Vances 700 plywood build.

[AlexG]

Oops! Lol

Just two part and water changes. Nothing too complicated [emoji38]

Two part is going to get expensive fast for a system that large. I plan on using two part in my system for a few months until I get a calcium reactor. Over time the calcium reactor will pay for itself in no time compared to two part.

 

[CodyRVA]

Nice! @Fish Werx check this out.

 

[Vance]

*deleted duplicate post

 

[Vance]

Calcium reactor is still ideal and a nice big MRC is in my future [emoji16]

 

[CoralWealth]

following this build. this looks awesome!

I always wondered how much cost effective these were compared to all glass, if you dont mind maybe you could PM me on how much it cost to build. Just the tank and stand?

What other fish do you plan on getting?

 

[Vance]

following this build. this looks awesome!

I always wondered how much cost effective these were compared to all glass, if you dont mind maybe you could PM me on how much it cost to build. Just the tank and stand?

What other fish do you plan on getting?

Pm sent. And for anyone else wondering the cost for just the tank materials, glass and stand was roughly 3500. About the same cost as a 300 gallon that we were considering before embarking on the adventure of building this monstrosity. A lot more work than a 300 though!

Ugh... stocking.... I have been trying to nail down a fish list for 2+ years now. Yes I spent that long planning and building this tank... More than a year planning before construction started and coming up on a year since I started leveling and sloping the floor for tile.

Originally we had planned on a pair of epauletts and a few large tangs, an Achilles being my must have fish for the tank. Nothing to over the top, and relatively inexpensive. Since then however I have changed careers from mechanic to working in the reefing industry, which honestly changed everything.

Right now we have:
Pair of green mandarins
5 carberryi anthias
Hippo tang
Vlamingi tang (not sure if she is permanent... love her to death but the adult size makes me nervous, especially in a tank for sps)
Watanabi angel female

New additions as of today:
Nice big 8" naso tang
Foxface lo

Want to add:
Achillies!!!
Husband has his heart set on a chevron, he really likes the adult patterning.
I would like a quoyi parrotfish but it makes me nervous. Something about a parrotfish in a reef lol.
Would like to increase my carberryi shoal to ~10

Other than those few, I don't really know. I've never had a tank large enough to house tangs comfortably let alone multiples... I am open to and asking for suggestions!!!! Been leaning more towards herbavoirs, anything that makes maintaining this tank easier is great by me! Not really a fan of any of the tangs from the zebramosa genus either way to aggressive or way out of my budget. Love the maculaceps. And I am thinking that once the Achilles goes in it is not going to let me add any new tangs...

 

[hatfielj]

WOW. This is an impressive build

 

[mfinn]

But all of my controllable equipment is eco-tech.... and the vectra l1's that I'm planning on getting for the closed loops aren't even compatible with Neptune.... I'm really hoping eco-tech is going to come out with a monitoring side to their controller including energy bars. But it looks like I'm stuck with reeflink

Have you already bought the L1's?

Many years ago I helped with a large plywood tank ( gofer, not brains).
I always wanted to build a monster sized one( 600-700 gallons) , but never had the house for it.
Awesome skills.

 

[Daniel85]

I recently added an Achilles to my 90 gal. i already had a Tomini in there. it worked out great! the Tomini is slightly larger than the Achilles (i would say 4.5" and 4") and really picked on it for the first day and a half, but then emotions were worked out and they are getting along. I had big fears about getting a healthy fish, but it turned out great. I ultimately pulled the trigger due to a live aquaria sale. Next I will need to get a bigger tank to make them really comfortable.

side note: I have an M1 (and love it), but have heard that the L1 has issues (overheat?) and this could just be a problem with the first ones they made. but i wanted to let you know

 

[Vance]

Thanks everyone for the heads-up about the L1's... I was not aware they had that issue... hopefully this new round through production has that issue fixed.

I ordered them back in July, they have been back ordered and should be getting here sometime in the next month or so...

 

[Vance]

So for a fun update: the fish are in!!!

I ended up removing the Vlamingi.

And added:
Standard foxface
Chevron tang
Regular Naso tang
Maculiceps tang
Achilles tang

I'm thinking that this is going to be it for fish additions for a very long time, at least a year before I will even think of adding anymore fish. Such a stressful week!

Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me that they settle in Okay! Everyone is eating, and the Achilles eats like a champ, the naso is stressing himself out trying to show everyone he is the "king" of the tank and the maculiceps spends a lot of time at the shrimps cleaning stations. So not out of the woods, but eating is good! I will post a short video in the next couple days assuming I can figure out how to upload on here.

As for the life support system: I finally have the returns how I want them so I was able to simulate a power outage and set the level in my sump, which means I was able to drill and install a float into the sump from the RO/DI. No more manual top off, whoo! It's the little things hahaha
And I have a monster of a media reactor on order which should be here soon along with a 5gallon bucket of gfo.

 

[Cherub]

nice to see you on here too. Lookin good

 

[Vance]

Hi Gabe! Hows the red sea coming along?

 

[Vance]

It's been a long time since I posted an update! The camera on my phone stopped working and I don't have a real camera so I've kind of been putting off posting pictures because the selfie mode on my phone is terrible, but something is better than nothing so please excuse the terrible selfie pics.

Finished wall and basement. Still have to get the doors up.

View coming down the stairs into my basement

Kind of proud of the canopy. Gas shocks make life so nice

View from the top acrylic covers and half of the light rails are done. Need a little extra reinforcement, not happy with how they bow.

And updated fts

 

[Daniel85]

looks great!

 

[Will Milberger]

How big is yours Alex? Have a thread on here?

Hey, that's personal!

 

[Vance]

Hey, that's personal!

Hahahahaha

 

[Muttley000]

Nice to see another successful woody out there! Nice work and any questions were already answered in your detailed posts!

 

[Tjakes680]

Absolutely beautiful insane looking tank wow what a great job I have heard of but never seen a plywood tank and ive been in this hobby for 30 plus years and owned 2 LFS . Anyway thats a awesome job what kind of lighting are you thinking of going with ??? MH is what i would think for a 700 gallon again great job

 

[Vance]

Thank you everyone for the kind compliments! Still a long ways to go until I get it where I want it