Gimmito's 450 Gal L-Shaped Display

[gimmito]

Nice tank dimensions there. I believe they are similiar dimensions to the 500 gal tank Sanjay Joshi built at Penn State. I know a tank that large may seem crazy to some, but it's like the old addage "buy the biggest tank you can afford." 500 gal will give a lot of options aquascaping wise and fish wise. Any ideas on what you will keep ? Equipment ?

By the way, thanks for serving our country !

Jim

 

[barryfish]

for a fish list i have about 69 fish so far most being small like chromis,cardinals,wrasses,clowns and blennys. i know already making a fish list is a little crazy but i get fish wholesale cost back in tx. so fish+cuc+stars and others its only $1226. compared to being $3k+. for equipment I'm going to run LED's. for the return pump probably a reeflo barracuda, overflow right in the center of the tank. Sump being 202gals i have to build that 1 as well along with the tank unless i find the display tank for a reasonable price. the skimmer probably 2 octopus 5000's if i need that much lol. also probably go towards lots of sps,zoas,blasto's,welsi's maybe scolys and a few LPS. haven't decided too much on corals yet i really just love the idea of having a big tank with lots of fish and not worried about wanting to go bigger. although I'm sure anyone who has a 300 or larger will say they wish they had just a little more room but don't like the maintenance part lol. thats also why i want to go with 24" deep instead of 30" or more. I'm a short guy and don't have long arms.

 

[gimmito]

Wow..69 fish for $1226 ?? that's less than 18 bucks a fish. I guess being in the business does have its benifits. What kind of led's are you thinking ? I'm thinking of the reefbrites for atinic only, but I do like the Aqua Illumination if I had a shallower tank like yours. Barracuda is a nice choice, although have you seen the new Sicce pumps ? They look sweet. 2 skimmers is a good idea cuz you can run one wet and one dry. Will you be running any other reactors (carbon, gfo, bio pellets, calcium, kalkwasser, etc.) ? It also sounds like you'll have a little bit of everything coralwise. I hear you about maintaining a large tank, it's not easy reaching 4' front to back or vice versa.

Good luck w/the build and thanks for tagging along,

Jim

 

[gimmito]

Update on the sump for the frag tank:

I added some chaeto & gracialla (Big thanks Christina), fuge light, & cleaned up the cords via corrugated tubing.

 

[gimmito]

Hey, I just noticed I got bumped to the "Big Boys." :xd:

 

[Dahenley]

I was wondering if you were going to put something on the end of your skimmer so you dont have a waterfall in your sump? (plus it can splash water on that controller, and make some serious salt creep!

 

[gimmito]

I was wondering if you were going to put something on the end of your skimmer so you dont have a waterfall in your sump? (plus it can splash water on that controller, and make some serious salt creep!

Good eye ! Yes, I do plan on putting a elbow on the drain to cut down on the salt creep and quite the "waterfall" effect. The problem is it's a metric size and they're hard to find locally. I might try Ewing Irrigation tommorow and see if a 1 1/4" will work.

 

[gimmito]

One 1 1/4" elbow and small stick of pipe did wonders to quite the skimmer and knock down the salt creep.

 

[gimmito]

I got a chance to finish plumbing the drains.

 

[gimmito]

...and plumbed the fuge.

 

[skinz78]

The plumbing looks great! Are we getting closer to seeing it filled with water?

 

[gimmito]

Good observation.

 

[skinz78]

LOL I guess what I meant to say is when do you expect to be filling the display?

 

[gimmito]

Just playing. I actually took apart my manifold, I wanted to make it cleaner and I'm thinking of using some wavy seas on the rear corners of the tank. Once I get that figured out....it's time for some H20 !

 

[skinz78]

Right on! I haven't ever used or even seen the Wavy Seas, what are they all about?

 

[gimmito]

They're similiar to sea swirls but programable. Vertex bought them out and revamped the guts:

Vertex Mocean 2000 and 3500 Wavemaker

Jim

 

[gimmito]

Finished the plumbing of the return pump to the fuge (bottom 1 1/2" pipe reduced to 1") and the drain from the fuge (1" pipe w/blue ball valve). I'll probably drain it to the right front of the tank, where I'm sure there will be a line of fish waiting for a snack. :wink:

Next is to finish plumbing the returns into the tank and I'll be done w/the plumbing. :xd:

 

[sfboarders]

Dude! how many journals you got going on? :tongue: I haven't seen these pics. :bigsmile:

 

[rroselavy]

Jim, I just got caught up with the thread. That frag tank makes you look like a real frag farmer. Whoot!

BTW: The H&S skimmer looks like it is tilted a bit in the pics. You can tell from the waterline in the collection cup. Looks like it is standing on something uneven? Not sure how much it matters.

 

[gimmito]

Dude! how many journals you got going on? :tongue: I haven't seen these pics. :bigsmile:

What's up John,

I have a few threads going on. As promised on my build thread on BARS, I'm only showing pics w/water . So if you want to see more pics on the build this is a good place. :wink:

Jim