Our New 800 gallon tank! So excited

[Wendy Rodgers]

Spectacular setup! Looking forward to seeing the progress. GO BOLTS!!!

Thank you very much, we are so happy to share..And YES GO BOLTS!!!!!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

That is beautiful. I can’t wait to see more.

Thank you! Can't wait to share! Hubby is workin onnt now!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

I love it the whole set up looks awesome

Thank you so much !

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Absolutely incredible, who needs a tv when that's in your living room. It's nice to see you doing it yourself as well, I've built wooden stands but would not attempt a metal one. Thanks for sharing and welcome to R2R.

Yes so so true... we would rent a movie with our 400 gal..and not see a Bit of it!! Watch the tank ..so relaxing love love live it so much !

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Thank you very much, we are so happy to share..And YES GO BOLTS!!!!!

It's funny, we used to live in the Tampa area which is why I'm a huge Lightning fan. We went to games all the time. Now I'm in Phoenix so they only play here once a year. We went to that game, and it was the Bolts worst loss of the season 7-1. The Lightning have the best record in the NHL and the Coyotes stink, I thought it would be a cake walk for us... oh well.

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

It's funny, we used to live in the Tampa area which is why I'm a huge Lightning fan. We went to games all the time. Now I'm in Phoenix so they only play here once a year. We went to that game, and it was the Bolts worst loss of the season 7-1. The Lightning have the best record in the NHL and the Coyotes stink, I thought it would be a cake walk for us... oh well.

We are STM..Absolutely LOVE it!

 

[408Dartfish]

What a great looking setup thanks for sharing. Dustin

 

[TheWB]

We are STM..Absolutely LOVE it!

That's really cool. There's only one way to improve upon it though, and that's to make it all Sharks stuff instead

Love your build, I'm enjoying following along.

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

That's really cool. There's only one way to improve upon it though, and that's to make it all Sharks stuff instead

Love your build, I'm enjoying following along.

Hey TheWB...Watch ya self, the only SHARKS in this house will be ones in the tank ! Lol!!
If ya dont bleed Blue, ya through!
Thank you for following , even though You like the Sharks!
Wendy

 

[vetteguy53081]

What a beast !! beautiful one !!!!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Steve, I'm a old time Red Wing fan and the son of a Canadian immigrant who loved the Maple Leafs first and the Wings second. But I've been removed from Detroit for 40 years and have adopted our local ECHL team, the Everblades and the Tampa Bay Lightning!

If your not BLUE... your thru! Hahahaha...

J/k... ive heard of the Everblades... miama area right??

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Added a little dividers to refuge area... going to use 3 of the new AI refuge lights when they come out so I figured lets divide it up so it all dont end up down at one end.

Also added some carbon and placed some poly filter in socks to make sure no contamination happen during build...

Also, tuned the overflow today...

 

[FMF0331]

oh my , what a build !!!

;Wideyed;Wideyed;Wideyed;Wideyed;Wideyed

 

[Reef_monster]

Wow looks awesome so far. Congrats on the new tank

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Thank you Ron for the kind words!

I really tried to think of everything that one would need in advance as on my prior system I didn't do nearly as well. Adding plumbing in at a later date isnt as pretty usually as we all know.
As to the size of the tank i wanted a tank that didnt look small in the room as this is the main living space of the home. The room is 60ft long and 16ft wide the kitchen with bar stools on one side and a large living room on the other and of course my couch seat is closet to tank... go figure! Ha!

As to cost, id say with everything including water station im 35-40k into this project. After wrapping stand and doing the hood, the main bulk of cost will be completed and I can relax on cost worries... lol as we are not rich by no means and have 5 children that come after hockey and fish! (Just kidding) we named the tank Big Blue ... and it comes straight from our other passion which is hockey. We are huge tampa bay lightning fans and i must say missing the last game before the all star break to plumb the tank was tough!

Awesome tank! Dumb question but how does this cost 40K? Like where does the bulk of the cost come from?

