head are just incredible! Will post some pics soon.

[moriarty]

I notice that the fish are staying very close to the rocks and not too much in the open areas. Do you plan for more rock areas?

Yeah, they stay close to the rocks most of the time (the exception being when I feed them). I have a few more homemade flat base rocks curing in FW so that I can be more comfortable stacking higher structures without risking puncture to the liner. I plan on adding a few more "coral heads" and bulking up the higher flow area within the next few months.

[moriarty]

Could use some opinions here.

I thought I'd add a PVC sheet to line the inside of the pond. Before I make brackets, attach a second sheet to get it to the height of the pond, and get it fixed into place, I wanted to see if you think the positives outweigh the negatives of this addition.

First, the positives:

Protection of the main liner (eliminates potential for bite damage from fish such as triggers and parrotfish).

Increases efficiency of the gyre (no folds or creases in the liner to slow water flow)

Aesthetics (looks a lot cleaner/brighter than just the black liner)

Negatives, well... one negative that I can think of off hand, but it's a big one IMO.

Water trapped between the PVC sheet and black liner. This could cause stagnation issues both short and long term. There won't be a lot of trapped water, but there is no way to avoid it with the creases in the liner.

Here is a pic so you can get an idea of what I'm trying to do. Please excuse the recent diatom bloom and cloudy water. I had just moved the rocks around to hold the PVC sheet in place (temporary - Rock will be removed once I make brackets if I decide to keep it), and stirred the sand bed quite a bit while doing so. Also, a second sheet would be glued to the back of the first, bringing it to the level of the pond.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67080

I am leaning toward pulling it and coming up with another idea but wanted to get your thoughts before I go either way.

Thanks!

[woodguy]

this is an awesome pool, man I wish I could talk the wifey into this. As for the inner liner, could you make a few holes placed that the current would move the water trapped between?

[Betta132]

Not sure if it's already been suggested, but you could totally get a horseshoe crab for that.

[moriarty]

this is an awesome pool, man I wish I could talk the wifey into this. As for the inner liner, could you make a few holes placed that the current would move the water trapped between?

Thank you! Yeah, punching a few holes might be the way to go. I appreciate the suggestion!

[moriarty]

Not sure if it's already been suggested, but you could totally get a horseshoe crab for that.

A horseshoe crab would be a cool addition, but I'm not sure my sand bed would be deep enough (just under 1" in most places). I also have a couple triggers (the assasi in particular) which might not make the best tank mates.

[mnkykng77]

You could always place the liner a couple inches in and have a couple of powerheads behind to circulate the water behind the PVC and have multiple holes in the sheet as well.

[Jasanden]

What if the liner was say 4" off the bottom? Would it still serve its purpose but also let water circulate behind.

[moriarty]

Great suggestions! I may actually wind up doing a combination of the above ideas, but am now thinking that it might be better to hold off and add this at the same time as the outside frame and ledge. I had been thinking of setting up the rock as more of an atoll than random piles/coral heads, and figured that since I had the rocks moved around anyway, now would be the time to see how it goes. The fish really seem to like the change and have been a lot more active since changing things up. Will definitely bulk up the "atoll" with more rock, and will probably add a few coral heads as well.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67118

Again, please excuse the cloudy water. I took this pic not long after moving the rock around.

[Betta132]

Looks great!
When you bulk it up, I suggest you do so in an asymmetrical fashion. It tends to look more natural if you make things a bit off-center.
What's the whitish-pink fish right above the big conch shell? It look sort of like a triggerfish from this angle.

Hmm... maybe you should try a fast-growing coral in there, something like a xenia, planted on its own rock. Hopefully that would keep it from going nutso, and it could end up looking pretty cool.

[woodguy]

dig the atoll look, great job. Question for you, I read in the beginning of the thread that you swapped the frame for pvc, is the original metal framing powdercoated?, is it a rust/corrosion issue for swapping to pvc?

[griseum]

That atoll was an excellent idea and looks awesome.

[SteelMastiff]

Looking good!

[FishTankD84]

This is a really neat idea! What kind of evap rates are you getting? Could make for a cool greenhouse setup, or something like aquaponics. Very cool! What gave you the idea to use the pool?

[moriarty]

Looks great!
When you bulk it up, I suggest you do so in an asymmetrical fashion. It tends to look more natural if you make things a bit off-center.
What's the whitish-pink fish right above the big conch shell? It look sort of like a triggerfish from this angle.

Hmm... maybe you should try a fast-growing coral in there, something like a xenia, planted on its own rock. Hopefully that would keep it from going nutso, and it could end up looking pretty cool.

Good call on making things a little more asymmetrical when I add to it. Thinking of making some tabling type sps corals to give a more natural look as well.

The fish you are referring to is one of my 2 unicorn tangs (Naso unicornis). I wouldn't call them a pair as they are still quite young and just starting to get the bump on their foreheads where the "horn" will be, but they do stick very close to one another pretty much all the time. When I was researching them to see if they would work out in my pool, I read (from several sources) that this species will sometimes break up fights between other tangs/fish. I assumed that this was a goofy story that was being repeated, or just some sort of misinterpreted aggression, but I have seen them both intentionally come between bickering fish (tangs more so than others) on numerous occasions. Something I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it first hand. Having an educational background in biology, I'm not quite convinced that they deliberately break up fights just for the sake of keeping the peace, but it's a cool behavior none the less, and it really helps out when adding new fish!

