400 Gal SPS Dominant + 265 Gal Mix Reef in a 1000 Gallon system.

[Breakbeats2334]

As the title suggest, I intend to share the journey of two tanks. A 400 Gallon and a 265 Gallon both starting from their infancy stages to modern day. My name is Omari and I've been keeping salt water aquariums since 2009 but I've been surrounded by them for over 20 years. Here's a FTS of the tank I grew up with which inspired me to get into salt water aquariums, photo taken around 1998.

This was my fathers aquarium where I started to learn some of the basics of salt water keeping and before I knew it I was hooked. Looking for knowledge about reefing became an obsession and with that came reading. Prior to the internet this was my main source of knowledge.



Fast forward a few years, I upgraded from a 40-G to a 120-G to a 220-G where the addiction to SPS took off. This is where I learned the bulk of my reef husbandry skills and where my father and I decided to take on the project of not only upgrading both of our tanks but also combining them into one system. Here's a 2015, photo of the 220-G prior to its tear down after a glorious 5 year run.

 

[Geebs19]

Wow, beautiful 220. Can’t wait to see the big one up and running.

 

[jdpeters]

Great and inspiring tank shots there!

 

[ca1ore]

It's a great shame that the Internet has mostly killed off the physical publishing business. Writing a book requires knowledge and commitment; typing bad advice into a forum or video onto YouTube requires neither.

 

[reefwiser]

Books way better than the internet. An meeting with like minded hobbyist at club meetings good to.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

Wow, beautiful 220. Can’t wait to see the big one up and running.

Great and inspiring tank shots there!

Thanks more to come real soon!

It's a great shame that the Internet has mostly killed off the physical publishing business. Writing a book requires knowledge and commitment; typing bad advice into a forum or video onto YouTube requires neither.

I couldn't agree with you more about the credibility thats required to publish a book over making a youtube video. Though the internet has given us the tools to learn at an alarming rate we still gotta be mindful of where the information is coming from.

Books way better than the internet. An meeting with like minded hobbyist at club meetings good to.

Club meetings are fantastic great way to share thoughts and corals alike!

 

[Breakbeats2334]

The next step of this project was to figure out how I'm going to get a dream tank down these steps... so I grabbed some PVC pipe and lay out the biggest size tank I could fit.
I cant emphasize how important of a step this is if you plan to move a large tank around in your home. We came to the conclusion removing the railing temporarily so we could comfortably fit this beast would be the best option. The tanks dimensions are 84"x 36"x 29" few weeks later after inquiring with a few companies I Made a call to Miracle Aquariums to make and deliver this tank in 6 months. During that time frame I sold off a lot of my old corals from the 220G but kept the fish and rock.




Over the course of a few years we've collected approximately 300lbs of pukani dry rock seeding it with our own live rock from previous systems to prep for future upgrades. Growing up with the hobby around me during the 90's my father like many other reefers purchased live rock with the common knowledge that it was a staple to stable bio diversity. However when I got into keeping SPS finding what I'd consider real live rock was becoming more difficult to find.
Pukani rock was always one of my favorites due to it being so porous adding that visual appeal. This rock is really light with high surface area both thumbs up in my book compared to most dry rock available in the industry. Sadly due to the ban of certain reefs throughout the world availability of most live rock has gotten scarce. Another benefit is that its easy to work with allowing me to make large holes without ruining the integrity of the rock.


While the plans for the 400 are under way we installed the 265 on the main floor. Dimensions 84"x24"x30"

 

[newbreefer316]

following

 

[jdpeters]

That's really exciting stuff! Who's the manufacturer of both tanks?

 

[dantimdad]

Following!

I love to see combined systems.

I too hate that print is all but dead. I have a bunch of older aquarium books that I still refer to even though I practically have them memorized.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

With some blueprints, we got to work.
The first thing we did was remove the long table in order to accommodate the sump 14ft below where the 265G is.
150G Rubbermaid for the sump with the dimensions 58"x39"x25"
The utility room is behind the 400G we had two 15 amps outlets and behind the 265G another 2 15 amp outlets. An electrician came by and added 3 20 amps GFI outlets in the utility room and another two upstairs. We believed this would suffice for the overall system demands.
Plumbing was no easy task. I anticipated it would take a few weeks to get the plumbing in order... ended up taking months due to revisions. On previous builds, we used vinyl rubber tubing to deliver water but for this project, PVC was a welcome addition not only for function but for aesthetics as well.

 

[dantimdad]

With some blueprints, we got to work.
The first thing we did was remove the long table in order to accommodate the sump 14ft below where the 265G is.
150G Rubbermaid for the sump with the dimensions 58"x39"x25"
The utility room is behind the 400G we had two 15 amps outlets and behind the 265G another 2 15 amp outlets. An electrician came by and added 3 20 amps GFI outlets in the utility room and another two upstairs. We believed this would suffice for the overall system demands.
Plumbing was no easy task. I anticipated it would take a few weeks to get the plumbing in order... ended up taking months due to revisions. On previous builds, we used vinyl rubber tubing to deliver water but for this project, PVC was a welcome addition not only for function but for aesthetics as well.

And the winner of the Mars colonization life support system design project is....

 

[Breakbeats2334]

following

Following!

Welcome!

That's really exciting stuff! Who's the manufacturer of both tanks?

The 265G is a Marine Land Reef Ready and the 400 G is Miracle Aquariums.

And the winner of the Mars colonization life support system design project is....

Sounds like a Dream job to me. Reminds me of Matt Damon in The Martian.

 

[newbreefer316]

Wowzers, me likey!!!

 

[Breakbeats2334]

400 Gal at the facility prior to shipping. Dimensions 84"x36"x29" 3 sides Starphire Eurobrace with a Bean animal overflow.

 

[ca1ore]

The apex flow sensors are quite hard on flow (have high resistance). You may want o consider putting them on the pressure side of those vectra pumps. Also get rid of the blue couplings.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

The apex flow sensors are quite hard on flow (have high resistance). You may want o consider putting them on the pressure side of those vectra pumps. Also get rid of the blue couplings.

Thanks for the input. We bought the fittings to replace the blue couplers, however, we have not done the installation as yet. At this point, it's unlikely that we would move the flow meters to be after the pump.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

LEVEL TANK STAND: The 400-pound metal stand was placed in its desired location, covered with 0.75-inch plywood and the forgiving 0.75-inch styrofoam on top. Then with rented suction cups, we lift the tank and aligned it on the stand. We then placed a level flat on the inside of the tank and then adjusted the 8 supporting legs. A torque wrench was used to bring all 8 feet to about the same torque before concluding the tank was level and the load was evenly placed on the 8 adjustable legs.

DISCLAIMER: One should never risk being pinned by a 1000 pound aquarium, use professional movers.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

After 6 months of watching the rocks slowly change from white to brown, we then started to add them to the system. After 7 aquascape attempts and still not being satisfied, we concluded that satisfactory aquascaping is somewhat of an illusion. Occasionally I still find myself moving a rock or two. We tapped into our sculpturing skills and created large caves in a two-foot pukani rock. These large holes provided a window to interactions deep within the tank.

 

[Breakbeats2334]