Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[Marchingbandjs]

I would say that def looks like the gracilaria.... When do you plan on filling up the tank?

[mkbtank]

Originally Posted by nineball

You guys are just sissy's......The acrylic is 1.5 in......any shot off the table will be a deflection in any event. Your anxiety will leave you short on frags much to my advantage!!!!!!!

Peter

Funny. I figured that with the acrylic. I was just looking for a flaw in your all too bulletproof planning! lol

I prefer one pocket at any rate..... No hard breaks there. Since you are a friend of Cliff's, I will take 9-7

Great pics. Keep them coming.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by Marchingbandjs

I would say that def looks like the gracilaria.... When do you plan on filling up the tank?

I know you would like me to do it tonight so that it would be done by the time you get up in the morning BUT............The electrical must be done(currently underway), the plumbing can't be done until the drywall is finished(next week) because of my decision to surface mount as much as possible with a long term view to maintenance and structural longevity. The toughest part is the difficulty in freezing the specifications.......every time I click one of Mr. Wilson's links the blueprint shifts and that is driving John from DQI crazy!!!!

The simple answer is that we are three to four weeks from putting water in the tank. In many respects this next chapter of the build "The Integrated Fish Room" is by far one of the most important parts of this whole build. I am determined to get this part done with a very high standard of excellence and adherence to the principle stated at the outset of the build. The 'Fish Room' or support infrastructure will be an integrated part of the viewing experience. My hope is that the entire ecosystem is as significant as the main display tank. That means putting all the smell, noise, lights and machinery in proper context for the audience and that challenge is not trivial. I know this for certain as I have smelled the skimmer cup and will admit that I would rather fly through a volcanic dust cloud than smell it again!!!!

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by mkbtank

Funny. I figured that with the acrylic. I was just looking for a flaw in your all too bulletproof planning! lol

I prefer one pocket at any rate..... No hard breaks there. Since you are a friend of Cliff's, I will take 9-7

Great pics. Keep them coming.

Cliff asked me if you were a good one pocket player and I told him I thought you might be. His advice to me was to have a large axe ready to give you whatever you wanted out of the tank!!!!!!

I'm sensing a slight reduction in the confidence levels around here!!

Peter

[Rybren]

Originally Posted by nineball

For some reason, this page will not display for me.........

Peter

They must have removed the video. I saw it when Mr Wilson first posted the link, but I can't get to it anymore.

If you go to this page..

http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/v...f33d8d920b1e1c

and click on the video 1 demo, it will work.

[allenjj]

Originally Posted by nineball

Thanks Rob, I got the Miracle mud from my fish guy Mike of Aqua Sculpture (aquariumservicestoronto). I believe he special ordered it for me. I'll ask him about the source.

Peter

I must say that your thread has me now thinking about the bigger tank that I want to get. Miracle mud is available in many larger fish stores that carry reef supplies. You can also order it online from several sources. I have spent all day reading this thread with great awe. I cant wait for you to finish this project Peter so that we can all see the results.
John

[nineball]

Originally Posted by allenjj

I must say that your thread has me now thinking about the bigger tank that I want to get. Miracle mud is available in many larger fish stores that carry reef supplies. You can also order it online from several sources. I have spent all day reading this thread with great awe. I cant wait for you to finish this project Peter so that we can all see the results.
John

Thanks John, after cleaning the live rock yesterday I have to admit that a 300gal tank would have had a phenomenal appeal by the end of the day. Thanks for the miracle mud reference.

I have to admit that a project of this size requires more than a passing reference to patience. I found I had to put the obvious milestones like water in the tank waaaaay back in the in the excitement department. Much of the emotional fuel is driven by a sense of accomplishment in getting the details right in areas that usually get glossed over in the rush to get fish in the water. In order to keep my balance through this thing I just reset my expectations in general, away from immediate gratification. I also have a heck of a lot to learn, so as any slo learner will tell you .......you just can't expect to add water and stir.............