Here is a better pic of the two of them (water is still a little cloudy from rearranging the rocks)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67130

I'm still on the fence as to whether I have enough lighting to add corals, but trying out some xenia would be a good way to find out. Could always relocate it to the fuge if it doesn't do well.

[moriarty]

dig the atoll look, great job. Question for you, I read in the beginning of the thread that you swapped the frame for pvc, is the original metal framing powdercoated?, is it a rust/corrosion issue for swapping to pvc?

I used the original metal framing but added an additional powder coat before assembly. I already had the powder coating equipment on hand which my company uses occasionally to protect metal pipe, etc... from rust. It was worth trying out, but IMO the additional powder coat was an unnecessary step as the metal frame is completely covered by the liner and very well protected from saltwater/moisture.

[moriarty]

griseum, SteelMastiff;

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the compliments!

[moriarty]

This is a really neat idea! What kind of evap rates are you getting? Could make for a cool greenhouse setup, or something like aquaponics. Very cool! What gave you the idea to use the pool?

I don't have a real numerical figure for evaporation, but can say that it's a lot! The evaporation rate has gone up quite a bit as well with the colder weather. Definitely getting my moneys worth from the dehumidifiers! I do plan to take some measurements, chart them out, and get a more accurate figure just for my own curiosity.

As for the pool idea, I did a few internet searches for saltwater ponds/pools, and saw that other people were having success using intex pools for koi, as well as in aquaculture and shrimp farming. Got some more ideas from RC, and other forums and figured it would be a good way to go. :)

[Been Mired]

The fish you are referring to is one of my 2 unicorn tangs (Naso unicornis). I wouldn't call them a pair as they are still quite young and just starting to get the bump on their foreheads where the "horn" will be, but they do stick very close to one another pretty much all the time. When I was researching them to see if they would work out in my pool, I read (from several sources) that this species will sometimes break up fights between other tangs/fish. I assumed that this was a goofy story that was being repeated, or just some sort of misinterpreted aggression, but I have seen them both intentionally come between bickering fish (tangs more so than others) on numerous occasions. Something I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it first hand. Having an educational background in biology, I'm not quite convinced that they deliberately break up fights just for the sake of keeping the peace, but it's a cool behavior none the less, and it really helps out when adding new fish!


Fascinating, thanks for sharing!

[indyjaco]

Maybe I missed this, but how deep is the water in the pool?

I'd love to do one of these, but i feel like I would become a single man.

[moriarty]

Maybe I missed this, but how deep is the water in the pool?

I'd love to do one of these, but i feel like I would become a single man.

The pool is filled to 26" including the sand. Yeah, the single most daunting part of this build so far was trying to figure out how to tell my wife (fiancee at the time) what I was planning and somehow make it seem like a great idea. Needless to say, it went a lot better than I was expecting!

[moriarty]

Fascinating, thanks for sharing!

I'll try to get a video the next time I add a new fish so you guys can see what I'm talking about. It really does bring new meaning to the term "Tang Police".

[moriarty]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67164
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67163
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67162

Just a few more pics now that the water has cleared up a bit.

[SDguy]

Really liking the new reef structure!! Ooo, I see a bicolor parrot.... can't wait to see that one grow up!!

[usingthejohn]

Wow this is awesome.

Pardon me, if it is obvious. But I'm assuming this is an indoor build correct?

And you using traditional tank heaters, or other aspects to maintain the temperature?

[moriarty]

Really liking the new reef structure!! Ooo, I see a bicolor parrot.... can't wait to see that one grow up!!

Thanks! I've had the bicolor for about 4 months now. This was a species that I was very hesitant to try. She eats just about everything I feed the rest of the fish (really loves NLS pellets). The only down side with her so far is that she ate the green shoots/leafs off of all of my mangrove propagules, literally nipping them in the bud.

[moriarty]

Wow this is awesome.

Pardon me, if it is obvious. But I'm assuming this is an indoor build correct?

And you using traditional tank heaters, or other aspects to maintain the temperature?

Yeah, this is in my basement. For maintaining the temperature, it's much more efficient for me to heat the air. I keep my basement at 78 degrees (lower temps throughout the rest of the house), but I still use traditional aquarium heaters in the sump as well.

[inigomontoya]

Looking great, what is the large green red and yellow fish, bottom left in the last pic. Pretty good sized, looks like a large wrasse or parrot?

[mnkykng77]

Yeah, this is in my basement. For maintaining the temperature, it's much more efficient for me to heat the air. I keep my basement at 78 degrees (lower temps throughout the rest of the house), but I still use traditional aquarium heaters in the sump as well.

Have you thought about using a pool heater?

[cFloor]

This is coming along really well! I love the new aquascape

[Fish Ed]

Whhaatt!!! This is insane! & looking good.

It'll be so cool if the pond was in the ground. :D

Following.

