custom 1300g to 1400g saltwater tank need some help

[brightblood]

ok guys im thinking about building a VERY big salt tank question is. is what am i ganna fuilter it with. the tank aint no biggy if its possible i can build it. i just dont know what i going to do for fuiltrion, skimming, heating that sorta thing. is it possible to fuilter a saltwater tank with a pool fuilter? if i put bioballs and fibers in it? and heating it was thinking about a pool heater to maybe?
haven a hard time figureing out how to get this thing up and running becouse no matter what im going to build a pool size fish tank

. just gatta figure out how to fuilter the bad boy and keep it worm. and it will be in my house

 

[kpclown]

For something this massive the best type of filtration would be all natural. Surrounding all coral reefs you will find miles of sea grass and algea patches. These fields are host to a habitat that cleans the water for the coral reef and keeps things like plankton, amphipods and copeods safe from the reef. If it were me I would implement this into my design. I would use a 1000 gallon tank and pack it full of liverock and sea grasses. I would have it overflow into a 300 gallon sump and implement an Algea Turf Scrubber into the sump's drain. In the sump I would have baffled chambers that would be used for Cheatomorpha growth for additional nutrient export. Using a Deep Sand Bed in the display and in the sump would allow for a huge micro-organism habitat that would eat up any detritus, fish food and algea to grow. I would use manatee grass and mangroves in the sump as well to help filter additional nutrients. With this much filtration and a tank with this much diversity you could feed frozen food mix the size of soft balls and not keep up with the demand!
In a system this large mechanical filtration would just be a nitrate factory and you would constantly be fighting water changes and parameters. Not to mention changing filter floss on an hourly basis! With a completely natural filtration system you may never have to do a water change. If you are serious about this idea I would get in contact with Eric Borneman (coral reef expert), Chuck Stottelmeyer (reef tank expert), and Dr. Ron Shimek (marine biologist and invertebrea expert). These guys have spent alot of time researching natural reefs and designing the systems and ideas most reefers use today. They would probably jump at the chance to help build a system this large.

 

[fishkid13]

Well said! +1 And for heating, get a hot tub heater, much smaller than the tank size, to make up for the intense heat. Just make sure their is no copper.

 

[ibanez]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3245749
ok guys im thinking about building a VERY big salt tank question is. is what am i ganna fuilter it with. the tank aint no biggy if its possible i can build it. i just dont know what i going to do for fuiltrion, skimming, heating that sorta thing. is it possible to fuilter a saltwater tank with a pool fuilter? if i put bioballs and fibers in it? and heating it was thinking about a pool heater to maybe?
haven a hard time figureing out how to get this thing up and running becouse no matter what im going to build a pool size fish tank

. just gatta figure out how to fuilter the bad boy and keep it worm. and it will be in my house
Judging by your level of knowledge about this hobby shown by the post. I suggest starting with a small tank until your knowledgeable enough to figure out that question on your own. Unless you just have a couple hundred thousand dollars to throw around. You almost have to have a degree or a marine biologist to have a tank that big, not to mention the cost of maintenance and supplies. I suggest a lot more research and wetting your toes so to speak on a smaller tank.

 

[brightblood]

Originally Posted by IbanEz
http:///forum/post/3245991
Judging by your level of knowledge about this hobby shown by the post. I suggest starting with a small tank until your knowledgeable enough to figure out that question on your own. Unless you just have a couple hundred thousand dollars to throw around. You almost have to have a degree or a marine biologist to have a tank that big, not to mention the cost of maintenance and supplies. I suggest a lot more research and wetting your toes so to speak on a smaller tank.
look man its like this. you dont even know me are how long i have been in the saltfish bizz so how do you know what i know and how meany ppl actuly have dont this do you have a 1300g fish tank? prob not and you dont need a cupple houndred thousand dollors to start a tank and maintain one this big first off herd of ppl doing it all the time just they never explained it down to a tee on what they did to keep it running and as fare as my no how on salt water tanks i know more then you would think. just becouse i ask how i would keep a tank like that worm and fuiltered dont mean im not knowledgeble a nough to do it. fish off if i can build a tank that large my self i have prob accplished more on the matter then you have so unless you have advice on the questions i ask'ed then dont even bother posting on my thread if you plz.