Success in this hobby, not unlike business in general, is not simply throwing the dice and hoping for the right numbers to come up. It is knowing what the numbers will be before the dice hit the table! This takes practice and practice takes time.

Welcome to our growing group.

Peter

[mr.wilson]

There are different species of gracileria that fall under the same genus (gracileria family). Not only does each variety differ in shape, but there is a variation due to light and available nutrients etc. In other words it takes on all kinds of shapes. It looks like you have a few types of macro algae anyway. I would leave it for the fish unless you identify any specific ones that grow out of control like red turf algae or any turf algae for that matter.

BTW gracileria is grown for human consumption and makes up a great deal of the agar agar production (used as a gelatin substitute). I'll take my prize in the form of a pavlova in honour of our Australian host and the generous contributors.

The video I posted earlier may take a minute to load, or try the other link posted. If you ever make it there, you can see a video of a rotating valve that controls the direction of water in a closed loop system. It alternates from sucking to blowing from end to end and top to bottom in series. The end result is a psunami-like wave action. The benefits of such an action are numerous...

1) Variable flow so SPS can grow evenly like a Charles Dickens Christmas tree, rather than a Charles Brown Christmas tree.
2) Detritus suspension for coral feeding, and delivery to the various filtration devices.
3) Removal of slime & sloughed off skin from coral tissue which helps corals filter feed and "breath".
4) Aeration of water at the surface air/water interface.
5) Flushes detritus out of rock work and from the substrate.
6) Creates a natural swaying motion with the corals or at least their tentacles.
7) Replicates the alternating current found on natural reefs.
8) Helps with the shimmering effect of lighting.
9) It keeps the intake strainer and plumbing lines free of debris as the direction of water flow is reversed every 5 seconds or so.
10) Most important of all... Impresses your friends and family

You can see the creator Paul in the background manually moving the valve to get different effects. The valve rotation speed is programmed according to the size of the tank and the wave action you want. The idea is to catch the perfect wave. You get a really nice rolling effect over a long tank like yours. I'm not sure how you would do it with the L shape, but probably with two zones starting from the bend and going both directions to the ends.

[nUgZ]

Everything is coming together perfectly Peter! I hope to have a tank of this magnitude sometime before I die. Wouldn't mind the car either...

[TriNewbie24]

Tank is awesome!

[nineball]

Originally Posted by nUgZ

Everything is coming together perfectly Peter! I hope to have a tank of this magnitude sometime before I die. Wouldn't mind the car either...

I would definitely recommend doing it before you die because it's extremely difficult to do after..........

The car.....that's another matter.

Peter

[iluzhun]

Peter,

Good to see you are progressing. The rock looks awesome. Still riveted to this build.

[sammy113]

This is so amazing. I need to subscribe

[TotalVapor]

Great build I got a lot of ideas from the house and the tank. Cant wait for it to be finished....

Thank you for sharing

[chingchai]

Originally Posted by nineball

Actually I think I am beginning to hallucinate Shawn. This is good stuff. I think Chingchai would agree with most, if not all, of your bias on this subject. I am drawn to your strategy not because of anything academic, as my knowledge is still measured in nano grams, but because of clear and tangible results as evidenced in Chingchai's tank. His water clarity and quality is exceptional. He uses 10 micron filter socks and swears by them. If he reads this he can correct the data for me.

I will take your advice on the accessibility of the filter canisters for maintenance. I also agree with the importance of frequent monitoring of the efficiency to ensure the material is removed.....another 'to do' on my SOP.

As far as using the canisters with various alternative materials I will probably wait until I have a baseline of experience and data.

more on that subject I'm sure..............

Thank you again sir for your assist........There are those on this thread now who also appreciate your comments and have significantly more knowledge and experience than I. Your presence on this thread is one of its greater assets.

Peter

Peter. Just want to correct this.
I use 100 micron filter sock.