[SDguy]

Yeah, this is in my basement. For maintaining the temperature, it's much more efficient for me to heat the air. I keep my basement at 78 degrees (lower temps throughout the rest of the house), but I still use traditional aquarium heaters in the sump as well.

Have you considered lowering the temperature? IMO you could go lower without issue....

[johno4]

This looks really good. The new scape is much better, its like they are hanging around a mini reef.

[marvelousone]

this pool is awesome. I bought a 12ft pool that I want to do this.

[moriarty]

Looking great, what is the large green red and yellow fish, bottom left in the last pic. Pretty good sized, looks like a large wrasse or parrot?

Thalassoma lucasanum or Cortez Rainbow Wrasse. Very active, and relatively unaggressive toward other fish compared to other members of the genus.

[Booboobear259]

Man if I had more money and room to spare I would totally do this it is super cool

[moriarty]

Have you thought about using a pool heater?

I'm always looking for other, more efficient means to heat the pond. Haven't looked into pool heaters yet, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to check into them. I like the idea of using gas versus electricity to heat the pond, and am also considering some sort of water-to-water heat exchanger. Am still considering installing a solar panel, although this most likely wouldn't be until next summer. Need to research these ideas considerably more before I go forward.

[moriarty]

Have you considered lowering the temperature? IMO you could go lower without issue....

This would be great! I guess I've been keeping my SW tanks in the 78-80 degree range for so long, that have gotten set in my ways and didn't even consider a lower temp as an option. What would you recommend as a safe low end range?

[SDguy]

I se no issue with 74...

[moriarty]

this pool is awesome. I bought a 12ft pool that I want to do this.

Nice! Please do a build thread when you get the ball rolling! If you haven't already, look at griseum's pond as well for ideas/inspiration! I was also looking at the 12 footers when in the planning stages, but decided on the 10' so I could take advantage of natural sunlight from having it under my south facing egress window. My basement has several inconveniently placed support beams, and I just couldn't fit a 12' pool in the right space.

[moriarty]

I se no issue with 74...

Okay! I'll start letting the temperature drop (slowly over the next few weeks) and really keep an eye on things. Can always bring it back up if there are any issues! again... I appreciate the suggestion!

[SDguy]

Okay! I'll start letting the temperature drop (slowly over the next few weeks) and really keep an eye on things. Can always bring it back up if there are any issues! again... I appreciate the suggestion!

PM copps if you have doubts. John also advocates lower temps. Quite honestly, here in CA if I could keep them that low year round, I would. Winter the tanks get down to 72.... but summer, 80's :(

[moriarty]

Man if I had more money and room to spare I would totally do this it is super cool

Thanks! ...and if I lived where you do, I would have built mine outside and in-ground!

[moriarty]

PM copps if you have doubts. John also advocates lower temps. Quite honestly, here in CA if I could keep them that low year round, I would. Winter the tanks get down to 72.... but summer, 80's :(

No doubts here, but I would definitely be interested in reading up on the reasoning behind the benefits of keeping fish at lower temperatures (just for my own geeky curiosity). Will have to spend a few hours on this over the weekend :)

[SDguy]

No doubts here, but I would definitely be interested in reading up on the reasoning behind the benefits of keeping fish at lower temperatures (just for my own geeky curiosity). Will have to spend a few hours on this over the weekend :)

Well worth it, considering your situation, IMO :)

[moriarty]

PM copps if you have doubts. John also advocates lower temps. Quite honestly, here in CA if I could keep them that low year round, I would. Winter the tanks get down to 72.... but summer, 80's :(

I lived in South Florida for the better part of a decade, and definitely had my struggles with higher temperatures. ugh...

[marvelousone]

Are you happy with Using the 45ml liner or do you wished you used something different. what is the dims. of the liner to cover the outside. The more I read this thread makes me want to get mine up sooner. I have the pool but want to make sure I do this right. I live in Louisiana and thinking about sitting up outside. Please keep updates coming. You used multiple Rubbermaids I was thinking just 1 300gal Rubbermaid. what was you reason for the different.

[moriarty]

Are you happy with Using the 45ml liner or do you wished you used something different. what is the dims. of the liner to cover the outside. The more I read this thread makes me want to get mine up sooner. I have the pool but want to make sure I do this right. I live in Louisiana and thinking about sitting up outside. Please keep updates coming. You used multiple Rubbermaids I was thinking just 1 300gal Rubbermaid. what was you reason for the different.

Yeah, the 45 mil liner has worked out well so far. If I were to do it again, I probably would add a second liner just for redundancy. I do plan on adding some PVC sheeting to the inside of the pond for added protection from puffers/triggers/parrots... etc... If you are setting yours up outside, you may want to double up on the liners for protection from sun/uv light. Some brands of liner are guaranteed for 20+ years for outdoor use (I believe firestone being an example, and the brand that I used), but I still prefer to err on the side of caution. Make sure you rinse/wash the liner really well before putting it in place, as they can be a little dirty.

I used a 20'X20' liner for my 10' pool, and it drapes over the edge all the way to the ground (and then some at the corners). I went with an over sized liner intentionally to prevent the metal frame from coming in contact with saltwater.