 

[brightblood]

Originally Posted by KPclown
http:///forum/post/3245814
For something this massive the best type of filtration would be all natural. Surrounding all coral reefs you will find miles of sea grass and algea patches. These fields are host to a habitat that cleans the water for the coral reef and keeps things like plankton, amphipods and copeods safe from the reef. If it were me I would implement this into my design. I would use a 1000 gallon tank and pack it full of liverock and sea grasses. I would have it overflow into a 300 gallon sump and implement an Algea Turf Scrubber into the sump's drain. In the sump I would have baffled chambers that would be used for Cheatomorpha growth for additional nutrient export. Using a Deep Sand Bed in the display and in the sump would allow for a huge micro-organism habitat that would eat up any detritus, fish food and algea to grow. I would use manatee grass and mangroves in the sump as well to help filter additional nutrients. With this much filtration and a tank with this much diversity you could feed frozen food mix the size of soft balls and not keep up with the demand!
In a system this large mechanical filtration would just be a nitrate factory and you would constantly be fighting water changes and parameters. Not to mention changing filter floss on an hourly basis! With a completely natural filtration system you may never have to do a water change. If you are serious about this idea I would get in contact with Eric Borneman (coral reef expert), Chuck Stottelmeyer (reef tank expert), and Dr. Ron Shimek (marine biologist and invertebrea expert). These guys have spent alot of time researching natural reefs and designing the systems and ideas most reefers use today. They would probably jump at the chance to help build a system this large.
thanks for the advice man and i was thinking about maybe building a 400 gallon liverock container with a HO light for algiegrowth and put to monster size pumps on it and just run the DT tank water through it consintly having the 400 gallon tank full of live rock fuiltering the tanks water and then it runs into a 100 gallon refug with and have micro growth in the deep sand bed you was talking about in the sump with a nother HO light over the sump to help groth. and maybe put a container with bioballs in one side of the sump for my bacteria to tie to since bio balls really dont have to be changed and let the rock and bacteria natueraly fuilter it since im planning on making it half reef tank with a reef stacked on one side of the tank and the rest for swimming room to fish that would put little under half the tank filled with live rock and a 400 gallon tank holding nothing but live rock with water pushed through one side and out the other and im going to have probably 8 to 10 inch of sand bed through the bottom of the tank with a bottom of crushed corol for the water to be able to sift under the sand for the bacteria to floresh in the sand bed. would you think that would be anough nataurel cycle for the tank?
and puting 3 450g size skimmers in the system to help get rid of bio load
idk i have a lot to think about on it. this will be a proect that would prob take me a couple years to even get the tank and stuff done and fuild with water and running little alown the 4 to 5 months im going to put into it tweking it and making sure the levels are going to stick before adding life to the tank beside the live rocks. like the saying gose the key is pationents and this tank is ging to be my master peace im going to give it all i have to give in patients so

 

[ibanez]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3246361
look man its like this. you dont even know me are how long i have been in the saltfish bizz so how do you know what i know and how meany ppl actuly have dont this do you have a 1300g fish tank? prob not and you dont need a cupple houndred thousand dollors to start a tank and maintain one this big first off herd of ppl doing it all the time just they never explained it down to a tee on what they did to keep it running and as fare as my no how on salt water tanks i know more then you would think. just becouse i ask how i would keep a tank like that worm and fuiltered dont mean im not knowledgeble a nough to do it. fish off if i can build a tank that large my self i have prob accplished more on the matter then you have so unless you have advice on the questions i ask'ed then dont even bother posting on my thread if you plz.
I made my judgment based on the question you asked, not to mention your abundance of grossly misspelled words. If you can't spell warm, know, filtered, because, couple, hundred--you will probably have trouble maintaining a fish tank that big. And if you don't think it costs that much money, your in for a huge surprise.

 

[deejeff442]

over the years there has been alot of people on here mostly posters with few posts coming on about building a huge tank not one yet has done it.
i agree spell check is at the top on the google bar.

 

[kpclown]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3246364
thanks for the advice man and i was thinking about maybe building a 400 gallon liverock container with a HO light for algiegrowth and put to monster size pumps on it and just run the DT tank water through it consintly having the 400 gallon tank full of live rock fuiltering the tanks water and then it runs into a 100 gallon refug with and have micro growth in the deep sand bed you was talking about in the sump with a nother HO light over the sump to help groth. and maybe put a container with bioballs in one side of the sump for my bacteria to tie to since bio balls really dont have to be changed and let the rock and bacteria natueraly fuilter it since im planning on making it half reef tank with a reef stacked on one side of the tank and the rest for swimming room to fish that would put little under half the tank filled with live rock and a 400 gallon tank holding nothing but live rock with water pushed through one side and out the other and im going to have probably 8 to 10 inch of sand bed through the bottom of the tank with a bottom of crushed corol for the water to be able to sift under the sand for the bacteria to floresh in the sand bed. would you think that would be anough nataurel cycle for the tank?
and puting 3 450g size skimmers in the system to help get rid of bio load

