Jt's 850 gal dream tank

jt17

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Hi Reef2reefers! I'm Jim and this is my 850 gal dream tank.

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A little background. I started in the hobby in the early 90s with a 40 gal FWLRO and quickly upgraded to a 125. I had that tank for a couple years until tragically a power failure happened while I was away for the weekend and I lost everything. I was heart broken and didn’t have the will, or funds, to start over so I sold it to a friend and took a hiatus. Flash forward to 2013 and my wife and I talked about what to with the wall space in our front room and I thought how about a fish tank and she said OK. :) I found a 155 gal bow front on Craigslist and brought it home. To get going I went to a fish store I found online call worldwide corals. Of all the fish stores in all the towns I had to walk into this one. When I left the hobby I had only seen a couple anemones but never coral available. The display tanks in their store blew me away. I was hooked. Didn’t take long til I was a full blown reef junky.

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That tank had many ups and downs. I was a total newb and I wanted to do all I could for my tank so I tried everything. I learned the hard way to keep it simple and stable.
In 2016 my wife says I think we need a bigger house to which I replied no we don’t ,we have a fine house. Then she said those magical words, “ YOU CAN GET A BIGGER FISH TANK.” :D:D:D I was powerless to resist, she knew my weakness and totally exploited it. :)
 
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jt17

jt17

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Here’s the particulars:

DT 130” x 48” x 30” external overflow I used WWC's tank builder
Frag tank 48" x 24" x 16"
Sump 60" x 36" x 24"
3 Red Dragon RD3 150W 2 for DT and Frag tank and 1 for skimmer and UV
Skimmer SRO 8000ext
UV Pentair 120 W HO

Circulation
6 MP60
2 Maxpect gyre 280
1 Hydrowizard ECM 63

Lighting
10 radiG4 pro
6 T5 60" blue +

Geo 824 Carx with Kamoer peristaltic pump

Apex controller with all the gizmos.

Mini split AC unit

22kW Koehler whole house backup.

You may have seen this tank before on another thread started by WWC. I need to get them some fresh pics to update that thread. I'll add a link to that thread when I figure out how to. :)
 
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jt17

jt17

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How about some pics?

The builder was intrigued by this job but I wouldn't say he was thrilled with the task. They like to know exactly what they are doing and this was a bit out of his wheelhouse. 3 dedicated circuits to one room. 4x the normal outlets. He suggested we thicken the slab beneath the tank and reinforce it with rebar.

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I chose to have the floor recessed with a drain. If the worst happens at least it will be contained.
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Framing almost complete

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When delivering a tank that is 48” wide it doesn’t fit through a doorway without turning it on it’s side. Not happening. So the tank was built and delivered before the framing could be complete.

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and there it sat for 6 months
 
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jt17

jt17

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Time to built the stand. When designing this system ease of maintenance was a priority. So the stand is 5 1/2’ front to back to provide a work platform along the back of the tank.

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And now to move the tank.

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Those are some strong men.

I chose to have cabinets with doors above the front of the tank because I’ve read a number of build threads that didn’t and ended up regretting it and with 4’ front to back it would impossible to reach the low spots in the front of the tank without access from the front. The cabinets were custom made by the builders cabinet man, Richard of Woodwork Creations. He did a great job.

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Richard was able to custom build the doors to match the cabinet in the kitchen. He also sourced the stainless steel hinges and the lift lock hinges.

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In th next update I’ll show the lighting.
 

hdsoftail1065

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Time to built the stand. When designing this system ease of maintenance was a priority. So the stand is 5 1/2’ front to back to provide a work platform along the back of the tank.

0E8A9EB3-D5A3-40BD-8349-3B8CD0500620.jpeg


08FE3AFB-1735-4279-9E4D-E3FB11CE5A06.jpeg


00E02F06-F54B-4D3F-B9FC-0A990FC367D2.jpeg


EB0298CA-3B49-4CAA-8550-DE1456B16ACE.jpeg

And now to move the tank.

F4DD98BC-20B5-4CF0-8745-BDCA246507A4.jpeg


336DB664-A495-4EDF-9793-ACED00A10D1D.jpeg


D76028E7-4E56-4795-837D-772AE91AB926.jpeg


69C5902E-632E-4C8D-B24A-9F3EDB2C31A8.jpeg


FDBD4097-1AFD-4D84-886F-429F5D0C78B1.jpeg

Those are some strong men.

I chose to have cabinets with doors above the front of the tank because I’ve read a number of build threads that didn’t and ended up regretting it and with 4’ front to back it would impossible to reach the low spots in the front of the tank without access from the front. The cabinets were custom made by the builders cabinet man, Richard of Woodwork Creations. He did a great job.

C2B947EB-4D25-49ED-8A58-E11D08DB2550.jpeg


Richard was able to custom build the doors to match the cabinet in the kitchen. He also sourced the stainless steel hinges and the lift lock hinges.

BB16765F-49A2-454C-B092-30046997D975.jpeg


5006A16E-6567-45D8-A02F-0018282B4CA0.jpeg


A13D91D1-8817-43A2-85D9-04E2E8271946.jpeg


In th next update I’ll show the lighting.
That thing is Massive! And I'm not saying it like it's a bad thing!
 

Blue Tang Clan

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Simply awesome.

I noticed that the top access is pretty far away from the tank because of the 2x4 perimeter wall and then the eurobracing, which looks to be about another 4" wide - do you have trouble getting your arm into the tank?
 

McPuff

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Wow, that is very cool!! I really like the cabinet work. Trying to figure out how to modify my current canopy [frame] so that is has doors or removable panels.
 
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