The only reason that I used the 150 gallon rubbermaid for the sump instead of the 300 is because I didn't think the 300 wouldn't fit through the staircase to the basement. Would have gone with the 300 if I could have :)

[marvelousone]

Ok thanks I take your advice to heart.

[caribfan]

I absolutely love this build. Any plans for rays or sharks? It's been a dream of mine to set up a large tank one day that had walk around top down viewing, seems like this is the way to do it.

[woodguy]

coming along great, what pump are you using?, looks like the pump is in the pool, pumps into the can, drains into sump, and feeds back into pool, is that correct?

[moriarty]

I absolutely love this build. Any plans for rays or sharks? It's been a dream of mine to set up a large tank one day that had walk around top down viewing, seems like this is the way to do it.

Thanks! The pond will be a work in progress for a while yet, but it's a lot of fun to play around with! Won't be doing any sharks or rays as I wouldn't want to put them in jeopardy with the angels, puffers, and triggers.

[moriarty]

coming along great, what pump are you using?, looks like the pump is in the pool, pumps into the can, drains into sump, and feeds back into pool, is that correct?

I'm using a mag drive (2400 gph) for the main pump. Yep, exactly how I set it up along with a tee/ball valve that bypasses the can and goes directly to the refugium, back to the sump, and back into the pool.

[Betta132]

Have you considered a dragonface pipefish or two? You might not see them too often, but it would be neat when you did. I'm sure you'll have more than enough pods for them, giving that most fish in there seem large enough to not be overly interested in copepods.
Or perhaps a mandy or two? I'm not sure if something would eat them...
Ooh, a sea moth! Basically a larger, more exotic-looking mandy.

[d-man]

I run mine all at 73-75 winter, 77-82 in summer. Although next summer I'll be more cautious and keep the room at 78 and have a fan over the tank, which I didn't do in 106 degree weekends we had consecutively this summer for a few weeks

[moriarty]

Have you considered a dragonface pipefish or two? You might not see them too often, but it would be neat when you did. I'm sure you'll have more than enough pods for them, giving that most fish in there seem large enough to not be overly interested in copepods.
Or perhaps a mandy or two? I'm not sure if something would eat them...
Ooh, a sea moth! Basically a larger, more exotic-looking mandy.

I appreciate the suggestions! I'll need to wait for my fuge to mature a bit, but definitely something to consider!

[moriarty]

I run mine all at 73-75 winter, 77-82 in summer. Although next summer I'll be more cautious and keep the room at 78 and have a fan over the tank, which I didn't do in 106 degree weekends we had consecutively this summer for a few weeks

Thanks for the reinforcing info about running at a cooler temp in the winter. I'm slowly bringing my temps down (at 77.6 currently). 106 degree weather on a consistent basis would be concerning for sure! I kept track of the temps in my basement before building the pond (most of last winter - summer) to see if there would be a need to add a chiller or fan, and decided that I could get away without. Basement stays nice and cool in the summertime.

[jfourn]

Great build .... Always wanted to have something like this.... Any plans to make it alittle more pleasing to the eye and alittje more less like a science project ..... Either way cool pond

[moriarty]

Great build .... Always wanted to have something like this.... Any plans to make it alittle more pleasing to the eye and alittje more less like a science project ..... Either way cool pond

Lol! Thank you! Yes! Am planning to frame it in and give it a more finished look. Love the science project comment by the way!

[nirvanaandtool]

Awesome build. Stuff most of us just dream of doing.

Also, love that you have a Snooty Maori (Cheilinus oxycephalus). I do as well and he's such an awesome fish. Ever give him a crayfish or two to eat? Two bites and they are done.
Have you thought about giving some of the larger Maori wrasses a try since you have all that room? A Tripletail or a Redbreast would be awesome in that tank. Heck a male Broomtail would be stunning in there if you could find one.

Lower temp is no problem at all. I've kept previous tanks at 74-76 year round with no issues on any fish. Currently I stick to around 76.

[moriarty]

Awesome build. Stuff most of us just dream of doing.

Also, love that you have a Snooty Maori (Cheilinus oxycephalus). I do as well and he's such an awesome fish. Ever give him a crayfish or two to eat? Two bites and they are done.
Have you thought about giving some of the larger Maori wrasses a try since you have all that room? A Tripletail or a Redbreast would be awesome in that tank. Heck a male Broomtail would be stunning in there if you could find one.

Lower temp is no problem at all. I've kept previous tanks at 74-76 year round with no issues on any fish. Currently I stick to around 76.

Thank you for the compliment! Also appreciate your insight on the temperature! Snooty Maori wrasse are great fish! How is yours in terms of hiding vs. staying out in the open? Mine spends about 90% of the day swimming the circumference of the pool - was concerned at first that this may be a stress reaction caused by more active tank mates, but he eats like a champ, and doesn't show any other cause for me to be concerned. I've never tried feeding crayfish but did get him to start eating in QT with live ghost shrimp. Cheilinus/Oxycheilinus are by far my favorite genus of wrasse, and I've been looking for a broomtail for some time. NYA has a really nice one in right now, but at 10" I think it might be too big for some of the other fish in my system (would hate to see my little assasi trig become a quick snack).