The liverock and bioballs will do nothing but collect detritus and become a huge nitrate factory. You would probably spend 5 hours a day just cleaning that. I personally hate bioballs, liverock is good but only in the display. The fuge/sump doesn't get enough flow in most tanks to prevent dead spots. The deep sandbed is a must, especially in a tank this large. I also do not agree with protein skimming this tank, a protein skimmer could never keep up with the demand. Again natural seems to be the only way to properly clean the water. Corals, Gorgonians, sponges, amphipods, copeods, and micro-organisms would do a way better job and probably look a lot nicer too. To aquascape this your going to need alot of pvc piping and epoxy, your probably looking at almost 2000 lbs of rock. Homemade rock would be the cheapest and most cost efficient way. Several websites have a recipe for making man made rock. Also keep in mind whatever structure you put this in the floor is going to need reinforced, even if it is a concrete basement floor. One gallon of water is about 7 lbs so with 1300 gallons your looking at 9000 pounds. Not including the amount of rock, sand, glass, and other things in the tank, you might be reching 15000 pounds total! This is a huge undertaking and should not be underestimated. The cost will be astronomical and should be estimated well beforehand. Good luck and post some pics of your progress if you decide to do it.

 

[kjr_trig]

Please people

 

[shyshko08]

Originally Posted by IbanEz
http:///forum/post/3246368
I made my judgment based on the question you asked, not to mention your abundance of grossly misspelled words. If you can't spell warm, know, filtered, because, couple, hundred--you will probably have trouble maintaining a fish tank that big. And if you don't think it costs that much money, your in for a huge surprise.

LOL I'm sorry but I'd have to agree 100% with you on this.

If I were you, I'd start out with something smaller.
Also if you do claim to know more than we think, please share your knowledge with us, or maybe even tell us about some of your other aquariums. Its not as simple as you think to build a tank that size. Mark my words, you WILL end up wasting thousands of dollars on mistakes that you could have learned on a smaller tank.

 

[brightblood]

LOL I'm sorry but I'd have to agree 100% with you on this.

If I were you, I'd start out with something smaller.
Also if you do claim to know more than we think, please share your knowledge with us, or maybe even tell us about some of your other aquariums. Its not as simple as you think to build a tank that size. Mark my words, you WILL end up wasting thousands of dollars on mistakes that you could have learned on a smaller tank.[/QUOTE
look i know its going to cost im sure preatty penny but no houndred thousand dollors. and i am 21 years old and been around saltwater fish tanks since i got my first one when i was 12 i started out with a 30 gallon fish only. and when i moved to my moms when i was 16 my uncle gave me a 250 gallon that i turned into a fish and live rock tank never had a reef tank though but i do take care of them at the pet shop i work at and have worked at since i was 18. PS the only reason they have saltwater is becosue of me the owner is stupid when it comes this stuff just becouse im new to the website dont mean that im new to saltwater fish tanks i live in a small town were saltwater fish were only seen in the ocean maybe 3 or 4 keepers around here before i introdused saltwater to my LFS and right now i have a 75 gallon had to down grade becouse were i live at.witch is going to be turned into my first home reef tank onces i get a nother 200+ gallon tank for my fish thats in the tank at the moment. my wife wonts a reef tank so i promised her she could have the 75 gallon to start it with and ill help her build up her tank. but i am moving out here in the next 6 or 7 months and that will be when i start on my FISH ROOM!!! witch will prob be a heated basment were the monster fish tank will start to be built. im not going to do this in a day i know it will take me a long time and a lot of hard work but i have to get everything down pat first before i even start. graghs, blue prints, estaments on money it will consume over the next 2 years to create this tank, and the fuiltraion, and heating of a large tank witch is the reason why i asked the question i did to day its not like i can go out on the street and get exp from some one with such a large tank here were i live becosue no one has one. that i know of so. but dont think im going to rush into this build i know that the key to a perfect saltwater tank is time and im going to put a lot into this build im not saying im going to do it right here and now but i will promise each and everyone of you keep your eyes open becosue there will be a post on this website of the build once i get started with pictures diagrams you name it ill put it one here for everyone to see and even fallow if they like. and i know about glass and acrlic it wont be my fist time with exp with the stuff my father tought me a lot about it he works in construction and he has cut and shaped glass for windows and things like that he is going to help me on the build and my uncle works on boats so i tink of it like this if he can keep water out im sure he can keep water in to same conseption on that am i wrong? i know what ways a lot i know i know im sut talking about the sealing of hte tank and stuff and im going to use aqua safe epoxys and selicone so. im not saying im the smartest person on this fourm are i adveasly wouldent be asking any of your advise but im not a newbie at saltwater fish neather. sut dont critasize me plz i would reallylike the back up on this build and info i need so i dont screw up and basicly mack a large tank that holds over 1000 gallons of water for no reason becouse i know this will take money and lot of it and thats somthing thats not to be wasted in this world right now so i am going to make sure i get every signle thing down pat before i but such a infestment into play

