New 450 Gallon Reef in progress

[Acropora]

I just wanted to share some pictures of a work in progress.The tank is a glass tank measuring L 96" X W 36" X H 30" with Euro bracing and two corner overflow boxes. The tank was drilled with 6 B.H.'s on the rear panel.It weighed in around 1200Lbs empty and took 12 people to safely carry it in. I used 3" diameter PVC sections to help roll it off the truck. This turned out to be an excellent way to move a heavy tank.First pics below.

 

[Len]

I'm gonna watch this thread with great interest as I'm planning a tank of this size in the near future as well Keep us posted!

 

[Anonymous]

Me too!

Post lotsa pics, please

Louey

 

[Acropora]

Len, there's a lot more.

First placed on the stand.

 

[Acropora]

Here an early shot of the tank with only two 250 watt Coralvue M.H.'s on. There will eventually be five 400 watt bulbs. You can see the wall exhaust fan, which is used to help with ventilation.The Home made hood has four 4" fans and is raised and lowered with two bicycle hoists.

 

[Acropora]

Here's a picture of the fish room which is one floor down.This picture was taken before i placed lighting over the fuge. the blue tub on the left is for water changes.

 

[Acropora]

A little out of sequence.......Here is a picture with a partial view of the stand construction. I tripled up every other stud and all four corners.The sides,back and top of the stand are sheathed with 3/4" plywood. The front opens with two doors,one on each end of the front panel.

 

[Acropora]

A shot of a couple of happy 12+" clams. This shot was taken awhile back when I was still battling the Algae cycle. :x
I have them since they were 3.5" each.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice! I like that you left plenty of room behind the tank.

RR

 

[tgallo]

very nice tank, what are the tank dimensions, and was it custom made .

 

[Acropora]

very nice tank, what are the tank dimensions, and was it custom made .

The tank is a glass tank measuring L 96" X W 36" X H 30" with Euro bracing and two corner overflow boxes. The tank was drilled with 6 B.H.'s on the rear panel. Yes it was custom made,but I can not recommend the builder.
Thank you

 

[Acropora]

Nice! I like that you left plenty of room behind the tank.

RR

How I wish that was true, but I did not have the room to spare. However, all the workings are in the basement. If you look closely at the picture,you can see that the lighting hood is set back. I eventually moved the tank back.

 

[tazdevil]

L 96" X W 36" X H 30" with Euro bracing and two corner overflow boxes. The tank was drilled with 6 B.H.'s on the rear panel.It weighed in around 1200Lbs empty and took 12 people to safely carry it in.

There's a little help for you.

8 feet long, 3 feet wide, 2.5 feet high In other words, very large.

 

[Acropora]

Nilsen reactor placed in bucket below the skimmer where I won't knock it over.

 

[Acropora]

A shot of the fan used to vent air out of the basement.This fan is made for damp areas and has a plastic housing and fan.It also is exceptionally quite for the amount of air it moves.It is comingled with a portable A/C vent as well as the dryer vent.I have it connected to a de-humistat switch that turns the fan on when the humidity is high.

 

[Acropora]

I did go bare bottom this time around.It was not an easy dicision.The last DSB worked fine for 6 years until I had some problems.The problems possibly could have been caused by the general age of the set up,12 years. I can not say for sure.However in a smaller tank where I might of upgraded in a 5 year period I would have went with a DSB.However, I have no plans to get a larger tank. And removing a DSB from this tank was out of the question.
The corals I have now fall into two categories.Coral's that I am rescuing from non ideal conditions in a holding sump and new ones.In time all will shape up.


Deep purple Stylophora

 

[Acropora]

Green Bali Slimer

 

[Acropora]

A dark green with white rim Monti Cap.

 

[Acropora]

Dark Green Acro.......If you can I.D. please let me know.

 

[Acropora]

The Pink Stylophora just below the orange cap was completely bleached white. It was stored in a holding sump for an extended period of time,while the new tank was set up. It is slowly but surely coming back in the new set up.