[woodguy]

have you done any calculations on how many gallons, sorry if I missed it in an earlier post

[nirvanaandtool]

Thank you for the compliment! Also appreciate your insight on the temperature! Snooty Maori wrasse are great fish! How is yours in terms of hiding vs. staying out in the open? Mine spends about 90% of the day swimming the circumference of the pool - was concerned at first that this may be a stress reaction caused by more active tank mates, but he eats like a champ, and doesn't show any other cause for me to be concerned. I've never tried feeding crayfish but did get him to start eating in QT with live ghost shrimp. Cheilinus/Oxycheilinus are by far my favorite genus of wrasse, and I've been looking for a broomtail for some time. NYA has a really nice one in right now, but at 10" I think it might be too big for some of the other fish in my system (would hate to see my little assasi trig become a quick snack).

Mine is out in the open like 95% of the time. Rules my tank especially at feeding time. He spends most of his time in the upper regions of the tank occasionally venturing down towards the rockwork mostly to check on the other fish and what they are doing. Interestingly enough though, these guys are really suspectible to bullying. I had a little 3" Falco hawkfish (half the size of the snooty) put the snooty in his place and wouldn't let the snooty anywhere near any rockwork in the tank. Needless to say, the hawk got the boot. Is yours a total hog at feeding time? Mine will stuff his cheeks full of food and keep going back for more, spitting out old food as he tries to grab new stuff. Try feeding live crayfish to him (plus I'm sure the triggers would love them too).

After having this guy, Cheilinus & Oxycheilinus have quickly become my favorite wrasses. My 90g however is a little small for most of the Maori's but I'm on the lookout for a Twospot Maori (Oxycheilinus bimaculatus) to add to it.
Oh ya, I saw that guy. A big ole Cheeklined Maori I think. I believe they are fish eaters though so I'd watch the tankmates around them. NYA also has a nice Redbreasted Maori (though the picture is of the cheeklined). It's listed at 4" and would not be a threat to your other fish at that size. DD also gets Tripletails and Redbreast in every now and then. Just had a nice juvi Tripletail that my buddy Joe (kaiboshi) on here picked up to pair with his current 8" Tripletail. I told him to chime in on this thread cause he's the one who originally got me into these wrasses and he's a nut about them.

[kaiboshi]

Thank you for the compliment! Also appreciate your insight on the temperature! Snooty Maori wrasse are great fish! How is yours in terms of hiding vs. staying out in the open? Mine spends about 90% of the day swimming the circumference of the pool - was concerned at first that this may be a stress reaction caused by more active tank mates, but he eats like a champ, and doesn't show any other cause for me to be concerned. I've never tried feeding crayfish but did get him to start eating in QT with live ghost shrimp. Cheilinus/Oxycheilinus are by far my favorite genus of wrasse, and I've been looking for a broomtail for some time. NYA has a really nice one in right now, but at 10" I think it might be too big for some of the other fish in my system (would hate to see my little assasi trig become a quick snack).

I thought Ralph and I were about the only ones with any enthusiasm for the maori wrasses lol. Nice to see there's at least 3 crazy people out there =]

Is your snooty swimming really fast around the circumference or just covering a lot of ground? I've kept a few different species of Cheilinus and Oxycheilinus wrasse and once they settle in they seem to really enjoy hunting. They inquisitively look in/under/around every nook and cranny in the tank and with the relatively large area that you've provided him he may just be doing his thing at a quicker pace.

I agree with your caution regarding that broomtail @ nya. I currently have a tripletail that is a solid 7.5", pushing 8" and I've recently lost some fish to his apetite. It was a bit strange because the fish that he ate had been housed with him for quite some time and he showed a strong preference for crustacean & mollusk the entire time I've had him. In fact, when I've fed silversides he'd just look at them with what seemed like a perplexed look and reluctantly ate them whereas when I drop a clam or mussel into the tank it falls about 6" before he's got a hold of it regardless of where he was in the tank. This lead me to believe that tripletail's and the other closely related species (C. lunulata is the sister species of C. trilobatus, C. chlorourus and C. abudjubbe are also closely related) had a strong preference in food, similar to my experience with O. unifasciatus (piscivore) and C. chlorourus (same preference as C. trilobatus) but I was wrong. They may not take a larger fish and smash it to pieces like some of the others (or maybe they will...) but they'll eat anything they can fit in their mouths.

With a setup like yours it would be really cool to pair a goatfish (or a few) of an appropriate variety with one of the larger maori's to see their cooperative hunting technique. The snooty may do the same thing as the others however most of the photo's I've seen are of other species.


I've been following this build since the beginning. You've given me plenty of bad ideas lol. Good stuff, keep it up!

[moriarty]

have you done any calculations on how many gallons, sorry if I missed it in an earlier post

I may have posted earlier, but it has likely changed since. I figured I could safely increase the depth in the pool by a couple inches, so it's right around 1500 gallons including the sump and fuge.