 

[ibanez]

Well, I hope everything goes well for you. Please do surprise us and show us you can do it. I look forward to the build.

 

[nanomantis]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3246744
look i know its going to cost im sure preatty penny but no houndred thousand dollors. and i am 21 years old and been around saltwater fish tanks since i got my first one when i was 12 i started out with a 30 gallon fish only. and when i moved to my moms when i was 16 my uncle gave me a 250 gallon that i turned into a fish and live rock tank never had a reef tank though but i do take care of them at the pet shop i work at and have worked at since i was 18. PS the only reason they have saltwater is becosue of me the owner is stupid when it comes this stuff just becouse im new to the website dont mean that im new to saltwater fish tanks i live in a small town were saltwater fish were only seen in the ocean maybe 3 or 4 keepers around here before i introdused saltwater to my LFS and right now i have a 75 gallon had to down grade becouse were i live at.witch is going to be turned into my first home reef tank onces i get a nother 200+ gallon tank for my fish thats in the tank at the moment. my wife wonts a reef tank so i promised her she could have the 75 gallon to start it with and ill help her build up her tank. but i am moving out here in the next 6 or 7 months and that will be when i start on my FISH ROOM!!! witch will prob be a heated basment were the monster fish tank will start to be built. im not going to do this in a day i know it will take me a long time and a lot of hard work but i have to get everything down pat first before i even start. graghs, blue prints, estaments on money it will consume over the next 2 years to create this tank, and the fuiltraion, and heating of a large tank witch is the reason why i asked the question i did to day its not like i can go out on the street and get exp from some one with such a large tank here were i live becosue no one has one. that i know of so. but dont think im going to rush into this build i know that the key to a perfect saltwater tank is time and im going to put a lot into this build im not saying im going to do it right here and now but i will promise each and everyone of you keep your eyes open becosue there will be a post on this website of the build once i get started with pictures diagrams you name it ill put it one here for everyone to see and even fallow if they like. and i know about glass and acrlic it wont be my fist time with exp with the stuff my father tought me a lot about it he works in construction and he has cut and shaped glass for windows and things like that he is going to help me on the build and my uncle works on boats so i tink of it like this if he can keep water out im sure he can keep water in to same conseption on that am i wrong? i know what ways a lot i know i know im sut talking about the sealing of hte tank and stuff and im going to use aqua safe epoxys and selicone so. im not saying im the smartest person on this fourm are i adveasly wouldent be asking any of your advise but im not a newbie at saltwater fish neather. sut dont critasize me plz i would reallylike the back up on this build and info i need so i dont screw up and basicly mack a large tank that holds over 1000 gallons of water for no reason becouse i know this will take money and lot of it and thats somthing thats not to be wasted in this world right now so i am going to make sure i get every signle thing down pat before i but such a infestment into play
What if I told you that under no circumstance can you have a shark. Will that talk you out of making this horrible decision?

 

[nanomantis]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3246744
Originally Posted by Shyshko08
http:///forum/post/3246550
LOL I'm sorry but I'd have to agree 100% with you on this.

