Everything is Bigger in Texas, 5500g Reef

[CapAquaATX]

Hi Ya'll,

My name is John Howerton and I design, install and maintain aquariums in Austin, TX. One of my clients (Dr. T) commissioned the largest home aquarium I've ever setup and I wanted to share the details of the system so that everyone can learn from our triumphs and inevitable failures. The display tank was manufactured by Waterdog Products and measures 15'x7'x7'.

I'm going to try and take you all step by step through our design/build stage to this point and provide all the gritty details that you'll need to think of when considering a project of this size. I also ask that while I know that this project is incredibly expensive, do not continually ask what it cost because the answer is a lot. If you have serious questions about any of the components or total project cost feel free to DM me.

I'll also try and update this thread as quickly as I can but with the power grid failure we had in Texas, I'm knee deep in rebuilds and insurance fun.

Pictures show the actual aquarium before being glassed and the very very early area where the tank will actually sit.

 

[CMMorgan]

Along for the ride - can't wait!!

 

[CapAquaATX]

So the Doc and myself have been keeping aquariums together since sometime in 2009. This was his current setup:

650 Gallon Triton Reef

Hey ya’ll, Thought you might appreciate a ~650 gallon bowfront Triton reef. Completely redid the filtration and went full Triton in July of 2016. It currently consumes 72mL of Core 7 daily. Lighting: Orphek Flow: MP60 x 4, Panta Rhei ECM 63

www.reef2reef.com

I was brought out to see the new home site on November 9, 2018. They had purchased a new home in Austin and his exact words were "John, I don't want to move but if I have to move I want to dive my aquarium." I think my response was generally a lot of nervous laughter and wheels turning furiously in my head. The initial plan was to do something at least 20 feet long and I knew very quickly that this was going to be something unlike anything I had ever done before. After going around in circles for a day, I decided that the correct way to proceed was to bring in some professional help from people that HAD done systems this large before. I absolutely could have winged this project, devoted all my time to supervising plumbers, electricians, etc but I had the same chance for aquarium fame as I did ruining a multi million dollar house.

I've known Austin Lefevre for years and knew that he had started working for Tenji the year prior. I contacted them on Monday and got our introductions made to guarantee the greatest chance of success.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Wow, can't wait to see how this pans out

 

[fishguy242]

nice...following..

 

[zukihara]

 

[Vested]

Following along! Definatly the start of a very impressive setup, super interested to see how you start an aquarium this large.

 

[mdb_talon]

I should have been a doctor.

 

[GoReefin]

Wow looks awesome so far

 

[CapAquaATX]

So why go with Tenji? I was concerned with flow dynamics, equipment sourcing, working with 6" and 8" PVC (something I've never done before) and I think the most important thing was protecting the room the tank would sit in and the LSS room. We had our first GoToMeeting that next Thursday after our initial contact and their knowledge was immediately on full display. Full drawings, models, examples of other work they had done, and a ton of knowledge between them. Tenji also has a ton of public aquarium experience and thinking of this project as a small public aquarium in a house made sense.

After some months of back and forth on cost, size, equipment, etc. Tenji was officially hired in late April of 2019. We decided on a tank measuring 15'x7'x7' for a total right at 5500 gallons. The tank would be manufactured by Waterdog and include 2 external overflows, a completely flat bottom (normally they have a slight step down in the middle of the tank but this wasn't going to work on a barebottom system), NO centerbracing, cut in panels that will accommodate a normal aquarium magnet (to hold pumps), and a single viewing panel.

The display will be SPS dominant with a good mixed fish population. The system needs to be as easily maintainable as possible, include equipment that is both reliable and has a low power consumption, and I had some specific likes/dislikes on stuff I have used. The initial equipment that we planned in 2019 changed slightly but here are the features we ended with:

-Industrial MRC sump with moving bio bed, (2) industrial MRC fluidized reactors, open bath integrated UV, and (10) 20" bag filters
-External industrial MRC protein skimmer
-(2) Abyzz A1200 return pumps
-(2) Abyzz A400 pumps for skimmer feed, remote filtration feeds
-Industrial MRC Denitrator
-Industrial MRC Kalk Reactor
-DaStaCo Calcium Reactor
-5hp Aqualogic Heat pump (also chills)
-Custom Apex Control System
-(2) Panta Rhei ECM75 Powerheads
-(2) Panta Rhei ECM63 Powerheads
-(6) Maxxspect Commercial LED Fixtures
-Fish QT System
-Coral QT/Frag System
-1500 gpd Industrial RO/DI

Tenji provided very very detailed drawings for all of their work that the contractor on site worked off of but out of respect for their work, I won't be posting those.

I'll be back tomorrow to keep updating. Thanks so much for ya'lls interest!

 

[GoReefin]

Cement tank?

 

[CapAquaATX]

Fiberglass, acrylic viewing panel

 

[fishguy242]

2" acrylic ?

 

[CapAquaATX]

Display panel is 173”x78.33” and is 3.15” thick

 

[CapAquaATX]

So continuing on, there are a lot of people/trades that need to be involved to pull something off this big. I'd say your biggest hurdle is finding a general contractor that cares about the project and takes a vested interest in your success. We absolutely had that with Clint from Tofka Homes and he is the puppet master between all of the sub contractors. We had the architect for the home remodel, an engineering firm to make sure we poured the appropriate slab beneath the tank (tank dry weighs ~10135 pounds dry and ~48,335 pounds wet), electricians, plumbers, HVAC, the list goes on.

Tenji's incredible drawing set laid out outlet locations, circuits needed, plumbing connections, wall recommendations, everything. If we asked them a question and they couldn't answer it off the top of their head, we would get a reply with an answer within a day or two. This was a whole home remodel so nothing was rushed and we tried to think of everything we could possibly need to maintain this tank long term. Some fun features include:

-Dedicated washing machine for filter socks
-Whole home water softener to help commercial RO membranes last longer
-Sonos powered speakers in the ceiling of the LSS room
-Multiple drain hubs near the aquarium and in the aquarium room as well as a huge floor drain
-100 amp natural gas generator on an automatic transfer switch
-Tenji designed work platform around the actual aquarium
-3000 gallon in ground custom saltwater mixing reservoir

The tank itself shipped out from California on April 15th, 2020 and took five days to get to Austin. Tank truck transport pics incoming, followed by setting the aquarium.

 

[CapAquaATX]

Normally I'd use the rigging company that delivers most of my aquariums but Clint wanted to handle this one. "Shouldn't be that hard... it's just a big box."

Delivered safe and sound into the former garage space before the new 5 car garage is finished with the tank in place.

 

[CapAquaATX]

Construction now needed time to happen but we continued to be busy. We finished hammering out equipment details, came up with a new flow plan utilizing Panta Rhei ECM 75's, diagrammed all the outlets/equipment that needed to be handled by the generator, and ordered 3000 pounds of Marco Rock.

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of our aquascape!

 

[Vested]

Need pictures of that dedicated sock washer lol! Cant wait too see the scape

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Awesome and thanks for sharing.

 

[mich2599]

Is the owner looking to adopt? If so I am available lol. Awesome build!!