[moriarty]

Mine is out in the open like 95% of the time. Rules my tank especially at feeding time. He spends most of his time in the upper regions of the tank occasionally venturing down towards the rockwork mostly to check on the other fish and what they are doing. Interestingly enough though, these guys are really suspectible to bullying. I had a little 3" Falco hawkfish (half the size of the snooty) put the snooty in his place and wouldn't let the snooty anywhere near any rockwork in the tank. Needless to say, the hawk got the boot. Is yours a total hog at feeding time? Mine will stuff his cheeks full of food and keep going back for more, spitting out old food as he tries to grab new stuff. Try feeding live crayfish to him (plus I'm sure the triggers would love them too).

After having this guy, Cheilinus & Oxycheilinus have quickly become my favorite wrasses. My 90g however is a little small for most of the Maori's but I'm on the lookout for a Twospot Maori (Oxycheilinus bimaculatus) to add to it.
Oh ya, I saw that guy. A big ole Cheeklined Maori I think. I believe they are fish eaters though so I'd watch the tankmates around them. NYA also has a nice Redbreasted Maori (though the picture is of the cheeklined). It's listed at 4" and would not be a threat to your other fish at that size. DD also gets Tripletails and Redbreast in every now and then. Just had a nice juvi Tripletail that my buddy Joe (kaiboshi) on here picked up to pair with his current 8" Tripletail. I told him to chime in on this thread cause he's the one who originally got me into these wrasses and he's a nut about them.

Yeah, my guy definitely gets his share of food! When I feed LRS fish frenzy, he will grab a huge piece and disappear into the rocks with it, only to come out a few seconds later and grab another. That O. digramma on NYA was very cool, and definitely not a fish you see every day! If I was going to do a set up with a Maori and some goatfish, I think this is the one I would choose.
I would suspect that my current fish population would be seriously thinned out however! So your C. oxycephalus is about 6" then? Much bigger than my little guy! How long have you had him? If I happen to come across an O. bimaculatus available online, I'll be sure to send you a PM!

[moriarty]

I thought Ralph and I were about the only ones with any enthusiasm for the maori wrasses lol. Nice to see there's at least 3 crazy people out there =]

Is your snooty swimming really fast around the circumference or just covering a lot of ground? I've kept a few different species of Cheilinus and Oxycheilinus wrasse and once they settle in they seem to really enjoy hunting. They inquisitively look in/under/around every nook and cranny in the tank and with the relatively large area that you've provided him he may just be doing his thing at a quicker pace.

I agree with your caution regarding that broomtail @ nya. I currently have a tripletail that is a solid 7.5", pushing 8" and I've recently lost some fish to his apetite. It was a bit strange because the fish that he ate had been housed with him for quite some time and he showed a strong preference for crustacean & mollusk the entire time I've had him. In fact, when I've fed silversides he'd just look at them with what seemed like a perplexed look and reluctantly ate them whereas when I drop a clam or mussel into the tank it falls about 6" before he's got a hold of it regardless of where he was in the tank. This lead me to believe that tripletail's and the other closely related species (C. lunulata is the sister species of C. trilobatus, C. chlorourus and C. abudjubbe are also closely related) had a strong preference in food, similar to my experience with O. unifasciatus (piscivore) and C. chlorourus (same preference as C. trilobatus) but I was wrong. They may not take a larger fish and smash it to pieces like some of the others (or maybe they will...) but they'll eat anything they can fit in their mouths.

With a setup like yours it would be really cool to pair a goatfish (or a few) of an appropriate variety with one of the larger maori's to see their cooperative hunting technique. The snooty may do the same thing as the others however most of the photo's I've seen are of other species.


I've been following this build since the beginning. You've given me plenty of bad ideas lol. Good stuff, keep it up!

He swims the circumference fairly briskly. The inquisitive behavior that you described has been my experience with every other Cheilinus spp. that I have kept (C. abudjubbe - actually picked this one up at an LFS years ago just labeled "Maori wrasse" for $35 - C. chlorourus, and C. fasciatus). I've actually been debating moving him to my refugium which has lots of LR and Macro for him to hunt through. Because of my experiences with the others, I just get a feeling that something might be amiss. Would have relocated him a while ago if he wasn't eating as well has he does. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Great call on the goatfish pairing btw. As I said in my last post, I would love to try this with Oxycheilinus digramma, but think that C. trilobatus would be more realistic/appropriate for my system.

[anbosu]

I love the tripletails - if I ever switch my 360 to FOWLR I want to get one.

[38bill]

Very fun project! Do you know how much make up water is needed in a day?

[moriarty]

Very fun project! Do you know how much make up water is needed in a day?

Thank you! I have to add between 5 and 10 gallons of make up RO water per day. Hopefully this will drop a noticeable amount since I've decided to run the pool at a cooler temp.

[moriarty]

I love the tripletails - if I ever switch my 360 to FOWLR I want to get one.

Great fish! Can't go wrong with any of the Cheilinus species for a fish only IMO!

[moriarty]

Can't have an atoll without a few Tridacnid clams. Here is my 1st attempt at a juvenile T. gigas.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67351

[Betta132]

Nice! I don't think I've seen a clam that color... neat. Is there any concern about it snapping shut, though? I've heard of them sometimes accidentally trapping fish that nip at the inside of the clam. That usually leads to a dead fish.
Are those blue damsels around there?