If I were you, I'd start out with something smaller.
Also if you do claim to know more than we think, please share your knowledge with us, or maybe even tell us about some of your other aquariums. Its not as simple as you think to build a tank that size. Mark my words, you WILL end up wasting thousands of dollars on mistakes that you could have learned on a smaller tank.
look i know its going to cost im sure preatty penny but no houndred thousand dollors. and i am 21 years old and been around saltwater fish tanks since i got my first one when i was 12 i started out with a 30 gallon fish only. and when i moved to my moms when i was 16 my uncle gave me a 250 gallon that i turned into a fish and live rock tank never had a reef tank though but i do take care of them at the pet shop i work at and have worked at since i was 18. PS the only reason they have saltwater is becosue of me the owner is stupid when it comes this stuff just becouse im new to the website dont mean that im new to saltwater fish tanks i live in a small town were saltwater fish were only seen in the ocean maybe 3 or 4 keepers around here before i introdused saltwater to my LFS and right now i have a 75 gallon had to down grade becouse were i live at.witch is going to be turned into my first home reef tank onces i get a nother 200+ gallon tank for my fish thats in the tank at the moment. my wife wonts a reef tank so i promised her she could have the 75 gallon to start it with and ill help her build up her tank. but i am moving out here in the next 6 or 7 months and that will be when i start on my FISH ROOM!!! witch will prob be a heated basment were the monster fish tank will start to be built. im not going to do this in a day i know it will take me a long time and a lot of hard work but i have to get everything down pat first before i even start. graghs, blue prints, estaments on money it will consume over the next 2 years to create this tank, and the fuiltraion, and heating of a large tank witch is the reason why i asked the question i did to day its not like i can go out on the street and get exp from some one with such a large tank here were i live becosue no one has one. that i know of so. but dont think im going to rush into this build i know that the key to a perfect saltwater tank is time and im going to put a lot into this build im not saying im going to do it right here and now but i will promise each and everyone of you keep your eyes open becosue there will be a post on this website of the build once i get started with pictures diagrams you name it ill put it one here for everyone to see and even fallow if they like. and i know about glass and acrlic it wont be my fist time with exp with the stuff my father tought me a lot about it he works in construction and he has cut and shaped glass for windows and things like that he is going to help me on the build and my uncle works on boats so i tink of it like this if he can keep water out im sure he can keep water in to same conseption on that am i wrong? i know what ways a lot i know i know im sut talking about the sealing of hte tank and stuff and im going to use aqua safe epoxys and selicone so. im not saying im the smartest person on this fourm are i adveasly wouldent be asking any of your advise but im not a newbie at saltwater fish neather. sut dont critasize me plz i would reallylike the back up on this build and info i need so i dont screw up and basicly mack a large tank that holds over 1000 gallons of water for no reason becouse i know this will take money and lot of it and thats somthing thats not to be wasted in this world right now so i am going to make sure i get every signle thing down pat before i but such a infestment into play

Would I be able to talk you out of this horrible decision for both your own personal sanity and the sake of the fish if I told you that under no circumstance would you be able to keep a shark?

 

[cranberry]

Better consider the monthly expense of electricity to have that size tank. I spend 300 bucks a month on the tanks alone.
But I'm sorry.... I honestly can't read your posts. I'm not trying to be mean, but a little punctuation would go a long way because if I'm having trouble, so are a lot of other people.

 

[aquaknight]

Originally Posted by brightblood
http:///forum/post/3246744
...he works in construction and he has cut and shaped glass for windows and things like that he is going to help me on the build and my uncle works on boats so i tink of it like this if he can keep water out im sure he can keep water in to same conseption on that am i wrong?...
Very much so. The manufacturing of boats has little, to nothing, to do with building a fish tank.
Boats are designed to displace more water then they weight so they float. Aquariums (large ones) are designed to put up with the sheer force of containing large amount of water.
That's sort of like saying my brother's race car driver. He should know how to paint?

 

[ibanez]

http://aquariummalta.com/topic.asp?T...allon+Aquarium

 

[deejeff442]

apparently the the spelling of the English language is less important than building a big tank.i remember when i was 21 and knew everything.luckily now i am 40 and finally know it all

everyone in this hobby dreams of a huge tank but in reality i have 5 tanks the biggest is my 250 i am going bigger but after alot of thought and planning i plan to go maybe 350-400 gallons.that is plenty big for a home tank and manageable.i dont see any reason for anything bigger
but what do i know, if you build it they will come.

 

[xcali1985]

I always thought the golden rule was the bigger the tank the easier it is to manage. While yes the initial setup may be a problem in design and expense. But its not impossible.
Would I build it, NO! The largest im thinking is a 340 gallon for me. However, if you have the money, time, dedication, and patience. I say go for it. Create your own underworld, complete with everything you can imagine.
Im sure they have equipment that is made just for big tanks such as these. Don't think small such as 3 skimmers. They probably have skimmers made for this size.
Fact is this is commercial sized and you will have to look into commercial products inorder to accurately price and design this tank.
Im looking forward to it and what you be a good idea is to set up a webcam feed of the build with a video backup so you can timelapse it when its all done.