Our 400 Gallon In Wall Natural Sun-Lit Reef

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

btldreef said:
@jdpiii3 , WOW. All that warm Florida sun put to good use. Nice tank, everything seems to be really happy and growing well. Are you going to use any accent lighting??? leds/actinics?

I do plan on adding some led lighting but more for night time viewing, I am looking for other options to filter the sunlight maybe some ChromatiNet Polysack Shade Cloth,Shade Net,Field & Storage Bins, Plastics Propagation Trays, Aluminet Anti-Insect & Reflective Net

Poseidon · Aug 26, 2012

That blue net looks very cool! I bet it would work really well, can you get a small "sample" from the supplier?

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

Poseidon said:
That blue net looks very cool! I bet it would work really well, can you get a small "sample" from the supplier?

I'm going to call them Monday and see what I can get, they are in Lakeland, Fl about 45 min from me.

Poseidon · Aug 26, 2012

I bet they would be happy to give you a small piece as a testing sample, if it works, than it can open another market for them. I have seen a few other sunlit reef tanks, usually people end up adding a bunch of blue supplement to get the color they want. Adding that blue material, allows the spectrum shift to blue, eliminating the cost of adding all that blue and power consumption.

Pkunk35 · Aug 26, 2012

You tank is absolutely gorgeous and very impressive. I am in love with your sun domes!

I also wish your family the best during the hard times. Keep being positive, brother.

And that last pic set was very nice, let's see some more!

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

Pkunk35 said:
You tank is absolutely gorgeous and very impressive. I am in love with your sun domes!

I also wish your family the best during the hard times. Keep being positive, brother.

And that last pic set was very nice, let's see some more!

Thank you, I will post more pictures, I'm trying to figure out how to do a time lapse video for a full 24 hour period.

Ravens02 · Aug 26, 2012

i live in Miami, I was wondering what happens when you get a gloomy day with no sun. what do you do?

Pallobi · Aug 26, 2012

That's a pretty awesome display

bige · Aug 26, 2012

Thats very nice! Well done.

mchristian · Aug 26, 2012

You were certainly thinking big on this build! Nice job...looking forward to your updates.

typicaltony · Aug 26, 2012

AMAZING tank!

Surfage_Breakage · Aug 26, 2012

Beatiful tank, I love the natural sun light. I wish the best of luck to you and your wife.

md_burch · Aug 26, 2012

Re: 400 Gal in Wall Natural Sun-lit Reef

jdpiii3 said:
Now time to install the tank, tank dimensions are 72x36x36 1inch thick acrylic.

The tank is going to be fabulous. I especially think the mermaid adds a lot!

rollinlowgsxr · Aug 26, 2012

your tank looks amazing. i hope your not in one of the areas of new port richey that floods heavy.stay safe and hopefully we dont get alot of rain like with the last storm

sprinklerdudes · Aug 26, 2012

amazing tank, cool build , wish ya'll the best

Poseidon · Aug 26, 2012

Ravens02 said:
i live in Miami, I was wondering what happens when you get a gloomy day with no sun. what do you do?

I bet he does the same thing Mother Nature does.... Nothing.

Natural reefs go thru times of cloud cover as well.

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

Ravens02 said:
i live in Miami, I was wondering what happens when you get a gloomy day with no sun. what do you do?

I don't do anything, cloudy periods will pass just like a natural reef

Pallobi said:
That's a pretty awesome display

Thank you!

bige said:
Thats very nice! Well done.

Thank you!

mchristian said:
You were certainly thinking big on this build! Nice job...looking forward to your updates.

Thank you!

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

typicaltony said:
AMAZING tank!

Thank you!

Surfage_Breakage said:
Beatiful tank, I love the natural sun light. I wish the best of luck to you and your wife.

Thank you!

md_burch said:
The tank is going to be fabulous. I especially think the mermaid adds a lot!

Thank you, yes she does!

rollinlowgsxr said:
your tank looks amazing. i hope your not in one of the areas of new port richey that floods heavy.stay safe and hopefully we dont get alot of rain like with the last storm

Thank you! we're all good here, always high and dry.

sprinklerdudes said:
amazing tank, cool build , wish ya'll the best

Thank you!

Techbiker · Aug 26, 2012

My prayers are with you and your wife, once I have a similar idea, and I was told that it can not be done, but just looking at your tank encourage me to follow your example of perseveration to accomplish any dream no matter what the obstacle could be.
Your set up is beautiful, and I don't think that anyone can come with a more natural, and so close to what this creatures really need after we take them out of their natural habitat, thanks for all that and more, you really and inspiration for any reef aficionado

jdpiii3 · Aug 26, 2012

Techbiker said:
My prayers are with you and your wife, once I have a similar idea, and I was told that it can not be done, but just looking at your tank encourage me to follow your example of perseveration to accomplish any dream no matter what the obstacle could be.
Your set up is beautiful, and I don't think that anyone can come with a more natural, and so close to what this creatures really need after we take them out of their natural habitat, thanks for all that and more, you really and inspiration for any reef aficionado

Thank you so much, there were many times I though about breaking the tank down after we found out of my wifes illness, now seeing how happy it makes us I'm glad we stuck with it.