[mnkykng77]

Can't have an atoll without a few Tridacnid clams. Here is my 1st attempt at a juvenile T. gigas.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67351

Nice! How big is the T. Gigas?

[moriarty]

Oops, I guess I should have clarified better... Was my first attempt at making a gigas clam from polymer clay, not at keeping a living one. I actually modeled this one from an old pic of mine that I kept years ago. As far as I'm aware, T. gigas haven't been imported for some time, plus with my fish selection and lack of appropriate lighting, I doubt that a living clam would stay that way for long.

[moriarty]

Are those blue damsels around there?

Yeah, There are around a dozen blue/yellowtail damsels in the pool so far. They add lots of color and movement, so I do plan to add a good amount more (along with other damsel species). They can be a little pushy toward each other but for the most part leave the other fish alone.

[pinnatus]

Oops, I guess I should have clarified better... Was my first attempt at making a gigas clam from polymer clay, not at keeping a living one. I actually modeled this one from an old pic of mine that I kept years ago. As far as I'm aware, T. gigas haven't been imported for some time, plus with my fish selection and lack of appropriate lighting, I doubt that a living clam would stay that way for long.

Well, you had us all fooled!

:lol:

[nirvanaandtool]

Yeah, my guy definitely gets his share of food! When I feed LRS fish frenzy, he will grab a huge piece and disappear into the rocks with it, only to come out a few seconds later and grab another. That O. digramma on NYA was very cool, and definitely not a fish you see every day! If I was going to do a set up with a Maori and some goatfish, I think this is the one I would choose.
I would suspect that my current fish population would be seriously thinned out however! So your C. oxycephalus is about 6" then? Much bigger than my little guy! How long have you had him? If I happen to come across an O. bimaculatus available online, I'll be sure to send you a PM!

Mine is over 5" at least but maybe not quite 6" yet. He's definitely a big boy though. Had him since June when I got him from DD. Next time he's asleep on the sandbed up front I'll have to measure him.

Yea if you got that diagramma, your fish population would thin out really fast. Tripletail is probably the safer way to go. Joe's is pretty chill with anything it can't directly eat. And like you said, it would be awesome to get one to pair up to a large goatfish and watch them search the sandbed for noms.

Would definitely appreciate that! If I see any other maoris in my searches, I'll PM you as well :beer:

[Betta132]

Well, that's a decent number of votes in favor of your clam there! Nice job.
Yellowtail damsels are cowards when it comes to larger fish that might possibly fight back. They do have personality, though. I love mine.

[HPark]

Oops, I guess I should have clarified better... Was my first attempt at making a gigas clam from polymer clay, not at keeping a living one. I actually modeled this one from an old pic of mine that I kept years ago. As far as I'm aware, T. gigas haven't been imported for some time, plus with my fish selection and lack of appropriate lighting, I doubt that a living clam would stay that way for long.


hahah...totally fooled. I was like, how is he lighting it? lol

[moriarty]

Thank you for the compliments on the clam!

In the process of changing my QT/hospital tanks around so I can make better use of the space in my basement. Added the 20g long, and 29g to the refugium stand (my original intent when i built it). Going to have to figure something else out for the 75g QT, but can't do much with it until it's occupants are ready for the pool (still have a few weeks).

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67373

[clekchau]

this pond is freaking amazing good job.

[moriarty]

this pond is freaking amazing good job.

Thank you! Love the Naso vlamingii in your avatar btw!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9327&pictureid=67529

Made some ledge type rocks a while back which just finished curing. I have a few more in another container that should be ready in month or so. I'm considering making quite a few more to bulk up the atoll a bit, and to give the fishes more places to hide/feel secure. Would like to do some different colors to give the impression of plating/tabling corals assuming I can find some aquarium and/or food safe cement dyes.

Am also going to replace the two Kessil A150s with a single A360we. Am hoping that a single point-source light will add more shimmer, plus I like the control features that come with the A360 series.

Please excuse the diatom bloom. Makes it pretty obvious which side of the pool has been getting the most natural sunlight this fall/winter. Am thinking that I could probably add a few sand sifters now that the sand bed has had a chance to mature a little.

[Mark9]

Have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when i started reading this thread, but it has turned into one of the coolest tanks i have seen.
That atoll idea was genius.
Love this tank, keep it going!

[HPark]

Love this build!

Maybe you could add some rock around the edges to obscure the wall and give small damsels and fish another place to congregate?

Unsure if that would disrupt the flow too much or the movement of the larger fish.

Again, love this -- I definitely plan to copy you when able!

[moriarty]

Have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when i started reading this thread, but it has turned into one of the coolest tanks i have seen.
That atoll idea was genius.
Love this tank, keep it going!

Thank you! I appreciate the compliments! +1 on the skepticism. When I first started planning for this build, I was a little concerned that I may be getting in over my head with a large volume of water in a non-traditional tank but it's been working out so far :) I would likely not have attempted going this route had it not been for a few others on RC with pond style tanks.

[moriarty]

Love this build!