The reason I ask is because I want a large aquarium when we buy a house (renting now) and win the lottery . Right now I just have an SC aquarium 50 gallon PNP and got my son a 15 gallon Fluval flex for freshwater fish. I believe I spent around 3K all together and that's without a light that can support corals (FOWLR for now). Also no fancy plumbing, reactors or any of that stuff. Just a basic sump.

I always forget to play the lottery so maybe I'll just have to save up for it :-/. Just wanting a general understanding so I can start planning (or should I say dreaming?) in my head.

If this is too personal, I apologize and understand. I don't know anyone else personally with a fish tank much less a monster like yours!

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

1st post you can see them @cracker

Here is the removable walkboard.
I tig welded the frame portion out of aluminum so it would be as light as possible for the wifey. The step portion is the gray deck board that last forever(i think) I found it in I think 12 inches wide. The board is a little over 4.5 feet in length.
The walk board can be postioned in five diffrent locations around the tank for maintenance, cleaning, and veiwing.

Best-Steve

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Awesome tank! Dumb question but how does this cost 40K? Like where does the bulk of the cost come from?



The reason I ask is because I want a large aquarium when we buy a house (renting now) and win the lottery . Right now I just have an SC aquarium 50 gallon PNP and got my son a 15 gallon Fluval flex for freshwater fish. I believe I spent around 3K all together and that's without a light that can support corals (FOWLR for now). Also no fancy plumbing, reactors or any of that stuff. Just a basic sump.

I always forget to play the lottery so maybe I'll just have to save up for it :-/. Just wanting a general understanding so I can start planning (or should I say dreaming?) in my head.

If this is too personal, I apologize and understand. I don't know anyone else personally with a fish tank much less a monster like yours!

Looking forward to more updates!

No worries on asking about cost. Its a large system so cost should probably be known as if you jump into a tank this size you should be prepared.

Off the top of my head heres a few numbers...

Tank 7500$
Sump 2k
Ato top off container 500$
I Galvanized the stand material 500$
2 160 gallon tanks for mixing and water station 600$ plus 500$ to ship!
Lights 9 at 600$ = 5600$
Apex 800$
Aluminum for light rack 500$
Steel for stand 2k
8 pumps octo dc pumps 3200$
Chiller 1500$
Dart pump $300
Dosing pumps 650$
Uv light 100watt 1500$
Protien skimmer 1200$
Plumbing 2500$ blue pipe with gray... lots and lots of unions
Dead dry rook.. 900 lbs 2700$
2 20 amp breakers ran 75 ft away 500$
Plumbing ran 75 ft away 350$
Dosing containers, plywood, pvc floor and cieling, switch boards, ect... stainless steel bolts (are a big cost ... like 250$) led lights for sump... 300 lbs of salt, rodi setup
All that is easily another 1k just to get running.
Still have to have gfo, carbon.. and alot of it...and let's not forget ... zip ties.

I think that should be around 35k and still havent wrapped stand or hood and that I'm thinking to match my kitchen will be close to 5k as cabinetry isnt cheap. Now yes.. you could go cheaper on a wrap and hood I'm sure but all the other stuff above... that's the ticket.
Still havent included the 4 gyre pumps and refuge lights... 3 ai refuge lights should be around 200$ each... and pumps I'm thinking 850 for all.. so 37k without wrapping it and no hood.
Also... keep in mind I did everything myself except build tank, sump, and ato container.
I built the stand, installed 2 20 amp circuits 75 ft. Thru the walls and ceiling plus the plumbing.
Made stand ect... so if you aren't doing everything yourself this cost will be alot higher.

I didnt go on the cheap as it's my final build (large one at least) but I didnt go crazy having someone do all the work either. I loved the challange and was worth every penny to me as I my wife loves it.

If she had her way... there would be a tank in every room.

Hope this helps...
Best- Steve

 

[chefjpaul]

This thread is my new favorite place to be.

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Awwww that is so nice to say !

 

[A_game43]

Welcome and what a set up!!! Keep the great 'build info' coming.