Start of one "BIG" SPS tank
- Thread starter goodwin9
- Start date
wangotango
Active Member
do you have a plan for aquascaping? pillars would be sweet in that tank.
-Justin
-Justin
goodwin9
Active Member
Originally Posted by team2jndd
it looks like its in the basement. How come? That thing would be in my living room taking the place of the tv. Im guessing its because you have alot of tanks and thats where you had room?
It just about went into the living room, but with a weight approachinig 3.7 tons, I had second thoughts. Probably will finish off the area around the tank down the road.
it looks like its in the basement. How come? That thing would be in my living room taking the place of the tv. Im guessing its because you have alot of tanks and thats where you had room?
It just about went into the living room, but with a weight approachinig 3.7 tons, I had second thoughts. Probably will finish off the area around the tank down the road.
goodwin9
Active Member
Here are a few more pictures from the first day & night.
They had to struggle with the returns before they finall got them in place.
Here is a shot of them mounting the trim to the stand and tank.
Here is a shot of the chiller pump, and the pump that runs the phosban reactor, sandfilters, & refugium.
Trim work almost finished.
Here they are installing the nozzles on the returns.
Finally everything is put together and waiting to be filled.
They had to struggle with the returns before they finall got them in place.
Here is a shot of them mounting the trim to the stand and tank.
Here is a shot of the chiller pump, and the pump that runs the phosban reactor, sandfilters, & refugium.
Trim work almost finished.
Here they are installing the nozzles on the returns.
Finally everything is put together and waiting to be filled.
grumpygils
Active Member
Isn't that your old electrical box? A few posts back you had installed a new one. What a set up. What is a sandfilter? How does that work?
Mc
Mc
goodwin9
Active Member
I have been asked on a number of occasions about the sand filters that I use on my systems and why they were needed.
The following explanation is from Fran Metzger, the owner of The Aquarium Company and builder of my tanks.
"In all of the aquariums that we run with a refugium and liverock on, our Nitrates have been zero. Even on our wet/dry systems with the reticulated foam and liverock in the sump, zero. After 10-12 years, zero. The denitrafication cycle is a transgression from the most deadly components, ammonia to less lethal nitrite to further less lethal nitrate and I have found Nitrate handled with the system itself. None of the filtration is working at even close to its potential. The redundancies are there for you need them to avoid the spikes.
If you think about it, the sand filters and all aerobic filtration can only produce Nitrate because they are converting even more toxic ammonia. If you have Nitrate, it is converted ammonia and while Nitrate may not be great for SPS, ammonia will kill them quicker.
The protein skimmer is such a great filter because it is removing protein even before it can decay into ammonia, completely skipping past the nitrogen cycle. That is why you hear of people running a reef with just a skimmer. Not my idea of the perfect system. If there ever comes an event in the aquarium however that overpowers the skimmer, it's essential to have the back up.
Ammonia itself can be stripped as a gas, also skipping the rest of the nitrogen cycle. That is where the bioball was born as a diffusion device that should be counter flowed with air in a tower to strip ammonia gas. It has been turned into something far less effective however and used as a biological culture bed."
I hope this helps explain the purpose of a sand filter. I just know that my other systems have worked with them, so I wanted them on my new tank.
The following explanation is from Fran Metzger, the owner of The Aquarium Company and builder of my tanks.
"In all of the aquariums that we run with a refugium and liverock on, our Nitrates have been zero. Even on our wet/dry systems with the reticulated foam and liverock in the sump, zero. After 10-12 years, zero. The denitrafication cycle is a transgression from the most deadly components, ammonia to less lethal nitrite to further less lethal nitrate and I have found Nitrate handled with the system itself. None of the filtration is working at even close to its potential. The redundancies are there for you need them to avoid the spikes.
If you think about it, the sand filters and all aerobic filtration can only produce Nitrate because they are converting even more toxic ammonia. If you have Nitrate, it is converted ammonia and while Nitrate may not be great for SPS, ammonia will kill them quicker.
The protein skimmer is such a great filter because it is removing protein even before it can decay into ammonia, completely skipping past the nitrogen cycle. That is why you hear of people running a reef with just a skimmer. Not my idea of the perfect system. If there ever comes an event in the aquarium however that overpowers the skimmer, it's essential to have the back up.
Ammonia itself can be stripped as a gas, also skipping the rest of the nitrogen cycle. That is where the bioball was born as a diffusion device that should be counter flowed with air in a tower to strip ammonia gas. It has been turned into something far less effective however and used as a biological culture bed."
I hope this helps explain the purpose of a sand filter. I just know that my other systems have worked with them, so I wanted them on my new tank.
ser_cyclops
Member
more pics i cant get over the size of this tank!!!!
wangotango
Active Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
i prefer hairy human legs in my aquascaping
everyone says that my armhair is going to be replaced by polyps with how much time i spend inside my tank. i would love to be able to walk around in my tank, good excuse not to take a shower. goodwin: are you going to finish the basement too?
-Justin
i prefer hairy human legs in my aquascaping
-Justin
goodwin9
Active Member
I was a little worried when we started to place the rock in the tank. The supplier had sent me photos for the rock he had picked out and it didn't look like it would be enough for the size of tank I had. He knew what he was doing as it filled the tank nicely.
I particularly liked the way the right side turned out.
I particularly liked the way the right side turned out.
goodwin9
Active Member
After placing nearly 500 lbs of live rock in the tank, I was amazed at how little rubble there was left over. This picture is the left over rubble that we placed in the refugium.
This picturewas taken after we had finished for the night. Cloudly, but it looked good close up. Will get some new pictures as soon as we get the lights hung.
This picturewas taken after we had finished for the night. Cloudly, but it looked good close up. Will get some new pictures as soon as we get the lights hung.