[syedjilani]

nineball

just read the entire thread this is going to be an incredible build!!!,

looking forward to seeing the progression. Simply outstanding.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by nineball

Antonais, here is the sand. I'm planning a shallow bed for the start.

That is great sand for any reef setup. You want to stay clear from the crushed coral. It has small shells in it that very quickly gather detrius etc and turn brown or black. Very difficult to clean and maintain. If you put a lot of necessarius snails in the argonite and have the proper flow across it you should always have a clean white substrate with little maintenanace.

IMO keep the sand bed not more than an inch in the display tank. Deep sand beds in display tanks eventually foul up---whether or not it is 5 years down the line but they don't seem to last forever.
With an inch sand bed you can always add a 1/2 or so every year to replentish it with little problems. Sand does lose its buffering capabilities over time.
Alot of reefers(including me) run a deep sand bed remotely from the tank as in a refugium but there are many more effecient ways of removing nitrates then a dsb such as a refugium full of cheato macro, plenty of live rock, and just not overfeeding to begin with.

No titles in Canada?----you mean Hoser is not a title or SOB---I thought when I was called that it was a sign of respect

This is a really good read on deep sand beds
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1652103

[nineball]

Originally Posted by chingchai

Peter. Just want to correct this.
I use 100 micron filter sock.

Thank you Chingchai, I always appreciate your feedback. I trust the traffic in Bangkok is improving and getting less troublesome?

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by TriNewbie24

Tank is awesome!

Thanks TriNewbie and welcome to the group.

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by iluzhun

Peter,

Good to see you are progressing. The rock looks awesome. Still riveted to this build.

Thanks iluzhun, good to see you are still in here.

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by sammy113

This is so amazing. I need to subscribe

Thank you sammy and welcome aboard!!!

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by TotalVapor

Great build I got a lot of ideas from the house and the tank. Cant wait for it to be finished....

Thank you for sharing

Thank you TotalVapor, I should warn you, this may take a while........ Welcome to the group.

Peter

[nineball]

Originally Posted by syedjilani

nineball

just read the entire thread this is going to be an incredible build!!!,

looking forward to seeing the progression. Simply outstanding.

Thank you very much S.J.. Welcome to our growing group.....

Peter

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by nineball

Thank you very much S.J.. Welcome to our growing group.....

Peter

growing group---are you going to offer t-shirts and hats soon

[nineball]

Originally Posted by capn_hylinur

That is great sand for any reef setup. You want to stay clear from the crushed coral. It has small shells in it that very quickly gather detrius etc and turn brown or black. Very difficult to clean and maintain. If you put a lot of necessarius snails in the argonite and have the proper flow across it you should always have a clean white substrate with little maintenanace.

IMO keep the sand bed not more than an inch in the display tank. Deep sand beds in display tanks eventually foul up---whether or not it is 5 years down the line but they don't seem to last forever.
With an inch sand bed you can always add a 1/2 or so every year to replentish it with little problems. Sand does lose its buffering capabilities over time.
Alot of reefers(including me) run a deep sand bed remotely from the tank as in a refugium but there are many more effecient ways of removing nitrates then a dsb such as a refugium full of cheato macro, plenty of live rock, and just not overfeeding to begin with.

No titles in Canada?----you mean Hoser is not a title or SOB---I thought when I was called that it was a sign of respect

This is a really good read on deep sand beds
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1652103

Thank you capn, I am relieved that this sand is OK. Your suggestion re depth is also welcome. I was planning something along those lines. Hopefully it will also put the earlier concerns to bed about the CL returns jamming up as well although I am planing to use the larger raised filter heads as well. Chingchai used a plant material similar to the cheato macro as well if I remember correctly. I have been meaning to ask him if it was still working for him. He had it with the miracle mud base. Seemed like a great idea at the time.

When I made the decision to drop the bio balls I decided to fill that reservoir with live rock.....I have some spare I think!

No, Hoser is a label you have to earn but it does stick around for life!!!!

Now I'm off to do some more reading.

Peter