Maybe you could add some rock around the edges to obscure the wall and give small damsels and fish another place to congregate?

Unsure if that would disrupt the flow too much or the movement of the larger fish.

Again, love this -- I definitely plan to copy you when able!

Thank you!! Yeah, definitely need to do something around the edges. I had originally planned to go with PVC sheeting, but really wasn't happy with the way it was turning out. I also would have needed to modify it a little too much for it to be functional. I may try experimenting with making a sectional "wall" from egg crate, pond foam, and dry rock to go around the edges. Could make it porous so water can pass through, add some ledges, etc... for smaller fish to hang out (good suggestion btw), and would also work to hide the Koralias, while keeping up the flow.

[Betta132]

Update on the yellowtail damsels in the ray tank at the local aquarium, if it's helpful: there are fewer. I haven't seen aggression between them, so I suspect the missing ones were eaten. You may want to get larger ones.
Also, there are peaceful damsel species. Perhaps try a few? They're cool.

[bristle]

Have you considered a wave dump/surge box (there's probably a better word for it).

Basically a pump fills a container with water. When the container gets full enough it tips over and creates a wave. As it empties it rights itself and the pump fills it back up again. You could use any size of pump and as many surge boxes in whatever size as you'd like to recreate a wave as extra flow. I think it would be pretty cool and you'd get some more random flow in the tank.

[ConnorG]

Have you considered a wave dump/surge box (there's probably a better word for it).

Basically a pump fills a container with water. When the container gets full enough it tips over and creates a wave. As it empties it rights itself and the pump fills it back up again. You could use any size of pump and as many surge boxes in whatever size as you'd like to recreate a wave as extra flow. I think it would be pretty cool and you'd get some more random flow in the tank.


That sounds like such a cool idea! I want to try that! If only I had a larger tank...hmmm...

[moriarty]

Update on the yellowtail damsels in the ray tank at the local aquarium, if it's helpful: there are fewer. I haven't seen aggression between them, so I suspect the missing ones were eaten. You may want to get larger ones.
Also, there are peaceful damsel species. Perhaps try a few? They're cool.

Thank you for the update! I haven't been seeing too much aggression from my blue or yellowtails at all. Both of the conch shells have been claimed by the largest two blue damsels, which live inside and will chase the others away when they come within a foot, but aside from that, there really hasn't been much aggression. My pair of three stripe Dascyllus are probably the worst that I have in terms of territoriality, but even they aren't too bad (defending an area of about 2 square feet). I'm a big fan of the Pomacentridae family in general, and have kept at least one member of the family in most of my past and present systems. I definitely plan to add a few groups of other (smaller) species to the pool.

[moriarty]

Have you considered a wave dump/surge box (there's probably a better word for it).

Basically a pump fills a container with water. When the container gets full enough it tips over and creates a wave. As it empties it rights itself and the pump fills it back up again. You could use any size of pump and as many surge boxes in whatever size as you'd like to recreate a wave as extra flow. I think it would be pretty cool and you'd get some more random flow in the tank.

Yeah, this is something I've been thinking about doing for a while. Building/plumbing it in wouldn't be a problem at all, and I could probably do a gravity fed container from the sump without having to add any additional pumps. If/when I do attempt something like this, I would probably go with a longer, more shallow dump container (say 3' in length by a few inches in depth) so that it creates a light wave across the pool. I'd be concerned that If I go too big with this, the force of the wave would compromise the pool's frame over time.

[SDguy]

Yeah, this is something I've been thinking about doing for a while. Building/plumbing it in wouldn't be a problem at all, and I could probably do a gravity fed container from the sump without having to add any additional pumps. If/when I do attempt something like this, I would probably go with a longer, more shallow dump container (say 3' in length by a few inches in depth) so that it creates a light wave across the pool. I'd be concerned that If I go too big with this, the force of the wave would compromise the pool's frame over time.

Plus, would you be able to see anything through the rippling water?

[moriarty]

Plus, would you be able to see anything through the rippling water?

Very good point. I love this idea, wouldn't want to do so at the expense of visibility. Another drawback would be the added noise. I guess I'd have to play around with dumping water in to see how it effects things. Fortunately, with my 200 gallon monthly water changes (will likely increase as more fish are added) I have plenty of opportunities to do so!

[ConnorG]

You could experiment with a slower filling rate for the container (that will dump the water.) So that it isn't constant. Maybe 1 time every 10 minutes, that would allow the surface to settle in between dumps to provide viewing time.

[bigsink]

This is a sick build.

[Betta132]

Ooh- there are damsels that farm algae, ones that aren't very large and defend a small area of rockwork. Perhaps you should get one or two once your algae builds up a bit, they're really cool to watch.

I have a way to reduce/almost eliminate surface disturbance from water pouring back into the tank. I've done this with my freshwater tank. You just hang a sponge in the outlet so that the water is in the sponge all the way down to the tank level, thereby reducing the noise. Since it's at the end of the filter, it doesn't build much gunk up. You just have to rinse it out a bit every month-ish.

[reefermike1]

Wow that is a really cool setup, looks like a little piece of ocean. Congrats! I'd love to see some video especially at feeding time.