Not a typical doctor's waiting room... 450 gallon reef

[jjjimmy]

Sounds very nice. One concern that I see with your original setup is only (3) halides on a 8 foot tank. Why not use 4 for better light distribution?

[billr]

That is cool..........

[invincible569]

Did you ask for those pics or where they offered to you?

By the way, nice tank!

[clekchau]

Originally posted by thedude15810
My experience couldn't have been farther from yours. Tom answers my calls and emails very quickly and has been extremely informative during every tank build.

My experience with AO was that it took 2 or 3 weeks to get quoted, then at least 12 to get the tank built. The last tank we got from AO (while beautiful) took about 15 weeks to get to Texas.

Mike,

Haha this one looks heavy enough to me!

hi mike,

i also researched ag&e as i live in dfw, but their customer service and knowledge or lackof was dissapointing in my experience. i asked alot of questions regarding a tank a little larger than this one, as i asked the same questions to socal creations, envisions, midwest custom aquarium and a few others, they didn't seem to be as knowledgeble or friendly

glad that it worked different for you though, great looking tank, can't wait to see it finished

[KingfishJohn]

Edward,

I asked for pictures of the tank and Tom took them for me. He has taken pictures of all the other tanks we've done in their "drying" stage as well.

Jimmy,

I used three halides on a 6" wider tank and the light was more than enough. This tank will be a mix of coral and if we ever do need to add a 4th halide, there will be more than enough room. Lumenarcs have a supposed 36" spread which more than covers the tank.

Clekchau,

One of the problems I think people are running into is the fact that AGE does not sell directly to the public. They do this for several reasons, but one is to not be overwhelmed with demand resulting in much better lead times, and service when a retailer does order a tank.

Tom called me yesterday to check how the weather was and we decided to continue to postpone the tank's shipment. I'd rather have the tank take longer to come in then to get a broken tank!

John

[clekchau]

i don't blame you, it's pretty icy here in dallas today and i heard it was bad down south too

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Way to go guys!

One thing though....i've read multiple times from Sequence that the Dart shouldn't be ramped down more than 30% though....not sure if that's just them covering their own tails or what.

[Dudester]

While everyone is entitled to their opinions, and believe me they are all sought after and welcome here, the purpose of this thread is not to analyze any particular vendor. This is intended to be a tank diary thread. I believe John mentioned that our tank vendor does not routinely deal with the public, which may be why some folks have had less than ideal experiences with them. Fortunately, John is not a "Joe Public" citizen; he is a member of the elite force know as a LFS Owner, which entitles him to a few privileges to which we mere mortals are excluded. Hopefully AG&E will expand their services in the future so that more people can acquire their beautiful products. I'm just glad I was able to get one!

jjjimmy - Great question. We patterened our lighting from GMFett's 600 gallon reef, which you may have seen here on RC. His tank is also 8' long, but it's 4' wide (ours is only 3'). His tank is lit with (6) 400W MH's, aligned as (2) rows with (3) MH pendants each. The 3 pendants cover the length of the tank quite well, and with a foot less in depth, we'll probably be OK with only 1 row of lights. Our tank will be less-SPS dominant as well (the kids like to see soft corals swaying in the current more than tree branches), which is another reason we think we can get away with only 3 MH's. And lastly, the system is expandable and upgradable - if we find that we want to add more SPS or if there are gaps in the light, we can always add another pendant.

Thanks for the compliments, everybody!

[clekchau]

i see what you are saying guys, but what does it mean when you indicate they don't deal with the public? my father a few months back went to a home and garden show which targeted specifically the public and ag&e had a big booth and a rather impressive handout of their services, that is why i called/visited them in the first place :dunno:

[KingfishJohn]

Eagles,

Great observation, I've read that as well (and don't know if it is to cover their tails or actually necessary). With our proposed overflow of 1600 - 2000 gph, we should be well above that 30% cutoff.

Mike,

Actually Marcus's tank (GMFett) (http://web.mac.com/marcusfettinger/i...Equipment.html) has only (3) Lumenarc 400's. The tank also only has (2) 72" VHO while we will have (4).

Clekchau,

I don't know what booth they had setup but the deal with AGE is, they only deal with Retailers (LFS). In order to order with them, you have to have a retail license. Quoting takes up 75% of the manufacturers time and this allows the LFS to handle the quote and design the tank. This makes it so that only one quote is handed to the actual manufacturer and all the design is delegated to another company.

John

[clekchau]

the booth was at the home and garden show at the henry b gonzales convention center in san antonio last november. my father spoke to the guy at the booth and he gave him the brochure and told him to contact a.g.e at any time for a quote on a custom aquarium/installation.

i'm not sure why they would have a booth at a convention targeting the general public and welcoming inquiries if they only sold to local fish stores, but that explains their "slow" response time.

thanks for the clarification.

[gkarshens]

I thought Marcus's tank only had three lights. I am glad to know I am not going forgetful.

Maybe they started out offering to the public but realized it would be too much to handle.

[Bono]

This might be a dumb question but how does the tank stay together? Since it doesn't have trim on the bottom or top can silicon alone keep it together?

[KingfishJohn]

Bono,

Not a dumb question at all! You are correct that silicone holds the whole thing together. Trim really doesn't hold the tank together (as it usually comes in 4 seperate pieces) just is there for aesthetics.

John

Pictures incoming!

[Bono]

Wow, I just had no idea silicone alone was strong enough.

Awesome tank BTW.

[KingfishJohn]

Deltec Family (Minus FR509 Reactor)



AP902



Lighting Components



Halide Ballasts

[KingfishJohn]

10k 400w Coralvue Reeflux 10k's



Lumenarc 3's



VHO Ballasts (Icecap 660)

[KingfishJohn]

Saltwater Mixing Pump



RO/DI Unit (AquaFX Dual DI)



Lots and lots of salt

[KingfishJohn]

Circulation



Sequence Hammerhead



Group shot of the equipment (200 pounds of sand in the boxes in the back right)

[KingfishJohn]

Gratuitous coral shots:









Finally, the reason the tank isn't already in place

[jnarowe]

sweet!!! Hey, where did you get the Tropic Marin in 82lb. bags, and is that the "Pro"??

[KingfishJohn]

My Tropic Marin supplier carries the 300 gallon bags so wherever you get TM from, they should be able to order the big bags.

They do not come in pro unfortunately. As the tank progresses, we may have to switch back to buckets, depending on what the alkalinity sits at.

[fishypets]

Nice thread John and Mike.

I'm thinking about going back to school for another 6 years so I as well can have a 450 gallon tank.

Hey Mike-

Looks like you get my corals after all. Make sure to dip before adding to your system though.

[Dudester]

It turns out we were all correct. Marcus used to have 6 MH pendants, but after switching to the Lumenarc reflectors, he's down to just 3.

fishypets - You're such a tease! And don't worry, I'll dip EVERYTHING I get from you .

[benf]

Only question is the size of the overflow...what turnover do you expect? I too am using a Hammerhead pump and i expect 10-15x turnover running 3 2" drains and 2 1.5" returns.